The evolution of prose in the second half of the 18th century

UNIT PLAN

The evolution of prose in the second half of the 18th century with special reference to the style of Laurence Sterne

Start

CONTEXT

SCHOOL

AREA

It is an artistic lyceum in which the students primarly study subjects related to fine, applied and visual arts, as well as all the other basic subjects such as literature, history, mathematics and english language.

The school is in the north of Italy, in a small town in the province of Milan, Lombardy.

CULTURAL BACKGROUND

The majority of the students are intrested in the specific subjects they are studying but the study of a second language is sometimes perceived of less importance. Their Index of economic, social and cultural Status (ESCS) is below average.

CLASS

BEHAVIOUR AND MOTIVATION

The students are generally interested in the subject but they get bored and distracted easly. They usually ask questions and interact with each others and with the professor; if bored, they tend to use their phone during the lesson.

HETEROGENEITY/HOMOGENEITY OF THE CLASS

The students tend to form fixed groups but, if encouraged, they easly adapt to different working groups. In particular, three latin-american students prefer working together, as well as four other students that play in the same volleyball team.

DIGITAL COMPETENCES

The students frequently use online platforms both at school and at home. They use Google Classroom and Teams to access and share materials, and Canva to create presentations and share them with the classroom.

INDEX

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

THE ROLE TECHNOLOGY

CONTEXT

CLASS

INCLUSION

ASSESSMENT

EVALUATION RUBRIC

ANTICIPATING PROBLEMS

OVERVIEW

METHODOLOGIES AND APPROACHES

CLASS

COMPOSITION

CLASS

The class is composed by 25 students. There are 14 female students, 9 male students and two non-binary students.

4th Year

CEFR LEVEL

+ info

B1 - B2

LANGUAGE SCENARIOS

21 students speak italian as their first language, 2 students speak both italian and spanish as their first language (their parents come from Latin America but they were born in Italy), 1 student speaks both italian and english as her first language (her mother is from England) and 1 student doesn't speak italian fluently since he moved from China a years ago.

SENs AND SPLDs (Specific Learning Disorders)

There are two SpLD students with a PDP: one with dyslexia and one with dysgraphia.

INCLUSION

ACTION AND EXPRESSIONDiverse ways to express understanding and skill development

• Variety of assignments and demonstration of skills
• Use of different media
• Variety of types of exams

• Different opportunities for interaction and feedback
• Student choice (assignments, due date, tools, methods, etc.)
• Compensatory ITC use
• Help with assessment anxiety

ENGAGEMENTMultiple ways to motivate students

• Variety in teaching and learning activities
• Interaction with others
• Use of technology
• Student choice of course content
• Self-regulation and motivation

ENGAGEMENT

ACTION AND EXPRESSION

THE STUDENT

3 basic needs

INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE

REPRESENTATIONDifferentiation in method, content and process

• Accessible course materials
• Multimodal sources of information
• Student-created materials
• Comprehension
• Check for understanding

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING (UDL)

REPRESENTATION

CREATIVITY AND PERSONALIZATION

DIR MIUR 27/12/2012

L 104/92

D. Interm. 182/ 2020

L 170/2010

THE BENEFITS OF TECHNOLOGY

Accessibility and FLEXIBILITY

Collaborative Learning

inclusivity

E-LEARNING

Improves Participation & Knowledge Retention

social learning

situated learning

wide english exposure

10

Personalized learning

feedback

HOW TO INTEGRATE TECHOLOGY

PNSD L 107/2015

CONNECTIVITY ACT. 1-2-3

action 4

action 6 byod

DigCompACTION 14

GLOBAL AIMS - LIFELONG SKILLS

Key competences for Lifelong Learning 2018 (5/8)

Multilingual competence

Literacy competence

Digital competence

Entrepreneurship competence

Personal, social and learning to learn competence

GLOBAL AIMS - CEFR

The CEFR Illustrative Descriptor Scales - Language activities

PRODUCTION

INTERACTION

MEDIATION

RECEPTION

MEDIATING ACTIVITIES

COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

• Overall listening comprehension

• Audio Visual

• Overall reading comprehension

• Overall spoken production

• Overall written production

The language user is as an intermediary between interlocutors who are unable to understand each other directly

• Oral mediation

• Written mediation

• Overall spoken interaction

• Overall written interaction

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

• Turntaking
• Co-operating
• Asking for clarification

• Planning
• Compensating
• Monitoring and repair

• Identifying cues and inferring

SPECIFIC AIMS

BY THE END OF THE LESSON: Students will have...

