Stretch and Challenge
Stretch and Challenge is not more work, it’s deeper work. True challenge comes from attitude, not worksheets or an extra exercise in the textbook. 📚
Or “Next, translate the text in your book”. 📖
Are you stretching and challenging with care? Or are you keeping children busy in the classroom with extra exercises until you are ready to move on? 🔎
Stretch and Challenge doesn’t have to mean extra planning. Activities in languages are often short but setting an extra exercise or asking early finishers to then translate the studied text is not going to nurture further progress or inspire them to take their learning beyond. 🪄
Stretch and challenge is a culture you create in the classroom, an attitude, a model you set at the start of the year. Teach them the system of learning a language and how they can take their knowledge and skills further, teach them to do this autonomously. To always go beyond the minimum without your input or guidance. Teaching the system of learning a language (Through metacognition) is as important as teaching the content.
Don’t just teach them the content, teach them how to learn a language.
Any language! 🌍
Something I always say to parents and students at options evening: “I don’t know if French will ever be relevant to your experience in the future, noone can know WHICH language will be relevant and I cannot teach you EVERY language just in case. But, I’m going to use French as a tool to teach you to learn a language, any language, and so that if in the future, you need to learn Japanese, Swahili or Arabic, you will remember how you learnt French and re-use the same strategies and techniques.” And that has a lot of impact with students and parents. That’s a skill for life.
Teach them what a great linguist does independently and create a culture where they apply the learning techniques independently and systematically without your reminders or help. Dedicate a lesson at the start of the year to teach metacognition and set your students on the path to autonomy for the rest of the year.
Teach them metacognition for MFL
Use tailored questioning to stretch students. Push deeper, be demanding, bounce with further questions.
Know when to ask what question.
Challenge is not what you set, it’s what you nurture 🪄✨
