Sensory Needs: Putting the Pieces Together

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Jade Peartree

Presentor: Dino Mennillo: Occupational Therapy for Children

On the 10th of August I attended a sensory needs training session with a colleague, as we have a few students in our classes who require sensory stimulation and output.

Here are some of the notes taken and areas that I will be implementing in my teaching practice.

What is it, how do we recognise it?

Sensory integration therapy, can we offer this in the classroom? Yes. How?
Restless students, movement and fidgeting.

Sensory preferences: There are different types of sensory needs in students.

1. Under sensitive: these are the students who love sand, messy play, seeks lots of movement.

2. Over sensitive: avoids noisy, messy play activities, doesn’t like to be touched.

3. Tactile: Deeper firmer touch is more tolerable, use putty, shaving cream, beans

Parent Involvement:

There was a huge focus on this point and I was pleased to hear it.

It is the parent’s job to get the foundations right. Your child’s body learns when they fall, we need to let them fall, play, climb etc. We are seeing too many children who are not being given the opportunity to play, take risks, climb trees etc. So their bodies are not learning movements and developing the core strength, coordination and balance they need. Get your children involved in sports, playing games outdoors, give them time to play and move.

Parent Questions: What time does your child go to sleep at night? Sleep patterns, ask the basic questions. Screen time before bed? Activities before bed? Limit screen time before bed and first thing in the morning. It is recommended that school age children from Reception to Year 7 get 12 hours of sleep per night. This should be brought up at Parent information evenings.

Classroom Strategies to Implement:

Provide regular movement breaks. Get this happening before they get restless, short spouts of movement. Get up walk to drink taps, do a small lap of the yard, 5 star jumps on the spot. Get them moving, it will help with their concentration and physical need for movement. I have been implementing brain breaks in my class with students and have noticed improvements in focus, concentration levels and quality of work.
Bum bags for fidget toys. This strategy allows the sensory need to be fulfilled but does not distract the student from the learning. Keep the sensory toy in the bum bag, if it comes out of the bum bag it gets taken away.

Sensory Diet: The Key to Sensory Success

Intensity (when they have the physical activity make sure it is intense so that it last for the period of time to aid focus),
Duration (Short breaks for 2-5 minutes),
Frequency (Have the breaks every 15-20 minutes). Get the pattern for sensory breaks right.

Discussions and Questions at the end:

Handwriting and Pencil grip. This can’t change after age of 5 years old. You can try but unlikely to change it. When writing your left hand is the helper, one side of the brain switches off. 2 minutes a day colouring in on a vertical surface will improve handwriting/ pencil grip.
Develop typing skills instead. To be typing both sides of the brain need to be working.

Certificate of Attendance Dino Mennillo: Occupational Therapy for Children

This was a useful session and I was able to use some of the information and strategies shared within my current school context.

Effective Lesson Design: Intentional Planning

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Jade Peartree

Week 4, Term 2, 2015. Curriculum Staff Meeting

Category: 1. Know students and how they learn, 3. Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning, 5. Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning, 6. Engage in professional learning,

Topic: Effective Lesson Design: Intentional Planning

I presented at staff meeting this evening about a course I’ve been on recently called Effective Teaching in English & Mathematics. The course has been designed by AISSA (Association of Independent Schools of SA) and delivered by Rosemary Kadow and Desiree Gilbert. Some of the references and resources have come from their course guide. The course runs for 3 days and I still have one more day left but thought I should reflect on my experiences so far and what I have shared with my colleagues.

Our school has been focusing on curriculum alignment. We are an IB school so we have been focusing on aligning ACARA with IB, making our planning intentional and clear for all to assist with informing our assessments and reporting.

Here is the Keynote Presentation we used at Staff Meeting:

Attached are the handouts provided to staff from the course booklet we received:

Intentional Handouts

Things I take away from this experience:

The reflective tools were useful and I have enjoyed using them with my class and other staff seemed to appreciate more strategies to try out in class.
I spent a considerable amount of time planning out this presentation and working with a colleague of mine to really dig deep. We reflected on why we should plan intentionally and how we can improve teaching practice by starting at the big picture and working backwards by design. Breaking down the objectives and curriculum standards to teachable and intentional lessons. Here is an example of an intentional planner in Mathematics that I made this term. Intentional Planner Maths T2 Money
Success Criteria. Our lessons should hold no secrets. Students should know what we aim to do, how they can achieve success and the purpose behind the task. This is all part of WALT (What Are Learning To), WILF (What I’m Looking For) & TIB (This Is Because). Shirley Clarke introduced the concepts of WALT, WILF & TIB, google her and images for each and you will find an abundance of resources.

