What’s new?

Rad resource 

During the school terms in Victoria, the TEAL website will periodically feature a new Rad resource. It might be an interesting academic article, a website or a game that you can use in the classroom. Scroll down to see the resources. 

The Arc platform 

The Department of Education has a new online resource centre – the Arc platform. It looks snazzy and it is very easy to navigate.

You can access recorded webinars on a range of EAL-related assessment and reporting topics:

EAL assessment moderation: Speaking and Listening for Pathways A and B

Assessing and reporting on English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners’ progress

Moderating student writing samples against the Victorian Curriculum F-10 English as an Additional Language (EAL): Pathway C

EAL Curriculum Pathway A (F-2) Transition Considerations

To visit the website, go to: the Arc platform.

Learning logs

We have always been fans of good reflection activities here. Encouraging your students to reflect on, and and take responsibility for, their own learning can be a powerful learning experience.

Reflection activities can be modified to suit the age and English language proficiency levels of your students. It can take time and practise to foster students’ critical thinking skills but it is well worth the effort. An ability to reflect on and learn from our experiences is also a valuable life skill and one that becomes increasingly important as students move through the year levels.

LINK: Revamping learning logs (with downloadable and adaptable template)

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Online quizzes

Quizlet is a fantastic tool for consolidating new vocabulary. Teachers create digital flash cards for their class, or students create their own using translations into their home language. The flash cards are presented through activities and games that students use to revise the vocabulary at their own pace. LINK: Quizlet

There is also the option to play Quizlet Live, a fun whole-class game in which students are randomly allocated into groups and need to work together to answer the questions. watch a short YouTube clip to find out how to play. LINK: How to play Quizlet Live

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Indigenous history week

Many new arrival students – not surprisingly – will not know that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been in Australia for between 50,000 and 120,000 years. The Indigenous History Special from Behind The News could help teachers introduce their intermediate (and above) EAL students to a key historical event, the Freedom Ride in the 1960s.

LINK: Indigenous History Special

Note, the video link in the resource does not work in Chrome.

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Teaching remotely

VicTESOL and the Virtual New Arrivals Program (VNAP) has presented a fantastic professional learning event: Learning from Home: Supporting EAL students remotely.

LINK: Learning from Home: Supporting EAL students remotely

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Online resources for EAL teachers

The Department has collated a number of resources for teachers of EAL students on the FUSE website.

LINK: EAL resources

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Ice breakers

Who else likes doing icebreaker activities in the first class? It can be a great way to start learning names and to find out about different students – and a fun way for students to get to know each other.

‘Find someone who’ is designed for students with some literacy in English. It can be easily modified to suit younger or older learners and it can be used successfully with adult learners too.

LINK: Find someone who…

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Game time!

As we are getting to the end of the term, this week’s rad resource is a fun word game you can play with EAL (or non-EAL) students of all ages. It is called ‘Just a minute’ or ‘Taboo’ in some circles.

Resources: Paper, scissors, star stickers

LINK: How to play ESL Taboo plus ready-made game cards

Free online moderation:

Thank you to the teachers who submitted writing and speaking samples to us for use in our online moderation sessions in Terms 1 and 2,  and to the many teachers who attended them.

Recordings of sessions we have conducted to date have been posted in the Benchmarking Forum. 

Thanks to Alan Williams for sharing the document to your right with us. It highlights the equivalence between ACARA EAL/D Progressions and the EAL stages used in Victoria (and throughout the TEAL web site.)

Click on the image on the left for more details, or read the related post in our public discussion forum.

Exciting announcement: The Reading and Vocabulary assessment for EAL students (RVEAL) assessment tool is now available to teachers in Victorian schools! 

Please visit the Common Reading and Vocabulary Assessment Tools page for more information. 

TEAL webinar: Over 80 people met online on 30 October last year to hear our very own Anna-Lise (Wallis) speaking about TEAL. Anna-Lise spoke about the history of the tools and highlighted the importance of assessing our EAL students’ progress in a way that furthers their learning. She also gave a guided tour of the TEAL web site, and answered quite a few questions! 

This webinar was recorded. The recording and PowerPoint slides that Anna-Lise used are now both available on the VicTESOL web site. 

Professional learning news: Would you like to learn more about the Tools to Enhance Assessment Literacy?

• Venture to the TEAL professional learning modules for some self-directed learning. 
• For other EAL-related professional learning events, visit the Department of Education and Training’s Arc platform and view the EAL channel. You can follow the channel and be notified about upcoming events, or spend time browsing recordings of past professional learning webinars.

Join the 300 registered users of this web site:

Now is the perfect time to sign up. As a member you can post in the TEAL forums, and will be able to read (and post in) our private Benchmarking forum.

Click on the logo to your left, to register. It’s quick and it’s free.

CONTACT US: For further information on TEAL and guidance for the web project, please contact one of our team members.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to Mairead Hanna at VicTESOL for her assistance and support for TEAL.

Thanks also to Margaret Nutbean, Jane Banks, Eliza Costigan, Trish Fattor, Sharon Pledge, Pierina Perri from Catholic Education Melbourne, and Dominic Byrne, Judy Massey, Giuliana Mecoli, Jennie Patterson, and Madeleine Parker from the Department of Education and Training