SHARING PRACTICE TEACHING & LEARNING Magazine | Spring 2017
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The Teaching & Learning Team The Learning & Teaching group consists of representatives from various curriculum areas, varying in experience and expertise. The groups’ aim is to share effective teaching and learning ideas in order to disseminate good practice across the school.
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Welcome to the first ever edition of Brownhills very own Teaching and Learning magazine
The magazine is a vehicle to spread good practice, be updated on current ideas, and for you to find out more about what goes on in school and the roles people do. The aim is to have around three editions of the magazine a year. It will be available on the school website and some hard copies printed and placed in the staff room. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff who contributed to this edition of the magazine. I hope that many members of staff will contribute to further editions. Ideas for what to submit include: Any strength of your current practice/something you have tried/used which you think was successful ideas taken from external courses or ideas tried from internal training – whole school and/or departmental Any ideas developed from the ‘trio’ work on Learning Dialogue Strategies/techniques used for independent learning Challenge and Differentiation
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Socratic Questions CPD follow on why not try
The purpose of Socratic questioning is to encourage deeper thinking through challenging, probing, reevaluating and so on. There are different types of Socratic questions: Conceptual clarification questions Get students to think more about what exactly they are asking or thinking about. Prove the concepts behind their argument. Use basic 'tell me more' questions that get them to go deeper. For example asking students to give examples, explain differently, and relate evidence to a topic. Probing assumptions Probing student’s assumptions. For example; can you explain a further piece of evidence to back your view up? How can you verify that view? What would happen if? Probing rationale, reasons and evidence Following explanations of arguments, probe further; How do you know this? Would this stand up in court? Why? Questioning viewpoints and perspectives Show that there are other, equally valid, viewpoints; What alternative ways of looking at this? Why is this better than‌? Probe implications and consequences The argument that they give may have logical implications that can be forecast. Do these make sense? Ask - Then what would happen? What are the implications of ... ? Why is ... important? Questions about the question Turn the question in on itself; why do you think I asked this question? What does that mean?
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Literacy across the curriculum Grouping strategy
Assessment and feedback notes
Edward de Bono's 'Thinking Hats'. Within groups, students are assigned different colours which correspond to different ways of thinking or different approaches to the task. Blue hat = chairperson; green hat = creative thinker; yellow hat = advocate of comments of others; black hat = constructive critic; white hat = factseeker; red hat = instinctive feelings. Optimum group size: 3 or 4. See me about this for further advice. Envoying Groups of 3 work on a task (creative, investigative, analytical etc...). One group member (A) acts as scribe on a large sheet of paper; a second group member (B) records the same information in his exercise book; the third group member (C) monitors the progress of the task. Each B then moves in a clockwise direction to the next group, collecting and sharing the information. A and C also collect and share from B visitors. Allows active participation from all class members and distillation to most salient points in the plenary. Pair talk Mutually supportive pairings work on a task. Students can be organised in various ways according to learning objectives and the task-requirements: equal ability; mixed ability. Can be used to enable high levels of active learning. Jig sawing Prior to group-work, the teacher, or the class together, divide a topic or text into separate area of focus. Students are then put into groups; within each group each student has a different responsibility for one of the separate areas of focus, and is, therefore, the 'expert' in that area. Students work together briefly in these 'home' groups, planning to meet in 'expert' groups. Students then meet in 'expert' groups. Later in the lesson, students return to 'home' groups and will synthesise the work generated in 'expert' groups, organising their ideas into a new form of text or a presentation. Listening threes Students are organised into groups of three and are given a topic, issue or theme to focus upon. Within groups, roles will be allocated: talker, questioner, recorder. The talker offers a response to the topic, the questioner asks questions, clarifies points; the recorder takes notes and summarises to the group or whole class at the end. This can be conducted as a series of very quick tasks, where roles are alternated. Alternatively, a group of observers can be used to review work, resulting in other forms of grouping or discussion in the classroom.
Chairperson role allows monitoring of progress towards learning goals and target-setting for the group. Allocation of individual responsibilities within groups allows peer/selfassessment, carefully targeted questions by teacher, constructive classroom dialogue.