I had some good feedback after the session from staff. One staff member (Paul Huebl) blogged about our presentation and noted the following:

Learning intentions must be explicitly clear for all students in the room. Intentions must be visible.
Learning intentions are not descriptions of an activity. They are directly linked to achievement standards.
There should be no secrets in the learning process –> this means success criteria must also be clear and explicit.
Success criteria tell kids “You can succeed at this and this is how you do it”. What does it look like to achieve the learning intention?
Along with WALT statements (We Are Learning To) and WILF statements (What I’m Looking For) you also need to address TIB (This Is Because) which links WALT and WILF to the students personal contexts.
To help with students engaging with WALT and WILF statements, these can be present on task sheets and blank work sheets. That way teachers can easily indicate how students have performed against them.
Students should be able to state learning intentions and success criteria. This is easier if displayed as above.
Don’t use the term differentiate. Say ‘make it accessible’.

If you wish to read more of Paul Huebl’s blog post please click on this link:

http://mrhuebl.edublogs.org/2015/05/12/deliberate-planning/comment-page-1/#comment-51

I will blog again about my final session and share some more strategies I have used in the classroom.

I hope you found this post helpful.

Thanks, please leave a comment.

Jade

Lest We Forget. The ANZAC Centenary in 2V

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Jade Peartree

This morning we had the ANZAC Day Assembly. Students of every age across the school campus Reception-Yr 7 all seemed to understand the significance or importance of showing respect during this time of reflection and remembrance. The stillness in assembly was something unlike any other day in your typical primary school.

Following the assembly we returned to class and watched this clip on You Tube about the significance and symbol of the poppy. This helped students to understand why we make poppies on ANZAC and Remembrance Day.

We then made a poppy using this template:

Poppy template

To do this in your class you will need the template, some red and green paper or card, scissors and glue sticks.

We have been looking at procedure writing in English so we also watched a video about how to make a poppy. This was quite handy.

This is the final display in our classroom of our ANZAC poppies.

Some children chose to look at and draw or colour in pages of ANZAC soldiers and nurses like this image below.

After recess we returned to class and read a book about the ANZACS.

I was fortunate to have a parent find and lend me this lovely book called “Lest We Forget” by Kerry Brown. We read in it class today to give the children some context as to why we say Lest We Forget and why it is a day that we choose to remember the ANZACS. It has beautiful illustrations and puts things into perspective for children. The link below takes you to a review of the text.

http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2015/04/review-lest-we-forget.html

Following the reading of the book there were many questions and discussions about the soldiers, nurses and animals in war. We reflected on the importance of acknowledging all those brave men and women who served Australia and fought for our freedom and rights today.

We had a lovely day reflecting on the significance of ANZAC Day and many students were keen to attend ANZAC services tomorrow for the centenary.

The Ode

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

A useful resource and good read for anyone interested:

http://www.anzacportal.dva.gov.au/

Welcome back to school! Let’s play!

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Jade Peartree

IB: Play-Based Learning in the PYP

PAC: Wednesday 14th to Friday 16th of January 2015

Presenter: Jo Fahey & Workshop Facilitator: Heather O’Hara

It’s only a couple of weeks until the children come back to school and I’m trying to get my junior primary headset back and what better way to do that than to engage with play-based learning!

For the last three years I’ve been teaching in Year 6 in the MYP, prior to that I was teaching Year 2’s in the PYP and now I’m back! Very excited to be back too. My colleagues in year 6 would often say to me, “You’re such a JP teacher”, usually as I sat on the floor with my students, materials sprawled across the floor. I am generally a visual and hands on learner and I believe this way of learning is natural for myself and many children. This is also known as exploratory learning or play-based learning. Using materials, props, resources to make meaning and sense of our world.

We listened to Jo Fahey about the importance of socio-dramatic play. Research has shown that students are highly engaged and participate in an authentic and mature way whilst role-playing. These play experiences help students to make sense of their world and how it works. It also allows students to take on roles and responsibilities as global citizens.

We then went to our workshop with Heather O’Hara. As part of this course we explored the definition of play:

We then looked at the image of the child and what was at the core of what we do as educators to meet the needs of children. Why do we teach? What is the purpose behind what we do? What do we as educators do to support and develop the child?

