Investigation B
Another way in which teachers can draw students’ attention to aspects of language is through enhanced input . This is when we take a text that students are reading and highlight a particular feature of grammar for attention.
From one hand-out or text that you will give your students, select and highlight a feature that your assessment data shows a particular student (or group of students) needs to learn. Discuss the highlighted features with that student or group, and ask them to identify further examples in their reading and to use the feature in their writing. (Teachers could refer to the suggestions in Ministry of Education 2004, pages 112–117 for information about shared and guided writing approaches to support learners in their writing.)
The following examples show how one teacher highlighted particular features their students needed help with – regular verb endings, irregular verb endings, the use of the definite article ‘the’, and different kinds of possessive structures in English.
The shovel felt heavy in Stanley’s soft, fleshy hands. He tried to jam it into the earth, but the blade banged against the ground and bounced off without making a dent. The vibrations ran up the shaft of the shovel and into Stanley’s wrists, making his bones rattle.
or
The shovel felt heavy in Stanley’s soft, fleshy hands. He tried to jam it into the earth, but the blade banged against the ground and bounced off without making a dent. The vibrations ran up the shaft of the shovel and into Stanley’s wrists, making his bones rattle.
or
The shovel felt heavy in Stanley’s soft, fleshy hands. He tried to jam it into the earth, but the blade banged against the ground and bounced off without making a dent. The vibrations ran up the shaft of the shovel and into Stanley’s wrists, making his bones rattle.
or
The shovel felt heavy in Stanley’s soft, fleshy hands. He tried to jam it into the earth, but the blade banged against the ground and bounced off without making a dent. The vibrations ran up the shaft of the shovel and into Stanley’s wrists, making his bones rattle.
(Excerpt taken from Chapter 7 of Holes by Louis Sachar.)