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Clear display of learning goals allows evaluation and review at transitional stages in the group task. Targets can be set and monitored in terms of coverage of essential topic areas. Task allows peer assessment and constructive dialogue throughout.
Especially beneficial for productive collaborative work progressing towards success criteria. Also very useful for peer assessment.
Learning goals and success criteria need to be reiterated at transitional points in the lesson. Allocation of individual responsibilities within groups allows peer/self assessment, carefully targeted questions by teacher, constructive classroom dialogue. The eventual group outcome, with separate sections, allows review of individual contributions
Some time allowed for each group-member to undertake their role will enhance AfL outcomes. The meta-cognitive element of this grouping strategy adds to its value as a tool for AfL.
Literacy across the curriculum A much used saying is that “we are all teachers of literacy”. This is indeed an incredibly important role that we all play. GCSE Maths examinations have been judged to require reading ages of 16 years in order to understand the content and instruction. So what can? We do to support our pupils in developing their reading and writing? • Make reading visible around the school by displaying attractive posters. ‘Good reads for historians …’ ‘Want to know more about Van Gough’s life and work? Try these books.’
• Produce recommended reading lists for your subject. Make the books age specific. Publicise these so parents and carers can be guided in how to support wider reading of their children. • Create ‘book boxes’ for your classroom for pupils to delve into. They could be used to assist in General class work, projects or homework. Some books could have a label indicating it as a resource that will stretch the most-able students. • Challenge pupils to write their own books as an extended homework project and then share, read and review each other’s books. • Paired 1-1 reading in lessons. Pupils can be matched by ability to ensure the most-able are stretched by different text or can support those with lower reading ages. • Hold class library sessions to teach pupils how to get the most out of the library.
Staff and students celebrated the twentieth World Book Day on Thursday 2 nd March. Over thirty staff dressed up as literary characters, particularly impressive were Mrs Kumar as Cruella De Vile, Mrs Hopkins as the Woman in Black, and Mr Carnell as Tigger. Nearly one hundred students took part in a quiz to guess who each teacher was with the winner being Anwen Hopkins in 7PZ. Students also each received a £1 book voucher and had World Book Day assemblies where they learnt about the history of 7 | Pthe a gbenefits e the day and of reading. L Freeman
CPD 7TH March CPD Questionning very useful 21% useful 79%
CPD speed dating 7-3-17 peer assessment and‌ very useful 43%
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useful 57%
Approaches to Teaching Here are the top five reasons we should definitely take the time every school year to watch other teachers in our building to learn different approaches to teaching:
Interactions. Every teacher interacts with students in unique ways. Which teachers are inspiring, encouraging, positive and fun? Which teachers have that special way of working with kids that can truly make a difference? You don’t have to witness what these teachers teach; you only need to study how they teach. Standards. You set your own standards for academics and behavior with your students, but what do other teachers do? Observing others gives you a chance to see if your standards may be too high or too low, and what other teachers do to set those standards with their students. Lessons and Materials. Why reinvent the wheel? No matter what you’re teaching, someone else has already taught it. Snag a few good ideas, activities, and materials from others who might have just the approach you needed for your next unit. Inspiration. It’s important to have someone around you whose behaviors are reminders to you that such a way of life and achievement can in fact happen. Hang out around those colleagues who inspire you to become a better version of yourself. New Perspective. Sometimes experience and routines can work against us when we’re so entrenched into doing things “our way.” It is refreshing to see that learning can be just as effective from a different approach, and it ultimately makes us more versatile as educators.
One of the critical steps in the path of self-improvement involves becoming a student of those around us. Even though it requires extra effort and time that we ordinarily don’t have, try to take advantages of opportunities you may have for observing your fellow teachers in action. Follow these steps to ensure you get the most out of your observations of other teachers: 1.
Identify the specific areas you’d like to see how others do things. These areas can be related to teaching specific material, prepping students for exams, organizing a classroom activity, or even just generally interacting with the students.
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Identify the colleagues who have some of these attributes that you would like to witness. These can be individuals from your same discipline, but consider what observing teachers outside your discipline will yield. Talk to them in advance and set up a time that would be mutually convenient for you to be a guest in their classroom.