Great read: Your Image of the Child: Where Teaching Begins by Loris Malaguzzi

We had some interesting discussions about the words inquiry, play and learning. Are these words interchangeable? We couldn’t come to an agreement but it was agreed that playing is inquiry and learning is a product of both.

I loved exploring learning spaces at PAC. We visited the ELC and Reception rooms. In particular I enjoyed looking at this writing space pictured below. It showed intention and purpose, involved sensory elements and tied in students prior knowledge and resources to further develop their understandings. It was an inviting and engaging learning space to assist playing with writing.

I have also been inspired by Reggio classrooms. Something I have been researching and trying to work on in my own learning spaces for the last few years.

Here are some links to my Pinterest boards regarding Reggio and Play-Based Learning:

https://www.pinterest.com/jadevidovich/reggio/

https://www.pinterest.com/jadevidovich/play-based-learning/

These images were in the PAC Early Learning Centre. I particularly liked the grass mat and wooden blocks and tree stumps. Things I have been on the look out for and am acquiring soon 🙂

We explored this Central Idea:

Respectful and careful consideration of space, materials and relationships infuse all aspects of early childhood instruction.

From here my group came up with these lines of inquiry:

•Developing Learning Spaces

Why is it important to change and develop learning spaces?

How can spaces be utilised effectively?

How can spaces be a provocation for learning?

•Materials for Engagement & Exploration

How important are materials and resources for learning?

What types of materials engage the learner?

How do we select appropriate materials for learning?

•Forming Positive Relationships

What does a positive relationship look like?

Why are positive relationships important to student well-being and their development?

How do we know that we are encouraging positive connections with self, peers, environment and the community/ wider-world?

It was great to listen to and discuss our own beliefs and experiences around these. We also had time to do our own research about each of these areas. Some other groups took us outside to explore how nature and the outdoor spaces around us can be learning spaces that engage students and activate inquiry and play-based learning. Visiting other learning spaces at PAC and this group time was probably the most enjoyable part of the course. I was also able to look at my current planners and think about how to set up my class as a provocation for our first inquiry. This was useful reflective time.

I’m looking forward to setting up my classroom for 2015.

Stay tuned for pictures of playful, intentional and purposeful learning spaces on my blog.

Thanks Heather O’Hara for running the course for the last three days. It has given me time to get my JP headset back and explore ideas for including more play in my learning space.

Lets start 2015!

Action Plan:

1. Set up my classroom with the ideas I’ve accumulated over the last 3 days. Post pictures on my blog.

2. Share these play-based ideas with my staff and encourage this to be resourced and funded by the school.

3. Keep contact with the group to share our play-based learning strategies. Do this via Twitter, Pinterest and the Wiki.

Playing Those Positive Records: How to make records work for you.

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Jade Peartree

In my holidays I have a lot more time to think and reflect on myself as an educator. A thought occurred to me whilst I was reviewing some parent feedback from 2014. I was discussing my experiences and feedback with a colleague these holidays and I questioned how educators use records and anecdotal notes to their benefit?

I don’t know about you, but I keep quite a lot of notes and records about my students each and every year. These involve individual goals, incidents, behavioural observations, records of achievements to track progress, records of meetings, conversations with parents etc. Usually these are all taken to provide evidence for reporting purposes and parent meetings and discussions, and to track student progress both academically and emotionally. But it occurred to me that I was lacking something…

Where are my positive notes about the interactions I have with my students, parents and colleagues? How am I showing that I am building healthy relationships with those I work with? Where is my evidence of this?

After reading lovely letters, emails and Christmas cards at the end of the year, educators are often given that feedback from parents. I also like to make sure that my students have a voice in this process, but I have never had these things written down or recorded.

Should educators be recording these positive moments? And if so how can this be managed on top of everything else we do? Is there a real need for this?

Well, I think there is. My perceptions of my relationships with my students and parents vary for each individual and when faced with difficulties, I’d like to be able to have evidence of the efforts and positive interactions I have had with my students, parents and fellow educators.

There have been times where I have received some negative feedback about myself as an educator, (I know it’s hard to believe!) It may sound easy to say, “You can’t please everybody, I’m learning and I’ll try this next time”, but quite honestly it isn’t. I receive more positive feedback and praise than negative, yet I still focus on that one negative statement or nasty email… I question my practises and think, where is the evidence that shows how I made the effort to resolve this issue? Was I doing everything from my end to make this experience a positive one for whoever was involved? Educators need to be backing themselves by recording those positive interactions and efforts.

Too often we play the record of negative feedback over and over in our heads, trying to figure out if we could have played the situation better… lets play the positive record and balance it out.

