ACfE In Action

I am thoroughly enjoying working with the Primary 6 class at Cockenzie on Monday mornings, it really is an exciting and motivating way to begin the week. This morning the children started off learning to write letters, they were adding a paragraph to a letter they had already begun. They were imagining they were evacuees and were writing home. The paragraph today was to include information on the Blitz and their learning intention was to create a detailed, accurate and convincing impression of events. The children planned using a mind map and the groups who have specifically chosen to study the Blitz were able to add information from their topic research. To be successful the children had to include questions to their “imagined parents” in order to seek out information about what was happening at home. Many well-written paragraphs were produced and the success criteria were well met. A great start to the morning!

Following break time the children worked in their “research groups” gathering evidence to answer their key questions on their chosen topics. I was able to stand back for a minute and observe what was happening. All children were fully engaged on the task, working mostly in teams and were using computers and books to find their answers. Children were constantly referring to the forward plans they had written and having two teachers in the room meant we could support and challenge the children. After twenty minutes we all stopped to share one thing we had learnt, I was taught a great deal during that time! Did you know that by September 1939 thirty eight million gas masks had been issued or that the undersides of fighter planes were painted using camouflage paint? The children were keen to share as it was information that really interested them. The evidence is clearly being gathered and the children have decided that they would like to hold a Learning Festival to showcase their learning. This is going to take place at the beginning of November.

The final activity of the morning was equally enjoyable. All groups were asked to take part in a “make it and prove it” task. This includes aspects of Art and Technology as the children had to decide what they would make and how they would make it to prove what they had learnt about their topics. One boy decided he would have a life sized cardboard cut out of Hitler and the face could be cut out. He explained that at the Learning Festival different people would put their faces through the hole and wet sponges would be thrown. When asked how this would show what he had learnt he responded confidently that he would label his life-sized model with all the facts he had learnt about Hitler and why he upset many people during the War! When setting about making the model he needed to know what height Hitler was so he went straight to the computer and found this out. Within seconds he found a metre stick and measured Hitler’s height, placing a piece of tape up the side of the board. Real and relevant Maths in Action! The same happened with the group I worked with, they had decided to make an Anderson Shelter and had researched its dimensions. One girl asked how tall 6 foot was and when I told her it was a bit bigger than me, I became the non standard unit to measure their shelter. Creativity, ingenuity and again cross-curricular learning at its best! What will tomorrow bring?