Week 2

 4 hours 45 minutes

This week we will explore the following questions: How can I help my learners better understand the command words in my subject? How is IGCSE Geography marked?	This week's completion criteria: Create and review activities to explain command words. Complete the marking activity.
We recommend that you access the course every day to check your messages and keep up with any discussions. To help you manage your time, here is a suggested guideline of when to carry out the activities of the week. Week 2   M T W T F S S 2.1 Command words 120 minutes Think & write Share Refine 2.2 Marking 120 minutes Mark Share Review 2.3 Update your KWL chart 45 minutes Reflect

2.1 Command words

 120 minutes

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Understanding the assessment will enable you to plan your teaching more effectively.  

Most examination questions do not end with a question mark but instead use a word that tells the learner what they need to do. For example, ‘Explain’, Describe’, ‘Compare’ and ‘Discuss’. These words, often called command words, need to be read carefully by the learner. Learners need to become familiar with exactly what they mean.

It is important that your students understand the command words used in examination questions. This gives them guidance in how to answer the question. 

In this lesson we will look at the command words and how you can help your students to better understand them.

This is the first time that you will be collaborating with your colleagues in your group. Group work is helpful because sharing suggestions and ideas with your colleagues can stimulate you to think of new ways to improve and develop your teaching. 

Remember, your colleagues may be in different countries and time zones, so try to keep to the timings on the timetable. I will be monitoring your discussions and will join your group on Friday to give my feedback.

 

  Write short activities to explain five command words

1. Read through the list of the command words in the IGCSE Geography syllabus.
   
   
2. On your own, choose five command words. 
   
   
3. Write a short description of an activity that will help your learners to understand each of the command words.

• What is a learner friendly definition of the word?
• What examples will you use?
• What problems do you think your learners will have understanding the command words?

 

  Share your ideas with your group

4. Share your activities with your group in the 2.1 Command words discussion.
   
   
5. Read your colleagues' ideas.

• Give two positive comments about each colleagues' post.
  
• Make one suggestion or offer a piece of advice.
  
• Ask a question to find out more or clarify their idea(s).
  

 

  Refine your activities

6. Update your activities based on your colleagues’ feedback.
   
   
7. Post your completed activities to the 2.1 Explaining command words group discussion.

 

If you have any questions or observations about any of the information in this lesson, please come and share them in the Week 2 class discussion.

 

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2.2 Marking

120 minutes

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We are now going to do some marking. This will help you to better understand the past paper materials, and how to provide accurate feedback to your learners. Understanding the mark scheme and the mark types will help you to advise your students on the type of response that is expected.

Try to keep to the timings on the timetable. I will post the answers when everyone has posted their marks.

 

  Mark the papers

1. Download the question papers, candidate responses and mark schemes.

• Paper 1
  • Mark scheme
    
  • Script 1

• Paper 2
  
  • Mark scheme
    
  • Script 2

2. Review the candidates' answers, and decide what marks you think should be awarded for each response.
   

 

  Share your marking

3. Add your marks to the Week 2 class discussion.
   
   
4. I will post the answers to the discussion when everyone has posted their marks.

 

  Review your marking

5. When you have reviewed your marking and the answers, come to the Week 2 class discussion and share any questions or observations that you have.
   

 

 

  There are three documents that many teachers find helpful for their teaching:

• The Example Candidate Responses contain examples of scripts from previous candidates, together with notes on the marks that were achieved. You might use this to familiarise yourself with the types of response that candidates are expected to produce, and the types of errors that are seen.
  
  
• The Learner Guide has been developed for students taking the qualification. It gives them guidance on the structure of the qualification, how it is assessed and the content. You might want to give a copy of the Learner Guide to your students at the start of the course as an overview of the qualification.
  
  
• The Principal Examiner Reports are produced for each exam series. These report on the strengths and weaknesses of candidate performance over the whole of the cohort of students taking the exam. They provide information about common errors.
  
  

Both of these documents can be found on the Cambridge School Support Hub.

 

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2.3 Update your KWL chart

 45 minutes

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  Looking back

Look back at the notes you made on your KWL chart.

• What can you add in the ‘Learned’ section?
• Is there anything in the ‘Want to know’ section that was not answered or you are not clear about?

Post your questions in the whole class Week 2 class discussion.

 

  Looking forward

Next week you are going to look at long term planning in detail. We will also find ways to assess learners' knowledge and skills before first teaching.

Take a few minutes to think about this. In your journal make some notes in the ‘Know’ and ‘Want to know’ sections. Consider the following questions:

• What do I Know about:
• long-term planning
• underpinning knowledge and skills?
  
  
• What do I Want to know about:
• long-term planning
• underpinning knowledge and skills?

 

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