Three Positive Interaction Record Goals for 2015:

Start a positive interactions notebook/ file. This can be as simple as Date/ Time/ Name and Positive Interaction. These can be kept as my own personal records and used for interactions with students, parents and colleagues. I will aim to do one per week for each. This could also be used with students too, as a reflection tool about the positive interactions they’ve had with others in the week.
Give students a voice in positive feedback. Maybe a video message on the class iPad, or a letterbox of nice things to say to one another in class. This could work for everyone in the class, so one positive comment for each person, including the teacher, probably once a week. Or the idea of a positive interactions reflection journal.
An opportunity for positive parent feedback at frequent intervals throughout the year, not just those sentimental end of year letters and cards. This can be done via email, sharing blog posts with parents, communication books in class, or simply my taking notes of the verbal feedback given to me by parents etc.

I also found this website, which is a good read about how we can connect and bridge the gap between parents and teachers. I personally like “Have a Blast or a Blog” section. Check it out:

http://teach.com/teach100-mentor/parent-teacher-communication

Not bad for my first blog post for 2015! Lets start to play positive records for a positive start to a new year. All the best to all of my fellow educators.

A Poetry Lesson: My Poem

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Jade Peartree

In class today, Mr Huebl gave the students the following instructions:

Please select your poem and compose a blog post on it. This post will need:

1. A copy of your poem, including author, date of writing and source
2. An explanation of what the poem is about, in your opinion.

Please submit the URL in the ‘my poem’ assignment on Edmodo.

I chose to partake in this lesson and have found a poem and will submit this assignment.

My Poem:

I Love You
by Jean: http://www.teachers.net/gazette/MAY03/poem.html

A child grabs my hand in “ownership.”
“Teacher,” he calls me. “Miss ______.”
I call the roll and, instead of his name,
he answers this, “I love you.”

What do I say while the others laugh?
I’m choked with emotion; words fail me.
I have to do something, I know in my heart,
But the words are so sweet, so lovely.

An “angel” is heckled for loving.
I have to reprove him – I do,
Just to set an example
So the others won’t act up, too.

But the words don’t stop with the laughter,
And the “angel” is not quite through.
When the other kids giggle, “He loves her,”
He stands up and cries, “But I do!”

And my heart sort of pulls at my chest now
As I call the names left on the list.
But my heart is waiting to hear once more
The words that I already miss…”I love you.”

My interpretation of this poem:
The writer is a teacher. The angel is one of her students. The student/ angel is a boy and he says he loves his teacher during roll call. Obviously this teacher has made an impact on this child. I have made the assumption that this is a young boy, a child in primary school. The other children laugh at him, obviously not many students announce their love for their teachers. This makes me wonder how old the children are, and if the boy is different in some way? Is this boy craving love from his teacher because he doesn’t get love at home? Or is this boy in a family who openly expresses their feelings and love for one another, that this appears to be a normal behaviour?
Is this boy different from his peers? Yes. How and why? We do not know.
The teacher appreciated this boy and his kind words but fears that his actions and words will isolate him. Yet she craves the words all the same. Teachers can love their students and students can love their teachers, but it is not something that is usually expressed for fear of judgement, limitations of standards of professionalism, keeping safe distances and boundaries within the classroom, defining an appropriate teacher/ student relationship etc etc.

A lovely poem all the same.
An experience I can relate to.

ACEC: Australian Computers in Education Conference: CyberSmart

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Jade Peartree

CyberSmart

Embedding a Cyber Smart program into the curriculum.

Presenter: Greg Gebhart

National Curriculum: Standard 4

4.4 Maintain Student Safety

Provide learning opportunities on cyber bullying and how to report
Provide students with the information on safe use of social media.

4.5 Use ICT Safely, responsibility and ethically

Provide lessons to students on plagiarism
Provide students with the curriculum that identifies key online risks and issues.

How do we embed Cyber Safety within current programs in the curriculum?

There is no doubt that we, as educators see the importance of raising student awareness about issues regarding online safety. There are constant changes, risks and obstacles we face online and it is our responsibility to equip our students with the tools and strategies to safely engage with the online world. In my teaching experience I have created a Digital Citizenship Unit of Inquiry with my Year 6 students to address such issues.

I found this statistic fascinating: The average number of student personal digital devices is 4 or more each! This includes devices such as iPad’s, phones, laptops, gaming consoles, iPods etc. It was also interesting to note that whilst the number of mobile phones for students hasn’t really changed, they have instead progressed from standard mobile phones to Smart Phones, allowing further access to online activities.

