# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Brisk Teaching – AI Assistant for Teachers - Chrome Web Store

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teaching is irreplaceable. For the rest of your workload, there’s Brisk. As educators, your time and effort are invaluable. That’s…

# data[].attributes.body
Create a rubric for a writing task about a disastrous past holiday in A2 level English

# data[].attributes.body
Create a rubric for a writing task about a disastrous past holiday in A2 level English

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As we approach the beginning of a new term, it has been nice to hear from many teachers who are planning to ditch the textbook, or limit its use, to start introducing a lexicogrammar approach to their MFL lessons. Several people have personally asked me to show a sequence of lessons showing how I teach MFL with Sentence Builders, using many activities advocated by Gianfranco Conti. In this post I will be showing how I do so, specifically at KS4. I want to focus on a sequence of lessons at GCSE level, as I want to demonstrate that such approach can be adopted at any Key Stage, not only, KS3. I will show a typical sequence of 9 lessons on the classic topic of Holidays, which I typically teach in September at Y10, using high impact, low preparation resources.

I share with my students the first Sentence Builder on the topic of holidays via OneNote. Students are already familiar with around 90% of this vocabulary and structures as this is a popular topic at KS3, in my case, the topic is taught extensively in Y8 and much of the vocabulary, has been recycled in many other topics since Y7 to promote fluency. When introducing a topic, where applicable, I always start introducing verbs in the infinitive form. I do so since Y7, as it allows me to focus on grammatical concepts smoothly later on. During our first lesson, I display the Sentence Builder below in the IWB and model structures via chorus repetition (different voices, moods etc..).

I tend to follow repetition activities with classical dictation activities using mini whiteboards, creating, in situ, sentences from the sheet below. Delayed dictation tasks, where I say a sentence and students are now allowed to write it down until after 10 seconds later, is another good activity to promote memorisation of structures after repetition.

I like these activities, as I can start forming very simple sentences to move to more complicated ones, progressively, varying the speed of utterances to suit my students ability. Interleaving and Retrieval practice are key here, as I incorporate vocabulary and structures from past topics.

Finally, students carry out translation, from Spanish into English, tasks, via mini whiteboards. All these activities require zero preparation on resources as I work spontaneously through the Sentence Builders sheet.

For homework, students will need to learn the vocabulary, (worth two homework tasks), using a Quizlet course, which corresponds entirely with the Sentence Builder below. Pace is key in this lesson, so students stay engaged! Giving little rewards for x number of correct, mini whiteboard answers.

Lessons 2 and 3

I always start my lessons with a quick fire Retrieval Practice session on the vocabulary introduced in previous lessons and past terms/years structures! After, that, I start working on Structured Production and lots of more Modelling via Listening and Reading. This means, using listening and reading tasks as learning activities not testing tools.

There are a wide range of activities to choose from at this stage but a typical sequence would be, Stealing Sentences, a Conti's classic, at three levels.

I can continue with the following Listening activities (more modelling!): Listening Battleships and Bad Translation tasks, where I read a test at different speeds and students need, firstly, highlight the differences with their given copy and secondly write the actual differences. On a previous blogpost, I give ideas on how to explode Listening Battleships if I decide to do so for extra practice! If needed, for higher ability students, I may ask them to translate the bad translation activity into Spanish.

Lessons 4 and 5

At this point, all lessons will start with strong retrieval practice, via call-out questioning and use of mini whiteboards, for that I tend to use a Wheel of Names activity or Flippity.

After my Retrieval Starter, I plan more structured practice activities. One pen and one dice translation works well. Finally, I can use a game, which requires zero preparation, such as Stone, Paper and Scissors, for students to work in pairs and, orally, to reproduce sentences, using the previous wheel of names activity, which I share with students via OneNote. As homework, translating the sentences from the wheel of names in writing, would be great to reinforce structures.

At this point, I introduce the second Sentence Builder on the topic, the "I form" of the present tense and carry out similar activities to lesson 1 for modelling purposes, interleaved with structured production tasks, with structures from previous lessons, to promote retrieval and to scaffold fluency.

This stage, in essence, is another retrieval practice task as the vocabulary in this new Sentence Builder, is exactly the same as in the previous one, but now focussing on the "I form". Students need to discriminate between the infinitive and the conjugated form of the verbs, which reinforces long term memory acquisition.

Questioning students to make them think on uses of infinitive after certain structures, such as "suelo or solía", which have already been introduced since Y7, are key at this stage to reinforce grammar and promote metacognition. Activities such as Read my Mind or Rock Climbing, inspired by Conti,can be done here. Ideas on how to maximise the activity Rock Climbing can be found here.

