Oral Presentation - Occupational Health and Safety.

In this video, you can see Chris Mestre present the topic of Occupational Health and Safety. Chris is a studying Automation at Sotra Vgs. The task can be found here.

In my opinion, this presentation stands out:

·        Because of the high quality of content as Chris covers the topic in its complexity.

·        Chris covers all parts of the task which can be found here.

·        Chris uses different tools to convey his content: he uses body language and  he writes and draws on the blackboard to emphasize parts of the content.

·        He is poised under pressure, uses formal language and maintains eye contact with the audience throughout the presentation. 

·        He does not read from a script which shows that he has understood the content and can produce sentences in English language on the spot.

·        His language is fluent as he communicates his content well using right technical vocabulary and the presentation flows well.

·        His language is also pretty accurate, and even though one can see some concord issues, they do not hinder communication and are not very frequent.

Here are some tips to improve the presentation even more.

·        Chris could have told the audience what exactly “long term health risks" mean. This is because it is easy to confuse long term health risks with long-term consequences. The former indicates a health issue that can come up if the working conditions are not optimal. For example, loss of eye sight over time due to poor lighting. The latter refers to a consequence of a health related issue and can also occur from a safety hazard. For example, you can break your leg if you slip and fall because of wet floor. The consequence is long-term even though it does not take place over time.

·        Chris should also discuss the prevention of the risks in-depth.

·        It is a good idea to say something more about the sources than just “here are my sources.” One can, for example, comment on why a certain source was used . One can also comment on the reliability and the credibility of the sources.

All in all, this is a brilliant presentation by Chris  which I am proud to share with you, with his permission of course. 

Vocational Task: Conversation about practical training / Yrkesrelatert oppgave: Samtale om elevenes praksisperiode

Vocational students in Norwegian Schools have to go through a period of practical training for two weeks each semseter. 
Sometimes, I have a short 5-7 minutes conversation with my students about their practical training. This assessment is graded and I give verbal feedback right after the conversation. I prefer not to give the grade right away and wait til I have thought things through.
I then post the grades on the learning platform (Its Learning) and then write a comment there that "Feedback was given verbally after the conversation."

Here is a copy of the task. It also includes the assessment criteria. The learners use this link here to get access to the vocational glossary related to their profession, 

Sensoroppdrag / eksaminator i internasjonal engelsk, litteratur og kultur, engelsk studiespesialiserende

Her er et vurderingsskjema som kan brukes til å vurdere elever som skal opp i muntlig eksamen både på vg1, vg2 og vg3 engelsk. Skjemaet viser kjennetegn for måloppnåelse.

Skjemaet tar utgangspunkt i følgende vurderingskriterier:

• det skal være fokus i presentasjonen og det kan oppnås ved f.eks. å ha en problemstilling i presentasjonen. 
• bruk av kilder
• at elevene presentere og diskutere temaet
• at eleven i samtalen etterpå viser evne til kommunikasjon og innsikt i fagstoffet fra resten av pensumet
• strukturen av presentasjonen
• språk og uttale
• bruk av manus

Mock Exam - Oral /Muntlig presentasjon + samtale

Her er en oppgave som kan brukes til muntlig vurdering. Oppgaven er basert på den nye modellen for muntlig eksamen fastsatt for engelskfag. På muntlig eksamen skal elevene først presentere et tema i 10 minutter. Deretter skal de ha en samtale med eksaminator/sensor i inntil 20 minutter. Oppgaven jeg har laget er begrenset til 15 minutter pga praktiske årsaker. Elevene skal presentere et fordypningsemne i 7 minutter og ha en samtale der læreren stiller oppfølgingsspørsmål fra presentasjonen samt spørsmål fra andre kompetansemål.

Here is an oral assignment that I have successfully used in my classes. The task is created keeping in mind  the new oral examination model suggested by UDIR where the learners present a topic first and then have a conversation with the examiner/teacher about different topics they have worked with in the course of the year. The exam is supposed to last 30 minutes where the learners present a topic for 10 minutes and then have a conversation up to 20 minutes.
This task, however, is intended to last 15 minutes due to practical reasons.  