Less than 5% of Primary Schools students are on Facebook. There has been a shift away from Facebook and a move towards other social networking sites and apps such as Instagram and Kik. This is due to Facebook becoming an increasingly adult world where students are being friended by their parents, family members etc. We need to remind our students about the security settings within each app and site. For example many students are using Instagram to upload their personal pics, not realising that even though they are sharing these pictures with their friends lists, the pictures themselves become property of Google images and can be used on Google and found by strangers if searched. I have students in Year 6 who are currently using Instagram and I wonder if they realise this…note to self: remind my class about this in our next Digital Citizenship lesson.

Here are some Sites/ Apps which are popular amongst students ranging from primary to high school age:

KIK: Kik has limited security settings, it is meant for young adults (17+), we find many offenders on this app, searching for young people. Do not recommend KIK to students, talk about the lack of safety and how to change the settings to not allow strangers to connect with you.

YouTube (13+): So many students have YouTube accounts and upload videos of themselves to share with others. Again there are privacy settings and choices of who you share your videos with. Golden rule of if you wouldn’t share this with your grandma, don’t share it online.

Vine (17+) (6 second videos) Risky behaviours are being displayed here, students dare each other to do things to get their 6 seconds of fame online. We need to warn students about these risky behaviours and what impact 6 seconds can have on your digital reputation.

Tumbler (13+) (majority of kids not using this now)

askFM (13+) ask.com has recently purchased this site and have promised to clean the site up and restructure it. It is not one to recommend to children.

Whisper. This site has been linked to teenage suicides, it allows people to comment and be completely anonymous, which is why students like it, but also allows for some terrible posting and behaviours.

SnapChat: This app is being used by some of my students. The idea is that students can share a photo and set a time limit for that photo and then it “disappears”. The issue is that these images are being shared but then captured and stored and shared again! There are Snap Chat cheats to collect the images without the sender realising their photo has been captured. The names of the cheats are: Snap Save, Snap-Hack Pro, Snap Capture. I wonder if my students are aware of this???

It is so important for us to create an awareness of the importance of Security Settings. We need to not only tell students to change their settings but also show them where they are and how to activate them. Sometimes it is simply one setting that can take you from high risk to low risk.

We need to develop the idea of Digital Identities and how they are your real identity too. Teaching the whole person and developing their well-being. Cyber safety is viewed negatively in the eyes of students, there is the “been there done that” mentality. However, the Digital Citizenship topic is seen in a positive light, looking at who you are as a person online and the values and behaviours you display that project who you are as a person.

Resources to investigate:

CyberSmart Website: Some great resources for teachers, parents and students

http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Schools/Cybersafety%20policy%20guidance/Holistic%20approach%20to%20cybersafety.aspx

Bogus Websites to share with kids: https://infolit.wikispaces.com/Bogus+websites

This website gives examples of websites that are full of completely false facts. They are quite clever but can be used to teach students how to identify good sources of information. Check them out.

ACEC 2014: Capturing the Hearts of Reluctant Writers by Chantelle Morrison

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Jade Peartree

Capturing the Hearts of Reluctant Writers

Chantelle Morrison

I came to this session as I am the Language & Literature teacher in the MYP Year 6 Program at our school and wanted to explore different ways to motivate my writers. To begin this session we did a “Drop everything and write” activity. This is something I have done with my students before but I particularly enjoyed participating in this activity today. I need to be more involved in this process and actively be a writing role model for my students.

Here is the drafting version and final copy of my Drop Everything and Write piece:

Coffee

Dear Coffee,

Work your mysterious magic.

Entice my eyelids to lift from their sleepy slump.

Awaken my brain with your bittersweet caffeine hit.

Warm my lips and satisfy my thirst for the awakening moment,

When I will be able to function at a somewhat ‘normal’ level.

Come on brain! Work with me here.

The coffee is not a sole awakener.

You need to participate in this challenge.

Wake Up!

Some notes I made during this session:

Questions to pose for students: What can I write about that would be valuable and relevant to someone else?

I enjoyed the writing Brainstorm activity.

What is writing?

What should writing look like?

What is one form of writing?

What is the purpose of writing?

What are the common writing blocks?

What is the first word that comes to mind when you hear the word writing?

Write one form of writing.

What is quality writing?

Everybody contributed to these brainstorms, they looked a bit like this:

I’m going to do this with my Year 6 students in Term 4.

