Year 7 Flipped

I don’t mean the class got angry…. this was my first attempt at reverse instruction.

Year 7 are reading the Ballad of Charlotte Dymond. We had covered the background to the case in small groups through a jigsawed approach, presenting the key facts on the board.

When questioning the group the following lesson, it was clear that both their knowledge and their understanding of the characters involved and the case, was a little sketchy. More importantly, they were not able to explain why both Charlotte Dymond and Mathew Weeks were victims.

So I decided to flip the lesson, setting the lesson task for homework and the homework as a ‘mini’ controlled assessment to be attempted in class the next lesson. (The more I think about it, this process is not dissimilar to Controlled Assessments at GCSE).

I provided the students 1 proscribed reading task ‘Was Charlotte Dymond Killed by Matthew Weeks in 1844?’ outlining key information with contributions from local historian Pat Munn, plus an optional extended reading task ‘Bodmins Greatest Victorian Murder.’ Student were told that the lesson would start with a 10 question quiz.

Results

Very few of the students actually completed the reading 4/26. Only one student accessed the extended reading task, but had not yet read the article. High score 5, low score 1.

What did I learn?

A reading homework may not be the most engaging flipped lesson. Year 7 students need more practice accessing the VLE. The 4 students who completed the homework scored an average 4.5 and were the 4 highest scores in the group, so there is value in this method. Even so, were the questions pitched too high? For the rest of the lesson, the class worked very diligently, it was clear they were very aware that we / they had under performed.

Will I try it again with Yr 7, yes. Before I do, I will try it with Yr 10 first.

Year 7a3 Questions

Was Charlotte Dymond Killed by Matthew Weeks in 1844? Quiz

1. Where was Charlotte Dymond murdered?
2. Matthew Weeks was hanged for the murder of Charlotte Dymond on 12th August 1844? 1884? 1944?
3. How many people turned out to watch the execution.
4. How was Charlotte Dymond murdered?
5. What was odd about Charlotte’s memorial stone?

It was not until the 1970s that doubts began to emerge about the reliability of Matthew’s conviction.

1. Why could Matthew Weeks not defend himself properly through the legal system of the time?
2. On the night she was murdered, who waited for Charlotte Dymond on the moor, but claimed that she never turned up?
3. Supposedly dictated (spoken by) by Matthew Weeks, who wrote his confession?
4. According to investigation, other than murder, how else could Charlotte Dymond have died?
5. Poems that tell a story, with a regular rhyme scheme and metre are often referred to as a ______________?

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