Nodehill Study Skills

Plans April - May

Here are the plans for next half term.

Download plans_term_3.1 2008 Year 5.doc

Download plans_term_3.1 2008 Year 6.doc

Year 5 will be working on mind mapping and year 6 will be continuing with their revision/exam preparation unit.

Thanks, Natalia

Assembly

5NG have a class assembly coming up in the next few weeks.  At the moment we are in the planning stage.  Chn have been using their group work skills from Study Skills by getting together in teams of 4 or 5 to plan out their ideas on the theme.  Although some groups still have to work on arguing a little less, group work on the whole has really improved since September.  It was good to see children taking turns to speak, listening to each other, using voting as a means of making decisions and being positive about their work and towards each other.  Here are some photos...

 

Team Building

This term Year 5s have been working on improving their team building skills.  I've been very impressed with the work that I've seen and I was particularly pleased with children from 5AT who have made excellent progress in this area.  Here are some photos of the children completing the construction activity.  One person, "The Manager" designed a shape with the toothpicks and without looking had to give instructions to the rest of their team to build the same shape. It was an activity all about listening skills.

What's in my Head?

Thank you all very much for your hard work last half term.  "What's in my Head?" seems to have been a popular unit and I have seen some great examples of your work on display in your classrooms.  I came to visit some calsses and was very impressed with what I saw!  I think it is really good that you have been able to explore your strengths and weaknesses in different areas and I'm sure this has made you look at your learning in a different way.  The presentations I watched were fantastic and I was very pleased to see how sensible you all were.  I know giving presentations isn't always easy but I think you did great and I'm sure all the other study Skills teachers think so too!  I have added some pictures of our school display below and some video clips of presentations given by some children in 6LR.  Keep up the good work everyone!

Plans for Spring Term

It's planning time again!  After Christmas Years 5 and 6 will no longer be following the same units of work.

Year 5 will focus on team building skills and creative thinking.  The unit on team building will allow children to work in groups and look closely at group and team dynamics.  They will have to complete activities and challenges in their groups and assess their group's progress as they go along.  This will give children a greater awareness of how to work successfully in groups and they will be able to use these skills in their other lessons.  When they move on to the unit on creative thinking children will have to work independently to solve problems which have no right or wrong answer.  Children will be encouraged to analyse these problems and be as creative as possible in their responses.  This analytical and creative approach should then be applied across the curriculum to enhance learning.

Year 6 will focus on two revision units in preparation for their SATs tests.  In the first unit children will be taught a range of ways in which to revise for exams successfully.  They will also look at appropriate revision environments and ways in which they can organise themselves and their learning.  Following on from this, in the second unit, children will be able to take revision topics of their choice to Study Skills lessons and revise using the methods taught in unit one.  These should be topics which the children feel they need to improve at.  For example, if revising Maths, they could pick some of the topics from their Maths self-evaluation sheets.  Study Skills teachers should liaise with Maths, English and Science teachers throughout the unit.

Attached are the plans for all of the units mentioned above. I would appreciate any comments, suggestions, advice or feedback so please leave a comment. 

Download medium_term_2.1 and 2.2 2008 Year 5.doc

Download plans_term_2.1 2008 Year 5.doc

Download plans_term_2.2 2008 Year 5.doc

Download medium_term_2.1 and 2.2 2008 Year 6.doc

Download plans_term_2.1 2008 Year 6.doc

Download plans_term_2.2 2008 Year 6.doc 

How to leave a comment.

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Miss Garcia

Assessment of Learning Styles Unit

Thank you all for your wonderful comments.  Your teachers have told me how hard you have worked this term and I'm very pleased that you seem to be enjoying learning how to learn!  I plan to make a few changes to the unit next year, based on the great ideas you have provided.  We'll have more lessons on the brain, carry on having a range of activities and maybe even change the name "Study Skills"to "Learning to Learn" as someone suggested that the word "study" might put people off!  If you have any other suggestions please come and see me at any time as I look forward to talking to you all about your work, or you could always post a comment on the blog.  Thanks again for all your hard work.

