tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26462610066520899922024-02-21T16:43:59.539+07:00No Frills...My attempt to articulate my ideas on current educational changes that are happening in my life and in my classroom. These views are totally my own.Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-3569638647284020272018-08-23T09:41:00.000+07:002018-08-23T09:45:01.766+07:00Just photos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-3329584857503950402014-06-07T07:57:00.001+07:002014-06-07T07:57:37.787+07:00Moving...Dear Reader,<br />
<br />
I have moved my blog to Wordpress.<br />
<br />
http://lindybuckley1.wordpress.com/<br />
<br />
Hope to see you there - and hoping to be blogging more soon!<br />
<br />
LindyLindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-67915887275787604172013-12-04T20:46:00.000+07:002013-12-05T20:40:34.882+07:00Looks Aren't Everything!<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In our last unit most of the inquiry was guided. In our new unit we decided that we would give more freedom to students earlier in the unit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is an environmental unit. It's new for us this year, although we had a similar one about Climate Change last year. We had a new compelling question, "How long could we live without bees." We asked students what they thought about this question. We used Padlets. This is my class's <a href="http://padlet.com/">Padlet</a>. (It's a great way to gather short thoughts and ideas.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We shared a LiveBinder about <a href="http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1137603">Bees</a> with videos that gave more of an insight into why we picked bees as a provocation and started students thinking about what the unit would actually be about. Interestingly almost all my class thought it was something to do with us not being able to live without honey...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We then looked at <a href="http://posters.panda.org/">environmental posters </a>produced by the World Wildlife Fund and eveyone had a go at the See-Think-Wonder thinking strategy we have learned. We talked about the various issues that we could identify and started the <b>task which this post is actually about! </b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://posters.panda.org/media/poster/26_grd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://posters.panda.org/media/poster/26_grd.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2 class="posterCredit">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Corbineau Antoine & Mogarra Laurie, France, http://posters.panda.org/media/poster/26_grd.jpg</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The task was to <b>choose an issue they found interesting and choose some wondering to research.</b> And after two days they could share what they found out.</span> I wanted to find out how they would go about this without my guiding step by step. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> I said not to worry too much about presenting the information as I wasn't giving a lot of time and I really wanted to see how they could research...</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But I knew they were so excited they weren't actually listening....</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With our 1:1 laptop programme in its second year, I wanted to make sure that THIS year, students put better effort into the research part and not worry so much about the presentation part. I had noticed in the last few years that with the increasing use of technology there has been a danger of focusing way too much time on a Prezi/PowerPoint/Keynote/Google presentation/movie, etc. which is AMAZING looking... but doesn't actually show much learning.... I don't want that to be the case this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I don't want to be continually directing the inquiries all year. I feel that students need to be doing this for themselves. But to be able to do this, they need to see for themselves how well they are managing different aspects of the inquiry. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> The tool I decided to use to help this reflection was google forms. I named it<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/a/jisedu.or.id/forms/d/1zCaeb5QBcyRHF6KEQA0vH-4364m5OnKBG5GpW2Ke6gM/edit">Researching</a>. Some questions I asked had paragraph answers. Some had multiple choice and some had checkboxes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In case you can't access the form.... This is what was emailed to students.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Here there's a paragraph space for the answer...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Paragraph answer...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Paragraph answer....</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">As
the surveys are done, the results appear on a spreadsheet. My class had
clearly thought about the questions and answered honestly. I hoped that the series of questions would direct the reflection so that the <b>last question </b>would indicate some action or goals. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Last Question: If you were doing this again, what would you do differently? </b></span></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I would try to research more information and try to find more information that I did not know</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I would use more websites and/or books.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I would like to get more information.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Find more websites.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I would use some different websites to find my information</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Do more researching.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I would research more.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I would have a harder question because the question I picked was a bit easy for me. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I would make my question not so wide so that it doesn't take a lot of time to research about it.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I will use key words when I search because it will make the research part faster.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I think I would not spend so long on BrainPop because it didn't give me that much information that I needed.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I would spend a little more time researching.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">As we finished with everyone sharing what they had learned, I heard students talking about the process as well as what they had found, saying to each other, "I spent too long on making a presentation" or "I spent ages looking at pictures, and ended up with not much information."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Did the exercise work? We shall see in a couple of weeks as the inquiry focuses on food chains...</span></span></div>
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Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-74132812195817063022013-11-25T17:57:00.000+07:002013-11-25T19:17:20.924+07:00I read a book...<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Inquiry isn't an isolated lesson. It isn't only "done" when one is studying a unit of inquiry. It isn't just for science or for social studies. I'd like to share a student's thinking and inquiring as he tells me about his reading.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For background, in my class, once during a 7 day cycle, students write a letter to me about their reading. It can be something they read in school or at home. The idea is that they get to practise reading strategies they learn in class, particularly goals they have set for themselves. When I get the letter, I write back to each student. We do this all year. It is a great way for me to see and hear their thinking. The letters are personal. They aren't shared, although occasionally I will ask if it is ok to share a letter or part of a letter, if I feel it is inspiring! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The letters are all written in a book. It is a wonderful document to look at in June. ( the end of the year for us) One sees such growth!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In his letters, Jiwhang often tells about connections he makes, tells of things that surprised him, misconceptions he has had, wonderings and questions that he has. I love to correspond with a student who writes a letter like this.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.flickr.com/6048/5896504098_9f7a8d3bc7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://static.flickr.com/6048/5896504098_9f7a8d3bc7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/95572727@N00/5896504098/">Stuck in Customs</a> via <a href="http://compfight.com/">Compfight</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a> </td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dear mrs. Buckley,</span></i></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you very much for your letter. It’s fine with me if you read my letter to the class.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: small;">
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To answer your question, the old man in “Woodsong” was not the author’s imagination. He gave the author physical help by helping him load his luggage back onto his sled after the sled fell down a slope.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></b>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I read the book “Space Travel” by Ian Graham. This book is about space exploration, as well as various things about space.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: small;">
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While reading this book, I was reminded of when Korea’s Naro rocket succeeded in launching a satellite into space after two failed attempts, on January 2013. Many countries around the world, including Korea, are working hard to develop new and advanced space technologies.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: small;">
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I found the fact that spacecraft could venture out of the solar system suprising, since I thought that probes and spacecraft could only stay inside the solar system.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: small;">
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While reading this book, I found the fact that astronauts get taller in space interesting. That happens because in space, due to the zero-gravity situation, an astronaut’s spine stretches, resulting in the astronaut becoming taller. When the astronaut returns to Earth, his or her’s height returns to normal.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: small;">
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have one question in my head. The first satellite, Sputnik 1, was made of aluminum. Since aluminum is not very durable, wouldn’t the crushing pressures of outer space end up flattening or heavily damaging the satellite so that it can’t work?</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sincerely,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JW</span></div>
</span></b><span style="color: blue;"></span>Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-25658858131488493432013-09-26T07:30:00.000+07:002013-10-06T17:05:19.110+07:00I see, I think, I wonder...<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Provocation and Follow-up</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Our new unit is about trading. We are looking at what trade is, what people trade, how they trade, what happens if they have nothing to trade and what our responsibility is in that whole process...</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>We started by looking at Poverty. The provocation was a gallery walk of photos taken by my colleague when travelling around the world. The students were not given any front loading about the subject matter prior to this.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>We used a See-Think-Wonder approach. Everyone had a bunch of slips with "I see, I think, I wonder" on each. </b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image: Lindy Buckley</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>They saw, thought and wondered and then pinned the slip beside the photo.</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsBuIZQjuZpRmJs5y1r99M5y-J76eedgM4Hsu5819_3jJus22lIMGnSWiavVf8L9MmSLQeh0lUgPhXPpH0qcXqGAcQ4Ow7QTU3mWVVBF6-biT04RqbCejObLj6NJpH1QpY70P15V1Lcir/s1600/IMG_1793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsBuIZQjuZpRmJs5y1r99M5y-J76eedgM4Hsu5819_3jJus22lIMGnSWiavVf8L9MmSLQeh0lUgPhXPpH0qcXqGAcQ4Ow7QTU3mWVVBF6-biT04RqbCejObLj6NJpH1QpY70P15V1Lcir/s320/IMG_1793.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image: Lindy Buckley</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>After this quiet activity, we made small groups, each group to look at all the slips with a picture, to see if there were any common thoughts or wonderings. We also looked at the wonderings, doing a basic sort into questions that you could answer fairly quickly with yes or no and questions where you'd have to find out more to be able to try and answer. We talked about how much information you could get from an image. (Visual Literacy)</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image: Lindy Buckley</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Killing two (actually more) birds with one stone, as it were, we went on to learn how to create a <a href="http://www.google.com/drive/apps.html?usp=ad_search&gclid=CIuIwPfi57kCFeQ34godqUkACA">google presentation</a> AND how to use <a href="http://compfight.com/">Compfight</a> to look for <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">Creative Commons </a>picures. Students chose 3 pictures from their search and placed on 3 slides, correctly attributed to the photographer.