AFLTASTIC!
A guide to provide and demonstrate practical lesson
ideas and strategies which can be adapted and used to
promote student progression and attainment!
Ancient Chinese Proverb:
“Give a person a fish and you feed him for a
day. Teach him how to fish and you feed
him for a lifetime.”
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Tim Carr & Steve Care Nov. 2010
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What is AFL?
™ AFL focuses on how a student is learning as they undertake the
task. It provides teachers with information with which to
modify or change the teaching and learning activities in which
students are engaged.
™ Marking is not used to make comparative judgements but to
highlight each student’s strengths and weaknesses and provide
feedback that will further their learning.
™ In summary, AFL helps learners to focus on how they can
improve and it also provides the information required to help
them do so.
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Key Characteristics of AFL...
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Sharing learning goals and discussing success criteria with students
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Helping learners to know and recognise the standards for which
they are aiming
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Providing feedback that helps students to identify their next steps
and how to take them
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Giving students the confidence that every learner can improve
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Both the teacher & the student reflecting on students’
performance. Students reflect on where they are, where they want
to be and set their own goals.
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Providing opportunities for peer and self assessment. Students
learn self-assessment and peer-assessment techniques to discover
areas for improvement and to develop an analytical and independent
approach to their learning.
•
Recognising that motivation & self-esteem can be increased by
effective assessment techniques
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Questioning techniques. Questions phrased in a form that
maximises student thinking.
•
Exploring alternative ways of marking.
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Quality Interactions!
Listed below are some simple AFL strategies which can be used in all
lessons:
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Lesson objectives - Display lesson objectives in student friendly
language. Make them what you want the students to be able to do
by the end of the lesson as opposed to simply describing the
activities they are going to do. Share the objectives with students
at an appropriate time i.e. often but not always at the beginning of
the lesson. Refer back to these objectives during the lesson.
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Guess the learning objectives - Wait until the end of the
lesson after or during the plenary to reveal the objectives. Did
students guess what they would be?
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Mini Whiteboards – They are integral to AFL! Use them in any
way you can at any point in the lesson. They are also a tool to
quickly show responses to a question or a view. All pupils have to
show a response which means none can “opt-out” of answering.
There are many techniques and ways in which this excellent
resource can be used.
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Use anagrams - of the key words as a starter to lead into a
discussion of the lesson objectives, this could also be done by
coding the words and students have to crack the code to reveal the
words.
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Involve students - in setting learning outcomes this could also
be done at the end of the lesson by getting pupils to reflect on
what they have done and trying to say what the aim of the lesson
was and get them to take a lead on starters and plenaries.
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‘No hands up’ - Use the fruit machine/lollipops/random name
picker things to select students to answer or have student’s names
in a bag. This encourages students to think knowing that any of
them may be asked to respond it also makes it difficult for pupils
to switch off from class discussions.
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Create a ‘Wonderwall’ - in the classroom where students can
post questions. Allow students to pick questions they can answer
during the lesson. Questions that remain unanswered provide a
good guide to future planning.
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Entrance and Exit Strategies – At the start of the lesson
stand by the door and present students with a question they must
answer, based on their last lesson, correctly to enter the room. At
the end put a question, quote or statement on the board. Pupils
then have to answer this correctly and explain their response on a
Post-it note before they are allowed to leave to room. This can be
done by collecting the notes in or sticking them to the board or
door on exit.
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Exit and Entrance Tickets - Hand out a card to each student
as they walk into the room and ask them to write an answer to a
question posed on the board. Glance through students’ answers to
help decide questions to ask the class, students etc. This can also
be done at the end of the lesson to inform future learning!
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Question for discussion – Put a statement or question on board
as students come in to discuss and evaluate.
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Think, pair and share- Don’t accept answers immediately.
Allow pupils to discuss a question with a partner before taking
answers giving them the opportunity to develop their understanding
by talking to their peers. Say that you will take the answer before
the end of the lesson.