• Analysed the development of English novel during the second half of the 18th century. This include understanding the movement away from the formality of earlier periods and the rise of a more subjective and personal style.

• Identified the key stylistic features of Laurence Sterne's novel.

• Explained how Sterne's style both reflects and challenges the dominant literary trends of the 18th century.

• Read and analysed a passage from Sterne's Tristram Shandy and identified how his main features.
• Discussed the significance of Sterne's work within the context of 18th-century literature and its influence on later writers.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

LANGUAGE USED IN CLASS

TIME OF THE YEAR

Since the majority of the students already have a B2 level, we will only speak English. Italian, L1 of the majority of the students, will be used in case of requests for clarification or, in some cases, to lower the affective filter.

Second half of the school year, March

DURATION

3 hours (2+1)

LANGUAGE TAUGHT IN CLASS

CLASSROOM LAYOUT

• Standard English (SE)
• Received pronunciation (RP)

It will be at the discretion of the professor to use specific diatopic, diastratic, diaphasic, diamesic variations. Learners will also come in contact with literary language and specific language.

ACTION 7 Innovative Learning Environment

LET'S GET TO WORK

DAY 1 -

2 hours

ACTIVATE

STUDY

ENGAGE

3 GLOBALITY

1 WARM UP

5WRAP UP

Analysisand reflection4

ENGAGE 2

Dyslexia Friendly

DAY 1: WARM UP

MEMORY GAME

The teacher begins the class with a warm-up activity to break the ice and get students thinking and talking. In this MEMORY GAME, the students have to match the Author to his Novel. The authors in the game are the ones that have played an important role in the rise of the novel in the 18th century, such as Swift, Defoe, Richardson and Fielding.

DAY 1: ENGAGE

The teacher starts tapping into the students’ general knowledge. Rather than providing correct or incorrect answers, the goal of this phase of the lesson is to pique students’ interest and encourage participation.

Dyslexia Friendly

The teacher shows the students some pages from Laurence Sterne's novel The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman and asks the students to discuss about what they find unusual about it.

Dyslexia Friendly

DAY 1: ENGAGE

From this discussion, the teacher starts asking the class about what they remember of their previous lessons on the novel of the first half of the 18th century.

They will then summarize the characteristics of the 18th century novel of Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding, in order to understand the differences between these novels and the ones written by Sterne.

Dyslexia Friendly

DAY 1: GLOBALITY

Laurence Sterne: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

The teacher shows the students the trailer of the film Tristram Shandy: A Cock And Bull Story, inspired by Laurence Sterne's novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. The goal is to move students from a cursory to a more detailed and in-depth understanding of it.

Dyslexia Friendly

DAY 1: GLOBALITY

After watching the video once, the teacher asks the students what kind of film they think it is and why. They will also discuss the meaning of the idiomatic expression A cock and bull story and its origin (an absurd, improbable story presented as the truth). The students are then asked to watch the video again and to answer to comprehension questions. 1. What is the name of the main character?2. Are the situations surreal? 3) What do you think the story is really about? 4) Would you say the story is a comedy or a tragedy? 5) “Life is chaotic and you can’t seem to make it fit any shape no matter how hard you try”. Do you agree with this affirmation?

DAY 1: ANALYSIS

Dyslexia Friendly

Life and work of Laurence Sterne

During this phase, students will focus on Laurence Sterne's life and works, in order to understand the context in which he was writing and the main characteristics of his novels.