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>They made notes about each image using the same See-Think-Wonder strategy. The next tech learning was using <a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/">Quicktime</a> with their google presentation, using their notes to talk about their pictures. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>There's a lot of tech learning going on. At the same time I hear students talking with each other about the content of the images. Living in Indonesia, we all see images of poverty through our car windows on a daily basis. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>As we start investigating aspects of trade, we'll keep looking back at the poverty introduction to see if there are connections.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>And <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/jisedu.or.id/presentation/d/1efiSRSl5VjG0Y63aQdbIGJd3kEHEtWo48aj5kQfmZAM/edit#slide=id.p">HERE</a> is how we created the presentation...</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Warning! This is NOT a Presentation Zen!</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Presentation Zen allows the presenter to use the images on a slide show as tools. The audience watches. The presenter talks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A Presentation Zen slideshow <i>on its own</i> has little meaning to the audience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This slide show was created by me this morning after a lesson on the topic. I will send my students the link so they will have the shared doc in their Google Drives to refer to if they forget any steps of the process.</span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="450" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1efiSRSl5VjG0Y63aQdbIGJd3kEHEtWo48aj5kQfmZAM/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="700"></iframe>
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<br />Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-31964821146219882962013-06-05T07:30:00.002+07:002013-06-05T07:30:26.019+07:00The Legacy of... "Legacies"<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">An inquiry unit called "Legacies" <a href="http://nofrillslindybuckley.blogspot.com/2012/04/legacies-of-past.html">(first mentioned in this blog last year)</a> has had its final inquiring.... We won't be studying history in this same way next year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">As
I have watched my students learning through this unit, I have been
thinking about the aspects I don't want to lose, even though we will
lose the unit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Thinking abou</b>t a strong introduction/provocation. See the link above. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKknrtK8oZmLgyJuRlO7qvE9zFogpfc-x93L65Nt4CVV0Kdf1IOHhfEaTi4b_J83xFwjlRpQlcERP1BjdHI1qMgFLi7h_Yw5NiQPHyXVL-V71Q6J15udKQMEJb2_11sri_wlt06IGMK7Y/s1600/IMG_0195.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKknrtK8oZmLgyJuRlO7qvE9zFogpfc-x93L65Nt4CVV0Kdf1IOHhfEaTi4b_J83xFwjlRpQlcERP1BjdHI1qMgFLi7h_Yw5NiQPHyXVL-V71Q6J15udKQMEJb2_11sri_wlt06IGMK7Y/s320/IMG_0195.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Thinking about</b>
freedom of choice to choose an area of interest to study. How did we do
this? Students browsed a variety of library books about times past from
different places. They browsed websites on a LiveBinder, <a href="http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=170064">"So Many Legacies"</a> . They wandered and wondered taking note of items, sites, stories that sparked their interest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Thinking about </b>what the unit is about and what it
isn't about. I think this is so important. The boundaries, based on the
standards and benchmarks, need to be clear. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpAZpDmRDlphHLSX1EdUXWcg-dbVs_zW5SXPhE_6r-CgwycxItcZnyY5R_yV9cUrgSOKhoT7jovj_Qa18lAwXRSC1SlWikp_-I8vsM1KwpH2jXSAbE4fjB0cOa_aOjf-CbpUMShD9B88g/s1600/IMG_1318.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpAZpDmRDlphHLSX1EdUXWcg-dbVs_zW5SXPhE_6r-CgwycxItcZnyY5R_yV9cUrgSOKhoT7jovj_Qa18lAwXRSC1SlWikp_-I8vsM1KwpH2jXSAbE4fjB0cOa_aOjf-CbpUMShD9B88g/s320/IMG_1318.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Thinking about</b> engagement. So important for the unit to IGNITE
passion! Students want to be inquiring. They don't want to stop at
breaktime! Some EVEN feel the need to dress the part before they start
work each day....</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiEdrdcnISutT3vAM83wnE_oMncHOHlEYeXu7Cd9Bf0gbQRoN9c5sAaCopk2QDVf3DmnRL3kcb3suJDWiLIjK0C1ECPVvFFmEOFdvBuEnLWLc0MLNcImVYJmd2HWUT_wSOGGDWGdZFPlu2/s1600/IMG_1299.JPG"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiEdrdcnISutT3vAM83wnE_oMncHOHlEYeXu7Cd9Bf0gbQRoN9c5sAaCopk2QDVf3DmnRL3kcb3suJDWiLIjK0C1ECPVvFFmEOFdvBuEnLWLc0MLNcImVYJmd2HWUT_wSOGGDWGdZFPlu2/s320/IMG_1299.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Thinking about</b> the Historical Fiction reading unit that runs along side the history and geography.
We picked a different element each day and talked about it briefly
before students read their chosen book from the historical fiction
selection. Students met in Book Clubs and reflected on how that element appeared in their books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Thinking about</b> freedom to work with 1 partner, 2 partners or no partners... based on managing distractions. And no one chose to work alone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Thinking about</b> sharing the learning. Always great to watch and listen. That's when you know if students have succeeded.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DJh7IWtZo-x_ldZWyTLRieu17e2lLAhwYS5miEw-mHe_u_PbxUQLJKSzqWcM1WbGtj8aLaDBu8HG3FtGryUtcJ-vIEkeJQieb6mG_VpNIzZnyPoOETAZdHLQ23CFOBMh6T_hVn002AF3/s1600/IMG_1313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DJh7IWtZo-x_ldZWyTLRieu17e2lLAhwYS5miEw-mHe_u_PbxUQLJKSzqWcM1WbGtj8aLaDBu8HG3FtGryUtcJ-vIEkeJQieb6mG_VpNIzZnyPoOETAZdHLQ23CFOBMh6T_hVn002AF3/s320/IMG_1313.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Images are all mine.Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-73433789499221172792013-04-08T15:20:00.004+07:002013-04-08T19:19:08.955+07:00Student-Led Conferences 2013<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">In preparation for Student-Led Conferences at the end of this school year our grade 5s are moving towards using ePortfolios. Next year more classes will be heading in this direction. My school has adopted 4 Learning Dispositions: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reflectiveness and Relating, based on <a href="http://www.guyclaxton.com/blp.htm">Guy Claxton'</a>s work on Building Learning Power, so we will expect students to share their learning in light of those. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We have a set of school Values too: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perseverance, Integrity, Responsibility, Respect, Compassion, Balance and Fun. Students can talk about their learning <span style="font-size: small;">through these le<span style="font-size: small;">nses too.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This is a Slideshow used at a faculty meeting today. Presentation Zen, it isn't! But my colleagues said they found it useful.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="356" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/18392520" style="border-width: 1px 1px 0; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="427"> </iframe> <br />
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<b> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/LindyBuckley/student-led-conferences-fac-mtg" target="_blank" title="Student-led Conferences 2013">Student-led Conferences 2013</a> </b> from <b><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/LindyBuckley" target="_blank">LindyBuckley</a></b> </div>
Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-32965466697741007202013-03-18T15:51:00.001+07:002013-03-18T16:20:03.740+07:00Spelling... Unit vocabulary... Creativity<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A couple of weeks back, my class had spent half an hour gathering all the
vocabulary to do with climate change which they considered important and had filled a couple of large
pieces of paper. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYehKUFRxFAXYeV-6XHvWZ9zv7SE_VbgRmx2s1VjzPG85FKFa78YxBEUwWuHQ07-RCSomF8hgeWPmsh0o1n41Y01GpFmMqgMFy2JsJCu4GB9WDOlSbTSUEhebm55KzMIzjeS3O7PEFNZ4g/s1600/IMG_1068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYehKUFRxFAXYeV-6XHvWZ9zv7SE_VbgRmx2s1VjzPG85FKFa78YxBEUwWuHQ07-RCSomF8hgeWPmsh0o1n41Y01GpFmMqgMFy2JsJCu4GB9WDOlSbTSUEhebm55KzMIzjeS3O7PEFNZ4g/s320/IMG_1068.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Last year in a similar activity, students had chosen words from the list to define and explain, by drawing, writing or using in a sentence or by giving examples. We did this again and pinned up a host of index cards. And then I wondered was there something more we could do with those words.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAw2_pJbUYGfnvfnE7qzNnqp-Bt39JRHR5GJ4flIacb7eLzqMrMIg9VavDFQ-6bfiwJyaubazqauA5NO7M0ta0YzFN1lEbUT6zd2eL9ZCNSfvKY19POjl128xo_xSC4u2Dc2WYHgEG5Jcn/s1600/IMG_1069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAw2_pJbUYGfnvfnE7qzNnqp-Bt39JRHR5GJ4flIacb7eLzqMrMIg9VavDFQ-6bfiwJyaubazqauA5NO7M0ta0YzFN1lEbUT6zd2eL9ZCNSfvKY19POjl128xo_xSC4u2Dc2WYHgEG5Jcn/s320/IMG_1069.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">As it happens, that morning I had read the blog post, <a href="http://sonyaterborg.com/2013/03/05/are-you-creative/">"Are you Creative?"</a> by Sonya Terborg and I had also seen a tweet from <a href="https://twitter.com/travisattis">@travisattis</a> about <a href="https://twitter.com/travisattis/status/309181385904644098/photo/1">Unfair Math Games.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So I gave a challenge:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Create a game to help your peers learn to spell these words or learn the meanings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I don't do this sort of thing often enough. I say this to myself every time I give such a task and see the excitement and enthusiasm that students display when totally engaged...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Some of the ideas:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Memory game with words on matching cards.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Memory cards with words in capitals on one card and lower case on the on the matching card. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Memory game with words on one set of cards and definitions on another. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM35VAWkVQzmdsGk9G56x9w9bGC6IbZVmD15dUCcBuCX2fAEYod-iAT6EP807m4ZqYYhCnv8atxHg43IbnZAxlsQc9esCAY5aAk6yzX2WVAF1qrqmA2XZjRuqnfiS7YrQ_FgtkldkXtHEw/s1600/IMG_1078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM35VAWkVQzmdsGk9G56x9w9bGC6IbZVmD15dUCcBuCX2fAEYod-iAT6EP807m4ZqYYhCnv8atxHg43IbnZAxlsQc9esCAY5aAk6yzX2WVAF1qrqmA2XZjRuqnfiS7YrQ_FgtkldkXtHEw/s320/IMG_1078.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A selected few words, with letters cut up. Object to try to make the words from the letters in a given time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCmFdy9okIgLd10j8AMmkOo4LBGynQq_JHKTXyLDNTxV7ffoBiaBLs6AlGcJ1R4iXqxhI1o8zFAynjeYtCJmsk6mTlmcwdjo9AOfxWkRUQujAlvnMwpFFMkB1AZ8YWJNklLVSJPb1vPzk/s1600/IMG_1077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCmFdy9okIgLd10j8AMmkOo4LBGynQq_JHKTXyLDNTxV7ffoBiaBLs6AlGcJ1R4iXqxhI1o8zFAynjeYtCJmsk6mTlmcwdjo9AOfxWkRUQujAlvnMwpFFMkB1AZ8YWJNklLVSJPb1vPzk/s320/IMG_1077.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The most inventive used little whiteboards, marked with steps. Two people played. They were given a word and the first to explain the meaning got to move their token up the steps, counting the syllables of the word. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrHjU4ioqCxYyU34b9TXUQNLJvK0SFFIogoiWYJIQ8rn8n2GaWu3y5ICA_-gwBWwpcONEdKoe6QLa_yU1tV-vDc6zNV94VTwwSnUcFgxGrwKN6ZzxyFj1dJnWSI9rz91YnwvsMvonlLpW/s1600/IMG_1075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrHjU4ioqCxYyU34b9TXUQNLJvK0SFFIogoiWYJIQ8rn8n2GaWu3y5ICA_-gwBWwpcONEdKoe6QLa_yU1tV-vDc6zNV94VTwwSnUcFgxGrwKN6ZzxyFj1dJnWSI9rz91YnwvsMvonlLpW/s320/IMG_1075.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">After everyone had a chance to play, students reflected on their games. Some were able to suggest ways they'd modify the game having had people play. Some were able to see ways they could make their game more challenging.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">But the question is.... who learned that vocabulary best? The game creators or the game players?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photos are my own. </span>Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-44780498078237385282013-02-17T11:28:00.002+07:002013-02-17T13:07:58.723+07:00Space ...Final thoughtsThis is, I think, the last post on this Cycles and Systems Unit.<br />
