Handbook-informed classroom practice
Repair a Comparative with a Criterion
Make the basis of comparison explicit.
A completed model
“The second design is better” is incomplete. “The second design supports a greater load with the same material” identifies a criterion without declaring it better in every respect.
Design 2 is better
Load supported
Greater load; same material
Original teaching example; adapt the subject context and check prior understanding.
Teach the language move
- Read two designs and identify the intended comparison criterion.
- Locate a vague comparative in a draft explanation.
- Replace it with wording tied to a measurable or defined property.
- Check whether another criterion could produce a different judgement.
Preparation
Display the short model and prepare a fresh transfer example. Establish any subject vocabulary needed before focusing on the language move.
Use it in your next lesson
Give the original model, then ask learners to complete the organiser using their own wording. Discuss one difference between paired responses before the individual check.
Your response organiser
Check independent transfer
Ask for a fresh comparison under a different criterion without providing the adjective.
Record what the learner did without a model, prompt or partner. Keep an example of the response for planning.
Teacher language
Better in which respect, and compared with what?
Follow up without supplying the answer
Ask the learner to point to the evidence, explain their word choice or identify the missing information. Allow thinking time before inviting a revised response.
Feedback focus
First check the subject meaning. Then address one language choice that affects that meaning; ask for a fresh use rather than repeated copying.
Adjust support and challenge
More support: read the model aloud, offer a small word bank and allow familiar-language notes or partner rehearsal before an English response. Keep the reasoning goal.
Less support: remove the completed organiser, change the evidence or audience and ask for an independently justified response.
Age and proficiency: the example is designed for secondary subject learning. Use a simpler familiar context with younger learners; an English proficiency label alone does not determine the subject demand.