Are you a student who wants to earn a great score in your Language A class? Or are you a teacher who wants clear guidance so your students can be confident and organized?
I am an IB DP examiner for the Individual Oral, and I’m also a teacher. I believe that a model is worth a thousand words.
I had trouble finding a complete model, so I decided to create one, so my students could see what is expected of them, particularly in terms of organization and time management.
Please note, all the learning materials here offered are completely free and you don’t need to sign up for anything!
A bit thanks to Shireen Naidoo, whose knowledge and efforts enriched the videos, and the students at the Shanghai Singapore International School who went on this journey with us.
It all works for the IB DP Literature course as well, you just need a work in translation instead of the Non-Literary work.
In particular the area that I recommend focusing on is the Body of Work and the Managing your Timing, as those two areas regularly cause students lots of difficulty, and also seem to be areas that teachers seem to lack clarity on.
These two videos, along with the complete IO model will make it all extremely clear.
Body of Work Explanation & Managing Timing with exemplars (the most often missed/messed up/confused part of the oral):
Are you a student who wants to earn a great score in your Language A class? Or are you a teacher who wants clear guidance so your students can be confident and organized?
A key part of the the Language A course is the Individual Oral.
I am an IB DP examiner for the Individual Oral, and I’ve seen the difference that a clear understanding makes in the final result. It is a complex task, and as an examiner I have seen some common areas of confusion. This video series will address those areas directly and guide students to improving their scores.
Also please note, all the learning materials here offered are completely free and you don’t need to sign up for anything! My only goal in sharing is to improve students and teachers ability to understand and do well on the Individual Oral.
A main theme here is that if you are well organized and ready to meet all the Individual Oral expectation, you will do well.
The expectation are nearly the same for both the Language A: Language and Literature course and the Language A: Literature Course. Everything covered in this series is applicable to both courses in any language that it is studied.
The first video clarifies explains how important the Global Issue is as a focus for your Individual Oral.
Global Issue (Video 1)
Below is a flipped classroom handout, that you can give to students, or if you are student, use to help you follow along with the video. The video can be watched and handout completed independently with headphones or as homework, and then class time can be used to discuss and share ideas. Or alternately, the handout could be given as guided notes while watching the video in class.
Here are two planners or graphic organizers that ensure you are understanding and meeting all the requirements. These will be explained in detail in the next videos.
The planners offered here work for any IB DP Language A class (Both Lang & Lit as well as Lit), as the Language A Individual Oral expectations are the same regardless of whether the language being studied is Chinese, Spanish, English, French, Korean, etc.
Here a Korean translation of the planner provided by experienced IB DP Korean Literature teacher Sophie Yoon (Thanks Sophie!):
In these two videos, I walk you through how to go from a strong Introductory Statement that addresses the Global Issue to selecting Quotes that link to back to your Global Issue.
There is a real world student example included to make the video more realistic and concrete.
In this video, we clearly cover a very confusing aspect of the Individual Oral, the Body of Work.
It is immediately clear when a student and teacher know how to approach the Body of Work or when they do not. Unfortunately many students fail to address the Body of Work appropriately.
After watching this video, you will understand what is required and be able to be successful in your analysis of the Body of Work.
You need to get the Body of Work right to score highly in Criterion A and C.
In this video we address how to organize time in order to confidently take advantage of the 10 minutes that are completely in the students control.
There is a student example given and then the planner is addressed to show you how to take the organization scheme covered in the previous videos and extend it to remain focused and meet all the expectations in the oral.
And here is the link to Brad Philpot’s page with his organizational thoughts that is addressed in the video. He has lots of great resources for all parts of the course.
Links Section:
Here is links to all the resources referenced in the post to help you quickly find what you need in the future.
In this video we address how to organize yourself to confidently take advantage of the 10 minutes you are given.
There is a student example given and then the planner is addressed to show you how to take the organization scheme covered in the previous videos and extend it to remain focused and meet all the expectations in the oral.
And here is the link to Brad Philpot’s page with his organizational thoughts that is addressed in the video. He has lots of great resources for all parts of the course.
In this video, we clearly cover a very confusing aspect of the Individual Oral, the Body of Work. You need to get the Body of Work right to score highly in Criterion A, B, and C.
This planner will prompt you to consistently address the Body of Work, and will therefore significantly improve your score. How to use it is explained in detail in the videos.
In these two videos, I walk you through how to go from a strong Introductory Statement that addresses the Global Issue to selecting Quotes that link to back to your Global Issue.
There is a student example included to make the videos more realistic and concrete.
This are the planners I’ve created to help students meet the many expectations of the assignment:
Click the link below for the flipped classroom handout to help guide notes, or to give to your students as homework, so they can cover the video content at home, and come into class ready to work on their specific text choices.
Are you a student who wants to earn a great score in your Language A class? Or are you a teacher who wants clear guidance so your students can be confident and organized?
A key part of the the Language A course is the Individual Oral.
I am an IB DP examiner for the Individual Oral, and I’ve seen the difference that a clear understanding makes in the final result. It is a complex task, and as an examiner I have seen some common areas of confusion. This video series will address those areas directly and guide students to improving their scores.
A main theme here is that if you are well organized and ready to meet all the Individual Oral expectation, you will do well.
The expectation are nearly the same for both the Language A: Language and Literature course and the Language A: Literature Course. Here are two planners or graphic organizers that ensure you are understanding and meeting all the requirements. These will be explained in detail in the video series.
These planners will work for any IB DP Language A class, as the Language A Individual Oral expectations are the same regardless of whether the language being studied is Chinese, Spanish, English, French, Korean, etc.
Here a Korean translation of the planner provided by experienced IB DP Korean Literature teacher Sophie Yoon (Thanks Sophie!):
Here is a flipped classroom handout, that you can give to students so they can watch the video as homework, and come into class ready to discuss and share ideas. Or alternately, it could be given as guided notes while watching the video in class.
Here is a simply structured essay organizer I created that gives form to the rather difficult to plan TOK essay.
There are rules about how much feedback teachers are allowed to give students on the TOK essay, and this helps me know exactly what part of the writing essay the students are struggling with very early in the process.
This makes if very clear when students are missing one of the key areas, or if their ideas are lacking in coherency.
I’m grateful to have a job where I get the opportunity to be creative. I wrote this song as part of my Grade 11 study of Lord of the Flies. It was both fun to write and play, and I’m happy with how it came out!
Please share it if you have any English/Literature Teacher friends!
It is always exciting to see our own names in the newspaper! Seeking out opportunities for students is rewarding and provides a welcome hit of real world relevance.
At SSIS we have found an excellent collaborator in the Shanghai Daily. Additionally, they are eager for teacher penned pieces, and this month I penned an article on encouraging young readers.
I’m enjoying my role helping facilitate these publication opportunities. There is no shortage of teachers who are just as eager as students to see their words (and faces) in widely circulated publications.