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Come prepared to their classroom ready to take notes and watch for specific attributes you’d like as your “takeaway ideas.”
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Have a follow-up discussion with the other teacher where you can ask questions and receive insights regarding their philosophy on what you witnessed them doing in the classroom.
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Observe the same teacher multiple times, or watch a series of teachers.
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Reflect on what you observed. What did you see that you would like to emulate? What were they doing that seems particularly effective?
You want to make sure that you have a humble heart when you observe other teachers. You’re not going into their classrooms to critique them or to find out what you’re better than them at. You’re doing this to learn!
http://www.teachhub.com/observing-other-teachers
Watch out for the weekly hot lesson schedule and remember to complete a feedback card and pass to L Best
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Andy Tharby and Shaun Allison, both teachers in Durrington High School, have written a very wise and useful books, entitled ‘Making Every Lesson Count: Six Principles to Support Great teaching and Learning‘. I found the book really accessible, full of good evidence and a useful guide to ensuring our teaching has real impact. The six principles are as follows: Challenge, Explanation, Modelling, Practice, Feedback and Questioning.
These principles prove the core of great instruction and these teachers present a really clear explanation‌of concepts like explanations. The diagrams are helpful and you will likely find yourself making lots of notes or dog-earing pages to come back to later. There are no gimmicks or fads, just really well explained approaches to great teaching. It is the most useful book on teaching I have read in a long while Ref: https://www.huntingtonlearninghub.com/recommended-reading-making-every-lesson-count/
This brand new title in the 100 ideas series provides secondary teachers with an easy to implement list of revision strategies they can use in lessons. Each idea has been tried and tested and will have minimal preparation time for teachers; links will be provided to materials and proformas for teachers to use. The book will focus on strategies of effective revision which can be used to help prepare students for any level of examinations. These strategies can be easily implemented in lessons at any post Year 7 level, therefore encouraging students to consistently review and reinforce their learning. This consistent approach means that revision is built into a scheme of learning and becomes an everyday process rather than one that is just used in the 10 | P a g e run up towards examinations.
Numeracy across the curriculum ideas Over the past few weeks a number of numeracy techniques have been developed across the curriculum year 8’s have been drawing pie charts in Geography and year 10’s have been learning to read graphs This is a super website full of ideas on how numeracy can be taught across the curriculum http://mrshowardsnumeracynetwork.com/images/Numeracy_ Across_the_Curriculum_Posters.pdf
English
Science Mathematics lessons can help to develop and support pupils' literacy skills: for example, by teaching mathematical vocabulary and technical terms,
by asking children to read and interpret problems to identify the mathematical content, and by encouraging them to explain, argue and present their conclusions to others. Equally, English lessons can support your mathematics lesson. For example non-fiction texts can be chosen in which mathematical vocabulary, graphs, charts and tables have to be interpreted.
Art, Design & Technology
Almost every scientific investigation or experiment is likely to require one or more of the mathematical skills of classifying, counting, measuring, calculating, estimating, and Recording in tables and graphs. In science pupils will, for example, order numbers, including decimals, calculate means and percentages, use negative numbers when taking temperatures, substitute into formulae, re-arrange equations, decide which graph is the most appropriate to represent data, and plot, interpret and predict from graphs.
Information & Communication Technology
Measurements are often needed in art and design and technology. Many patterns and constructions are based on spatial ideas and properties of shapes, including symmetry.
Children will apply and use mathematics in a variety of ways when they solve problems using ICT. For example, they will collect and classify data, enter it into data handling software, produce
Designs may need enlarging or reducing, introducing ideas of multiplication and ratio. When food is prepared a great deal of measurement occurs, including working | P a gadapting e out 11 times, recipes, and calculating cost; this may not be straightforward if only part of a packet of ingredients has been used.
graphs and tables, and interpret and explain their results. Their work in control includes the measurement of distance and angle, using uniform non- standard then standard measures. When they use computer models and simulations they will draw on their abilities to manipulate numbers and identify patterns and relationships.