Example:
Think, Pair, Share/Snowballing
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This is an excellent way of reinforcing and
sharing knowledge during or at the end of a
topic.
Individually get students to write down or think
of 2 things learnt about a topic
Then in pairs ask them to snowball their ideas and think of 4
Then get two pairs to join up and think of 8 things
E.g. – Why are we here? What’s the point?
1. THINK ____________________________________
2. PAIR ____________________________________
3. SHARE __________________________________
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Expert Envoy - Identify individual students as experts. Use
them in a carousel of group discussions/presentations to go around
and share their understanding and knowledge.
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On Tour – This is an excellent way to get students to self and
peer assess each other’s work, by getting students to move around
the room and analysing each others work.
Example:
PERSECUTION OF MINORITIES IN GERMANY
Learning Outcomes
To develop skills to reach/exceed your target level in history
To deepen your understanding of how and why minorities were
persecuted in Nazi Germany
Your aim:
™ To research and produce a presentation on your area of focus
What you need to do:
1. Use the resources you have been given to make key notes on your
area
2. Then use these notes to produce a presentation that other
students in the group will use to make notes themselves as you
teach them about it!
3. Use your A3 sheet (or exercise book) to tour the rest of the
groups and make key notes on all the areas to do with persecution
4. Use these notes to help you complete the Exam Practise question
next lesson
4. Area to focus on: Escalation of persecution to the Jews 19331939
Resources to use:
™ Holocaust Booklet Chapter 4
™ White book p106-109
™ Modern Minds p87
™ http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERnazigermany.htm
Key Theme/Question to focus on:
™ How did persecution of the Jews escalate (get worse) 1933-1939?
(Focus on laws, actions and Kristallnacht)
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PERSECUTION OF MINORITIES IN GERMANY
Learning Outcomes
™ Develop skills to reach/exceed your target level and deepen your understanding of how and why minorities were
persecuted
My Target Level in History _________
What I can do to make sure I achieve this_________________________
What do the sources show?
Area
Case Study of
Persecution in a
Concentration
Camp Sachsenhausen
Concentration
Camp
Key questions
What was life like in
Sachsenhausen
Concentration Camp?
The Ideal German
and anti-Semitism
in Germany
What kind of German did
Hitler want to create?
What is anti-Semitism
What anti-Semitism was there
in Germany before the Nazis?
What were Hitler’s views on
the Jews?
Notes
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Deep questioning to inform future learning – It is important to
probe students with open ended questions to gauge the depth of
their learning. Use this information to inform future learning in
lesson – be flexible.
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Ask more “fat” or “hot” questions – try to improve students’
learning by asking fewer but better questions. These can help:
1. Focus attention: “What does this tell us about….?”
2. Focus comparisons: “What is the same and what is different
about ….?”
3. Seek clarification: “How can we explain….?”
4. Stimulate enquiry: “What would happen if…?” “What do we need
to know?”
5. Look for reasons: “How can we be sure that…?” “Why do you
think that?”
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Use incorrect answers – these present a valuable opportunity
to use “hot” questions to check and develop a pupils understanding.
Don’t just rush to a judgement or give the correct answer. Use a
range of hot checking questions like the ones here:
o What do you think?
o Why do you think that?
o Can you be sure?
o Is there another way?
o Do you have a reason
o How do you know?
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Closed questions – these can be useful too especially when there
is a misconception you want to reveal
ƒ Give pupils think time – leave 3 to 10 seconds “think” or “wait”
time when asking “fat” questions. This acknowledges that thinking
takes time. It also helps pupils to rephrase ideas in their heads and
provide more thoughtful and creative responses.
ƒ Minimal encourages – these help to keep pupils talking. They
involve saying very little and offer minimal direction. For instance:
“tell me more”, “for instance?”, “I see”, “yes really?”, “go on”
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ƒ Basketball - Questioning in many classrooms is like tennis. The
teacher serves a question to a pupil who replies with an answer. Try
playing basketball instead by taking the answer around the class. If
for example it is a closed question ask one pupil the question and
ask another if the answer seems right. Then ask a third for an
explanation of why it seems so.
