English+Rich+Task+Case+Study

**CASE STUDY**


 * Subject:** English
 * Teacher:** Marnie Harpe
 * Class:** S3
 * Age:** 13/14
 * Number of Students:** 16
 * Number of Lessons:** 2 x 50mins

__The Task__ After being introduced to the WW1 poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen, the students were asked to choose a line from the poem and create a visual representation of it based on their own interpretation of the words.

__What was Personalised?__ The students were allowed to choose the line from the poem that they wanted to interpret, meaning they could select a line that appealed to them or stood out in some way. They were also given lots of choice in terms of the method used to make their visual representation.

__Lesson One__ We began the class by introducing ourselves and briefly explaining our research topic of ‘Personalised Learning’. We then moved onto the poem, using a short powerpoint presentation we had made prior to the lesson. This explained a bit about WW1, trench warfare, the poetry at the time and the poet himself. We then read the poem and showed a short video clip. The literary techniques used in the poem were explained to the class with specific examples highlighted.

The class were then told what the task involved and were invited to choose their line. They were each given a piece of A4 paper on which to create their visual representation and were divided into small groups depending on the technique they wanted to use, as we had ‘stations’ set up with the different  materials required for each. The techniques included:


 * Drawing
 * Cutting out images from magazines/newspapers
 * Using the internet to find relevant images
 * Word clouds

These methods were suggested to the students but they were free to use any technique they wanted or they could use a combination of several. They were also told not to feel restricted by the WW1 theme.

They were then left to work on the task. We walked around the groups checking that everyone understood their line and what they were meant to do.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">__Lesson Two__ <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">We started off by going over the task again to make sure that everyone knew what they had to do. The class were then left to work on their pieces and told exactly how much time they had to complete them. As before, we walked around to discuss anything the students didn’t understand.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Once the students had finished the task we laid out all the A4 representations of the lines in the correct order and asked the students to gather round the completed poem. Each student was then encouraged to explain their piece of work. Hopefully this helped everyone in the class gain a better understanding of the poem.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 95%;">__How Did It Relate To Our Research?__ <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 95%;">The students were given a lot of choice in the task, with the aim of allowing them to utilise their interests and talents (**Teaching & Learning Strategies**). They could choose which line of the poem they wanted to focus on (opening the possibility of incorporating their interests), and they could also choose a creative technique of their choice. For those that were not interested in art, we suggested that they may wish to do a piece of internet research which could reflect some details from their line. While their work was not formally assessed, the students were given an opportunity to compare the work of the class when the poem was all put together, which may have fed back into assessment of their own work (**Assessment for Learning**).

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">__Feedback__ <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The students filled out a short evaluation form at the end of the lesson. They rated the lessons between <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">6/10 and 10/10, with the average being 8/10.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Things they liked about the lessons included being able to draw/be creative, having fun while learning and also learning about WW1.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The main complaint about the lessons was being rushed for time.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">In order to improve the lessons, the students recommended having more choice of magazines to use for their collages and also allocating more time for the task.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The teacher thought that the lessons were a good introduction to the topic of WW1 poetry and seemed pleased with the end result.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Thanks to Mrs Harpe for inviting us into her class and thanks to the students for taking part.



<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Powerpoint:

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">