ACfE In Action

Monday 8^th October 2007

What a welcome I received when I walked into the Primary 6 classroom in Cockenzie this morning. “Hurray you are here, we thought you weren’t coming today, there is no Environmental Studies on our daily plan and we really need you! Our Anderson shelter has collapsed and we wondered if you could help us to make it stand up again”. I was met by an enthusiastic Casey who is clearly motivated by the project. Luckily I was there to help, however today we did not have Environmental Studies on the plan but Drama and Religious and Moral Education. The reason…..both Jennifer and I were keen to ensure that there was a clear balance between  discovery/ independent learning within the topic and actual teaching of the facts and skills. Jennifer and I were keen to make links and ensure that all of the children’s learning was relevant, enjoyable and challenging!

What followed was a fun day of active learning which began with a practical Drama session exploring what life would be like for a child during the War. The body language, facial expressions and thoughts expressed by the children showed that they were really engaging with the task. The children successfully worked in groups making decisions, listened to each others ideas and were able to make group still images which were then photographed. The language used during discussions showed real empathy and understanding. As we were returning to the class I heard one group comment on how they were going to take their Drama into the playground and continue “the game”. What motivation - I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall out in the playground!

Jennifer and I had planned to teach Religious and Moral Education after Drama. The topic was Christianity and the Ten Commandments and we had planned to split the class in half and teach the children in two different groups. We both taught this in a very active way with my group proving their learning using a song (http://garden of praise.com) and Jennifer’s proving their learning through Drama. We came back together and performed to each other, with all children showing a clear knowledge and understanding of Christian’s beliefs and their ten “main rules”. I was concerned that I had not had enough time during the lesson to relate back to the World War 2 topic so following the performances Jennifer asked the children to shut their eyes.  She explained that she was going to say something and they were then to shout out their first thoughts. As soon as she had finished saying “Hitler claimed to be a Christian” shouts came loud and clear throughout the class…”Aye right, no way, he didn’t treat people well, but he killed, he didn’t treat everyone as an equal etc”. They were clearly relating their morning’s lesson on the Holocaust with their current learning in Religious and Moral Education. At the end of the day the children commented on the fact that they had hardly picked up a pencil all day. “It was fun learning in different ways today, it was not like REAL work” was a comment that made me smile! Indeed it was “real work” and hopefully work the children will remember because they were actively involved.