ACfE In Action

Apologies for not keeping this site regularly updated! I am finding that I often sit down around 9pm with great intentions….the next thing I know, it’s midnight and I have been asleep for 3 hours!

Monday afternoons have now become our “Planet Seeker” afternoons in Primary 5/6. Part of the original forward plan for the topic of Space was to find out details about the planets. I decided to take a similar approach to that taken in Cockenzie. This time however I was at an advantage and knew the children before I began to work with them, I therefore made some changes to suit their needs.

Each child chose a planet that interested them, this was an informed decision and choices were made following a study of planets on the internet and in books. They then chose how they wanted to work; individually, with a partner or in groups. Forward plans were then made…again by the children. The children were given five key questions that they had to find the answers to and then chose five more questions to find answers to. They chose for all questions, how they were going to find the answers and how they were going to prove their learning and present it to Mission Control (the rest of the class and teachers).

The children have recently been taught how to create slideshows in ICT so it was interesting that many of them have chosen to use this newly aquired skill to present their information. Others are creating posters, doing a Drama or preparing a talk. Many children have responded to this challenge and are well on the way to being successful.

As before the challenge for me is to ensure that there remains a balance between direct teaching and active, discovery learning. So far however the children have generally been incredibly motivated and slide shows beyond my capabilities are being produced as proof of learning! This project is only a small part of the overall work on Space but it really is encouraging the children to choose topics and ways of learning that suit them.

The challenge is to continue on from the Cockenzie project and now work in our own schools. The mission remains the same; how can we offer more personalisation and choice, challenge and enjoyment and meaningful cross curricular opportunities to our pupils?
Emma Grierson and her P5/6 class are my willing volunteers this time around. Their topic is Space and we are all ready for our mission! Initially we asked the children to create Mind Maps based around the theme of Space, asking them how we could learn in all areas of the curriculum through this topic. The results were interesting, very similar to what we would probably have produced ourselves but by getting them to do this they were taking ownership of their learning and having a choice in what they could learn. The idea of creating a game in Maths, using the theme of Space to help them to learn their times tables arose in a few of their mind maps. This idea along with many others has been taken forward with the children.
The class have a vast range of abilities and needs and we decided that we were better at times splitting the class in two. I am planning to teach the children working towards levels A and B and Emma the children working towards levels C and D. On Monday afternoons we are working on a “Planet Seekers Mission” as a whole class (more later), Tuesday mornings we are teaching poetry in groups and Tuesday afternoons we are teaching aspects of Maths through their topic, again in groups. Hopefully this will allow me to fulfil both my role as secondee promoting A Curriculum for Excellence and my role as Principal Teacher in the school promoting attainment! Heres hoping……..

The children chose to hold a learning festival as a display of their knowledge and what a successful day it was! Other classes, parents and relatives came to visit and learn all about World War 2. By far the most popular stall was Dean’s “throw a sponge at Hitler” stall. This was his way of proving his learning as he had written facts about Hitler. Interestingly when the project was being evaluated Dean said he would always remember Hitler’s “awful actions”. He also remarked on the fact that he would “never have been allowed to do the stall he chose if the teachers had been left to plan the festival and not the children”. Indeed Dean was not alone in his motivation to learn since what they were learning, the way in which they learnt and how they proved their learning was all chosen by the children themselves!
The festival was a huge success and the service which followed was a poignant reminder to us all of the atrocities of the War. Well done yet again to Primary 6 for all their hard work!

We all certainly looked the part on our trip to the Museum of Flight. Thankfully there is no photographic evidence of Jennifer or I dressed as “old time teachers”! The children had made a real effort, dressed as evacuees they left the school as the Management and Office staff sang “we’ll meet again”. We began at the War Memorial in Cockenzie then left for the Museum at East Fortune.

We were taken into a hanger and the children had to get down on the floor when they heard the air raid siren. They had to lay out equipment as if they were soldiers and then saw many different war planes. We ended the day watching Goodnight Mr Tom and a few tears were shed!