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Traffic Lights’ - Students can easily demonstrate their
understanding using 3 coloured circles, cups or even pieces of
paper. Displaying the appropriate colour on their desk during the
course of a lesson
¾ I don’t understand - Red
¾ I understand but need further explanation – Amber
¾ I understand and am ready to move on - Green
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“Thumbs” – can also be used for the same purpose:
¾
¾
¾
¾
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Thumbs up – understand
Thumbs down – don’t understand
Wiggly thumbs – not sure
Fist & palm – a more sophisticated technique. Pupils are
asked to show an open palm if they fully understand or a
clenched fist if they haven’t a clue. Anything in-between
indicates partial understanding of different degrees
Ask for five – Ask pupils to write down five ideas, solutions,
possibilities, suggestions about the topic under discussion. After
allowing an appropriate amount of time, different pupils can then
be asked for just one idea to share with the class.
ƒ Beat the teacher – This is a good way of stimulating open
thinking as an alternative to closed questions. Explain to the class
that you are likely to make some mistakes in what you are about to
do and they should work individually to spot and note down as many
as they can. Carry out your task and at the end ask pairs of pupils
to compare their results and compile a joint list. Each pair can
offer a mistake for wider class discussion to help develop and
clarify points. This could be done by describing a procedure,
reading a text, writing a passage on a board, demonstrating a
practical, explaining a concept, working through a calculation or
drawing a diagram.
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The carousel – carousel brainstorming gets everyone working
together in small groups to generate lots of quick ideas. Working in
groups of 3-5 each group has a different coloured marker pen and
writes down as many ideas as possible in 2 – 5 minutes. The groups
then move on to the next station – leaving their ideas behind but
taking their pen to comment on and add more ideas to the group at
the next station. This continues until each group returns to their
original station to review the list they find there.
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The Jigsaw technique - this is useful to help pupils remember
what they have learned and access a lot of information in a short
period of time. For example: a class of 30 pupils could study WW2.
Arrange the pupils into groups of 5 or 6 and each group has a
different task. They have to research rationing, anti-Semitism,
evacuation, changing role of women and the home front. The groups
work collaboratively to produce a report or a summary of their
subject area. This is then shared with the class who make notes
while either listening to the ideas presented or by visiting each
groups work in a carousel format.
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Mobile Madness - A way to get students to complete homework
to build in peer assessment. Students have to work in groups to
produce a piece of homework which has to be produced using their
mobile phones (pictures, video music) these can then be shown to
the rest of the group in lesson or “blue-toothed” to each other in
lesson and then assessed at home.
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Interactive Games – The Quia website enables you to create all
different kinds of games relating to your subject e.g. Romeo and
Juliet Battleships to World War I Hangman! Other interactive
sites like e-chalk are also useful and have activities pre-prepared.
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Hinge Questions – A hinge is based on the important concept in
a lesson that is critical for students to understand before you move
the lesson on. It should fall about halfway through the lesson. Every
student must respond to the question within 2 minutes. You should be
able to collect and interpret all responses within 30 seconds (use the
whiteboards). If all understand carry on if not then review and go over
work, changing lesson plan if necessary.
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Magic Triangle - To get students to prioritise the significance
of events/reasons/causes then you can use the idea of the MAGIC
TRIANGLE or arranging them into a DIAMOND 9!
¾ Split your triangle into sections and give students some cards
with key words/phrases on.
¾ They must discuss and put these events in order with the most
important at the top of the triangle. Then the next most
important etc.
Example:
How did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933? Magic Triangle
In the magic triangle
1. Write out the 9
reasons for Nazi
success in the order of
importance that YOU
THINK!
2. Explain why you have
out the first one as
the most important!
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Quality Reviews!