Previous:<br />
1. <a href="http://nofrillslindybuckley.blogspot.com/2012/12/tuning-in-to-space.html">Tuning in to Space</a><br />
2.<a href="http://nofrillslindybuckley.blogspot.com/2013/01/next-steps-in-space.html"> Next Steps in Space</a><br />
3. <a href="http://nofrillslindybuckley.blogspot.com/2013/02/do-they-really-understand.html">Do they Really Understand?</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It is always hard when working one's way through a completely new unit to know how much time different parts will take. You can plan in detail and find that the plans are almost useless, since everything depends on what the students know and they what find out, BUT more importantly what understandings they acquire. Finding out stuff and actually understanding are not the same thing. And when researching (not just googling) is new, some things just take longer.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvzAFLcqNN8oXqsWrWveH_TAXgQ5_2Gkm7tp0dPVmwSW0hQ-8botson022ksrYB0I56BttxrFtNR3aJhdzh-SVtfB2p3DB0etMQQ77yYCXV1YELYIOzFE23dyNrx_250Mb4EZ7A9eRgKp/s1600/IMG_0796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvzAFLcqNN8oXqsWrWveH_TAXgQ5_2Gkm7tp0dPVmwSW0hQ-8botson022ksrYB0I56BttxrFtNR3aJhdzh-SVtfB2p3DB0etMQQ77yYCXV1YELYIOzFE23dyNrx_250Mb4EZ7A9eRgKp/s320/IMG_0796.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Our unit on Cycles and Systems was designed to address new standards and benchmarks our school has adopted. The focus according to the S&B was very clearly Space, the Solar System, Day and Night, Seasons...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.4513568482361734" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">STANDARDS & BENCHMARKS </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #b7b7b7; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[Learning Goals]</span></b></span></span><br />
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.4513568482361734" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Earth's rotation on its axis causes regular changes including day and night</span></b></span></span></li>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.4513568482361734" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Earth is part of a system of planets orbiting around a star (the sun)</span></b></span></span></li>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.4513568482361734" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Observable changes occur in the sky and landscape </span></b></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Because our students had done an almost similar unit in Grade 3, but had focused mainly on finding out about the planets in our Solar System, we decided to concentrate on the explanations of the various cycles, day and night, seasons, tides, etc. These, though part of that Grade 3 unit, were concepts too advanced for the average third grader.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In fact, explaining why we have seasons was challenging for quite a few fifth graders too! Most time in the unit was spent on reading about the cycles, discussing them, watching videos and making models. It occurred to us that quite a few of our students have always lived in the tropics and have not experienced living in places where there is a change of seasons. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">If,
in the future, we have to include learning about the planets in our
Solar System when the grade 3 classes who didn't do their Grade 3 Space
unit arrive in Grade 5, we may find difficulty using a similar time
frame.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In this unit this year, because of that repetition in Grade 3, we also asked the question, how have people's ideas and explanations about space changed over time. This does not link back to the S&B, but we felt it gave students a bit of perspective, understanding that we did not always know what we know now. My class had only 2 days to look at this aspect and we used our school's online databases as well as the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html">NASA website </a>and library books to study changes in scientific thinking from ancient civilizations and relatively recent changes in thinking in the European Middle Ages. In order to share our collected learnings, we used Google Presentation, with partners taking 1 or 2 slides each.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We do collaborations on Google docs fairly regularly. This was the first time that students were ALL able to do this without one or two messing with someone else's work! (Digital Citizenship lessons are working...)<a href="https://docs.google.com/a/jisedu.or.id/presentation/d/1loruBuYsvapsbVKkv3gPEh1NQGrSO4adKq8jMRClq1Q/edit#slide=id.p"> Earth's Place in Space.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">At the closing of a unit, we will always ask students what new knowledge they found interesting. We ask what skills, they learned and found useful, or skills they improved on. We also ask how their thinking has changed. Here are a couple of reflections from students' blogs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />Next year, our students will also come with that grade 3 prior knowledge. But they will also come with more experience of inquiring. I am hoping that there will be less need to scaffold and there will be more opportunity for students to build their own inquiry. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Plenty to talk about in our team unit discussion next week!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photos are my own.</span></span><br />
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<br />Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-71202711164517690672013-02-13T18:50:00.002+07:002013-02-14T07:52:21.258+07:003. Do They Really Understand?<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Continuing the reflecting on the unit: Cycles and Systems</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">(1. <a href="http://nofrillslindybuckley.blogspot.com/2012/12/tuning-in-to-space.html">Tuning in to Space </a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">(2. <a href="http://nofrillslindybuckley.blogspot.com/2013/01/next-steps-in-space.html">Next Steps in Space</a> ) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaG7kl7dlFCZvDTR2bafwqGbwccmk8b-EZG5BqNmPsXAXPy8i1a2xEGqyveYM7Pi_hWDUNDoPcwGh6zoIFWo23PtyLkDB873ZApHSS5vnOB51BJhOk0INSQ3czYXSoJLJr6dkrGv0MSZF/s1600/IMG_1025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaG7kl7dlFCZvDTR2bafwqGbwccmk8b-EZG5BqNmPsXAXPy8i1a2xEGqyveYM7Pi_hWDUNDoPcwGh6zoIFWo23PtyLkDB873ZApHSS5vnOB51BJhOk0INSQ3czYXSoJLJr6dkrGv0MSZF/s320/IMG_1025.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After all the investigating, questioning, discussing, connecting, reflecting, drawing, reading, note-taking, writing, explaining, interpreting that my class has done on Cycles and Systems, I am still wondering..... do they really understand? How could we check this?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My colleague and next classroom neighbour, Peter came up with the following idea:</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The connections between the earth’s cycles to its place in space are significant to life on earth</span></span></b></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Think about how life on earth would be affected by each of these occurrences: </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Supposing the earth started moving further away from the moon...</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Supposing the earth started moving further away from the sun...</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. Supposing the earth continued to orbit around the sun, but it stopped rotating...</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Supposing the earth continued to rotate, but it stopped orbiting the sun....</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></b></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Take each one separately. Show your ideas, e.g. on a mind map. Make sure your notes are good enough to help you talk about your ideas in as much detail as you can, with examples of situations that might happen as a result of the change. </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">What things would/might change, directly? (main branches of your mind map)</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">What things would/might change indirectly? (twigs off the main branches)</span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">On the face of it these are challenging scenarios and you definitely have to understand what is happening in order to imagine a reverse situation. My students worked in pairs and had a fair go after some initial discussions together.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Taking time to visit each others mind maps gave students the opportunity to ask questions and extend their thinking - which is a big part of what we want to do....</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">......extend the thinking<span style="font-size: large;">....</span> </span></span></span></span><b><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Photos are mine.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-25833069253475207822013-01-16T20:17:00.000+07:002013-01-16T20:21:33.792+07:00Next Steps in Space... (Cycles and Systems)<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Having identified the 'black holes' in student knowledge through the tuning in activities, students in my grade 5 class set about helping each other understand the the various cycles at work in the Solar System.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The hardest cycle for sure was the cycle of seasons. Students used library books, atlases and websites, looking for descriptions, diagrams and models which helped make it clear. We watched some short videos. We collected and saved the videos and best websites in <a href="http://www.symbaloo.com/">Symbaloo</a> - which is a great curating tool!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Students collaborated in small groups and worked and reworked their explanations several times, using their own words to articulate what they were learning from the media they were using. They combined their oral explanation with modelling and diagrams. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They blogged about their learning. (And practised adding Creative Commons pictures and hyperlinks at the same time.)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4oqvkhd1lDiQrtCitvZe2bDSKR-TlCl2hSHwWq_sLegC6OpyipMBdW25tbN5SDirb76O2gp8UEGyQYM9Gl_CKqYT-9T2WO2iZSG_dSNHvqvhGfFzLefOkjwN9w5-IyVTKBG5io5oRM_l/s1600/Alex.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4oqvkhd1lDiQrtCitvZe2bDSKR-TlCl2hSHwWq_sLegC6OpyipMBdW25tbN5SDirb76O2gp8UEGyQYM9Gl_CKqYT-9T2WO2iZSG_dSNHvqvhGfFzLefOkjwN9w5-IyVTKBG5io5oRM_l/s320/Alex.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As we started to look at why and how those cycles affect life on earth, it was clear that the large amount of reading (both digital and print) and group discussions over the past few weeks have had a big impact on what students are now able to share with each other and with their teachers, compared with when we started this unit in December. These sorts of substantive conversations are vital, especially for English language learners.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Students listed ways that life on Earth is affected by the various cycles. They chose different aspects to investigate further.... and that's when we ran into our first hurdle!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because these are new units, and we are developing them over this year and next, our library is not yet as well resourced as it will be. Yes, we do have heaps of books on the planets and Solar System because grade 3 used to study space. But looking at the effects of the cycles of the moon, earth, etc. requires <b>making connections</b> between "topics" such as animal/bird migration, hibernation, deciduous trees, religious festivals and what we have learned about the cycles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And because making these connections is new to most students, a lot of scaffolding is needed. Hopefully as we continue to grow with our inquiry learning, these thinking strategies will be second nature.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After an extra library lesson to tighten up our search methods, my students seem to be ok, and everyone is busy finding information to demonstrate understanding of the connections made. And... I am thrilled to see, enthusiastically citing their sources in <a href="http://www.noodletools.com/">noodletools</a>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There's no doubt.... we are ALL learning!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photos are my own.</span>Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-22119035349818828582012-12-14T14:05:00.000+07:002013-01-16T20:21:15.118+07:00Tuning In to Space (Cycles and Systems)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif04N3PvXSqjAWp650IiSxKD0Z3RQ9yUJpsXoq6aXwhatAHkwZif7pqMaQFkqBxfXjI6u0cTRMFVJh7HBlZ7WSiL1sFAj0BoELd4TJGcaL61Dkl5dD5jvICfCNrKVmERpFKrGxVPJ8HKzH/s1600/IMG_0746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif04N3PvXSqjAWp650IiSxKD0Z3RQ9yUJpsXoq6aXwhatAHkwZif7pqMaQFkqBxfXjI6u0cTRMFVJh7HBlZ7WSiL1sFAj0BoELd4TJGcaL61Dkl5dD5jvICfCNrKVmERpFKrGxVPJ8HKzH/s200/IMG_0746.