Task: News and Current Events

I have posted earlier about a task here related to news and current events which is a group task and quite time consuming. Even though the students love it as it allows them to get creative, sometimes we need a simpler version. Here is a task that the learners are supposed to work on individually. The competence aims fulfilled, and the criteria required to assess this task are also included. 

The Kite Runner - Discussion Questions

My students are reading The Kite Runner. They will shortly have a conversation with me about the book. Here are the discussion questions for the task and the criteria. 

Creating a News Broadcast Digitally: Group task

Her kommer en oppgave som vurderer kommunikativ og digital kompetanse for elevene på Vg1. Elevene lager en nyhetssending som de leverer som en video. Vurderingskriterier er også inkludert i oppgaven. Takk til Ingrid Vik, Marthe Steigler, Viktoria Glomnes og Rosy Arnesen for at jeg fikk lov å dele videoen deres slik at andre kan se hvordan de løste oppgaven. Jeg takker også min tidligere kollege Anne Marit Nielsen som delte idéen til oppgaven med kollegaen Richard Minde, som videre delte idéen med meg. En stor takk til Hanne Bjerke Vasshaug for samarbeidet med å utvikle vurderingskriterier til oppgaven.  

Oppgaven har absolutt overføringsverdi og kan lett brukes i andre språkfag både på Vg1, Vg2 og Vg3. Du kan se videoen her:  

Here is brilliant task which assesses the communicative and digital competence of the learners of the English Language. Learners create a news broadcast which they hand in as a video file. The assessment criteria are also included in the document. I also have the permission of four of my students to upload their work/video as a sample video that shows how they answered this task. Thank you Ingrid Vik, Marthe Steigler, Viktoria Glomnes and Rosy Arnesen. I must also thank my colleague Anne Marit Nielsen who shared this task with another colleague Richard Minde who further shared it with me. And a big shout out to Hanne Bjerke Vasshaug for her input in developing the assessment criteria. You can see the video here: 

The Victorian Period/The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde/Oral Conversations

My students just had an oral conversation with me about the book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the Victorian Period. These conversations give me a real good insight into what they have learnt. Here is the task and here is the handout they got in order to work with this task. 

Undervisningsopplegg Urfolk (Native Americans) No. 2 / Teaching Assignment Indigenous Peoples (Indianere) No.2

Denne oppgaven handler om å kombinere følgende kompetansemål: 1) drøfte litteratur av og om urfolk i den engelskspråklige verden 2) drøfte sosiale og kulturelle forhold, samfunnsforhold og verdier i flere engelskspråklige land.Tanken bak oppgaven er at elevene ikke bare lager en faktabasert presentasjon om urfolkene, men at de samtidig klarer å drøfte og sammenligne livet til urfolkene før og etter den europeiske oppdagelsen og koloniseringen av deres land.

Her er oppgaven: Indigenous Peoples - Presentation and Discussion. Jeg har skrevet om dette her tidligere, men hadde behov for en ennå enklere versjon.

This post combines the followng competence aims: 1) discuss literature by and about indigenous peoples in the English-speaking world,  and 2) discuss social and cultural conditions and values from a number of English-speaking countries. The intention behid this assignment is to make sure that the pupils don't just present some facts about the indigenous peoples, but that they also are able to discuss and reflect on how the lives of these peoples have changed after the Europeans discovered and colonoised their continents/countries. 
Here is the task: Indigenous Peoples - Presentation and Discussion. I have written about this here before, but felt the need for an easier version.

Oral Presentations Assessment Form + Criteria / Vuderingsskjema + Kriterier for Muntlige Presentasjoner

Click here for the new form that I have been using recently. To me this is better because this one is not so complicated, yet it covers all the criteria that I use to evaluate my students. I just highlight the part on the form that applies to the pupil.
I have started to write the criteria on the task itself. Here is one example:

Criteria for Evaluation: You will be evaluated on the content of your presentation, and how it is communicated (if your points/ideas come across, if you connect with the audience). It is important that you not only present a topic, but you also discuss it. Some ways to do this could be to talk about advantages and disadvantages, causes and consequences etc. Your language and the structure of the presentation will also be assessed (introduction, conclusion and the transitions between the different topics). Make sure you don't just announce the slide with one word, but use a sentence. For example, "As far as the festivals go etc. instead of saying "festivals"". There needs to be a clear thesis statement which declares the main point or controlling idea of your presentation. You will also be evaluated on how you use your sources so remember to use and refer to your sources in a proper way.

