Exploring Learning

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...

Sometimes, with all the best will in the world, and even with eons of research and hours of planning, the best lessons are the spontaneous ones. The ones that serendipitously arise from teachable moments. I experienced such as occasion over the past week. Laurie Halse Anderson, The Impossible Knife of Memory My Year 8s are learning about different cultures and traditions around the world. Underpinning the unit is the novel T ies That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioke, which concerns foot binding in China at the beginning of the twentieth century. From this, I teach note-taking and search strategies, while groups learn to research customs and traditions of a country of their choice. The culmination of the project is an exhibition of their findings. A new teacher joined our team part way through this unit. She wanted to have a piece of writing to gauge her class's needs. So, as part of the novel study, we built in personal account writing. I devel...

We are lucky enough to have published author, Sarah Froggatt, as a parent of one of our learners. She came and shared her knowledge during Book Week and, this week, I invited her back to teach learners about characterisation. Sarah sharing her expertise about characterisation with Year 9 Sarah covered the basics and the essentials using lots of great examples from print and film, such as Roald Dahl's, The Hitchhiker , everyone's favourite detective, Conan-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, and even Pixar's The Incredibles. Once learners had learned about and discussed characterisation, I introduced the receipts! Having collected receipts from staff over the past month, I have a exciting selection of varied and wonderful clues about potential characters. The idea came while reading our current novel-study Stargirl , whose protagonist has a penchant for following people in malls and coming up with stories about them. She uses these 'stories' to decide on how to be ...