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">" Of all the planets in our solar system why is earth the best place to live?" </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This new unit, Space and Systems is the first that we have planned using our new "planner" and latest PD from <a href="http://www.kathmurdoch.com.au/index.php?id=8">Kath Murdoch</a> in October. We have developed our own inquiry cycle, loosely UbD - but with a greater emphasis on Kath Murdoch's Inquiry Cycle since Kath is our visiting consultant helping us put everything in place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the past, our planners were pretty much all filled out before the unit started, except for student questions and action. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our new planner has our standards and benchmarks and a summary to start us off. We developed the Enduring Understanding and Essential Questions and listed the skills and knowledge that we are expecting students to acquire. We discussed and came up with the criteria that would be assessed to decide whether students were successful in their learning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We created a "compelling question" which acts as an overview of the whole unit. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7uUO0UxnGNJUD0A15gXEW1qE9TIPkRud67h11T2_oehF2mVJBMKRkt4p529UZWqCEMMlUS7KppTqa-sjMG7_Pu_UJeQKUp5KcoVUWKg_cXDUuo9_tkt7lurQxsV-cl_MNc7ytqwMIEzK/s1600/IMG_0798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7uUO0UxnGNJUD0A15gXEW1qE9TIPkRud67h11T2_oehF2mVJBMKRkt4p529UZWqCEMMlUS7KppTqa-sjMG7_Pu_UJeQKUp5KcoVUWKg_cXDUuo9_tkt7lurQxsV-cl_MNc7ytqwMIEzK/s320/IMG_0798.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And we covered as much of the classroom walls as we could with black paper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After that the next step was planning the Tuning In. Our school has just purchased the whole set of <a href="http://www.greatlearning.com/ipc/">International Primary Curriculum</a> units of work. Our school administration has hired many PYP and other inquiry teachers who are able to take the best bits of the IPC units and use them in a way that fits what we are doing. We didn't like the Entry Point in the unit "Space Explorers" but we did like the tuning in activities, what they call the Knowledge Harvest.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLihcthfQa98PRAk0zC_ERmqEpr7eB6siRGYQd4mYXp8NykL3F0XbeJQPFfzmTQQNyhcwQ5Lk7Lu41DDV4Gl_RxN8W8BDla7MfbOb4RWk305F-zg5RX0kXMaySdCxNwiqdXT28_QEd8lHb/s1600/IMG_0797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLihcthfQa98PRAk0zC_ERmqEpr7eB6siRGYQd4mYXp8NykL3F0XbeJQPFfzmTQQNyhcwQ5Lk7Lu41DDV4Gl_RxN8W8BDla7MfbOb4RWk305F-zg5RX0kXMaySdCxNwiqdXT28_QEd8lHb/s200/IMG_0797.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">Instead we used </span><a href="http://feedingmyeddiction.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">Steve Box'</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">s idea of playing the Star Wars theme as our Entry Point. Students posted thinking and wondering on a pin board. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">Then, we used the IPC activity where groups had a set of cards with facts, some correct some incorrect, e.g "Astronauts can only fly to the moon when it is full," and "Revolve and rotate mean the same thing." They had to sort the cards into True, False and Not Sure, and then explain their thinking. The sets of cards can be rearranged as thinking changes duing the unit.</span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.5046993049685379" style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After that, students were given tasks ceveloped by team mate Peter Gibson:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">They were asked to post
their thinking on 3 walls in <a href="http://wallwisher.com/">Wallwisher</a>. They could read the other posts and
re-post their ideas if they changed their minds. They could use whichever language they were most confident with. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">On one Wall they were asked to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px;">make a list of all the planets in the Solar System. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px;">On another Wall they were asked to say what the term Solar System meant to them. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px;">They could also use black paper and chalks, pastels or cut paper to create a view of the Solar System.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHopLspYMRsos_5XLI036_4mOnV332ht9XWg3zQM9Jgcl2B5picZr3uJ9ihQf1xWDCEDEYZv2c5vEoSUK7FmelBPEliUFQ5NCCc3nfsi-Hlrt5t6ybxZ4WsyCB95c4g82MCdMoJgVSgQL/s1600/IMG_0794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHopLspYMRsos_5XLI036_4mOnV332ht9XWg3zQM9Jgcl2B5picZr3uJ9ihQf1xWDCEDEYZv2c5vEoSUK7FmelBPEliUFQ5NCCc3nfsi-Hlrt5t6ybxZ4WsyCB95c4g82MCdMoJgVSgQL/s320/IMG_0794.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On another wall they were asked to comment on the compelling question.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwN4ZKg6dX_Fr5KKHqEKuYCOgPGEhrZmV38iozDijh8p-Ifa0RhNZes0RMLFa1W9dP5uCa8dEDnju9ir4JiOJeUirzt0Mpr17D3RHW7oW3K4Gd5x4WuiYTS2-w5RQSPjptJ0qn3xHW-amM/s1600/Why.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwN4ZKg6dX_Fr5KKHqEKuYCOgPGEhrZmV38iozDijh8p-Ifa0RhNZes0RMLFa1W9dP5uCa8dEDnju9ir4JiOJeUirzt0Mpr17D3RHW7oW3K4Gd5x4WuiYTS2-w5RQSPjptJ0qn3xHW-amM/s320/Why.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thnking from the class next door.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Following that, they were to read each other's comments, and then write a paragraph (or more) stating their point of view on a google doc. Last this was posted as a comment on my other blog which I have for class use. They could comment on the comments, (using our commenting guidelines).</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibwo8BtP3Uf6Tu4OV1klcMOsqE7eDi_QYFMnRepJyhT6OM-UOJKyUhJzWlmBSmTz-rbY6PEshg8x-X9IP5zwNg4nmAvP_JuNeFw4MOlJ9NWLe0Cb5tJ3fljHcRNgO6_At-HTcQFB5DD8FR/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-12-14+at+1.46.33+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibwo8BtP3Uf6Tu4OV1klcMOsqE7eDi_QYFMnRepJyhT6OM-UOJKyUhJzWlmBSmTz-rbY6PEshg8x-X9IP5zwNg4nmAvP_JuNeFw4MOlJ9NWLe0Cb5tJ3fljHcRNgO6_At-HTcQFB5DD8FR/s400/Screen+Shot+2012-12-14+at+1.46.33+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next day there was another Wall question. "What cycles are associated with Earth's place in space?" They were to choose a cycle with a partner and explain it to our 1st grade buddies next day. They had to make a quick plan of materials they would need to make models. Library books were to hand for checking accuracy of thinking. Even though this was originally a 3rd grade unit, I could see that these were misconceptions. It was important not to pass these on to the gr 1 buddies.</span></span><br />
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Do these activities give us evidence of understanding? We also had the students' individual blog posts. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Vdo6KBBIvyLrka3s3O4VFzTo0wdOxTqbExyypsWJbatD9x_huKHpKp6sgE1Wrm5sDyL8H9hmZNHC_sD0sgwQ_hxfnL6eDDaghEMjNvm0PowOsqL4bOsV55rlaMkwKl2C4Wc8pcWx1EPC/s1600/shaan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Vdo6KBBIvyLrka3s3O4VFzTo0wdOxTqbExyypsWJbatD9x_huKHpKp6sgE1Wrm5sDyL8H9hmZNHC_sD0sgwQ_hxfnL6eDDaghEMjNvm0PowOsqL4bOsV55rlaMkwKl2C4Wc8pcWx1EPC/s320/shaan.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interesting that the writer is evaluating the learning of the Grade 1 buddies!</td></tr>
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And the Grade 1 tweets.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4uWshHKkFq2LS5S0hmfYWrOzVvnC0dHOGi-8bTELs2XW3U_qEilcyIUOrd6g4reI2Mr0BCrxhnjHpOB5RIcx8WX0jWI047OiUOVKQQncIZSCRtR-oM5FVVAOA-NrwzBriI3GqCw8Lb-kD/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-12-16+at+7.44.38+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4uWshHKkFq2LS5S0hmfYWrOzVvnC0dHOGi-8bTELs2XW3U_qEilcyIUOrd6g4reI2Mr0BCrxhnjHpOB5RIcx8WX0jWI047OiUOVKQQncIZSCRtR-oM5FVVAOA-NrwzBriI3GqCw8Lb-kD/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-12-16+at+7.44.38+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next planning meeting will be to decide the next steps based on the prior knowledge we have discovered and the wonderings that have come out of our preliminary work. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But now.....time for a holiday!</span></span>Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-87491168159028427422012-10-12T07:39:00.000+07:002012-10-12T08:40:30.809+07:00Checking Understanding<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Checking often on the understanding is important before progressing to new tasks, either teacher directed or student directed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After all the initial work on causes of hunger, we asked students what connections they could make between the causes of hunger. They did this in small groups. Listening to how students identified connections and explained their thinking was a clear indication of the levels of understanding they had reached (or hadn't!) Students helped each other when they asked questions for clarification. They had to think about what they'd learned so far. Students had to think of how to put what they'd said in writing to add to the chart.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9EqrBz7N-U3lCJq4le6A1eag0CZz6jws-h2U-k0wbR2aLGYbl-_tyL2X2-_GfGe2AUelfkvcEAYrulqkW9pmC66Ynt-il488v0IDmmx_Wd9whFLqgxPlMxmjpFpHnkOk-t6oq8Sx9SAq/s1600/IMG_0551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9EqrBz7N-U3lCJq4le6A1eag0CZz6jws-h2U-k0wbR2aLGYbl-_tyL2X2-_GfGe2AUelfkvcEAYrulqkW9pmC66Ynt-il488v0IDmmx_Wd9whFLqgxPlMxmjpFpHnkOk-t6oq8Sx9SAq/s320/IMG_0551.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The more I hear discussion and questioning and thinking out loud from my groups of students the better I am able to decide when to have them start their own inquiries in our study area.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRRx6EO9p_sIfYA7v7BqbTQo1Tc8yjW5O3mVliiFsaRPA9tmKdgdrnzituuxlY5wS632J8l-Qgf0jbM4B8ZJfU26bLLQf5aPvosyyklO7IcnvCSDJH1j7EQDDky57JLICMTB-X47TOUqQ/s1600/IMG_0553.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRRx6EO9p_sIfYA7v7BqbTQo1Tc8yjW5O3mVliiFsaRPA9tmKdgdrnzituuxlY5wS632J8l-Qgf0jbM4B8ZJfU26bLLQf5aPvosyyklO7IcnvCSDJH1j7EQDDky57JLICMTB-X47TOUqQ/s320/IMG_0553.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The substantive conversations that occurred during this collaboration are vital for our EAL students too. They learn new vocabulary. They hear it being used over and over and they get to practise using their new words and phrases as they all discuss their ideas.</span><br />
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<br />Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-62726443980431356252012-10-11T13:30:00.001+07:002012-10-12T06:43:04.582+07:00Inquiry - Reading, Writing, Thinking...<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Inquiry learning is not just the part of the day where you used to write Social Studies or Science on the timetable and you now write Inquiry! I always feel bothered when I see schedules where the week is filled with Maths, Reader's Workshop, Writer's Workshop, Spelling, various specialist subjects and then there's a couple of 45 minute blocks where Inquiry is fitted in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For myself, when I am required to display a schedule, I have long blocked out times which I call Inquiry/Reading/Writing for want of a better label. When my students are working in a inquiry/project approach they are combining all elements of language. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At any one time, students will be reading while others are writing or discussing, working alone or collaborating with a partner or two. They may be using books or their laptops or each other or teachers. They may be planning, asking questions, researching, gathering data or information, creating oral or visual presentations in a variety of formats and media or reflecting on the process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Of course there will be times when the reading and writing has nothing to do with the unit they are studying.....)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In their book, <a href="http://www.heinemann.com/products/E01230.aspx">Comprehension and Collaboration</a>, Inquiry Circles in Action, Stephanie Harvey and Harvey Daniels talk about inquiry workshop rather than Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop. I like this idea very much!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even when we are in the stages of a unit where the study is more teacher directed, language arts are integrated with the science or social studies and the various skills are explicitly referred to. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's a couple of examples from our grade 5 team:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In our Feeding the Millions unit yesterday and today we have been looking at what hunger and malnutrition are. We discovered a most useful website for teachers from The Food and Agriculture Organisation, <a href="http://www.feedingminds.org/fmfh">Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger</a>, with some great lessons, which we have modified for our use. These have the same focus as our <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2646261006652089992#editor/target=post;postID=6387462255766922664">Enduring Understanding and some of our Essential Questions.