LIFE AND WORKSLaurence Sterne was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, the son of an army officer. He was sent to school in Yorkshire, where he came under the protection of his father’s relatives, upon whom he was dependent for the expenses of his education. He took his BA at Jesus College in Cambridge and later took holy orders and became vicar of Sutton-on-the-Forest in Yorkshire. Soon afterwards he married in York though his marriage was not a success because of the attention he paid to his many female friends in spite of being a clergyman. Sterne developed late as a literary artist; his earliest writings were political articles and letters written for local newspapers. In addition to writing, he was a painter and a musician. In 1759 a local quarrel about ecclesiastical pre-ferments got him to write a witty allegory in the manner of Swift, A Political Romance, later entitled The History of a Good Warm Watch-Coat. At the end of the same year he started publishing the first two volumes of his masterpiece, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, written over seven years. After almost dying from lung hemorrhages, in 1762 he decided to move to France with his family to recover his health. Exhausted by his illness, he, however, succeeded in completing and publishing A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, by Mr Yorick, though a few weeks after its publication he died in 1768. Sterne’s literary production was modest in terms of quantity, and his reputation mainly rests on his masterpiece, Tristram Shandy. This work of eccentric genius brought Sterne fame and fortune, both in England and in France.

DAY 1: ANALYSIS

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

After studying Stern's life and works, the students are ready to delve into one of his best novels, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.

PLOT AND SETTINGSterne breaks the rule of the conventional biography: while Defoe and Fielding begin Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Wild with the protagonist’s birth, the birth of Tristram appears in the third volume. He is baptised and given the wrong name. His father, Walter Shandy, slowly works on an encyclopaedia for the upbringing of his son. Aged five, Tristram is accidentally circumcised by a faulty sash window. It was faulty because Uncle Toby’s servant had used the weights to make miniature cannons for their model fortifications, where they re-enacted the siege of Namur. This is a short and inevitably incomplete summary for a very long novel, but what happens in Tristram Shandy hardly develops a storyline. The plot has really a complementary function, since the narrative consists of episodes, personal observations and frequent flashbacks and digressions which represent Tristram’s mental life.

DAY 1: ANALYSIS

INFLUENCESterne was influenced by numerous earlier writers, even if Tristram Shandy is very original. Part of his comic method clearly derives from Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes. Swift’s satire greatly impressed Sterne, who imitated Swift’s parodies of literary conventions. Their satire is very different, however, since Sterne is gentle and humorous. Sterne was also much indebted to the philosopher John Locke for his theory of the association of ideas, that is the irrational linking together of disparate thoughts without any apparent logical connection; Tristram himself makes an explicit reference to ‘unhappy association of ideas, which have no connection in nature’ in Volume I. Sterne was indeed convinced that the mind’s workings were essentially irrational, and that individual mental behaviour was in some measure eccentric. He suggested that human nature and the workings of the mind can never be fully known, and any notions that literature, and in particular the novel, is representative of an ordered reality are therefore questioned and overturned by Sterne.

CHARACTERSSterne focuses much of his characterisation on the portrayal of a dominant trait or obsession, which to him is an indication of personality. This obsession or ruling passion is called a hobby-horse: Uncle Toby is obsessed with war, Mr Shandy with names, etc. As a method of characterisation Sterne also concentrates on the description of external signs, gestures and attitudes of his fictional people. Walter and Toby Shandy, Tristram’s father and uncle, are the other two principal male characters. Their lives are eventless but characterised by delusions of grandeur. While the male characters are always portrayed with great sympathy for their inconsistencies and faulty vision of the world, the female ones are the object of his deepest scorn. Women are neither important nor interesting, they do not have philosophies or opinions of their own, but they are created by the author only in terms of their relationship with men. Sterne never relates the conversation of a group of women and his approval of women in the novel is limited to those who excite men’s sexual feelings. If Walter Shandy represents intellect, and Toby Shandy emotion, women seem to represent sexuality, set against male impotence.