Some thoughts:

I have always felt that writing requires motivation & purpose. Writing is a shared experience. Writing is shared even if it’s simply for yourself. I loved that idea of journalling and sharing with my past and future self. Always share.

How do we assess, mark, grade the creative pieces? Vocabulary, perspectives, structures. This is always the most difficult part. Writing is creative expression in many instances. Nice to explore all types of genres of writing.

Why go public? Publishing. Authentic audiences. Writer’s voice.

How can we make the writing we do more purposeful for our students? Blogging and creating an authentic audience for our students. Writing is a voice. Why is writing is important? I want my students to explore that question too.

Creation: The writing process

Writing Cycle

Resources to explore:

Cyber-dramas Google and use.

http://www.inanimatealice.com/

Videos: Up, a narrative without any words.

LendMeYourLiteracy: http://lendmeyourliteracy.com/

Switchzoo

Wild self

Inklewriter: Create your own adventure type of digital writing.

Storybird: https://storybird.com/

LookingGlass

Calemeo: Magazine making online.

Mahara: Digital portfolio, can be printed. FREE! Emaze/ Prezi

Poetry: Wordle/ Tagxedo, Voki, Vocaroo

I thoroughly enjoyed this session today. Refreshing, lots of ideas to explore in class and reaffirming in many ways. Thanks Chantelle.

Support or Questions to: @misscmorrison

End of Term Confidence Builders

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Jade Peartree

Towards the end of a term I find that many students are feeling a little run down and tired (as are the teachers!). The result of this tends to be students who are a little less tolerant of others. Small things that usually wouldn’t bother them before now really irritate them. So towards the end of the term I like to do a confidence building activity to boost the confidence of students and assists in developing an awareness of how they are interacting with each other.

Lesson Overview

Students brainstorm as a class as many Confidence Builders or (Boosters) and Confidence Busters we can. This comes from the You Can Do It Program (http://www.youcandoiteducation.com.au/)

Here is an example of the brainstorm the Year 6’s did today:

Students were then given this template and asked to write a Confidence Booster on everybody else’s page in their class.

The Confidence Booster needed to be specific, genuine and considerate. We discussed what each of these meant before allowing students to start the task.

I posted the following instructions on Edmodo for my students to direct them in the process.

Once each child had commented on each other’s pages they could decorate their image and post a reflection on their personal learning blogs. Some lovely examples:

The reactions from my students have always been positive ones. Faces light up when they read the comments made by their peers. Each comment is genuine, specific and considerate. It makes a real difference in attitudes towards each other at the end of a busy term. I noticed students being a lot kinder towards one another after this task.

I also think it is important to participate in this task as their teacher and comment on each page. I created a page and had my students give me some feedback too. Gave me what I like to call “Warm Fuzzies” meaning a happy feeling in my heart. I too hope my students experienced this feeling today.

So if you’re looking for something to do with your class to boost their confidence and build on positive attitiudes and interactions, you might like to give this one a go.

Maths Lesson: Properties of 3D Shapes/ Solids

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Jade Peartree

Reflecting on My Practice

As part of my PLP (Personal Learning Plan) I identified the need for me to focus on Mathematics, specifically Maths mental warm ups and Maths lesson starters.

I did a warm up for a lesson today which I thought was quite good and I thought I would share and document it.

The lesson outline:

This was the note I sent my students on the online learning platform Edmodo: (If you want to learn more about Edmodo go to this link: https://www.edmodo.com/about)

Warm up Activity: Revisiting Properties of Shapes.
You were given a 3D solid shape in class today. You need to describe the properties of that shape on your iPad (using the apps Explain Everything OR Educreations) and post your video to the padlet attached.
Thanks
PS. Remember to use the vocabulary we learnt in the last lesson. Key words I’m looking for are vertex/vertices, edges, faces, angles.

Below is the link to the Padlet with my student responses:

Properties of 3D Shapes:

http://padlet.com/wall/4bw0zr27be9z

The thing I liked about this activity was I was able to quickly collect my students responses and view them later in my own time. I was then able to assess their work whilst the students were off at another lesson. I was able to give them direct specific feedback about the content of their videos and assess if they were capable of listing the properties of a 3D solid shape using learnt vocabulary from the previous lesson.

The students seemed to enjoy the task too as it was recapping what was learnt in the last lesson and applying some of their creative skills to communicate their learning in a different way.

It was a fun Maths Warm up today and I’m glad it went so well.

Jade Peartree's Blog

My professional reflections and documentation