On Wednesday 25th April I taught an English lesson to my Year 1 class. Before teaching the lesson it was important to discuss with my mentor what I thought would be needed to be included in order for the children to make progress. I decided to ask for a meeting with the EYFS Lead regarding the teaching of a stand alone English lesson. Currently the Year 1 children are taught English through Read Write Inc Phonics lessons, children are in mixed groups dependent on their ability to recognise sounds and use them within written work. When planning for the stand alone English lesson it was important to take into consideration that I had a range of abilities within my class and I would have to support and extend children’s development throughout the lesson. I discussed with the school’s EYFS lead about teaching a skill to the children to order the sequence of photos that we had taken on our project launch (a Dinosaur Hunt). I suggested that I could teach the skill: to be able to use adverbials of time within their sentences to form a sequence of sentences. I felt it was important to discuss the teaching of the skill and the content that I should be including within my lesson. I discussed how I would teach the lesson and I reflected on Monday’s lesson in order to plan English and ensure that they were able to use their articulacy in order to write their sentences correctly in a sequence. I also had to research what is expected of Year 1 and also what is expected at the end of Year 1 and Year 2. “Is confident to work within the National curriculum.” (Teachers Standards 3) I was also able to demonstrate effectively that I have an understanding of the developments in the subject and the curriculum area through planning and effectively teaching the children a new skill in order for them to use adverbials of time within their work correctly. “Effectively demonstrates consistent and critical understanding of developments in the subject and curriculum areas.” (Teachers Standards 3) I ensured that I supported Lower Prior Attainer children within my class by writing the adverbial of time word onto a whiteboard in front of them. I asked them what they wanted to write and they responded. I then said they need to write that word and use the sound mat to support them (phonics sound mat with sounds on). Although the skill was to use an adverbial of time I still expected children to write sentences using the success criteria made for children to refer back to in order to be successful. Although children were able to use adverbials of time they were still forgetting to use punctuation within their sentences. I was able to use a range of methods to give children feedback within the lesson via verbal feedback, written feedback in their books, next steps and circling lower case letters for them to correct. My target this week was to “Be able to use a range of methods to give children regular feedback in lessons and the opportunity for them to respond to it.” (Teachers Standards 6) “Consistently uses a range of effective methods to give pupils regular and constructive feedback and the opportunity to respond to it.” (Teachers Standards 6) I introduced the use of purple pens to children, the idea behind purple pens is that children take a responsibility of improving their work by replying to next steps with the purple pen. This was used well throughout the lesson to show that they had correctly used an adverbial of time and used their success criteria to ensure that they had met the lesson objective. Children correctly used the purple pen and took responsibility for correcting mistakes, spellings, correct use of punctuation and ensuring that they had used an appropriate adverbial of time within their work. All children learnt a new skill within the lesson, they were engaged and were able to show progress and development throughout the lesson. Children were able to demonstrate when they would use an appropriate adverbial of time within their work. I liked the idea of children using a purple pen to show where they had responded to my feedback and actively demonstrated where they had self corrected. I would have success criteria printed out for children to check their work themselves the next time I teach an english lesson. Children are able to check their own work and only come to me once they are confident that they had checked what they needed to include, that the success criteria is used appropriately within their work and that they have had a friend check it before handing it to myself. This gets children into the practice of checking their own work and redrafting within the lesson. Therefore, children are more likely to remember what they need to do within the lesson rather than following next steps the next day. Focused next steps: I will continue to discuss future planning with my mentor and reflect upon advice received from other colleagues and professionals. I will discuss the next topic of work with a colleague that has a wide range of experience in teaching about Dinosaurs, to ensure that my subject knowledge is robust. I feel reflecting upon advice from others enables me to develop my subject knowledge in order to plan and teach effectively. “Consistently and effectively promotes the value of scholarship.” (Teachers Standards 3) I will continue to use purple pens for children to correct their work. I will also work closely with children to know when they should use the purple pen. All Stories