Two detailed and comprehensive sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about the topic of Daily Routine- both first and third person. Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Suitable for KS3. Feedback welcome.
A template for Dr Conti’s Delayed Copying activity. Instructions are contained within the document on first page. Feel free to download and then adapt to you own topics.
Three detailed sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about the topic of school - subjects and teachers. Students can talk about subject preferences and give a range of reasons for these, both positive and negative. They can then move on to describing favourite/worst teachers. Please note, you should insist upon the latter description being fiction and treat it as purely creative writing - language is provided to describe really bad teachers (think The Wall).
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Can be adapted for all of KS3 - but has previously worked particularly well with Y7-Y8 classes. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty. Feedback welcome.
Very detailed and comprehensive sentence builder to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about what they would do if they “were really rich”. This topic is ideal for KS4 and for working on a range of imperfect subjunctive and conditional structures within a safe and structured environment.
Sentence Builders are used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. This resource would work particularly well with Y10-11 class. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty. Feedback welcome.
Two detailed and comprehensive sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about themselves. Students will learn an ambitious number of adjectives, in context, and be able to combine these with a variety of sentence heads, including a range of simple to complex structures.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Can be adapted for all of KS3 - and has previously worked well with Y7-Y8-Y9. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty. Feedback welcome.
Two detailed and comprehensive sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about a past restaurant trip. Students can talk about where they went to eat and give a detailed account of what went well / badly (including REALLY well, and REALLY badly :)
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Has been used with a Y10 class after a restaurant trip but would also work well with a top set Y8-Y9. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty. Feedback welcome.
This is a sample unit from Spanish Sentence Builders - TRILOGY - Part 1 - SPEAKING BOOKLET. This unit is Unit 0 - EPI REGISTER ROUTINE: Introducing oneself and asking how you are doing.
We are giving this away in order for teachers to have a strong understanding of what the book looks like and is about, seeing as this book is very different from any that we have previously made.
This book has been designed as a resource to use in conjunction with the E.P.I. approach and teaching strategies in a bid to scaffold oral communication by gradually moving from highly structured tasks (e.g. ‘Oral Ping Pong’, ‘No snakes no ladders’, ‘Communicative drills’) to semi-structured ones (e.g. ‘Surveys’, ‘Things in Common’, ‘Detectives and Informants’).
The book contains 15 units which concern themselves with specific communicative functions, such as ‘Describing people’s appearance and personality’, ‘Saying what you like and dislike’ or ‘Saying what you and others do in your free time’.
Each unit includes a sentence builder with the target constructions and vocabulary followed by a series of tried and tested Conti E.P.I. speaking games sequenced so as to pose a gradually increasing degree of challenge.
The speaking games included are:
o Oral Ping Pong
o Find Someone Who
o No Snakes No Ladders o Staircase Translation o Faster!
o Fast & Furious
o Communicative Drills
o Fluency Cards
o Trapdoor
o Things in Common
o Detectives & Informants
o Information Gap Tasks
As already noted, the above games are sequenced in ascending order of linguistic and cognitive challenge. The focus is on gradually building up students’ fluency and autonomous competence. These games fall in the ‘Structured Production’, ‘Routinization’ and ‘Spontaneity’ phases in Dr Conti’s MARS EARS pedagogical cycle, which is central to his E.P.I. approach.
This is “Unit 14 - Talking about a festival I went to” from our upcoming “Spanish Sentence Builders - Intermediate” book. A sequel to the best-selling Beginner-Pre intermediate Sentence Builders.
This unit puts students in the shoes of someone who has recently returned from the Tomatina festival. They are given opportunities to practice speaking about a recent trip, in the context of the super fun cultural tradition of the Tomatina festival.
There is a joint focus on preterite tense and raising cultural awareness. The unit also includes a section on Question Skills and a Vocab Revision Workout.
This is a sample unit from Spanish Sentence Builders - TRILOGY - Part 1 - SPEAKING BOOKLET. This unit is Unit 11 - Saying what I and others do in our free time - Ir / Jugar / Hacer.
We are giving this away in order for teachers to have a strong understanding of what the book looks like and is about, seeing as this book is very different from any that we have previously made.
This book has been designed as a resource to use in conjunction with the E.P.I. approach and teaching strategies in a bid to scaffold oral communication by gradually moving from highly structured tasks (e.g. ‘Oral Ping Pong’, ‘No snakes no ladders’, ‘Communicative drills’) to semi-structured ones (e.g. ‘Surveys’, ‘Things in Common’, ‘Detectives and Informants’).
The book contains 15 units which concern themselves with specific communicative functions, such as ‘Describing people’s appearance and personality’, ‘Saying what you like and dislike’ or ‘Saying what you and others do in your free time’.
Each unit includes a sentence builder with the target constructions and vocabulary followed by a series of tried and tested Conti E.P.I. speaking games sequenced so as to pose a gradually increasing degree of challenge.