ƒ Have a diary/log – Produce a diary or log sheet with the
activities used in the lesson. Students can then record their views
and what they learnt about the task. You may want to use prompts
to start them off. E.g. I really enjoyed, one thing I have learned is.
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Doodle Review – Give every student a blank piece of paper. As
you talk to review the lesson pupils are to draw images which come
into their head.
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True/False – Issue students with True and False cards or have
True and False stuck on the wall in your room. Read out statement
about the work and students either hold up or go to the relevant
part of the room to show what they think. Ideas can then be
discussed giving students the opportunity to change their minds if
they wish.
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Give us the question – Provide students with some typical
answers to questions. The students then have to try to think what
the question might be.
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Have a “Chuffed Chart” – Students fill in a “Chuff Chart”
outlining how they felt in the lesson and why for the key
moments/tasks undertaken.
Level of chuffedness
Example:
Time in lesson
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Stand up & change places – Students have to stand up and
change places if they agree with a statement you read out about
the lesson. You can then ask them why they agree or disagree with
you to develop their answer.
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Opinion Line – a bit like the above have an opinion line on the wall
of your room. Produce a statement or answer to a question a
student then has to stand with the corresponding opinion; they can
then be questioned to see why the hold the opinion they do.
Example:
E.g. “In World War II, Germany were the stronger side.”
Have the Opinion Line across your classroom and have the following
statements for students to stand under:
1. Totally agree
2. Agree
3. Mixed
4. Disagree
5. Totally disagree
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Key words – Ask students what was the most important word or
idea from the lesson they then need to explain why.
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Produce a quote – Each student has to come up with a one line
quote that could sum up the lesson. This could be one they produce
themselves or one already in existence.
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Concert Review – For a couple of minutes at the end of a lesson
ask the students to listen while you talk through everything that
occurred in the lesson from start to finish. This could also be
undertaken by a student but it is best to tell them at the start
that they will be the reviewer for today’s lesson.
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Speed Dating – Pupils are to get into pairs and talk to each
other for 1 minute (30 seconds per person) about what they have
learnt. Use some type of gong or symbol to chime after a minute
then get the pupils to move to a new partner and talk.
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Speech Bubbles – Issue all students with a speech bubble. Ask
them to write about the lesson and what they have learnt, these
can then be displayed and used as a start for discussion next time.
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Plus/Minus/Interesting – Have the students record what they
felt was good about the lesson, what was not so good and what was
interesting or what made them think in the lesson. These responses
can then be used to inform planning of future tasks.
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Choose a statement – Place statements linked to the
lesson/topic covered around the room (make some true and others
false). Students then have the task to go round and record which
ones are correct. For extension you could get them to say why the
others are incorrect and correct them.
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Noughts and Crosses – this is another excellent plenary
resource. Student’s pair up – one as crosses, one as noughts – and
they play noughts and crosses, answering the questions on the
square that they choose.
Example:
What was
expected of you
in this lesson?
How could your
work today be
improved?
What feedback
have you been
given?
What should you
do next to
improve?
How can you be
helped to move
forward?
What skills have
you used to help
you learn?
What have you What has someone
shared with you?
shared with
others?
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How have you
measured your
progress?
Bingo – This is another great idea for a plenary. Students have a
blank grid and have to fill it with some words/facts from the lesson
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provided by the teacher. Questions are then read out and pupils
cross out the words- play for a line, 4 corners and even a full house!
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Assessment by pupils!
There are 2 good reasons for promoting and developing self and peer
assessment:
1. It provides immediate feedback surrounding the task
2. It ensures the students are taking more responsibility for their
own learning
ƒ Modelling – this is the process of producing a piece of work with
the whole class through appropriate questioning. This is a key AFL
technique to promote pupil progression.
ƒ Provide examples - of previous student work (either practical or
theory). Get the students to mark and comment on that piece of
work based on the success criteria or Mark Scheme. Clear criteria
are thus set for students to emulate.
