Exploring Learning

I had a fantastic two lessons with both my Grade 7s today; we were all excited and the light bulb moments popped everywhere! We are currently studying the novel Skellig (Almond, 2000) and I have written before about using drama to bring to life their understanding of the opening and setting of the novel ; now we have moved on to looking at understanding the allusions and symbols used, and how a deep knowledge heightens our appreciation of literature. We learned about symbols and symbolism in the first unit of the year, and this unit builds upon that knowledge and moves into an understanding also of allusions. We explored the terms and then I assigned ten topics for research to either individual learners or pairs. I created a blank presentation using a Carnival Slides template on Google Slides and then created a copy for each class. All information from each learner's research will be contained in the one presentation for that particular class. To model the task require...

I have just started a new MYP Language and Literature unit called It's a Kind of Magic with my Grade 7s. To begin thinking about the concepts , they conducted some research on the genres of fantasy and magic realism using Multi-Media Text Sets that I created for them. They then taught each other about the genre they had researched and completed a Venn diagram about the similarities and differences of the two genres. Using this knowledge, they then wrote their initial thesis on our statement of inquiry: Fantastical fiction helps us to understand complex, real world ideas and issues. A few ideas about what creates scary atmospheres (Gr7, Jan 2017) Next, we moved on to exploring setting and how writers craft effective and evocative atmospheres. I began by asking learners to describe the scariest place they had ever been to their partners. I asked them to try to recreate the feeling they had using description (which we worked on in our last unit, Scraps of Me...

I spoke at the Google Summit KL in 2013 about tech that enhances the reading and writing process. One of the apps I shared, Ginger, was one that I had been using as an assistive technology with a targeted number of learners who particularly struggle with spelling or who are dyslexic . Whilst there are in-built  spell checkers in a lot of word processing systems, Ginger differs because it ... analyzes the context of an entire sentence, and its corrections conform to the writer’s intended message. This method is especially successful for dyslexic students who often confuse words which sound the same but are spelled differently.  (http://www.gingersoftware.com/ginger-for-schools) Ginger is more sophisticated and identifies homophones, which helps many EAL/ESL learners too. In addition, rather than being isolated to one system, it highlights words in all online writing - including Blogger, email, Twitter etc.   Areas that need attention are highlighted and s...

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow If ever I read a book that advocates the teaching of code to school kids, this is it! All teenagers need to read this to think about the implications of technology - about how it helps but more importantly, WHO it helps. It paints a dark portrait of a not-too-distant future in America, where our every move is tracked and analysed . BUT it also shows how those who can get beneath the surface of computers, can change the world. Computers are not new anymore - but the facade that we see masks what is really going on. Children need to be able to go behind the facade that presents our interface as beautiful and learn to control and manipulate it. The future is not about those who can use a computer because let's face it, two years olds can do that. The future is about children who can get behind the pretty and into the nitty gritty. Many educators are coming around to this notion and lots of us are introducing basic code into our classrooms ...

The end of term is always fraught, but we just received news that our new positions have fallen through. This is stressful to say the least; not having a place to live, move to, job, school for my kids - it's hard. However, I am hoping that, and believing in, the adage that everything happens for a reason. I am also hoping for some good news and something positive to come out of this incredibly difficult twelve months. As if to foreshadow this, on the same say I receive this devastating news, I am also nominated for teacher of the month . Is this the edge of a silver lining? It smacked of irony - but at the same time, did help a little.

To practise  the great work we have done lately on figurative language , I decided to use the website Build Your Wild Self hosted by New York Zoos and Aquariums. Learners had to create a Wild Self from the myriad possibilities of the selector tool. They then had to write a detailed description that would allow someone else to try to recreate the avatar they had designed. This meant they had to employ their newly polished descriptive writing skills. Once they had written their descriptions, learners were put into pairs to read out their descriptions. Their partner had to draw what they heard and then compare to the original to see how well the descriptions had been written. I enjoyed the cries of, "I used a simile Miss!" when they were drafting their descriptions and the results were incredible. The accuracy of the representations is testament to how well my learners are developing as writers from the opportunity Spilling Ink gives them to explore and play...

I am currently planning an inquiry based unit asking learners to think about the future of fiction. Where fiction is going is of great interest to me. I own a few Kindles, though personally, have not fully integrated myself into this realm. I love the fact I can have a book in seconds - but, I still go out and buy the 'real' version of any I read and love on my Kindle. I do not think you can beat the feel and smell and sound of a brand new book. Geek that I am, nothing excites me more than an hour or so to wander around  Kinokunyia  (Singapore hosts the largest store outside of Japan), or my  lastest  arrival from Amazon, of a stack of books to explore and lose myself in. Throughout my  MEd ., I have been focusing on where reading and writing might be going for learners growing up in a digital age. I wrote an essay about  Kindles , exploring whether they may re-engage learners who read less and less. I also wrote an essay entitled The  ...

I am an advocate of reading. I am an avid reader. Many posts and Tweets contest to such. Always wanting to improve my practice and approach to delivering reading to my learners, I recently picked up a copy of  @Donalynbooks The Book Whisperer . It confirmed much of what I do in regards reading, as sound and effective methodology, such as free-reading, and reading time every day, as well as modelling being an actual reader. The book also gave me some areas to think about and re-work, such as the ubiquitous class novel. Red Dot Book Awards We are already reading every lesson, and learners have accepted my Reading Challenge 2014 . In addition, as part of my Future of Fiction unit which explores where storytelling might be going, and how technology might help us to tell stories, I am including some reading circles, using books from the Red Dot Book Awards in Singapore. The  Red Dot Book Awards   is a student choice book awards organised  by the Intern...

At the start of the year, I began a writing initiative based on both my experience of teaching free writing, and following my reading of the book Spilling Ink . My post in August, Spilling Ink: Writing Journal Agreements outlines this in more detail. I try to make each prompt visible on a single slide, and we work on the same prompt for the week. We have written about all sorts of things, from shapeshifters to thunderstorms, garlic gum to invisibility potion. Learners are always given the option to choose the prompt, or write about something they need to write about. They can fold over any writing that they wish to keep private. They are also encouraged to go back and rework previous writing, revising to make it better, or making into something new. I ask them to focus particularly on areas we have looked at in lessons, such as narrative perspective, sentence clarity, adjectives or noun phrases etc. Sometimes I will give specific targets to learners as they need it,...

An evaluation of Common Sense Media Inc. (2013). Scope and Sequence, Grades 6-8. From Common Sense Media: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence#grades-6-8 Description of the information literacy unit plan The ‘Information Literacy’ unit plan on the Common Sense Media website, is part of a free K-12 curriculum for teaching digital citizenship. Teachers can choose lessons and plans for different grade levels from three units across a variety of topics including ‘Cyberbullying’ and ‘Internet Safety’. The ‘Information Literacy’ unit plan for learners in Grades 6-8 comprises six lessons – two lessons from each of the three units - and intends to allow learners to develop the ability to “identify, find, evaluate, and use information effectively”. The unit covers effective search strategies, techniques to evaluate quality, credibility, and validity, and how to cite and provide proper credit for sources used (K-12 Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum, 2012, p . 2)...