Handbook-informed classroom practice
Distinguish Hearing from Inferring
Separate explicit speech from a listener’s interpretation.
A completed model
Teacher script: “The garden reading was lower. We measured both places at noon, but we did not compare the ground materials.” Heard: lower garden reading. Inferred but unproven: shade alone caused it.
Garden reading was lower
Shade was the only cause
Materials and exposure
Original teaching example; adapt the subject context and check prior understanding.
Teach the language move
- Set two columns: heard and inferred.
- Listen to the whole script before recording a conclusion.
- Place each candidate statement in the appropriate column.
- Identify what further evidence would test the inference.
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
Use a new script and ask learners to identify one explicit statement and one unsupported inference.
Record what the learner did without a model, prompt or partner. Keep an example of the response for planning.
Teacher language
Did the speaker state that cause, or did we add it?
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.