At this stage, we revise the present tense as a full paradigm. For that, I use many games using mini whiteboards or board games via Genially. The Language Gym: Verb Trainer mode, is a great activity to do at this stage, as a whole class competition .

When teaching grammar, as this is a revision lesson, I use Retrieval Practice techniques to make my students remember the endings of the Present Tense for regular verbs and revise main irregular and semirregular ones. As a summary of this tense, although not allowed to look at it unless I indicate so, for example, for scaffolding purposes, I give them a hand out on the present tense in Spanish.

Finally, students will carry out Reading activities for homework, taken from Keerboodle and/or Exampro on holidays in the present tense, to learn new vocabulary and practise GCSE exam technique.

After my usual Retrieval Starter, I start moving to the Fluency stage of learning on the topic of holidays in the present. Before doing so, I normally do a revision session on formulating questions, so students can ask each other questions, spontaneously in Spanish. This is not new for my students, therefore, this becomes another Retrieval activity which requires students to give me information through my key questioning.

I may quiz my students' ability to formulate questions via Quizizz and finally, they do independent oral conversations with their partners in a Survey or Speed dating format so that they ask several people different questions. Finally, to reinforce our Sentene Builders, I can ask students to prepare an oral presentation using Flipgrid. A writing task on Holidays in the present will be used at this stage, as a homework activity.

I then introduce a new Sentence Builder, "I form" in the Preterit Tense, in lesson 10. Again, this would be a revision on this tense as it was extensively studied during Y8 and Y9. A very similar format to the previous 9 lessons will follow but I vary my activities at each stage, to avoid a fatigue feeling from my students. As shared in other posts, these are the activities I choose from at each stage.

Similarly, to promote fluency, I interleave Structured Production and Fluency activities from previous Sentence Builders/topics, right after Modelling, when working on a new Sentence Builder. This interleaving strategy and recycling of structures and application of different grammar is key to achieve Fluency as it allows students to use the language in different contexts and start manipulating structures:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sentence Builders at KS4: A sequence of lessons, planning Fluency!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As we approach the beginning of a new term, it has been nice to hear from many teachers who are planning to ditch the textbook , or limit it...

# data[].attributes.body
Based on this sentence builder, create a simple writing task in A2 English only for my 13 year old students to practise.

# data[].attributes.body
Create a downloadable Word document for this worksheet put the image at the top and then underneath a place for the students to write their name the date and their group

# data[].attributes.body
Give feedback on the following text and give me suggestions for things I can add to improve the English with explanations in English: Last summer, I goed to Italy with my family. We was very exciting because we wanted to see the citys and eat good food. But the holiday was a disaster from the start. Our fly was delayed by five hours, and when we arrived, our baggages was lost. We didn’t have no clothes for two days. The hotel was very dirty and the shower not worked. Also, the weather were very hot and sunny, but I got a sunburned on the first day. One day, we trying to visit a museum, but it were closed. Then my little brother lost his wallet in the market and we spend all day looking for it. The food was okay, but my mum got sick after eating some fish. In the end, we was happy to come home. It was not the best holiday I never had!

# data[].attributes.body
Create a rubric in a table for marking a 12-13 year old's written text about what he or she did last summer describing a disastrous holiday practising the perfect and imperfect tenses in English. Create 3 x 100 word texts as an example with 5 deliberate mistakes in each one, making each text progressively more advanced. Mark the texts using the rubric and give feedback about the mistakes using examples in context.

# data[].attributes.body
Rewrite the text but when there is a mistake I want you to include the original word and then the correct version but I want you to make those words in bold.

# data[].attributes.body
Write a 50 word text describing your morning routine using simple present tense and sequencing words (e.g., first, then, after that, finally).

# data[].attributes.body
Create a short podcast of 2 people describing their morning routine in A2 level English

# data[].attributes.body
Based on this transcript, create a writing task aimed at A2 level learners of English:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Online video editor by Microsoft Clipchamp

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Create videos with royalty-free music and stock footage, use video templates, and export in up to 4K video resolution. Get started in-browser or download the Windows app.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This app was built in Streamlit! Check it out and visit https://streamlit.io for more awesome community apps. 🎈

# data[].attributes.body
Create a table for discussing sports and leisure activities. The table should have six columns with the following labels: “Day,” “Activity,” “Time,” “Object,” “Emotion,” and “Location.” Each column should contain one emoji per row to represent the corresponding label. Use different emojis for each row to describe various activities, times, objects, emotions, and locations related to sports and leisure. Here’s the format:

Day: Use emojis representing days or times (e.g., 🌞 for morning, 🌙 for night).

