Developing literacy, Fotobabble and the weather.

We’re developing the idea of Year 7 students creating weather forecasts. This isn’t an original idea by any means, however it does present an opportunity to develop the style of geographical writing required at GCSE and beyond. Weather forecasts are a challenging activity as young people have to collect, choose, interpret and explain information in a concise way. Therefore, every word counts. When we zoom through to GCSE Controlled Assessments and examinations, this concise natures and use of geographical words is a core skills needed to do well. A strong focus on literacy and examination skills from Year 7 has helped Priory Geography to maintain our sustained improvement.

This is brief description of the lesson.

Firstly, I asked the class to talk about the weather outside. They had brought in an extreme weather report with them and used this for key words. We then watched the BBC Weather’s UK Forecast Video with the sound switched off. Students had to be silent and think about the information being displayed. This is a simple yet underused teaching technique, in effect getting young people to write the script. We also spoke about the differences between a forecast and observed weather.

After the initial watch, we recorded what the class thought were the key aspects of the forecast.

On the second run through, students spoke in partners to create a forecast before random students were asked to speak over the video. Finally, we listened to the forecast with the sound on to assess how well we’d done.

The key point raised was the effective use of geographical terminology and the concise nature of the report. In order to develop this further, the class were let loose with mobile devices running the Fotobabble iPhone app. The brief was simple: get organised into teams; go out around the site; capture a photograph and describe the weather conditions. As the Fotobabble app only permits 30 seconds of audio, this really developed the literacy skills of the group. I was also pleased to see the group self-organise which means routines are starting to pay off.

Example creations are below, and where shared with the class at the end of the lesson for some peer assessment.

Comments

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge. I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post. I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff. If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been ...

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment i...

Banned Word Board

Today I want to share some simple ideas that I have found to be very effective in the classroom. I can't say that they are my own original ideas, although I have played around with them. The first is the Banned word Board. This is a simple display in the classroom that lists a number of words that are not allowed to be used by pupils in their written or oral answers. The effect has been an increase in the quality of written work, and I have almost made comments such as 'Sir it's simple, the stuff just affects the thing and causes people problems'. Pupils are now more able to use specific language, something that is vital especially at GCSE. I have had to make a few modifications, such as the introduction of 'Heavenly Words' This is an additional display placed on the ceiling. I found this necessary as pupils needed some stimulus in finding replacement words. After advice received after posting the idea on the SLN forum , I have also introduced semi-banned words...

David Rogers

Search This Blog