Whole class writing
I asked them to think of a familiar topic and they thought of the volcanic explosion in Iceland.
During group work they wrote about the PYP exhibition. I loved the way they came up with eye catching headlines!
Learning about space always excites my grade 4 students. They are curious and have such a vivid imagination! However, the unit does not allow scope for much inquiry. The knowledge is out there and they basically need to identify and sort information. We came up with the idea of creating a board game for the summative assessment.They had to use their knowledge of space and invent a game with an instructional manual. The results were amazing. Ride on a comet and zoom to the desired destination; get sucked into a black hole; hitch a ride on Voyager...
Spinners, based on their recent Maths topic "Probability" were ingeniously used. My colleague and I were delighted by the results. Unfortunately I am having loads of problems uploading videos on the blog. The excitement, the buzz was quiet obvious there.
What I liked about the lesson was that it was not planned. The students had to invent their own rules and figure out what works or doesn't work. They realized they HAD to edit their manuals in order to answer their peers' queries and take into account the fairness of things.
A few days after this lesson, I came across John Hunter's video on his board game. Wow!
The kids have been studying myths. We poured over myths from different cultures, analysed the differences between myths and folktales and thoroughly enjoyed a week of story telling. The students asked their grannys and grand pas about myths and came back with an amazing repertoire. The writing followed next. We made an impressive class checklist that the students would use during independent writing time. I modelled one with my class, and then the kids attempted to write one in groups. Finally they wrote their own myths and we published them during our writing workshop. All the pieces were assessed following the 6 traits of writing and the kids got a descriptive feedback which helped them improve their writing considerably. The final outcome was a Grade 4 Anthology of Myths that have been displayed in the school library for the rest of the school to enjoy.
The reason I am writing this blog post is because of what happened next.It was a hot Thursday morning. Tired. Kids listless. Classroom boiling hot. Fan droning ineffectively above hot heads.
I asked the kids to write (we had started explanation writing) an explanation of what comes first, the chicken or the egg :).
Expectedly, there was a heated discussion which went on for over 10 minutes.
Exasperated, many of the kids looked up at me and said that it was simply impossible to explain which came first, so if you please Miss, may we write a myth?! Wow! Bang!!! Mr Bloom would have been very proud of this moment. They had understood myths really well and were capable of using it appropriately in a totally different context.
I guess this is what we wait for. A time when students, without being prompted, are able to synthesize what they have learnt, and apply their knowledge to solve problems.
According to the IB,
The central purpose of teaching and learning is to help students develop and extend the concepts they use to understand the world, solve problems and communicate …. A new concept is developed when meaningful connections are made between bodies of knowledge and other existing concepts and the process of making those connections leads to a deeper understanding of the world.
This was my formative assessment. What need for a summative??!!
uses hand,body gestures well to persuade the other person
does not invade another person's space
giggles politely when s/he does not agree :)
Watch the video
Teachers need to emphasize to their students what a good communicator looks like. I wish my teachers had in elementary school. Some things I had to learn really late in life.
Broadly speaking, students need to understand that rules change when they communicate within small groups.
Respect, eye contact, personal space,the ability to listen to another's point of view, and making "relevant" contributions.These could be put up on a chart as a visual reminder. Discuss with the students if they come from different cultures, what constitutes respect. A great way to bring internationalism into the classroom. Otherwise connect with another classroom through Skpe.
With a larger audience in mind, they would need to throw their voice, hide their unease and "pretend" to be confident.(This helped me a lot), look at the audience and consciously control what they do with their hands or feet. I sometimes tell the students to pretend that the audience consists of a large family of hippos! It works. :)
I know some teachers say that it is okay not to push the student if they are uncomfortable communicating orally. Yes I am aware that there are students who could communicate better through art, dance or music. However, oral skills are vital if we wish to convince, befriend or simply belong.
Lastly, body language! I teach nine year olds who love rolling their eyes and picking up gestures from various sitcoms!(hands on hips, toe tapping etc). Analysing what each gesture means and letting them become conscious of it is a good way to start. Good body gestures such as nodding, leaning towards the speaker or listener are some skills that need to be practiced in class.
Sp next time you see a student mumbling an answer or shuffling and biting their fingernails...:)