Activity: Include sports or leisure activities (e.g., 🏃 for running, 🚴 for cycling).

Time: Use clock emojis to represent the time of the activity (e.g., 🕘 for 9 AM).

Object: Include objects related to the activity (e.g., 🏀 for basketball, 🚲 for cycling).

Emotion: Use emojis to represent emotions felt during the activity (e.g., 😊 for happy, 😅 for tired).

Location: Use emojis to represent where the activity takes place (e.g., 🏟️ for stadium, 🌳 for park).

Fill out the table with different combinations of emojis for each row.

Create a writing task aimed at A1 level learners of English based on the table.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
JurgitaNorkiene (feedback based on the rubric)

# data[].attributes.body
Reflection and gratitude :)

# data[].attributes.body
Lesson plan with the links of AI tools learned in webinar 5.

# data[].attributes.body
Unfortunately, but the Enhancement of Writing using AI tools was the last session of all the seminar Applying AI tools in the classroom.

As always session has been very informative and lots of practice. I must admit I have been waiting for the session on writing enhancement very much and it was worth it. Variety of tools have been presented to have lessons more engaging, with great value and teacher’s daily routine I could say has been made easier.

Being the teacher of senior classes lots of writings must be done. Not a secret, that the most miserable part of it- evaluation, correction, giving feedback to each student’s work.  So, I was very happy to try Brisk teaching. I have liked about it everything: creating rubrics and being provided with the very detailed feedback, what means not only the teacher’s work making easier and time-saving, but being very informative for the student as well.

# data[].attributes.body
body clock

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
body clock – sukurta naudojant „Clipchamp“_1743965457188

# data[].attributes.body
body clock fill in the gaps

# data[].attributes.body
A handout for the teachers.

# data[].attributes.body
A sincere thank you for the seminars.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Podcast on favourite films - Made with Clipchamp

# data[].attributes.body
Step-by-step guide on Brisk

# data[].attributes.body
In the last webinar, we explored several AI tools that can support language teaching in creative and practical ways. I found the session very inspiring, and it gave me a lot of ideas for my classes. These tools not only help save time but also make learning more engaging for students.

One tool I really liked was Brisk Teaching. It allows teachers to quickly turn student writing into quiz questions. This is helpful because the quiz feels more personal to the students—they see their own language being used. It also helps the teacher focus on real mistakes or strong points from the class. I think this will make students more involved and reflective about their learning.

We also looked at how AI can generate rubrics for marking written work. I used to spend a lot of time making rubrics for different tasks. With AI, this process becomes much faster. I can simply describe the task and the AI gives me a clear and well-organized rubric. This helps me be more consistent in my marking and gives students a better understanding of what is expected.

Another exciting feature we explored was ChatGPT’s vision tool. It can create sentences or even whole stories based on an image. I think this would be great for vocabulary practice, storytelling, or creative writing. Students who struggle to start writing often feel more confident when they have a picture to inspire them.

The Magic Padlet was another helpful tool. It creates visually supported writing tasks using images and prompts. I can imagine using it to support writing for lower-level learners or for students who benefit from visual input. It can be a great way to make writing more accessible and fun.

The Image Accessibility Creator was something I had not used before, but I now see how useful it is. It creates image descriptions that can serve as strong writing prompts. It’s a good way to practice descriptive language and helps all students, including those with visual impairments, take part in image-based tasks.

Lastly, the Emoji Scaffold was a fun and creative idea. Using emojis to support vocabulary can make writing less intimidating for students. It helps them brainstorm emotions, actions, or settings in a simple and playful way. I think younger students especially would enjoy this.

In conclusion, all of the AI tools presented throughout this course of webinars can really support language teaching in both big and small ways. They help us work more efficiently and make learning more enjoyable for students. I’m looking forward to trying these tools out in my own classroom.

# data[].attributes.body
I am very grateful to the originators, organizers, and especially Mr. Joe Dale for the opportunity to participate in the course. We received a lot of new and useful ideas on how to improve the quality and make the work of a teacher easier. I believe that we will use many of these techniques in the nearest future. Thank you for the material provided in Padlet. May all our courses to improve qualifications be like this one of Mr. Joe Dale. Thank you.

# data[].attributes.body
People: Who are the people in the image? Describe them.
Action: What are the people doing?
Location: Where are they?
Mood: How do the people appear to be feeling?
Weather: What is the weather like in the image?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reflection on the Final Session of the Seminar