The speaking games included are:
o Oral Ping Pong
o Find Someone Who
o No Snakes No Ladders o Staircase Translation o Faster!
o Fast & Furious
o Communicative Drills
o Fluency Cards
o Trapdoor
o Things in Common
o Detectives & Informants
o Information Gap Tasks
As already noted, the above games are sequenced in ascending order of linguistic and cognitive challenge. The focus is on gradually building up students’ fluency and autonomous competence. These games fall in the ‘Structured Production’, ‘Routinization’ and ‘Spontaneity’ phases in Dr Conti’s MARS EARS pedagogical cycle, which is central to his E.P.I. approach.
One detailed sentence builder to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about the topic of Festivals. Students can talk about why they like/dislike certain festivals and give past opinions and future intentions.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. This Sentence Builder would work particularly well with a top set Y10-Y11. Because of the wide variety of structures there is scope for exposing students to a range of complex structures. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty. Feedback welcome.
FREE SAMPLE:
ONE detailed and comprehensive sentence builder to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about themselves (masculine only). Students will learn an ambitious number of adjectives, in context, and be able to combine these with a variety of sentence heads, including a range of simple to complex structures.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Can be adapted for all of KS3 - and has previously worked well with Y7-Y8-Y9. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty. Feedback welcome.
Six detailed and comprehensive sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about the topic of “Leisure Activities”/“Free time”/“After school”. Students can talk about what they do after school as well as what a friend (Paco) or relative does. They can then move on to general leisure and free time activities and infinitive structures, and then eventually infinitive structures containing the imperfect. The content of these six SBs is best covered over a 8-12 week term.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Can be adapted for all of KS3. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty (increasing difficulty will likely not be necessary). Feedback welcome.
Six detailed and comprehensive sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about the topic of “Holidays”. Students can talk about where they usually go and give a range of opinions about why they like/dislike the place. They can then move on to comparing what activities they do on holidays now and in the past. Eventually students can talk specifically about past holidays and activities and then problems on holiday. There is enough content here for an 8-12 week term with a high ability class.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked and proofread for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Can be adapted for all of KS3 - but has previously worked particularly well with a top set Y8-Y9. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty (increasing difficulty should not be necessary on these). Feedback welcome.
Four detailed and comprehensive sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about their relationships. Tested and re-tested and upated for maximum useability. Students can talk about who they get along with and why, and also who they don’t get along with. Language is carefully selected to be high frequency and idiomatic. Students have loved having the tools to describe “the best/worst person in the world” in a natural, idiomatic and creative way - making this one of the favourite topics learnt, two years running.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Has previously worked particularly well with our Y9 sets but is perfectly suitable for all of KS3. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty for younger groups. Feedback welcome.
Three detailed and comprehensive sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about the topic of food/drink. Students can talk about what foods they eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner and give a range of opinions, from simple to complex about why they have these preferences.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Can be adapted for all of KS3 - but has previously been very successful with top set Y7 and Y8s. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty (increasing difficulty not recommended for this key stage). Feedback welcome.
Sentence builder to enable students to accurately speak and write about furniture and rooms of the house. Students can experiment with prepositions in a structured and safe way, with minimal to zero risk of error production when using the Sentence Builder.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Suitable for all of KS3. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty (increasing not recommended). Feedback welcome.
Two detailed and comprehensive sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about negative relationships. INTERMEDIATE level has been re-designed to be more suitable for mid-ability UK KS3 classes.
Tested and re-tested and upated for maximum useability. Students can talk about who they dislike and why. Language is carefully selected to be high frequency and idiomatic. Students have loved having the tools for creative writing about “the worst person in the world” in a natural, idiomatic and creative way - making this one of the favourite topics learnt, two years running.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Has previously worked particularly well with our Y9 sets but is perfectly suitable for all of KS3. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty for younger groups. Feedback welcome.
Two detailed and comprehensive sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about positive relationships. Tested and re-tested and upated for maximum useability. Students can talk about who they get along with and why, and also who they don’t get along with. Language is carefully selected to be high frequency and idiomatic. Students have loved having the tools to describe “the best/worst person in the world” in a natural, idiomatic and creative way - making this one of the favourite topics learnt, two years running.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Has previously worked particularly well with our Y9 sets but is perfectly suitable for all of KS3. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty for younger groups. Feedback welcome.
Detailed and comprehensive sentence builder to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about the topic of after school activities - part of the Daily Routine unit. This sentence builder also includes rooms of the house, so students can say what they do, when, and where.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Extensive Separate SBs for 1st and 3rd person. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Suitable for KS3. Feedback welcome.
Four detailed and comprehensive sentence builders to enable students to accurately speak and write, in depth, about the topic of “Where I live”. Students can talk about where they live and why they love / hate their house. They can then move on to comparing where they live now and where they used to live before.
Used as the basis for a Extensive Processing Instruction (Conti methodology) sequence of lessons. Highly checked for accuracy and useability. Language is ambitious, but presented simply, clearly and logically so as to minimise cognitive overload, therefore useable with and perfect for differentiating for learners of all abilities - either for top/lower sets, or mixed ability groups. Heavily tested in class and revised/improved over the last two years. Can be adapted for all of KS3 - but would work particularly well with a top set Y8-Y9. Sentence Builders can be easily edited if you want to reduce the difficulty. Feedback welcome.