What is a lesson that maximises student progress? the skills taught to deepen their understanding
EXCELLENT LEADERSHIP OF BEHAVIOUR AND ATTITUDES Teachers create a well-ordered and very positive classroom environment. This goes well beyond simply managing behaviour. The pupils are so enthusiastic and have such a positive outlook, why would they misbehave?
LESSONS THAT CHALLENGE EVERY PUPIL Teachers understand the needs and abilities of each child, and there is no ‘teaching to the middle’ of mixed ability groups. Teachers have high expectations of all pupils. Lessons move along at a brisk pace. Pupils don’t just do the same thing all the time. Lesson activities are shaped to fit different pupils and everyone is challenged at the right level. Data about pupils’ achievement do not just sit on a spreadsheet or in a file: teachers use this information when they plan their lessons. Teachers are quick to recognise when pupils are struggling or not challenged by the work; they quickly do something about it.
GOOD OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUPILS TO LEARN INDEPENDENTLY Pupils get time to work on interesting and challenging activities on their own or in groups. This helps them to learn how to learn independently and use and practise
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EXCELLENT USE OF QUESTIONING Teachers target their questions at individual pupils – this keeps everyone on their toes. They don’t just ask simple questions that can be answered in one word: open questions challenge and probe pupils’ thinking. This generates pupils’ enthusiasm and helps them to learn in much greater depth.
OUTSTANDINGSUBJECT KNOWLEDGE Teachers have a thorough and up-to-date understanding of their subject and they teach it with rigour and enthusiasm.
HIGHLY EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK TO PUPILS Marking is regular. Teachers give pupils precise information about what they need to do to improve. Feedback is closely tied to pupils’ targets. They are expected to respond to it and teachers make sure that they do.
Why not try this questioning idea this week
Why not try using this at the end of the lesson to help students question their own progress
Have an idea? Send it our way and we’ll share it with all staff‌
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Assessment and Feedback “I find that this sheet helps pupils and students to focus upon the units and questions where they gained and lost marks. Most importantly, it encourages them to use this information in order to set specific targets to ensure that they are able to maximise their progress and attainment in the summer examinations. Another example can be seen below. Lisa Best Brownhills Look out for more CPD ideas in the Weekly newsletter
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21 Simple Ideas to Improve Student Motivation 1. Give students a sense of control. While guidance from a teacher is important to keeping kids on task and motivated, allowing students to have some choice and control over what happens in the classroom is actually one of the best ways to keep them engaged. For example, allowing students to choose the type of assignment they do or which problems to work on can give them a sense of control that may just motivate them to do more. 2. Define the objectives. It can be very frustrating for students to complete an assignment or even to behave in class if there aren’t clearly defined objectives. Students want and need to know what is expected of them in order to stay motivated to work. At the beginning of the year, lay out clear objectives, rules, and expectations of students so that there is no confusion and students have goals to work towards.
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3. Create a threat-free environment. While students do need to understand that there are consequences to their actions, far more motivating for students than threats are positive reinforcements. When teachers create a safe, supportive environment for students, affirming their belief in a student’s abilities rather than laying out the consequences of not doing things, students are much more likely to get and stay motivated to do their work. At the end of the day, students will fulfill the expectations that the adults around them communicate, so focus on can, not can’t. 4. Change your scenery. A classroom is a great place for learning, but sitting at a desk day in and day out can make school start to seem a bit dull for some students. To renew interest in the subject matter or just in learning in general, give your students a chance to get out of the classroom. Take field trips, bring in speakers, or even just head to the library for some research. The brain loves novelty and a new setting can be just what some students need to stay motivated to learn.
5. Offer varied experiences. Not all students will respond to lessons in the same way. For some, hands-on experiences may be the best. Others may love to read books quietly or to work in groups. In order to keep all students motivated, mix up your lessons so that students with different preferences will each get time focused on the things they like best. Doing so will help students stay engaged and pay attention. 6. Use positive competition. Competition in the classroom isn’t always a bad thing, and in some cases can motivate students to try harder and work to excel. Work to foster a friendly spirit of competition in your classroom, perhaps through group games related to the material or other opportunities for students to show off their knowledge. 7. Offer rewards. Everyone likes getting rewards, and offering your students the chance to earn them is an excellent source of motivation. Things like pizza parties, watching movies, or even something as simple as a sticker on a paper can make students work harder and really aim to achieve. Consider the personalities and needs of your students to determine appropriate rewards for your class.