DAY 1: ANALYSIS

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

STYLE

THEMES

Tristram Shandy is narrated in the first person singular, so that everything and everyone is seen through the eyes of Tristram himself. Tristram’s role is twofold: he is both chronicler/narrator and a dull, inconsistent character. He never plays the role of the hero, since his life is uninteresting and his nature and body are faulty; he lacks dignity, courage and social credibility. The reader has an important role: Sterne addresses him and leaves out words, indicating them by asterisks or dashes, so that the reader is forced into active participation not only in the reading but also in the ‘writing’ of the novel. If the content and the structure of the book are complex, the same can be said for the language: the sentences are long and contain several subordinate clauses. The clauses are separated by commas, semicolons, colons and several dashes and asterisks, with a use of punctuation which seems almost arbitrary. It is as if Sterne is writing as he thinks, following the wanderings of his mind, rather than working out what he wants to say beforehand and suiting his prose to his thought. There are complex philosophical debates, much vivid imagery, quotations from authors and books, English and Latin, ancient and modern, authentic and invented, blank or marble pages, so that a skilled reading is required to grasp its meaning. The chapters vary in length from several pages to a single short sentence.

While optimism, happy endings and a moralising aim are the necessary implements of all the novels by Defoe, Richardson and Fielding, pessimism is the dominant quality of Sterne’s work; even the name of the protagonist has a negative connotation: Tristram comes from the Latin adjective ‘tristis’ meaning ‘sad’. All the characters undergo misadventures and accidents of every kind; irony, sarcasm and humour are the only means at their disposal to bear the burden of their lives and to gain the necessary mental energies to carry on living. Tristram Shandy is not a sentimental novel, but it is full of sentiment and feeling: indeed the necessity of love, sympathy and laughter is one of the central underlying themes of the novel.

Dyslexia Friendly

DAY 1: reflection

In this phase, the students need to reflect on what they have been studying. In order to do so, the teacher asks them to complete a table on the Evolution of the novel in the 18th century.

Dyslexia Friendly

DAY 1: reflection

The teacher opens a discussion on how some aspects of Sterne's novel reflect the dominant literary trends of the 18th century and some others challenge them. Moreover, the students are asked to reflect on the contemporaneity of Tristram Shandy:

• Do you think that this novel could have been written by a contemporary author?

• Can Tristram Shand be considered a modern man? Why?
• The novel's humor and irreverence might have been shocking in the 18th century. Does this humor still hold the power to entertain contemporary readers?
• The film ispired by Tristram Shandy was a success. What elements of this story keep it engaging for contemporary audiences?

Dyslexia Friendly

DAY 1: wrap up

After this analysis of Sterne's novel, the students are asked to play a game on their phone to test their understanding on what they have been studying.

LET'S GET TO WORK

DAY 2 -

1 hour

3Synthesis

1 WARM UP

5CLOSURE

ACTIVATION 2

PROduction4

Reflection6 10 MIN

Dyslexia Friendly

DAY 2: WARM UP

The teacher begins the class with a game to get students thinking and talking. There is a SPINNING WHEEL and the students have to try their luck! Question or Prize?

Dyslexia Friendly

DAY 2: ACTIVATION

BLURB GAME

The teacher gives the students three excerpts from various 18th-century novels and remove any identifying information about author or title. She then asks students to read the blurbs in small groups and discuss what kind of story they think it might be. Then ask about the differences in style between each piece. After some discussion,reveal the authors and titles.

"Being the third Son of the Family, and not bred to any Trade, my Head began to be fill’d very early with rambling Thoughts: My Father, who was very ancient, had given me a competent Share of Learning, as far as House-Education, and a Country Free-School generally goes, and design’d me for the Law; but I would be satisfied with nothing but going to Sea, and my Inclination to this led me so strongly against the Will, nay the Commands of my Father, and against all the Entreaties and Perswasions of my Mother and other Friends, that there seem’d to be something fatal in that Propension of Nature tending directly to the Life of Misery which was to be-fal me."

