Lesson or unit starter ideas

The sort of things that those of us who have been teaching as long as me already know, but it doesn't hurt to have a reminder occasionally...

http://blog.teacherspayteachers.com/5-simple-anticipatory-sets-that-make-a-big-difference/

Beginning of the year!

This year (and this week coming!) I plan to make use of these links that I have pinned on my Pinterest boards...mostly free downloads from Teachers Pay Teachers...

Link to image source

'All About Me' pupil info sheet - though I have had to twink and change the American spellings eg favorite into NZ's favourite etc - thanks Science Doodles at Teachers pay Teachers!

And some discussion points from this Hot Spot activity sheet thanks to Kristine from the Young Teacher Love blog.

We will be doing the "In Team Kahu we..." mural again, as I have a whole new team of pupils - let's set up our expectations right from the start!

'Parents' 3-2-1' question sheet - asking parents for info about their child - thanks LA Beach Teacher at TpT as well as asking them for their most appropriate contact information.

'Student Rights and Responsibilities' - gets everyone on the same page about the expectations in the classroom - thanks Angelia at TpT!

I always do What Kind of Teacher Do You Want? and so does Miss Freundlich, it works with any age-group and helps the pupils see that you are wanting to work with them as a team and will respect their opinions and needs.

And we look also at What a good pupil does, says, is and is not - here is Sarah's example.

We will build our own version of this Respect chart and also look at this How Big is My Problem chart.

I will be sharing a copy of Stephanie's poster of Glasser's What We Learn chart.

Star of the Week certificate -  I've ordered this, printed with Team Kahu in the title - thanks Creative Classrooms!

'Uh-oh!' - a note pupils can take home with any work that they need to finish because they didn't do it during their allocated class time - thanks Sally at TpT!

Attention grabbers - you call out, the pupils respond - thanks Traci at TpT! I will be adding "To infinity..." (pupils call out "and beyond!") - sound familiar??

Link to image source

When talking about our learning and skills progression, I will share this Assess Yourself Novice-Expert chart and I also love this Which Step Have You Reached Today chart posted on a Lifetime of Wisdom.

We will also be referring to this Positive Self-Talking chart as shared by Elliott Seif.

For group work and partner discussions I will have these on display, as shown here by Tanja:
Partners  and   Groups

An absolute favourite prompt - Frosty Man and the BMX Kid

This video, promoting the beauty of New Zealand's scenery (and the have-fun nature of the general Kiwi population), is a favourite prompt of mine - it lends itself to all manner of writing ideas...

today we are using it as we plan our own movies for possible entry in the Great Southern Media Mash 5-day Movie Challenge; the pupils needed to see how a message can be shared via the medium of a made up story...

HEALTH - Firewise - Fire safety practices

For the first week of Term Three our school health safety focus is Firewise - very important with so many homes using fireplaces at this time of the year!

The NZ Fire Service Firewise programme is aimed mainly at Years 1-2 but the resources can be adapted for older pupils, with a DVD available for Years 7-8 (and some parts can be used with Yr 5-6 with careful consideration).

With my Yr 6 pupils our focus will be on revising the basics about fire safety eg keep matches out of reach, the heater-metre rule, don't play near barbecues or fires; with the main focus being on Get Down...Get Low...Get Out Fast! (and Stay Out) and having an at-home escape plan and safe family meeting place.

For our literacy sessions this week, I plan to pair the pupils up to research and present one aspect of fire safety advice, using the Firewise booklets that the Fire Service has sent us (again, these are aimed at younger pupils but my older pupils will benefit too from having the messages reinforced). We will set a criteria together first so pupils have clear guidelines of what to share.

Pupils will create a presentation of their choice on the ipad to share on their blogs and on our class blog.

Free maths posters

Here is a set of free PDF posters, great for starter activities or one-off tasks that get the children thinking!

Poster set (click on a poster to open the files) from Teaching Ideas (UK)

2014: Inquiry: Being a life-long learner

Term One 2014 - INQUIRY - How can I be a life-long learner?

The wall display at the end of the term - most activities were digital and are on the pupil blogs.

Reason for this inquiry: 
* We have a new school logo, slightly changed motto and vision statement.
* The logo has children with backpacks – in these backpacks they put their learning tools: we need to introduce these images and concepts and help the children embrace them as their own philosophy.