</a></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lesson: What are Hunger and Malnutrition and Who are the Hungry?</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In pairs, students used the sheet of information about food being essential to life and a list of foods that show the vitamins and minerals they provide.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The<b> Task</b> was to <b>read</b> together with a partner, <b>discussing</b> any difficult vocabulary, each on their own copy <b>underlining</b> with pencil, information he or she already knew and <b>highlighting</b> any information that was new.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then, with the partner, they <b>studied</b> a drawing with a variety of foods in groups. This <b>task</b> was to see what foods they could <b>identify</b> and <b>select</b> some that would make a nutritious meal, based on the food information they'd read together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next part was looking for information from a world map provided by FAO which showed countries where 30% or more of the population are hungry or malnourished. They <b>studied</b> the map and <b>used </b><b>atlases</b> or <b>online maps </b>to <b>name</b> some of the countries with large percentages of hungry and malnourished people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They <b>discussed</b> why there was a large concentration in Africa and low concentrations in Europe and North America. This map was dated 2000, so they <b>talked</b> about how accurate that information was. Students <b>searched</b> the World Food Programme site (in the LiveBinder <a href="http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=242864">Causes of Hunger and Malnutrition</a> ) to <b>find</b> good recent information which they <b>compared</b> with the FAO map to see if any country's category had <b>changed</b> over 12 years.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lesson: Causes of hunger </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of our team put together 5 reports of causes of hunger, each with several short paragraphs. The paragraphs were cut up for a jigsaw activity. Each group of 4 students got a report to <b>reassemble</b>. Students had to <b>think</b> of a <b>strategy</b> to tackle the task. They needed to <b>read</b> the paragraphs and get the <b>big idea</b> behind each one. These <b>notes</b> they <b>wrote</b> in their books. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They had to </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">interpret</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> the </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">transition</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> words at the beginning of the paragraphs to give clues as to placing them in order before sticking on a sheet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Each group used their big ideas to </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">present</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">orally</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> to the whole class the important points. After </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">listening</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> to everyone, groups were reformed to include one person from each of the first groupings so that the new groups could </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">create</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> a </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">mind-map</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> of the causes of hunger with </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">detailed notes.</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our EAL teacher was there also to work with a group who needed more assistance with the vocabulary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Throughout, students were encouraged to <b>write questions and wonderings</b> down....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">During all the different parts of these lessons, teacher <b>modelling</b> and student <b>reflecting</b> on how and why they are learning is also a major focus for our students.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photos are my own.</span><br />
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<br />Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-63874622557669226642012-09-20T07:09:00.003+07:002012-09-20T19:18:26.597+07:00Encouraging Compassion<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our new Unit of Inquiry is called Feeding the Millions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Enduring Understanding is: </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Farmers grow enough food for the world’s population and yet many people suffer chronic hunger or malnutrition.</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; vertical-align: baseline;">The Essential Questions are:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">If the world's farmers produce enough food to feed the world, how come so many people are hungry?</span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">What are the main causes of hunger?</span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">How do people make money for food, when they have few resources and little education?</span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">How can local communities (like Pasirmukti) increase food production? </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">How do NGOs help people in need?</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have studied this unit in its present format for four years now. In that time, Feeding the Millions has been the unit that has engaged students the most and has aroused more passion than any other. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We start the unit by watching a movie called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPF8pVAIuYI">"Hungry is the Tiger"</a> a documentary film in Bahasa Indonesia with English subtitles. There is a travelling dhalang who tells a series of stories to children in a kampung in the country with wayang (shadow puppets). Each little story is followed by a look at aspects of hunger, malnutrition, farming and self-sufficiency in communities in rural Indonesian. Part of the documentary is filmed in India also. Our children are enthralled by the experience. It's a wonderful hook of a film! (A school alumnus was involved in the production, gave us a copy and introduced the film to our students four years ago before it had its official premiere!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As part of the unit there is a field trip where our students go to stay on a working farm at <a href="http://www.pasirmukti.co.id/kebunwisata.asp?id=1">Pasirmukti</a> seeing food production first hand and taking part in farming activities. We ask them to make connections with what they have seen in the film. They have another field trip to <a href="http://www.kampungkids.org/">Kampung Kids,</a> an organisation where children can have early years education but more importantly a nutritious meal once a day. Some local older children are sponsored by the organisation to attend the local school.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Feeding the Millions is a unit which requires students to really reflect on their own lives while they look at the lives of those less fortunate than themselves, often the people they see from their car windows as they are driven </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">from place to place </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">by their drivers. It is especially interesting for our students, who are for the most part expatriate or wealthy indonesians, all well-off compared with the majority of the population living around them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some of our students are amazed that there are children living so close to them who don't go to school because their families can't afford for them to go. Some of our students bring great prior knowledge coming from families where mum or dad works for an NGO or Aid agency.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As well as looking at hunger and malnutrition locally, we have a decent quantity of great library books about feeding the world and websites gathered in a LiveBinder, <a href="http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=218488">Feeding the Millions - What's it all about? </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So many ways to provoke wondering and questioning.... and finally the action that comes from students themselves. This is what we most want to see in the service-learning area of our curriculum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We've seen how engaged this unit is for kids and now we are seeing the research which explains what we've recognised. It's nice to read why this type of unit ignites such passion in our children.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> As a faculty we have watched videos of <a href="http://rossier.usc.edu/faculty/mary_helen_immordinoyang.html">Mary Helen Immordino-Yang</a> talking about her studies<i>. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And a</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">s it happens I just read an article last night called <a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/three_insights_from_the_cutting_edge_of_compassion_research?utm_source=GG+Newsletter+-+September+2012+#2&utm_campaign=GG+Newsletter+-+September+2012+%232&utm_medium=email">Three Insights from the Cutting Edge of Compassion Research</a> by Emiliana R. Simon Thomas of the Greater Good Science Center, based at University of California, Berkeley,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> which talks about compassion and mindfulness. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Compassion is one of our School Values. In this unit there is plenty of opportunity to encourage it. </span><br />
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"Hungry is the Tiger"<br />
<span style="background-color: #ebebeb; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Produser Eksekutif: Hashim Djojohadikusumo</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ebebeb; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Dibawakan oleh: Sudjiwo Tedjo dan Christine Hakim</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ebebeb; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Menampilkan: Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ebebeb; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Disutradarai oleh: Gary Hayes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ebebeb; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Diproduksi oleh: PT. Media Desa Indonesia</span><br />
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<br />Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-9094608378045290492012-09-14T10:44:00.002+07:002012-09-15T04:08:39.294+07:00Essential Questions<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In a recent post, <a href="http://nofrillslindybuckley.blogspot.com/2012/09/when-unit-doesnt-go-well.html">When a Unit Doesn't Go So Well...</a>, I listed thoughts that were going through my mind about what reasons there might have been. I've been thinking about those on and off over the past week as we start our new unit. Our cross campus team debrief/reflection for the learning to learn unit is still a couple of weeks away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It occurred to me that I didn't add the Essential Questions to my list of possible reasons why I felt the unit didn't go so well. Maybe they weren't engaging enough. Maybe they didn't point in a clear enough direction for thinking about answers. So I looked again at the questions that our team decided on at our meeting way back in April.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSr-wCJ6orkRADhhhDR2s8sNk33n-kZUu6hTvmktZvMG57RUwQLD1FRphovSom_Y7_JtwJK9L-pD_e7fDZtHYoC5PYBuTE7IIItbzmyoyUmaFLP5GynH3hyXs04AMncdrb0fMcixrRpA7/s1600/IMG_0527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSr-wCJ6orkRADhhhDR2s8sNk33n-kZUu6hTvmktZvMG57RUwQLD1FRphovSom_Y7_JtwJK9L-pD_e7fDZtHYoC5PYBuTE7IIItbzmyoyUmaFLP5GynH3hyXs04AMncdrb0fMcixrRpA7/s320/IMG_0527.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Essential questions should be essential.</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1. <b>How does my brain work? </b>- Is it essential that a 10 year old knows how the brain works? T</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">he way it's written, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I think that is way too big a question for grade 5 - people spend years trying to find out. We only have a couple of weeks!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2.<b> What does my brain have to do with learning?</b> I know what we were aiming for but it's not a wildly exciting question....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3. <b>What can I do to get the best out of my brain?</b> It already got tweaked at our first planning meeting of this year. This is more along the lines of what we're wanting students to get from this unit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4. <b>What are my responsibilities as a learner?</b> It's OK but it doesn't grab you! And maybe it is redundant if Q3 is really well understood by students. It IS what we want students to be thinking about.....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So now I'm wondering if we can do better... Below are my thoughts today which I'll share with my small campus team and see if we can improve on the originals. And then we'll share cross campus. A small group feeding off each other's suggestions is the way to go to get the best questions, I think. Wordsmithing is vital, too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How can I show how amazing my brain is?</b> - I like the word amazing. It <i>does</i> presumes our brains are amazing - but I think for grade 5s that's probably OK.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How amazing is my brain?</b> - I like this better</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How awesome is my brain?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How can I change my lifestyle to help my brain work best?</b> - Hmmm...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How can I make myself smarter?</b> - This sounds good. I like "smarter."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What habits do smart people have?</b> - Have to think. Could be good. How would students go about finding out? Would that be too hard...?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Can I make myself smarter?</b> How? - Yes or no answer, but it does have a "How" so that's OK...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you read this and have suggestions please let me know!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photo is my own.</span><br />