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8. Give students responsibility. Assigning students classroom jobs is a great way to build a community and to give students a sense of motivation. Most students will see classroom jobs as a privilege rather than a burden and will work hard to ensure that they, and other students, are meeting expectations. It can also be useful to allow students to take turns leading activities or helping out so that each feels important and valued. 9. Allow students to work together. While not all students will jump at the chance to work in groups, many will find it fun to try to solve problems, do experiments, and work on projects with other students. The social interaction can get them excited about things in the classroom and students can motivate one another to reach a goal. Teachers need to ensure that groups are balanced and fair, however, so that some students aren’t doing more work than others. 10. Give praise when earned. There is no other form of motivation that works quite as well as encouragement. Even as adults we crave recognition and praise, and students at any age are no exception. Teachers can give students a bounty of motivation by rewarding success publicly, giving praise for a job well done, and sharing exemplary work.
11. Encourage self-reflection. Most kids want to succeed, they just need help figuring out what they need to do in order to get there. One way to motivate your students is to get them to take a hard look at themselves and determine their own strengths and weaknesses. Students are often much more motivated by creating these kinds of critiques of themselves than by having a teacher do it for them, as it makes them feel in charge of creating their own objectives and goals. 12. Be excited. One of the best ways to get your students motivated is to share your enthusiasm. When you’re excited about teaching, they’ll be much more excited about learning. It’s that simple. 13. Know your students. Getting to know your students is about more than just memorizing their names. Students need to know that their teacher has a genuine interest in them and cares about them and their success. When students feel appreciated it creates a safe learning environment and motivates them to work harder, as they want to get praise and good feedback from someone they feel knows and respects them as individuals.
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14. Harness student interests. Knowing your students also has some other benefits, namely that it allows you to relate classroom material to things that students are interested in or have experienced. Teachers can use these interests to make things more interesting and relatable to students, keeping students motivated for longer. 15. Help students find intrinsic motivation. It can be great to help students get motivated, but at the end of the day they need to be able to generate their own motivation. Helping students find their own personal reasons for doing class work and working hard, whether because they find material interesting, want to go to college, or just love to learn, is one of the most powerful gifts you can give them. 16. Manage student anxiety. Some students find the prospect of not doing well so anxiety-inducing that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. For these students, teachers may find that they are most motivated by learning that struggling with a subject isn’t the end of the world. Offer support no matter what the end result is and ensure that students don’t feel so overwhelmed by expectations that they just give up.
17. Make goals high but attainable. If you’re not pushing your students to do more than the bare minimum, most won’t seek to push themselves on their own. Students like to be challenged and will work to achieve high expectations so long as they believe those goals to be within their reach, so don’t be afraid to push students to get more out of them. 18. Give feedback and offer chances to improve. Students who struggle with class work can sometimes feel frustrated and get down on themselves, draining motivation. In these situations it’s critical that teachers help students to learn exactly where they went wrong and how they can improve next time. Figuring out a method to get where students want to be can also help them to stay motivated to work hard. 19. Track progress. It can be hard for students to see just how far they’ve come, especially with subjects that are difficult for them. Tracking can come in handy in the classroom, not only for teachers but also for students. Teachers can use this as a way to motivate students, allowing them to see visually just how much they are learning and improving as the year goes on.
