Literacy Strategy
Guardian of the word
At the start of a topic/ unit give each student a key word, of which s/he is the guardian. During the course of the topic, she has to test every other person in the class to make sure that she can spell the word and knows the meaning. You can allocate a couple of minutes each lesson for this testing process to occur. Each Guardian has to keep a list of the people she has tested. At the end of the topic, conduct a test, which can be a mixture of questions such as simple “spelling” or a question in the form of “what is the word which means …” or “what is the word which is opposite of …”
Taken from Helen Nicholls – Building Blocks.
Professional Reading
Creativity: A Guide - Guy Claxton
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
PD bite Term 3 Week 5 2009
Classroom Strategy
Stopwatch and countdown timer
(thanks to Jennie Moore for sharing this website)
Download the following Stopwatch and Countdown Timers for timed activities in the classroom:
Get a Stopwatch like this or make your own! At: Online Stopwatch
Stopwatch and countdown timer
(thanks to Jennie Moore for sharing this website)
Download the following Stopwatch and Countdown Timers for timed activities in the classroom:
Get a Stopwatch like this or make your own! At: Online Stopwatch
Thursday, August 13, 2009
PD Bite Term 3 Week 4 2009
Literacy Strategy
Vocabulary Snowball
(From Building Blocks – Helen Nicholls)
You will need a rolled up ball of paper or a koosh ball for this activity OR Instead of throwing a ball, place students in teams and run as a competition – every member of the team must have a turn at contributing a word.
Purpose: To help students predict what words might be in a topic, or to help revise key words .
Instructions:
1. Name the topic to the students e.g. ‘Olympic Games Disciplines/ Events’
2. Appoint one recorder to write down each words as they are said.
3. Students stand in a circle. Teacher (or student) stands in middle and throws ball to a student.
4. Student says one word associated with the topic which the recorder writes down. [e.g. Shotput]
5. Student throws ball back to teacher etc.
Extension:
Students then come up with 3 or 4 categories and organise the words they’ve written down. [Track, Field, Aquatic, Needs equipment, uses mainly legs etc]
Professional Reading
Managing Challenging Behaviour - tips from Pivotal Consultants
Vocabulary Snowball
(From Building Blocks – Helen Nicholls)
You will need a rolled up ball of paper or a koosh ball for this activity OR Instead of throwing a ball, place students in teams and run as a competition – every member of the team must have a turn at contributing a word.
Purpose: To help students predict what words might be in a topic, or to help revise key words .
Instructions:
1. Name the topic to the students e.g. ‘Olympic Games Disciplines/ Events’
2. Appoint one recorder to write down each words as they are said.
3. Students stand in a circle. Teacher (or student) stands in middle and throws ball to a student.
4. Student says one word associated with the topic which the recorder writes down. [e.g. Shotput]
5. Student throws ball back to teacher etc.
Extension:
Students then come up with 3 or 4 categories and organise the words they’ve written down. [Track, Field, Aquatic, Needs equipment, uses mainly legs etc]
Professional Reading
Managing Challenging Behaviour - tips from Pivotal Consultants
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
PD bite Term 3 Week 3
Teaching Strategy - Any Questions
If you ask, "Does anyone have any questions?" and you get no questions- that means students probably don't know or understand enough to ask a question!!
So, ask questions that will tell you if there is understanding. Just remember though that just because one student gives the answer it does NOT mean anyone else knows the answer.
Ask more than one student to give the answer to the same question...
Tell me more.
Say it in a different way.
How would you say it?
Say it again.
Then ask the question in a different way and check for understanding.
Professional Readings
Are we over technology?
Jose Bowen, dean of the Meadows School of the Arts, HAS DECIDED TO THROW ALL TECHNOLOGY OUT of the classroom (and he is not the only one) . His goal? To axe boring PowerPoints from the lives of students and reinvigorate their learning with engaging, human-to-human contact. http://chronicle.com/article/Teach-Naked-Effort-Strips/47398/
NCEA AND STUDENT MOTIVATION
Have you read the story on student motivation and NCEA in last week's Gazette?
http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/Articles/Article.aspx?ArticleId=7885
If you ask, "Does anyone have any questions?" and you get no questions- that means students probably don't know or understand enough to ask a question!!
So, ask questions that will tell you if there is understanding. Just remember though that just because one student gives the answer it does NOT mean anyone else knows the answer.
Ask more than one student to give the answer to the same question...
Tell me more.
Say it in a different way.
How would you say it?
Say it again.
Then ask the question in a different way and check for understanding.
Professional Readings
Are we over technology?
Jose Bowen, dean of the Meadows School of the Arts, HAS DECIDED TO THROW ALL TECHNOLOGY OUT of the classroom (and he is not the only one) . His goal? To axe boring PowerPoints from the lives of students and reinvigorate their learning with engaging, human-to-human contact. http://chronicle.com/article/Teach-Naked-Effort-Strips/47398/
NCEA AND STUDENT MOTIVATION
Have you read the story on student motivation and NCEA in last week's Gazette?
http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/Articles/Article.aspx?ArticleId=7885
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