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<br />Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-79450233945875000242012-09-11T08:22:00.000+07:002012-09-11T08:23:10.381+07:00Asleep with my eyes open...<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In helping students with the third EQ of our Learning to Learn Unit, "How do I get the best out of my brain," our EAL teacher Mrs Bell read a story called <a href="http://www.wisdompubs.org/pages/display.lasso?-KeyValue=33077&-Token.Action=&image=1">Moody Cow Meditates</a> by Kerry Lee McLean. In the story the main character learns to manage his anger.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVSYcNAdIHjv1p8Qon_XACns8GzE8DzutSgPXqfa3hhOCLd4LHwqf5Pd3jvSLrmOCejEuU1SaX3aIqMndnGVXf7sgTRVA93CRjJXV0PNfwBeePFunu8-XiqVzMARLtau_9CJBrM4PzjVA/s1600/IMG_0522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVSYcNAdIHjv1p8Qon_XACns8GzE8DzutSgPXqfa3hhOCLd4LHwqf5Pd3jvSLrmOCejEuU1SaX3aIqMndnGVXf7sgTRVA93CRjJXV0PNfwBeePFunu8-XiqVzMARLtau_9CJBrM4PzjVA/s320/IMG_0522.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Margaret then had students practise an exercise that they could use to help them do the same.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She used a jar of sparkles suspended in a solution of half water and half hand sanitiser (as we can't easily buy glycerine). She created a jar with the children so they could see it and make their own if they liked. She had gold and silver glitter as well as colours which children suggested for anger (red) and sadness (blue).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6c2tXndyPh2_g3jkqT3A-H_zCCLGFDDqunXI8l3G9-EpVFH1G4WalEGU4LD8HsRck1JfNmLOhh3SIZBMFR0FEDcW2qoNMJG9d1CEbHpXjtJCkUogZuguvUcqqN9v0bFufuYsQ0y87rbPC/s1600/IMG_0523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6c2tXndyPh2_g3jkqT3A-H_zCCLGFDDqunXI8l3G9-EpVFH1G4WalEGU4LD8HsRck1JfNmLOhh3SIZBMFR0FEDcW2qoNMJG9d1CEbHpXjtJCkUogZuguvUcqqN9v0bFufuYsQ0y87rbPC/s320/IMG_0523.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She had them sit comfortably on the floor, sounded a little <a href="http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/bell/index.html">gong</a> and shook the jar. Children had to concentrate and be very aware of their breathing and watch the sparkles in the jar settle to the bottom. She played the <a href="http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/bell/index.html">gong</a> again and had them sit without talking until they could no longer hear it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After this exercise which lasted only a few minutes, she asked how they felt.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIDC1fsvHYhxVhWBWWBaVScT3uissohsTfQLww12-aug_-FZCESn_41TeOMeUDKVZ63PjzxptyhiMaEdgd2oIuY-NcFiLH7nxDa_oUy5gnup8cB3Z2lMIH3s023Vw4dgz13KaeUzFLXGj/s1600/IMG_0521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIDC1fsvHYhxVhWBWWBaVScT3uissohsTfQLww12-aug_-FZCESn_41TeOMeUDKVZ63PjzxptyhiMaEdgd2oIuY-NcFiLH7nxDa_oUy5gnup8cB3Z2lMIH3s023Vw4dgz13KaeUzFLXGj/s320/IMG_0521.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are some more responses:</span><br />
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<ul id="internal-source-marker_0.7484192166103524" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li style="font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 24px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Why does this thing make me calm? And I felt that I was in no-where</span></span></li>
<li style="font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 24px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I heard the gong, it made me slow down my thoughts and I could control myself better</span></span></li>
<li style="font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 24px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.7484192166103524" style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It helps me feel calm and also my body feels really relaxed and calm, it also gets all my bad thoughts.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 24px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It
makes me feel calm and tired. It just makes me forget all my thoughts
and think all about glitter. It could help me in the beginning of the
day. It helps me clear my mind.</span></span></li>
<li style="font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 24px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I didn’t notice or remember anything, I thought I fell asleep with my eyes open.</span></span></li>
<li style="font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 24px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think this is good because it helps controlling you and you have a clear mind and it makes you calm</span></span></li>
<li style="font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 24px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was helpful because my mind just calmed down about thinking 100 different things.</span></span></li>
<li style="font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 24px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It gave me relaxation and it is a little bit helpful for me at home because of my brother.</span></span></li>
<li style="font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 24px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.7484192166103524" style="vertical-align: baseline;">It helps me because all my stress was gone and I didn’t feel a thing.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photos are my own.</span></div>
Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-82130098235672469162012-09-08T18:58:00.001+07:002012-09-08T18:58:18.251+07:00There is hope!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So I am about to start reading the blog posts my students wrote yesterday about what and how they have learned in the "Learning to Learn" unit, and I am getting posts like, "i learned a lot of stuff about the brain." "I learned a lot of stuff about how to make my brain work better." " I learned a lot of stuff i didn't know about the brain...." and thinking I have my work cut out this year for sure!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then I realised that my last year's class blogs are still listed and I suddenly realise that they wrote a last post the day before school finished and with everything that was going on at that time, I actually did not get around to reading them. Not good. I should have at the time. But anyway, I clicked the first on the list of last year's students ......... and what a great boost I got! Just what I needed after my week of worrying about my unit that didn't go so well.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5O9hMofI8fjCSC0GKXwbwqANEm3-9DclExiezc1UJLGRetDWF7no0LrzU2tSP67WW36K1BJw6baSrfU-9VX-VhYL-ewIuss21AfSLSsFygQ9VNV5xcGQfAtZ7H0b8_-LiqKHlWaaHnrZ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-09-08+at+6.06.03+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5O9hMofI8fjCSC0GKXwbwqANEm3-9DclExiezc1UJLGRetDWF7no0LrzU2tSP67WW36K1BJw6baSrfU-9VX-VhYL-ewIuss21AfSLSsFygQ9VNV5xcGQfAtZ7H0b8_-LiqKHlWaaHnrZ/s640/Screen+Shot+2012-09-08+at+6.06.03+PM.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just what a body needed! There is hope!</span>Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-46037893059211131142012-09-06T14:51:00.000+07:002012-09-06T14:55:28.955+07:00When a unit doesn't go so well...<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In over 10 years of teaching through inquiry in PYP schools and at my current school in a team of inquiry trained teachers, I have never had such a lack of questions/wonderings....</span><br />
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I am asking myself...</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because we have so many other things we need to do at the start of the year and the inquiry took second place which meant there was not quality time?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because we have so few suitable resources?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because my class is low on inquiry skills because this is so new to them?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because I am expecting too much?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because I have not scaffolded enough?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because we allocated 3 weeks and it's not long enough?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because the unit has too difficult a concept?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because half my team is at another campus and we last met to discuss and plan this unit last April?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because changes cannot be made with out both campus teams deciding together so we end up not discussing them because it's too hard?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because I still feel a bit fuzzy through lack of in depth planning meetings?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because that April planning meeting had too many people? And some people weren't actually teaching the unit?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it because in my heart of hearts I suspected almost all of these problems would emerge and I am feeling frustrated with myself that I did not speak up more at the planning stage.... didn't like to put a damper on the excitement.... And what does that say about our large cross-campus team and the essential agreements of being clear, honest, speaking your mind, etc., etc.................)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
I am asking myself these questions as I reflect on how things are going with 1 day to go. I will also be taking my questions to my next team meeting (just our campus). From chats in staffroom or in corridor, I know I am not alone in feeling that the unit has not gone as well as we'd liked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next unit is waiting in the wings. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I know from 4 years of this study that it will be engaging and challenging and all the things a UOI should be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wish I felt better about this new unit...... I hope that we will make the time necessary to talk about what worked and what didn't and what to recommend for next year while it is all still fresh!</span><br />
<br />