A trip has been planned to take the children to the Museum of Flight on the 29^th October. The children will dress as evacuees and Jennifer and I as “old fashioned teachers” (I must look out my twin set and pearls)! We will be given a tour of the aircraft which will support the many groups in the class who chose to study aircraft and weapons. Many other activities will take place (top secret for now) and it will be a great way to round up the topic.

A decision was made by the children that they would like to hold a Learning Festival to showcase their learning and they each chose how they would like to “prove it”. Examples include creating a slide show on the computer, writing a report, making a book and giving a talk. The children have also been working on a “make it, prove it” to answer one of their key questions. This “make it, prove it” was planned to ensure that there were aspects of Art/Technology within their forward plans. The Learning Festival is to take place in the school on the 9^th November to coincide with Remembrance Day. It is sure to be a great event and work will take place during the first two weeks after the holidays to prepare for this. Good luck with this Primary 6 – I will be there on the day to support you.

The project will come to a final end on Monday 12^th November when I visit the class for the last time for an evaluation discussion. Who better to inform us of the positives/negatives of the project than the children themselves!

Thank you to Primary 6, Jennifer Daly and all at Cockenzie Primary for making me feel so welcome during my time in your school. A huge thank you also to Ann McLanachan for her invaluable support as my “mentor” and “sweetie provider” throughout the whole project, you truly know how to motivate your team:) A happy and much deserved October break to you all.

Jennifer Daly (Primary 6 teacher at Cockenzie) comments….

“As a self certified control freak I was apprehensive to say the least about transferring the control of the what, how and who to the children. Only after they all far exceeded my expectations did I have a pang of guilt that I had underestimated them so much! The children were able to identify what they wanted to learn, who they wanted to work with and how they could “prove it”. All were able to write their own forward plan with key questions and method of assessment. As if by magic, the children got into groups where there was a mix of personality, strengths and ability. At all times during our topic the children were on task and appeared highly motivated. It was almost that the topic became a liquid and seeped into all that we did, how we lined up, how they played and how they behaved.  The children responded well to developing their knowledge about World War 2 in Drama, Religious and Moral Education, Personal and Social Development , Language as well as Environmental Studies.

Working with Sheila was exciting and having a supporter to help with the facilitating of the learning taking place was invaluable. Ultimately however, the real planning, teaching and assessment came from the enthusiastic ten year olds themselves”.

Tuesday 9^th October 2007

At the beginning of this project the children chose the topics that they would like to study. When Jennifer and I compared their choices with the “original plan for the topic” we discovered that nobody had chosen to study rationing. There was therefore going to be a big gap in their learning if this was not covered. An afternoon of rationing activities was therefore planned for today and the children decided that to be successful they needed to find out what rationing was, why rationing took place, what was rationed and how much of each food and clothes people were allowed. Jennifer and I then shared the planning of 5 different activities and organised an “experiential learning” afternoon. The children learnt to sew in the “make do and mend” activity, they weighed out weekly rations for butter, jam, sugar and meat and discovered how much food you were allowed.  They learnt how to set the table in another activity, they played an interactive game on the computer discovering what rationing was, what was rationed and why.  Finally they took part in a shopping/problem solving game with clothing coupons to buy their annual allowance. They were using literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum, using technology for learning, working in teams and solving problems within a relevant context. These children have proved that they are successful learners and effective contributors, I just hope they return home tonight offering to set the table for dinner and offering to sew any buttons that are needing done! These are hopefully skills that will be with these children for life.

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.

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?

The excitment has begun! I am lucky enough to be working with Jennifer Daly and her lovely Primary 6 class. There is a real buzz in the classroom and everyone is keen and eager to go. The topic is World War 2 and we decided that the children should be given the choice about what they would like to learn. In order for this to be an informed choice the children were given a range of books on the War and asked to come up with no more than two aspects of the War that they would like to learn more about. Once the topics were chosen (the what), the children had to decide on the who, who were they going to work with. As we know all children have different learning styles and like to work in different ways. The result - some children are working individually, some in pairs, some in trios and there is one group of four. Interestingly Jennifer commented on how well the children chose the groups, characters who may not have worked well together have stayed apart - exactly what Jennifer would have done if she had chosen the groups! Motivation is already high as the children have chosen what they are learning and who they are learning with. Read the rest of this entry »