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20. Make things fun. Not all class work needs to be a game or a good time, but students who see school as a place where they can have fun will be more motivated to pay attention and do the work that’s required of them than those who regard it as a chore. Adding fun activities into your school day can help students who struggle to stay engaged and make the classroom a much more friendly place for all students. 21. Provide opportunities for success. Students, even the best ones, can become frustrated and demotivated when they feel like they’re struggling or not getting the recognition that other students are. Make sure that all students get a chance to play to their strengths and feel included and valued. It can make a world of difference in their motivation. This is a cross-post from onlinecollegecourses.com
Strategies to motivate boyshttps://mrsgeographyblog.wordpress.com/ One of my most recent lessons required students to understand how cold environments can be managed effectively. There was a large amount of content I wanted each student to get through during the lesson, all of which needed to be written into their exercise books in order to aid their revision. My initial idea was to conduct an information race, and this is where my inspiration started. All students were given a range of information sheets discussing various management strategies for cold environments, including advantages and disadvantages. In addition a separate question sheet was also provided, with a total of twenty two questions. However I wanted students to engage with this activity more positively, seems as in its simplest format they were answering questions in their exercise book using information provided which is not very riveting. Therefore each student, before starting the activity, was handed a race car which was placed on the start line of the race track on the whiteboard. Each student was instructed to get up after answering each question in their exercise book and move their car around the race track to show the teacher which question they were on (See images below).
I can honestly say I have never seen each and every student more engaged, even those with behavior concerns! I even had a number of more able students (boys and girls) making race track noises as they moved their cars around the track, which was brilliant as it clearly showed how engaged they were. Even the low ability students made progress throughout this activity as their questions were scaffold and structured in relation to the information they had to use. Whereas the more able students were given questions which required more detail through the use of command words such as explain, analyse, discuss. Overall, this idea is easily adaptable for a variety of tasks. It is engaging for each and every student (especially BOYS!) as it clearly incorporates an element of challenge and competition. It is also a great way to demonstrate progress throughout an activity, as you can visually see where each car is on the track and therefore the teacher can target specific students whose car is lagging behind.
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Revision ideas to help motivation
Use the board to quiz your students on any unit or topic that you have been covering. Adds competition and fun to simple revision tasks! Can be used in any subject for any topic. Works really well in getting pupils to answer questions as they try to win.
Students ask each other questions, which they must get right before moving their counter on. Sample questions for the students to ask each other also given here. You can create more that are right for your class’ level or they can compose some themselves Snakes and Ladders on one side of the board, Noughts and Crosses on the other. Works well laminated back-to-back, with OHP pens — wipe clean!
Revision ideas https://uk.pinterest.com/explore /revision-games/
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Resources available on the school teaching and learning website
Revision ideas to help motivation
A way of revising which can break a topic down into 12 subcategories. Ask a student to make notes in each chunk of the clock. Revise each slot for 5 minutes, turn the clock over and ask the student to recite back to you certain
Revision Takeaway 1. Tweet and Sour. Write Homework
a tweet (no more than 140 characters) summarising the unit we have just finished 2. Spicy Baked Numbers. Choose a calculation you .. struggled with and describe where it is used and give an example. 3. Word Ton Soup. Pick out all the keywords from the unit and write their definitions. 4. Mini Spring Ques. Create a series of 10 simple questions to test
You need to pick a starter, and complete a main. Then if you have room take a desert!
1. Pizza Poster. Create an A4 poster summarising the unit. Make it eye catching, bright and colourful and factual – with plenty of detail (toppings!). 2. Spicy Song Sauce. Create a poem or change the lyrics of a popular song to include the key facts from the unit. 3. Masala Mind map. Create an A3 mind map with images and colour summarising the whole unit. 4. Sweet and Sour Summary cards. Make some A6 summary cards for the unit with plenty of details on them – add some
Desserts 1. Rapid Reflection Roulade. Write a brief summary of what you have learned producing your resource 2. Feedback Flambé. Self-assess the work you have done with a WWW and HTI targets for next time 3. Twice Baked Marked Meringue. Choose a piece of marked work you go wrong and redo it 4. Edible Extension. Remember - Each time you do revision tries and pick a different ‘dish’ to teach yourself different
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Active Learning
We were learning about the Ice Man which is a body that was preserved in the Alps. I enjoyed doing this because it was a new experience from staying in the Classroom Also trying to solve the case was fun Owen Jones 9ER
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Is there a particular focus you would like for the next magazine or would you like to write a feature article based on something you have read or tried in the classroom?
If you have a great idea or lesson share your ideas by emailing L Best
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