<br />Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-75626907041724598182012-08-31T15:01:00.001+07:002012-08-31T15:01:38.122+07:00A Little Freedom and Responsibility<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our students grade 3-5 have always started the year with 6 weeks of keyboarding for 30 minutes every day in the computer lab. We have used Mavis Beacon which is installed there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But this year grade 5 students have their own macbooks in the classroom so we have been looking for a keyboarding programme that is online, so that we don't have to load a programme onto 60 macbooks and also so that keyboarding can become part of Home Learning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I asked the question on twitter as I know there are loads of 1:1 schools out there. They must surely be doing Keyboarding lessons? But all I got were replies of, "Let us know when you find some!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then my tech colleague came up with something useful - <a href="http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2012/08/online-apps-to-improve-your-typing-speed.html">Tripwire Magazine</a>, that had 10 online programmes. My first thought was, "Fantastic!" My second was, "When am I going to have time to check each one of these!" I didn't recognise any. And then I thought, well maybe the students can check them out. So I emailed the link and we had a discussion about how we should go about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUXy_Tka6FJlJyqkfUb2LgasGME3Sig3Hr9EimVHezlhLns4uvXdolNjRLYVyKIzAWOY1IFP8pYG8ifa1XIIkiXGjrxEuYx178oOIAoo5ddvmQh1j4gz-LoLx3Fue7UM6ZW-63GfBPndD/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-08-30+at+7.12.18+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUXy_Tka6FJlJyqkfUb2LgasGME3Sig3Hr9EimVHezlhLns4uvXdolNjRLYVyKIzAWOY1IFP8pYG8ifa1XIIkiXGjrxEuYx178oOIAoo5ddvmQh1j4gz-LoLx3Fue7UM6ZW-63GfBPndD/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-08-30+at+7.12.18+PM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I asked, "How will you know if a programme is right for you?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After I got a few answers like, "It will have lessons," and "It will teach you," in a variety of different ways I asked what else do we want? I got all kinds of strange answers before someone said, "FUN!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So then I said, "There are 10 here to choose from. How will you decide which is best?" We talked a bit about that. I introduced the word "criteria." Then realising what the task involved they started to give suggestions like:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It should have lessons suitable for everyone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There will be different levels.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It should show a keyboard.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It will have games.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It will have easy instructions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It will be fun.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It will tell me how I'm doing.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGy4dznvx9Co9hbumppi759J98dQiAgOxH0bw7wt5Nz44k8DlnoVzpjT7BXcMVgTtdBzdi-6ZyxZ00H_9QmkVy1mBr7KYA9sh5BZHy42ShDHZtlTOK-fnEbTYztYYyRQl7iuSvmTs83cx/s1600/IMG_0870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGy4dznvx9Co9hbumppi759J98dQiAgOxH0bw7wt5Nz44k8DlnoVzpjT7BXcMVgTtdBzdi-6ZyxZ00H_9QmkVy1mBr7KYA9sh5BZHy42ShDHZtlTOK-fnEbTYztYYyRQl7iuSvmTs83cx/s320/IMG_0870.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Excellent! And so it turned out to be. Giving the freedom to study different programmes and the responsibility of making a choice that would be good for them and their peers was definitely the way to go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After some time trying different programmes, I asked them to write their thoughts in a blog post. (And added a 2 minute lesson on how to insert a hyperlink.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And this is where I can see who has really looked for specific features...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sample comments: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Good Keyboarding stuff</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Today I visited some websites for keyboarding and these were the ones that I thought were good and not so good:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">On
one of the websites called Keybr.com you can pick the level ,there is a
keyboard and it will tell you what speed your at, But it does not have
games. That is why I think This one is good.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Another good website is</span><a href="http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/"><span style="color: black; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sense-Lang</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It is all free and has great games but the games do not have a
keyboard. The Lessons are really good because you can pick you lessons
and it has a keyboard. You can also do a test. I think this one is also
really good.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Another
one I'd like to tell you about is Rapid typing. It also has great games
and it also does not have a keyboard and the test does not have a
keyboard either. The Lessons you have to download so I don't think this
is very good.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Shaan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.38303228545912726" style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Keyboarding</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Today at school we had to do some keyboarding on our laptops. So I went on</span><a href="http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline;">SenseLang</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">.
On type race you had to race against other people online and you could
also play by your self but it wasn't fun. You could also race against
your friends!!!!!! So there was a long sentence and every time you
raced there will be a new sentence. You would have to type the word that
was highlighted on the sentence. If you get the word correct you would
gain speed and if you do a word wrong you would lose speed.</span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Bastian</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Keyboarding</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">When I was typing today, I found a good site called</span><a href="http://www.rapidtyping.com/"><span style="color: black; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">rapid typing</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">.
And it has games, tests and lots of other stuff. I played the game
word mountain and it had lots of levels like easy, hard,etc....</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">And
people that are begginers for typing, and who are experts fro typing
can also enjoy it.I think I will recommend this to my cousin when she is
older.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mayuko</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.38303228545912726" style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Typing</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">I
thought these sights were really good for learning to type but at the
same time you can have fun with your friends. My favorite site was
called</span><a href="http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline;">Sense-Lang</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">
in this site you can play typing racing games and you can play Olympic
racing its really fun. At the end of each and every game it tells you
how much words per minute you type my high score was 41. I'm glad you
found these fun and interesting sites Mrs.Buckley i think when my
brother is a bit older i will show him these sites to teach him. </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">B</span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">randon</span></span><br />
<br />
Photos are my own.Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-67059631337434736462012-08-24T06:59:00.000+07:002012-08-24T07:00:22.491+07:00Wandering and Wondering<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">One of the challenges of starting a brand new
unit after the overseas orders have been done is lack of resources. Our library
has not had time to order new items for August and currently there are 12 books
about the brain or books with chapters about the brain..... hardly enough
for 3 classes of 20 students! Middle School library has lent us another 14 books. Still....</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">When we check our list on the wall (generated
by a small group brainstorming activity) there are other avenues. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmZWCVGMwsDOjegnD3iXw-g3ATj2mxGhoDUA96BiwsyZnoKSGSVv8HWfNQiTGt-mjGoyHlXAXEw4TgEuH3CJVStIWIVTnUmWRwdRZdDW5HixJgpGKtco77D168D8kmGi4Qf49za9v8x9a/s1600/IMG_0479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmZWCVGMwsDOjegnD3iXw-g3ATj2mxGhoDUA96BiwsyZnoKSGSVv8HWfNQiTGt-mjGoyHlXAXEw4TgEuH3CJVStIWIVTnUmWRwdRZdDW5HixJgpGKtco77D168D8kmGi4Qf49za9v8x9a/s320/IMG_0479.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">We will
make use of other teachers and we might have a group of high school students interested
in seeing how they can help but they are at least an hour away. Realistically - most of the information that's
readily available is from the Internet. I used to use<span class="apple-converted-space"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_171834469"> </a></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://ww2.ikeepbookmarks.com/home.asp">iKeepBookmarks</a></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">to use with students
but now finding </span><a href="http://www.livebinders.com/"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">LiveBinders</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> ideal for our
purposes.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Students were emailed this LiveBinder: <a href="http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=472235">Learning and the Brain</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUERyFfabEplpugGNZJO-Myd-5h40k8cZBzBhVhmLdNj1QztKWv_E6nXTx32wXJ6ojvsNZjxuFO01RVAQQbCkqzRqJcld90hxWgtyIMH9_GVW0Z0Qf-7UZldHsKV-R6K5FwMRUJ9ls2Naf/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-08-21+at+9.52.06+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUERyFfabEplpugGNZJO-Myd-5h40k8cZBzBhVhmLdNj1QztKWv_E6nXTx32wXJ6ojvsNZjxuFO01RVAQQbCkqzRqJcld90hxWgtyIMH9_GVW0Z0Qf-7UZldHsKV-R6K5FwMRUJ9ls2Naf/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-08-21+at+9.52.06+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first page reminds students of our focus. They also get a reminder of what they should be doing while browsing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gathering websites which have already been pre-chosen, means that students:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1. aren't spending a lot of time surfing the net,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2. aren't having to evaluate the usefulness of sites like they would if they were using a search engine,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3. aren't reading material that has no relevance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4. aren't reading material that is beyond the "just-right" of a good (but not necessarily the best) reader.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Having said that, these are important skills. This is a short unit and it is the start of the year. (See post <span id="goog_194468938"></span><a href="http://nofrillslindybuckley.blogspot.com/2012/08/so-many-starts.html">"So many Starts!"<span id="goog_194468939"></span> </a>) We'll spend longer teaching those skills later. But we will talk about the sites given and their usefulness and why they were chosen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Students are asked to note anything they find particularly interesting. They are asked to make note of wonderings and questions that they have as they are browsing. I can see that they are not used to jotting down questions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNra8A0w_qnTz0sZbYVW7b06d5Op6mI9QeyJfc5lY74CC7GCfAHdJPueIUEE2M2OdDZfhLQzYF2M7ioOcaBmUjk4XgY-aTn0wRsEDWkMUU40_LIXaNuk8IQDTHQpXW6zHQpCeC6NFf7jXQ/s1600/IMG_0490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNra8A0w_qnTz0sZbYVW7b06d5Op6mI9QeyJfc5lY74CC7GCfAHdJPueIUEE2M2OdDZfhLQzYF2M7ioOcaBmUjk4XgY-aTn0wRsEDWkMUU40_LIXaNuk8IQDTHQpXW6zHQpCeC6NFf7jXQ/s320/IMG_0490.JPG" width="320" /></a> Oh dear!</div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I suspect that they will have had experience of asking questions during Reader's Workshop but haven't realised that this is a way of thinking and learning which is not confined to reading. (there's another blog post)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I gather these bits of information about they way I see students approach this unit, I start to think of which of the many inquiry skills I should focus on next. Articulating your wonderings and generating questions seems to be a main one!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photos are my own.</span>Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-62928030195914460522012-08-22T06:53:00.002+07:002012-08-22T06:55:40.955+07:00What happens inside your head?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the first few days of our learning to learn unit, we wanted to have students start to think about what they already knew. With just a short introduction we asked students to draw what they thought went on inside their heads when they were thinking, and add labels and notes where they wanted - whatever way they could best explain.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbY1eVp3Mttokrp1JB9sKlVcPLFz4V7CWLphf8khbkQ75_zzDLdqqruIXZj9_bY6trkedhklGUkrcFES4TER2W-V9RhFD1hBhaiH3FgxZmJbh_ZA8T-ImFTpTWxaS9cVpbouiGe0cowOy/s1600/IMG_0476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbY1eVp3Mttokrp1JB9sKlVcPLFz4V7CWLphf8khbkQ75_zzDLdqqruIXZj9_bY6trkedhklGUkrcFES4TER2W-V9RhFD1hBhaiH3FgxZmJbh_ZA8T-ImFTpTWxaS9cVpbouiGe0cowOy/s320/IMG_0476.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1A0ABvjcRSAX6URmP65BxNBIGKBeXaal3r3uiGkfouHKqjWM1q6-EPxPNJRwVZXMF5mAV4NNL-DXY0724VcRQcd8JtegRbvMQfsQt4RgDiI1wFW4je7qR8q7S5AGgT1T04MaC2ZxVmG4/s1600/IMG_0477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1A0ABvjcRSAX6URmP65BxNBIGKBeXaal3r3uiGkfouHKqjWM1q6-EPxPNJRwVZXMF5mAV4NNL-DXY0724VcRQcd8JtegRbvMQfsQt4RgDiI1wFW4je7qR8q7S5AGgT1T04MaC2ZxVmG4/s320/IMG_0477.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAD_VyO4AW0qb-VWmhS5_nu3OH44cCKSDUS7LtF8Z5EWW7eFqTgi4YCh2HtzahJ6ARDC2DYRhjGtL-ypKJp2eNlCrC_Kv4O97O4PC41dNe7fxqGNj59OIJZwM9CqhIripVk-I8DFhWZFiK/s1600/IMG-20120822-00279.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAD_VyO4AW0qb-VWmhS5_nu3OH44cCKSDUS7LtF8Z5EWW7eFqTgi4YCh2HtzahJ6ARDC2DYRhjGtL-ypKJp2eNlCrC_Kv4O97O4PC41dNe7fxqGNj59OIJZwM9CqhIripVk-I8DFhWZFiK/s320/IMG-20120822-00279.