Dear father and mother,I have great trouble, and some comfort, to acquaint you with. The trouble is, that my good lady died of the illness I mentioned to you, and left us all much grieved for the loss of her; for she was a dear good lady, and kind to all us her servants. Much I feared, that as I was taken by her ladyship to wait upon her person, I should be quite destitute again, and forced to return to you and my poor mother, who have enough to do to maintain yourselves; and, as my lady's goodness had put me to write and cast accounts, and made me a little expert at my needle, and otherwise qualified above my degree, it was not every family that could have found a place that your poor daughter was fit for:

IT is so long since the reader of this rhapsodical work has been parted from the midwife, that it is high time to mention her again to him, merely to put him in mind that there is such a body still in the world, and whom, upon the best judgment I can form upon my own plan at present, I am going to introduce to him for good and all: But as fresh matter may be started, and much unexpected business fall out betwixt the reader and myself, which may require immediate dispatch;——’twas right to take care that the poor woman should not be lost in the mean time;—because when she is wanted, we can no way do without her.

Dyslexia Friendly

DAY 2: SYNTHESIS

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

The teacher asks the students to read a short extract from Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.After having read it and analysed it together, students will read it several times on their own, before answering to a few comprehension questions. The same text and exercises can be found on an online platform to help SpLD students.

DAY 2: SYNTHESIS

Read the text again and do the following activities.

1. Animal spirits in line 12 means: a. soul and body. b. mind. c. mental and physical energies. 2 Does the plot proceed in chronological order? 3. Two different time sequences appear:‘clock time’ and ‘subjective time’. Complete the following sentences, then anwswer the question below.1 .‘Clock time’ refers to ___________________________________2 .‘Subjective time’ refers to ________________________________What is the function of the difference between ‘clock time’ and ‘subjective time’? Tick as appropriate. The narrator wants to draw the reader’s attention only to ‘subjective time’. The narrative follows the protagonist’s free association of ideas.

DAY 2: SYNTHESIS

4 What is the dominant mode? a. Description. b. Narration. c. Dialogue. 5 Focus on the narrator. How would you define him? a. Internal to the story. b. Detached. c. External to the story. d. Involved. 6. From whose point of view are the events narrated? 7. How many times does the narrator directly appeal to the reader? How is he invited to participate? Answer these questions quoting from the text. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DAY 2: SYNTHESIS

8.From the information you have gathered about Tristram’s mother and father, can you make hypotheses regarding their personalities? Tick as appropriate.- The father is:authoritarian clever honest brave 9. Sterne believes that our thoughts are conditioned by chains of accidents or random associations of ideas and that the father’s state of mind at the moment of conception determines the character of the child.1. Quote the phrases in the passage which reflect these beliefs. 2. What would you expect Tristram’s character to be? 10. Why is this passage paradoxical? a. The narrator relates conversation and events that he could not have witnessed. b. The narrator quotes antithetical beliefs. c. The narrator describes the paradoxical behaviour of his parents.

- The mother is:submissive stupid vain absent-minded

DAY 2: SYNTHESIS

10. Why is this passage paradoxical? a. The narrator relates conversation and events that he could not have witnessed. b. The narrator quotes antithetical beliefs. c. The narrator describes the paradoxical behaviour of his parents. 11. How would you define the language of this episode? Tick as appropriate.Realistic Ironic Abstract Digressive 12. A concept is repeated several times in lines 1-20.1 Write it down: __________________________________________ 2 State the function of this repetition: ___________________________

FunnyComplex Ridiculous Simple

DAY 2: SYNTHESIS

12 A long digression about the ‘animal spirits’ is followed by the stupid question of Tristram’s mother to her husband. What is its purpose? Tick as appropriate. To amuse the readers. To create expectation To involve the reader To sum up a concept 13 What is Sterne’s aim in writing this passage? Tick as appropriate. He wants to concentrate the reader’s attention on Tristram’s parents and not on Tristram himself, thus breaking the rules of any conventional biographical novel. He wants to describe Tristram’s parents in detail. He wants to give expression to Tristram’s opinion on life.

DAY 2: SYNTHESIS

VOCABULARY: Match the highlighted words/phrases with their meaning.