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Create a quality board – display a good piece of work on a wall
or corridor with the criterion-related features that have made a
difference highlighted, “this is good because......”
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Success criteria - producing lists of success criteria for what
makes a good piece of work, a good product or good performance is
not, on its own enough to help pupils progress and improve – you
need to talk about quality all the time. Use success criteria
regularly to look at products and performances and ask “What
makes them good?”
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Paired work – Paired work is also useful to improve learning. It
can be used more formally and more systematically for a range of
purposes:
¾ Marking or commenting on each others work
¾ Teaching other pupils aspects of the topic
¾ Explaining key ideas if unsure or have missed a
lesson/trip
¾ Helping each other to revise for a test/exam
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Match the comments – to help with an assessed piece or past
paper give comments on one sheet regarding the work and provide
the pupils with examples of work or past paper questions. The
students have to then study the work and try and match them to
the correct comments.
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The perfect paper – pupils are to try and produce a perfect
exam paper. Pupils answer an exam question(s) for homework. The
next lesson they are to work in small groups to look through each
others responses and come up with an answer as a group for the
question(s) they have undertaken thus giving the perfect exam
paper
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Self - Tracking – provide pupils with a tracking sheet which
shows all the topics/assessments they will undertake over a school
year. Leave spaces so they can write down their result for each
assessment and what they have done well and how they could
improve. Ensure these are filled in and studied before and after all
assessed/graded tasks; this means pupils have to read comments
provided and are aware how to improve in future.
Example:
GCSE Geography Assessment Sheet 1
Name:___________________
GCSE Target Grade:______
This sheet will show you what grades you have achieved during your GCSE in Geography
and why. Also it will tell you what to do to improve!!!!
Assessment
Mark
%
Grade
Comment
Area to
Improve
River
Processes
Flood Video
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Peer and Self Assessment – we all learn through having
conversations, with ourselves inside our heads and with other
people. Get pupils to reflect on their own work and mark it using
defined grade boundaries or shared success criteria. Also get
pupils to pair up and assess each others work, again using a mark
scheme or set criteria. This involves pupils having to think and
examine work whilst looking for ways to improve it.
Example:
Peer and self-assessment
This activity again actively involves students in their learning. It is an
excellent activity to review a topic or to do when there is an assessment
(practical or theory). Students must be encouraged to see for themselves
how they progressed in their learning and what they need to do to
improve. It is vital that the teacher encourages students to review their
work critically and constructively.
¾ Give students the assessment with mark scheme or success
criteria.
¾ You could link this into modelling by showing them an example
before which they can assess and mark.
¾ Get the students to complete the assessment or exam.
¾ They are then to swap answers and mark each others based on the
mark scheme. They must make constructive comments on what they
did well and what they need to improve to push up their level.
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Two Stars and a Wish – this is an excellent plenary resource that
can be used as Peer or Self Assessment. Students read through their own
or a partners work/task and then write 2 things they have done well (the
stars) and one area to improve (the wish). A few examples are below.
Example:
I could recognise I can match the
the key words
verbs to the
correct endings.
I wish I could
remember if the
word is masculine
or feminine
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Peer assessing work – two stars and a wish sheet
Learning Outcome – To peer assess another students piece of work to
provide feedback on how students can improve their work allowing them
to be more reflective learners
TWO STARS
…AND A WISH
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Peer Assessment
The objective/s of this lesson was/were:
Pick out examples of evidence of learning:
Two Stars
(What has this
Student done well?)
A Wish
(How could this student
improve?)
This work was peer assessed by:
________________________________________________
Date: ________________________________________________
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Useful links
Random Name Picker: www.classtools.net
Countdown Timer: www.classtools.net
Interactive Games: www.quia.com
www.echalk.co.uk
I hope this booklet has proved to be ‘AFL-tastic’ – if you wish to discuss
ideas further or want to try something but aren’t sure how please feel free
to ask for any advice.
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