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz7Q8kJftwaiv-OoWL3W6kxXAMLDxLkusUWFwE3S4VrNuWwI6DH1ZSWVgUiDOApjgEL7yA0g9TM5_gFyfFPmdinTvrcTOVe3nm_GwoD3ZTuWZ-n_cBg5AmxOsdnjYGK2avfYWhVGXaNkL7/s1600/IMG_0473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz7Q8kJftwaiv-OoWL3W6kxXAMLDxLkusUWFwE3S4VrNuWwI6DH1ZSWVgUiDOApjgEL7yA0g9TM5_gFyfFPmdinTvrcTOVe3nm_GwoD3ZTuWZ-n_cBg5AmxOsdnjYGK2avfYWhVGXaNkL7/s320/IMG_0473.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What a great Happy Place!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnZPSPTzHIVOrGxbeFL0dcf5q0-IIgV93eZErMZ9EdkGxamXp18Gc0S2G6hnvq8Mo-NCKFxkfSMXTxDw_kZpwZWA_PmSzPniFGuDSdHwy1ICGBh93PgQ6hE0BenGJgA2H2cZocPRWsb_g/s1600/IMG_0474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnZPSPTzHIVOrGxbeFL0dcf5q0-IIgV93eZErMZ9EdkGxamXp18Gc0S2G6hnvq8Mo-NCKFxkfSMXTxDw_kZpwZWA_PmSzPniFGuDSdHwy1ICGBh93PgQ6hE0BenGJgA2H2cZocPRWsb_g/s320/IMG_0474.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Listening to the discussions going on was every bit as important as seeing the many visual ways students showed their thoughts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finding how few students had any real idea was eyeopening.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Overheard:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"This is my happy section. I'm putting musical notes."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"It does memories."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Imagination!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I have so much storage space."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I need to show emotions, feelings."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"This is the control centre."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"My thinking section has different stages."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I basically just did the main three things, movement, emotion and thoughts!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photos are my own.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-81654075569023066882012-08-21T08:57:00.001+07:002012-08-21T19:43:18.440+07:00Reflecting right from the start<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Inquiry teachers, PYP or any other variety, most likely have a unit planner that has a section at the end for an End of Unit reflection. We all know the importance of taking time to make note of ideas, changes, etc. so one has prior knowledge to review before any necessary revising/modifying next time the unit is studied. I aim this year to make notes of any reflections as the unit unfolds, so I can bring them to my team <a href="http://www.allthingsplc.info/">PLC</a> meeting for discussion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We have barely started with our brand new </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Learning to Learn"</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> unit and I already have some thoughts based on our initial planning sessions some time ago and on what I have learned so far about my new class and their inquiry experience and competency.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our new Learning to Learn unit for Grade 5 has this Enduring Understanding:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Understanding what influences our learning can help us make better learning choices.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Essential Questions:</span><br />
<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">How does my brain work?</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">What does my brain have to do with learning?</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">What can I do to get the best out of my brain?</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">What are my responsibilities as a learner?</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.3624692659899925" style="vertical-align: baseline;">In our planner, we hope that students
would be inquiring into the ways in which learning is influenced by both
extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The initial plan, when we met as a team of eleven, (I wonder if that's too many perhaps) was that </span></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">the inquiry would be focused primarily
on an investigation of the brain – how it works and what impacts its
functioning. From there students would be able to transfer their new learning to their current situation. They would</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> be better able
to make choices that will support their learning and participate in an
informed way, in setting up the classroom community as a learning
environment. They'd look into the needs of learners focusing on
how to be successful in areas such as: organization, responsibilities,
peer-pressure, self-management (use of time, sleep, diet, exercise
patterns), self-awareness, confidence, social/emotional development,
learning styles, multiple intelligences, goal setting, and reflecting on learning.)</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now that I have met my class, I think this is a huge task. We have 3 weeks, initially, to be followed with continuation throughout the year alongside our other units. (and that long list of time-consuming start up stuff....)</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In a previous school, where students had grown up with the inquiry process from early childhood, I could have seen grade 5 students pick up this unit and run with it. My new class will need a lot of scaffolding to help them with inquiry which is a new way of learning. That means that maybe for the start of this year I might not see students' own thoughtful questions which will guide their inquiry. I might not see the deep investigating. I might not see a great deal of that all-important <a href="http://vidego.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=ds3ei2xl">transfer</a>... But, important to be on the lookout for all these things nonetheless.</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is where my own reflections are so important to my own learning. Taking note of how students are learning and what they need support in during this process will be invaluable, more so at this stage than checking off the bits of knowledge they collect about the brain... I need to remember and keep students mindful that this unit is about learning to learn and not just gathering "Fun Facts" about the brain!</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">More to come....</span></span>Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-85830677438571646342012-08-09T19:57:00.005+07:002012-08-09T20:44:04.867+07:00So Many Starts!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our sudents started the new school year yesterday. Two days so far to get to know each other. Actually easier for the students than for me, as all my class had been in our three grade 4 classes so they knew each other a bit before starting grade 5. At the same time as the whole extremely important social aspect of the start of school we have all the other starts:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting Everyday Maths.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting Reader's workshop.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting to use the classroom library.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting the year long reading assignment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting Writer's workshop.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting Learning journals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting Words Their Way spelling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting Handwriting Without Tears.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting using macbooks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting using Google mail.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting using Google docs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Starting with blogs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And all of the various routines... And I am sure I have missed some!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As well as all those, we have <a href="http://www.buildinglearningpower.co.uk/">Building Learning Power</a> which gives us great new way of helping our students learn. There's a new vocabulary to start using and getting students familiar with so that they can use it when talking about their learning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And also the first of our new Units of Inquiry. Our first unit for all grades is Learning to Learn developed with the help of <a href="http://www.kathmurdoch.com.au/">Kath Murdoch</a>. A short burst of a unit in itself for a few weeks, to be continued through out the year alongside the other four units. This is the one, if I am totally honest, that I am most interested in! Except for the student blogging... It's a close run thing!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And what are my students most interested in getting started with? Evenly divided between Inquiry Unit about what the Brain has to do with their learning ... and using their new macbooks!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqy0nRy6Uul6kyA8-qkMAufDQcUHeIkB-8lbUGXONXJEIdIp_YLvIH96vcRt9OZT4jIPGD0wrbJfcw_n3A5YjwsYjkak9fTYlhg32XG1hleDh-8oXO5PZGsz4yhg_mrWnWKYTgQbHuz-G/s1600/IMG_0460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqy0nRy6Uul6kyA8-qkMAufDQcUHeIkB-8lbUGXONXJEIdIp_YLvIH96vcRt9OZT4jIPGD0wrbJfcw_n3A5YjwsYjkak9fTYlhg32XG1hleDh-8oXO5PZGsz4yhg_mrWnWKYTgQbHuz-G/s320/IMG_0460.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's hard to get the year started. It really is, especially when you are trying to not tell everyone what to do but have student choice and discussion about what they feel is important and what I feel is important and what the parents feel is important. Our first couple of days have been messy. That's OK. I expect the next few days to be messy too. We'll get there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And after six days, we have a five day long weekend for Independence day and Idul Fitri!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">By then I should be able to write about how we have managed with all our starts!</span><br />
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<br />Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2646261006652089992.post-60497394486491847952012-06-07T20:15:00.000+07:002012-08-09T21:03:37.476+07:00Intrinsic rewards<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Reading John Spencer's post this morning, <a href="http://www.educationrethink.com/2012/06/classroom-leadership-rewards-are-like.html">Classroom Leadership: Rewards are like Crack</a> I thought about about our Grade 5 year long reading assignment. There is a great deal of debate around the tracks just now about the value of homework, and my school will be embarking on a study next year. I'm on the committee. And it may be that this assignment will end. This year this assignment moved from being homework to being "read-anytime."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I inherited this assignment and it has always bothered me that the task sounds daunting to begin with and that's not a great way to start the year. But we try to make it as simple and interesting as possible:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Read 20 Just-Right books in a given variety of genres over the course of the school year. Keep a record. Have a discussion with a parent after you finish the book. (Parents are given suggested questions to help with this.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Each year there have been a few groans, "I HATE historical fiction!" "Non-fiction is so boring!" "I have to read a book in Bahasa Indonesia?" "Do we have to read fantasy? I don't like fantasy!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We give no awards, certificates, medals. Students get none of those things. They do get discussion with a parent and with the teacher though weekly letters. They also get the satisfaction in discovering new genres that they love. And WE get the feedback in the end of year reflections that helps us decide whether or not to run it next year ....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Samples:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"I was surprised that I like historical fiction"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"I warmed to biographies after reading Kathy Freemans. I wanted to read more so Mum let me buy Andre Agassis."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"The effect of this task made historical fiction my 2nd favorite genre. If I never had this task, I would never have tried it."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"I never knew I liked biography and animal fiction."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"A genre I surprisingly liked was poetry."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"I think this was a good assignment for me because I didn't read different kinds of genres. But I found a kind of genre that I never knew it's fun. I thought it would be boring but I love it. "</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"I didn't know I'd like biography so I read it second last."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I think we will keep it going!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;"><br /></span>Lindy Buckleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01667285672753221573noreply@blogger.com0