1. Suppose _______________________________________________ 2 Required_______________________________________________ 3. In motion______________________________________________ 4. Had paid attention _______________________________________ 5. Failures _______________________________________________ 6. People________________________________________________ 7. Procreated _____________________________________________ 8. Quality________________________________________________ 9. Was involved ___________________________________________

DAY 2: PRODUCTION

Dysgraphia Friendly

The students are asked to write an authobiographic page in which they try copying Sterne's style. The indications given are:

• Write on paper;

• Write in first person singular;

• Remember that Sterne writing resemble the way we think, try following the wanderings of your mind, rather deciding what to say beforehand;
• You can use dashes and asterisks;
• Your story doen't have to be realistic or intresting, you are not a hero;
• Try using longer sentences, idioms and figures of speech.

DAY 2: CLOSURE

The teacher briefly summarizes the key takeaways from the lesson to reinforce important points and solidify learning. Students are then asked to complete a Timeline with all the novelists of the 18th century they have studied during this lesson and the ones before. Before finishing the lesson, the teacher asks to share one thing they learned, a lingering question, or a takeaway they found valuable.

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

Methodologies and approaches

Social Constructivism

ESA

Communicative Language Teaching

Inductive approach

LEARNER centered pedagogy

Situated and Active learning

TEAL

anticipating problems

• Use comprehensible and contextualized inputs (images, videos)

COMMON PROBLEMS

• Learning material the SS are intrested in
• Fast rhythm
• Variation of activities

Some SS don't understand

• bring my own device
• work in pairs/groups
• offline B plan with same activities

Loss of concentration

Internet/devices won't work

• Give them a role
• Engage them during the lesson

S/SS disturbing /disengaging

• Create a Safe Space

• Use familiar activities
• Make SS work in groups
• Set individual goals and celebrate growth
• Positive reinforcement

Affective filter

evaluation rubric

Group task

Speaking

Listening

Writing

ASSESSMENT and remediation

Students' feedback

Formative assessment

REMEDIATION

• Reteaching
• Alternative instructional strategies
• Task Analysis
• Additional Practice
• Reassessment

• One-on-one tutoring

• Collaborative Learning

SS have a google form created by the teacher to leave in their feedback:

• on learning
• on the teaching methods
• on how they feel

• Monitoring of student performance in the classroom (Quizizz/Kahoot)

• Immediate feedback
• Activity-based assessment

Error Correction

• Self-correction
• Recast
• Clarification request
• Metalinguistic clues
• Elicitation
• Peer-correction

Teacher's self assessment

• On inclusion
• On motivation
• 0n effectiveness

Situated learning environments place students in authentic learning situations where they are actively immersed in an activity while using problem-solving (critical thinking) skills. Situated learning emphasizes learner autonomy within authentic environments, promoting the development of adaptable knowledge and contextualized skills.

How to make it dyslexia friendly

• Shortened Excerpts: Instead of full paragraphs, use shorter snippets (2-3 sentences) to reduce visual clutter.
• Bold Key Words: Highlight key words or phrases within the excerpts that hint at the genre, setting, or characters.
• Friendly colours (off-white, cream, light grey, soft pastel colours)
• Assistive Technology like text-to-speech software if they find it helpful.

INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE

Assume nothing.It's important to model language by asking students about their personal pronouns, using generic language and acknowledging different lived experiences. Avoid generalizing your own experience or assuming that all students have had the same experiences as one another.

LINGUISTIC VARIATIONS

1) Diachronic variation: variation of a language over time. 2) Diatopic variation: linguistic variation on a geographical level. 3) Diastratic variation: the variation of a language according to the social class or the group the speaker belongs to. 4) Diaphasic variation: stylistic variation of a language according to the situation. 5) Diamesic variation: the variation of a language depending on the medium of communication.

In the age of social media, many students form social connections online as well as face-to-face. You can plan fun, socially relevant lessons by incorporating technology into group activities or encouraging students to interact within digital learning spaces.

Technology allows for the use of online learning platforms and resources, offering flexibility and innovation in teaching methods. ICTs penetrate at all levels, in sectors such as health, education, production, the environment or manufacturing, therefore their use is necessary everywhere, at all levels. Technology equips students with the digital literacy skills necessary for success in the modern world.