HOST CURRICULUM: HEALTH - target curriculum level: Three (Year Six pupils)

Understandings: (Big Ideas/Key Concepts) 

• I am unique; so is everyone else. 
• I have different strengths that complement the strengths of others. 
• Making healthy choices helps my learning. 
• Great learning happens in partnership. 
• I am responsible for my own learning.

Core Knowledge: (Baseline knowledge)

• We can create our own toolkit for learning: SMARTS, turn-ons/turn-offs,school vision/motto/quotes/values; personal learning goals, making healthy choices (relationships, attitude, food, exercise, hygiene, sleep), working in partnership with others.

Inquiry Skill: Thinking      Key Competency: Managing myself      Value: Self-responsibility

Strategy: Six Thinking Hats         Blended Learning Opportunities: blogging, photos, tagxedo etc

Some of the concepts: motto, vision, competencies, backpack (toolkit) for learning

And, following our EDENDALE inquiry process, there was a huge range of possible learning activities...

EXCITING NEW KNOWLEDGE
(Covering the information in the core knowledge to build up a base of understanding to help pupils learn the Big Ideas.)

Attitude - having an attitude that is positive and healthy is important:

• Here is a lesson plan from the Education World site that emphasises the importance of can-do statements in building self-belief - pupils can 'bury' their negative statements.

What the competencies mean for us...

We carried out a variety of discussions and activities to reinforce the key understandings, and found that our Year Six Camp was the most relevant activity of the whole term for pupils to be able to put the concepts into action!

Showing we were lifelong learners with our activities at camp...

Pupils used the experience for a variety of follow-up activities - writing about their demonstration of the aspects needed to be a lifelong learner - many of these were expressed with digital tools...


Year Six Camp from Edendale Primary School on Vimeo.

Take Two News 2014 - Year Six Camp from Edendale Primary School on Vimeo.

Using the SAMR model with ICT devices in the classroom

I currently have 10 ipads in the classroom; all are set up through a classroom Google account.  This allows automatic/passworded access to:

• our blogs
• gmail - we can email many of our app creations
• the itunes store/icloud storage (controlled by teacher via a separate password)

Our ipads are used individually, in pairs, or in groups of 3 (video projects only)

And are used for: writing, maths, reading, inquiry and for general exploring!

When planning activities or selecting apps for the ipads I try to keep in mind the SAMR model for technology tool use in the classroom (aiming for transformation activities where-ever possible:

Image created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, Ph.D        http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/

APPS WE LOVE TO USE ON OUR CLASS iPADS:

• SUBSTITUTION - iBooks, Vimeo, Google Maps, Wonderopolis, WWF Together, Number Line,Weird But True (Nat.Geog), Touch‘n’Slide Calculator, Math Slide (Add/Sub etc), Tap Quiz Maps, Safari (for reading websites/searching for info)

• AUGMENTATION - Blogger, Comic Life, Wonderopolis, Typing Game, Google Earth, Kura, Piano, Maestro, padlet.com (used via Safari), Kibo 360, Let’s Get Inventing, Toon FX, PhotoBooth, and many MANY maths/spelling apps!

• MODIFICATION - Shadow Puppet, Tellagami, My Story, Show Me, Puppet Pals, Sock Puppets, Comics Head, Friendstrip

• REDEFINITION - iMovie, Explain Everything, GarageBand

Some links I have found interesting/useful as I consider how best to incorporate ICT tools such as laptops, digital cameras and ipads in my classroom programme.  I want the pupils to be getting maximum benefit from their use of these devices and the SAMR model keeps this in focus for me...

The SAMR model as applied to the use of a wiki - good visual example

Chart with simple explanation

LEARNZ Virtual Field Trip - Feb 2014 - Geohazards

A resource I love to use to provide content and extend my pupils for reading and/or inquiry, is the NZ website LEARNZ, which provides real-time virtual field trips to various locations or based on various events around NZ.

I love it because the field trips, once you have registered and they have taken place, can be accessed any time - so if it doesn't suit my programme to follow the trip in real time on the dates the trip takes place, my pupils can still make use of the related resources at another time - for instance in 2012 there was a wetlands field trip which we used about two terms later in the year when it fit better in support of our inquiry.

Term One of 2014 - 25-27 Feb - a field trip to the geo-thermal region of the Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand is taking place. We will be using it for our reading programme as I think the non-fiction nature of the content will really motivate my boys and my reluctant readers:
                

Geohazards: 

volcanoes, tsunami, landslide, 

earthquakes and 

hydrothermal activity

The topic of natural disasters is one that many children find fascinating and, as I cannot physically take my southern class to view this North Island area, they will be able to see it via the photos and videos that will take place on the website. They know this is our theme and were excited about what they might find out.