Length of presentation: The presentation should last 5-7 minutes or more if you are working alone and about 10 minutes or more if you are working in pairs. If working in pairs, both parties need to speak equally.

Make sure you make a power point.

Script: You will also turn in your script i.e. all you have talked about in the presentation with clear description of who worked on what.

Oral Presentations - International news topic or a current event

According to the syllabus issued by the The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, Upper Secondary School pupils taking the course International English need to:

 - present and discuss international news topics and current events

In order to work with this aim, I have created the following task. You can see the file here:

Et av de kompetansemålene på engelsk som fellesfag er at elevene må kunne:

- presentere og diskutere internasjonale nyheter og aktuelle hendelser

Her er en oppgave jeg har laget for å jobbe med kompetansemålet. 

Working with the novel "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

One of the books my pupils read and work with is "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. It is the story of a fourteen year old girl Lily who is looking for her mother. Set in South Carolina in 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was passed with an aim to end the segregation policies between blacks and whites, this book touches on racism and how Lily has to confront her own prejudices. This is an excellent book and highly recommended both for International English, Literature and Culture, Vocational Classes and Students taking general studies (Studiespesialiserende). The plot is well developed and not all is revealed right away and the reader has to read on to get answer to all the secrets of the plot. 
       For evaluation purposes, I usually have an oral conversation with my pupils (one on one) for 15 minutes. I really feel that this helps me assess their English speaking skills thoroughly. To work with this task, they get a few questions to work on as they read the book and also a list of questions they will have to answer when I evaluate them. Here  is a link to a file where you will find the competence aims this task covers, questions that the pupils get for working with the book etc. Here are the Assessment Criteria/Form. I hand out this form to the pupils since all the criteria are there as well. Here is a link to the power point on Analysis and here is one for Literary Devices. Let me know if you want any of these files in word if you want to modify them etc. and I will email them to you :-)

While I have these conversations, the other pupils usually work with Folder Activities or Mappekrav. I wrote about this here earlier.

Working with the novel "Holes" by Louis Sachar

One of the books my pupils read and work with is "Holes" which is an excellent book by Louis Sachar. It is short, the language is easy which works really well for ESL learners. The plot is well developed and there are actually three narratives which are interconnected and they all come together in the end. My students often have this aha moment when they realise how the different stories in the book are related.
For evaluation purposes, I usually have an oral conversation with my pupils (one on one) for 15 minutes. I really feel that this helps me assess their English speaking skills thoroughly. To work with this task, they get a few questions to work on as they read the book and also a list of questions they will have to answer when I evaluate them. Here is a link to a file where you will find the competence aims this task covers, questions that the pupils get for working with the book etc. Here are the Assessment Criteria/Form. I hand out this form to the pupils since all the criteria are there as well. Here is a link to the power point on Analysis and here is one for Literary Devices. Let me know if you want any of these files in word if you want to modify them etc. and I will email them to you :-)

While I have these conversations, the other pupils usually work with Folder Activities or Mappekrav. I wrote about this here earlier.

Vurderingsskjema Muntlig for Vurdering i en Eksamenssituasjon/Assessment Form Oral Presentations for Examination Purposes

Her er en litt enklere versjon av et vurderingsskjema der jeg også har tatt vekk delen for formativ vurdering. Jeg tenker at det kan være bra til bruk for vurdering i en muntlig eksaminasjonssituasjon. 
Klikk her for å laste ned vurderingsskjema
Her er et nytt skjema som jeg har tatt i bruk. 

Here is a simpler version of assessment form that can be used to evalaute and grade an oral presentation. This one does not have a section for formative assessment and I think it can be used if you are just going to evaluate and grade for examination purposes.
Click here to download the assessment form.
Here is another form that I have been using recently.