Evaluation Rubrica - Writing

Technology encourages collaboration when children work as a team. It also improves communication skills when you discuss, talk and study together. ICT tools open doors for language development by fostering communication.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

RECEPTION

COMPOSITION

Evaluation Rubrica - Group Task

Dyslexia Friendly

HOW TO MAKE A TEXT DYSLEXIA FRIENDLY

• Readable fonts (such as Arial and Comic Sans, or Verdana, Century Gothic, Calibri, Open Sans.)
• Font size should be 12-14 point
• Larger inter-letter / character spacing

• Avoid underlining and italics as this can make the text appear to run together and cause crowding. Use bold for emphasis.
• Avoid using all capital letters and uppercase letters for continuous text.
• Use dark coloured text on a light (not white) background.
• Use left-justified with ragged right edge.

• Use bullet points and numbering rather than continuous prose.
• Assistive Technology like text-to-speech software if they find it helpful.

Technology introduces students to language in a variety of entertaining and engaging contexts. They can learn English through interacting with webpages, games, articles, videos, and many more authentic, real-world resources.

Many digital learning spaces, such as websites and e-books, incorporate a wide variety of interactive media and activities. This gives students enough space to explore each environment using their unique interests and experiences as a guide. Lessons are tailored to individual needs and learning styles, promoting deeper understanding.

Technology can make learning fun and interactive, boosting student motivation and interest, but also stimulating creativity and self-expression. Moreover, interactive activities and access to a wider range of resources can enhance knowledge retention.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

• Three principal dimensions: language activities, the domains in which they occur, and the competences on which we draw when we engage in them;
• 4 kinds of Language activities: reception, production, interaction, and mediation;
• For reception, production, interaction, there are six common reference levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2), using “can do” descriptors to define the learner/user’s proficiency at each level.

National Plan for Digital Education

It is an organic plan for innovation in Italian schools, with cohesive programmes and actions organized into five main areas:

• tools
• skills
• content
• staff training
• supporting measures

For each of these, there are defined objectives linked to specific actions that will improve the school system as a whole.

Evaluation Rubrica - Listening

Action 1 – Ultra-broadband fiberAction 2 – Internal cabling in every school Action 3 – the right to have internet

MEDIATION

CREATIVITY AND PERSONALIZATION

It is important to create lessons that are not standardized. Using personal ideas and opinions, as well as creative materials and outpouts can make the difference in a class' interest and motivation.

Technology has revolutionized assessment and feedback in education. It provides immediate feedback and insightful data analysis, allowing for targeted support and personalized learning paths. This creates a more effective and individualized learning experience for all students.

10

STANDARD ENGLISH

"(...) A Variety of English that has undergone substantial regularisation and is associated with formal schooling, language assessment, and official print publications."

INTERACTION

CEFR LEVEL

How to make it dyslexia friendly

• Shortened Excerpts: Instead of full paragraphs, use shorter snippets (2-3 sentences) to reduce visual clutter.
• Bold Key Words: Highlight key words or phrases within the excerpts that hint at the genre, setting, or characters.
• Friendly colours (off-white, cream, light grey, soft pastel colours)
• Assistive Technology like text-to-speech software if they find it helpful.

Assistive technologies can help students with special needs overcome challenges and participate fully in the learning process. Technology offers a wider range of learning materials, promoting inclusivity.

Evaluation Rubrica - Speaking

Dysgraphia friendly

During the evaluation the teacher won't take into account spelling mistakes.

action 4

Environments for integrated digital didactic

Action 4 wants to promote the realization of lab spaces and the provision of digital tools suitable for the sustainment of school learning and for the teaching of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects in schools.

Technology provides access to all types of learners, everywhere and at any time. All students can learn from the provided material and students with special needs can get the most out of its use.

three basic psychological needs

competence

autonomy

relatedness

• Feeling like they are in control and have choice.
• Making informed decisions
• Taking responsibility for their decisions and actions.
• Feeling free and willing.

• Having an optimal level of challenge.

• Feeling confident in your ability to complete tasks.
• Feeling goals are achievable.

• Feeling connected to others around you.
• Good social support network.
• Feeling like other people care about you.

If you feel autonomous, competent and related to others in a particular area of your life, you are likely to feel autonomously motivated to pursue that behaviour.

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