This is a link to the learning resources page I created on our classroom blog for the children to use: 

Geohazards - NZ is full of them!

My guided group lessons will be using material based on the geohazard topics also, and the class bookshelf also has library books about the topics.  Different reading groups, as per ability, will be given guided or independent activities to complete over the next four weeks, some from the field trip and others based on their guided reading material.  These are the independent sheets that I have developed based on the fact sheets in the LEARNZ website.

Supporting materials - guided reading resources: to be used with various groups according to reading ability and interest level of the content...I usually set pre and post tasks for the title, meaning that the group has at least three days of activities with the guided text and one day of an independent activity using other resources (but that is a whole other blog post!)

• Connected 2 2005 - Living on a Lava Flow
• Connected 1 2011 - Ruaumoko Rages; Taupo; Time Capsules; Understanding Volcanoes; Living With a Volcano
• School Journal Part 2 No. 2 2002 -  Make a Volcano
• National Geographic Kids Science Readers Level 2 - Volcanoes!
• School Journal Level 3 Nov 2011 - One City, Two Earthquakes
• School Journal Story Library Level 3 - Quake, Rattle and Roll
• Connected 2 2000 - Jago Descends
• MainSails 2 - The Volcano Awakes!
• MainSails 2 - Tsunami!
• School Journal Part 4 No 3 2004 - A Bit of a Bang
  
• MacMillan Winners - Killer Quakes
• Scholastic Connectors - Extreme Scientists

Classroom layout and displays

Photos from the beginning of Term 3 2013:

Job list - pupil pictures are rotated weekly

Year Sixes have special school-wide jobs

My desk: by the front door, laptop runs the IWB

View along the windows

View along the IWB/whiteboard wall

View from front door, across classroom to cloakbay door - we have a mixture of options for seating -
pupils select a numbered counter when enter the room on Monday morning (corresponds to a workspace/seat/table)
and that is their 'base' space for the week.  They are allowed to move to other spots during the day eg when working with a partner or on an ipad, or if I want a guided group to be in a certain place.

Computer cupboard area

Marking shelf - pupils place books or completed work here for me to look at

Basket for the DIY (do-it-yourself) learning folders and resources; shelf for flag, stickers box, guided group resources.

Games cupboard (due for a paint-job!)

Literacy/spelling resources, atlases and large reference books.

Library corner

Inquiry display table, reporting books in boxes underneath

Inquiry wall - has question, key understandings, a relevant quote or two;
work or other material still to be added as inquiry progresses.

Personal learning goals display - wearing a motorbike helmet in honour of Burt Munro

Inside the computer cupboard

Guidelines on doors of computer cupboard

This lets me know who to respond to on their blog

School agreement for pupils using computers

A work in progress - poem of the week, current events

Suggestions board for what to blog about and a playtime/lunchtime computer roster

Bulldog clips attached to wall for displaying class-made publishing books.

Displaying the expectations of learning for writing.

Motivation for the Year Sixes towards the end of year prize-giving.

Wall shelves - homework books are kept each day in the empty space; modelling books to the right,
Bible in Schools books below, refill pads and handwriting cards,
maths text books at bottom - all within easy reach.

Maths equipment

As we have no desks we store our books for each subject in these bins.

The chairs get stacked at the end of the day.

We have some stools as an option.

Another version of stools.

Handwriting levels

Noise signal lights

Reward system - when board is full the dodecahedron dice (to 12) is rolled
and the winner chooses from the prize-box.

And for inappropriate behaviour...(steps two plus are hardly ever referred to thankfully!)

Guided groups on display

Low table, cushions are a seating option - due for paintjob too!

As we have no storage desks the pencil cases are kept in these trays;
everyone shares the rulers and glue-sticks.

The centre of the maths shelves/homework book shelves -
spelling and basic facts resources, literacy CDs, music CDs etc.

My personal collection of teaching resources, kept on shelves in the art bay.

More of my resources, on a higher shelf on other side of artbay.

More of my resources - the bits and pieces stuff!

Pupils can use these art supplies.

My everyday trolley - planning and resources for the week are easy to access.

Reward system - using obsolete library cards, points given for tidy handwriting as well as three points per day
as "work pay" for being at school.  Pupils can 'buy' from the shopping list.

My marking system for book work.

I use groups of three for cooperative tasks. Change each term.