Name of publication: Speaking and Listening (Upper) Primary by Prim-Ed.
Summary: Speaking and Listening is a 3-book, photocopiable series which aims to cover a range of speaking and listening topics. It is broken up into 2 pages of student worksheets and 1 teacher notes page/lesson plan.
Relevance to curriculum aims: 4.5/5
This publication is the Oral English Curriculum for 5th and 6th Class! At the beginning of the book, there is a handy Speaking&Listening assessment proforma for each lesson. This could be time consuming for each child but maybe useful for focussing in on certain students. There was no reference to differentiation within the lesson plans. all in all, this book will cover your full yearly plan for Oral English in 5th and 6th Class.
Teacher useability: 5/5
I found this publication a joy to use in the busy 5th Class! I was quite worried when I initially started my yearly planning for Oral English, there seemed so much to cover and the resources (Chatterbox, Magic Emerald) available for Oral English did not cover the curriculum fully and seemed to off on their own agenda! The photocopies were really useful and they stimulated conversation, pair and group work. However, sometimes I did not use the photocopies as I focused in on the oral aspects within the lesson plans. The lesson plans within the book are a life saver, easy to use and pick up. They are broken down into “Aims”, “ Background information”, “Activities covered”, and “Additional activities”. The best thing of all for me was that the lessons had a sense of humour, pace and great fun to teach as well as learn about. The children enjoyed as well as ticking the boxes in their learning!
Value for money: 5/5
This book will set you back €29.95 and I think you can get a discount if you purchase on the Prim-Ed website. Imagine that this book will last you for 2 years of teaching! This make it a great value product! Persuade your school to buy it or buy it for yourself. This book would also be useful for sub teachers as you can literally pick it up and read the lesson in a five minute session. Also, as a bonus Prim-Ed will give you 15% off if you order this online…Go on, you know you want to..
Extras: This book does not need fancy extras! It does what it says on the tin!
Wish List: If I were to write this book I would add:
- A more usable tick list system for assessing Oral English learning.
- I would also add differentiation ideas to each lesson or at least an article with a list fo ideas so the teacher can adpat each lesson and its objectives to the individual child’s needs.
Conclusion: This product wins the anseo.net “ Top of the Class” award. It is a well thought out and imaginative product based totally on the Irish curriculum. It is easy to use and fun to use as a discrete Oral English lesson. Every 5th/6th Teacher should have one!
Full Score: 14.5/15
Rozz
Last Update: August 22, 2017