Response to investigate
Try harder and be better at passing.
Practical disciplinary literacy
PE: disciplinary literacy in practice
Read performance evidence, describe an observable movement and check a change.
The task students are answering
Material to use
Teacher preparation: demonstrate or show three passes of one familiar, taught technique towards a marked target from a fixed distance. Record where each pass finishes. Use a teacher-approved technique cue appropriate to that movement and class. The three-short-passes pattern in the model is illustrative; use the actual observed results.
Ask students
What pattern do you observe in the three passes? Give one specific technique cue, then explain how the next attempts would show whether placement improved.
Expected response
An observation–feedback–check record: describe the pattern, state one actionable cue and compare the next attempts under similar conditions.
What to look for
- Describes observed placement rather than judging effort.
- Uses a specific cue related to the taught technique.
- Compares attempts from the same distance and avoids claiming the cue worked without follow-up evidence.
How a response can develop
The model and sample responses below address the question above. Reveal the teaching interpretation after discussing what is clearer in the improved response.
Observe
In an illustrative sequence, three passes finish short of the target.
Feedback
Give one teacher-approved technique cue appropriate to the movement and learner.
Review
Compare the next attempts under similar conditions; decide whether placement improved.
More precise response
Three passes finished short. After the agreed technique cue, compare the next attempts from the same distance to see whether placement improves.
Reveal the teaching interpretation
Replace a judgement of effort with an observable pattern. Demonstration, pointing and oral rehearsal can support a precise response.
These are invented teaching samples. One response alone does not establish proficiency, attainment or a learning difficulty.
Teacher preparation and teaching sequence
Prepare the material described in Visual model. Read the exact student question aloud and show the expected response before modelling. For Music and PE, supply the recording or demonstration first.
- Read or observe: introduce the task: Evaluate a teacher-selected passing sequence and give one actionable technique cue.
- Model: think aloud through the three-part model, connecting each decision to the evidence.
- Notice: compare the two sample responses. Identify one meaning difference, not just a difference in length.
- Rehearse: Use a teacher-selected demonstration or clip. Record observation, one safe cue and a comparable follow-up check.
- Transfer: Evaluate another sequence and justify one feedback point with observed evidence.
Useful language to notice
Three passes finished short. After the agreed technique cue, compare the next attempts from the same distance to see whether placement improves.
Highlight words that connect evidence, explanation and qualification. Choose a small useful phrase set rather than asking learners to memorise the entire model.
Use the task with your class
Student instructions
What pattern do you observe in the three passes? Give one specific technique cue, then explain how the next attempts would show whether placement improved.
Produce: An observation–feedback–check record: describe the pattern, state one actionable cue and compare the next attempts under similar conditions.
Independent follow-up
Observe another teacher-selected sequence. Identify one different pattern and justify a single feedback point with what you observed.
Use the fresh task after practice. Record what the learner achieves and which supports remain necessary.
Adapt and keep your resource
Edit these fields for your class or department. Drafts stay in this browser; use anonymised evidence. Download an editable text copy to keep it elsewhere.
Model the decisions, then invite a response
“What did you observe, and what specific change can the performer try?”
“What evidence supports that connection?”
“Which condition, exception or limitation matters here?”
Respond to the sample
Replace a judgement of effort with an observable pattern. Demonstration, pointing and oral rehearsal can support a precise response.
First establish the learner’s subject meaning through talk, a sketch or a familiar-language response. Then address one English choice that helps communicate that meaning.
Access, independence and department use
Access: introduce essential terms with a representation; allow bilingual notes, partner rehearsal and a brief sentence frame. Keep the subject reasoning.
Independence: use fresh content and remove the full model. Retain required access arrangements and record any prompts.
Department pilot: use this routine in one unit. Collect a small anonymised sample before and after teaching, note the support provided and review with an EAL colleague.
Plan a manageable pilotPE: disciplinary literacy in practice
Everyday communication and academic language
BICS is a useful shorthand for interpersonal communication; CALP draws attention to the language demands of academic learning. They are not two learner categories or a direct WIDA/CEFR conversion. Familiar conversation can conceal difficulty with a dense text or an unfamiliar subject explanation. Look at the task, context, support and individual language domains.
Plan from what learners can do
WIDA’s Key Uses provide a useful way to identify the communicative purpose: recount, explain, argue or discuss. Use the grade-band descriptors with the learner’s domain-specific evidence and choose support that keeps the subject thinking intact.
- Recount: Sequence the phases of a movement using a demonstration or images.
- Explain: Explain how body position affects balance during a movement.
- Argue: Recommend a tactical option using performance observations and a likely limitation.
- Discuss: Compare strategies and agree what to test in the next practice.
Open the subject language planner
Original teaching examples informed by WIDA Can Do Descriptors. They are not official descriptors or predicted assessment outcomes.