Miss Garcia

Homework

After a full day at school the last thing children want to do is homework!  However, parents can have a positive input on the homework environment, by creating appropriate conditions for learning which will encourage their children to complete their homework tasks.  Here are some tips for promoting an effective learning environment in the home:

• Children will have different homework styles, relating to their learning styles. Are they visual, auditory or kinesthetic learners?  This will affect the way your child processes given information. Get to know your child's learning style.  There are many questionnaires children can complete online or simply ask your child's form teacher for their learning styles data. This can be done easily via a note in their homework diaries.
• Be consistent by establishing a regular time for homework.  This will enable children to get into a routine. 
• Don't leave homework until late at night as children will be tired and unable to concentrate.
• Have a well lit homework area.  Some children will prefer to do their homework in a quiet area on their own whilst other children may prefer to have people around them.  Either way they should feel comfortable in their homework area and have all the equipment they may need ready to use to avoid interruptions.  It may be a good idea to keep all their equipment out in this area in case they need to go back to do any extra learning.
• Let children drink plenty of water as this keeps children alert.  A healthy, balanced diet also helps to keep energy levels up helping them maintain concentration for longer.
• Turn off the TV and radio to eliminate as much distracting background noise as possible, helping your child focus on the task in front of them.
• Finally, if your child finds it really hard to focus on school work at home, we have a homework club facility at Nodehill every lunch time in the Library. There is always a teacher at homework club to help children with any problem areas.

There is currently a wide range of cutting edge research into the brain and the best methods to facilitate learning by pupils both in and out of school. The National Partnership for Quality After School Learning state:

"Research shows that students are more successful when they devote regular, set amounts of time to homework, and when they are able to work on their homework in a structured, self-selected space. When the homework environment is organized and managed effectively, students know what to expect, begin working promptly in their designated space, and are less prone to distraction. Routines, clear expectations, and well thought-out space configurations reduce behavior problems and disruptions, leading to more productive use of time and increased achievement."

You can access more of their ideas at this website:

  http://www.sedl.org/afterschool/toolkits/homework/pr_homework_environment.html

Most parents will find that they already do most of these things.  Although these points may seem simple they have a huge effect on learning.  I would appreciate feedback from parents on homework tasks and the different strategies which you use to help motivate children at home. 

Learning Styles in Science

Here are some ways in which I have used learning styles in Science lessons to cater for the needs of different children and their preferred learning styles.

Lab equipment lesson: 

Initially, I grouped the pupils in a circle and gave them an opportunity to look at and handle various pieces of lab apparatus before asking them to draw and label diagrams of this apparatus in their Science books. 

To consolidate the work done in the lesson, the pupils were provided with jumbled up pictures and diagrams of the equipment we had looked at and they had to cut them out and match them with their correct identifying labels.

Solids, Liquids and Gases:

In this lesson I spoke to the children about the particle arrangements of solids, liquids and gases.  We discussed ideas and then the children drew particle diagrams in their books.  We then read information from the interactive white boards whilst playing games.  At the end of the lesson we played a game which involved the children taking the role of particles and forming different particle arrangements depending on whether the teacher calls out the name of a solid, liquid or gas.

Learning Styles

So far the unit on Learning Styles has gone well.  The two classes I teach (5NG and 6LR) have really enjoyed learning about their preferred learning styles and have been able to discuss ways in which this affects learning.

We started the term by looking at the brain.  To emphasise the importance of the brain and it’s effects on learning I created “our wonderful brain” display which is in the school cloakroom for all to see!

We then moved on to learning styles and discussed the effects and impact of learning styles in the school environment.  Children completed some short questionnaires in order to determine their preferred learning style and were asked to keep a note of ways in which learning styles were used in lessons.  The feedback from 6LR today was very positive and most of the children were able to discuss their findings with confidence. 

As I teach 5NG in my form room we’ve created a “learning styles” display board where children have thoroughly enjoyed sticking photos of themselves next to their preferred learning style. 

Also I have taken both classes to the ICT suite and used a website, kindly provided by Mr. Chubb, which produces a Multiple Intelligence wheel based upon Gardner's eight multiple intelligences.  The children were then able to print off their wheels and compare them and discuss differences.

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/ict/multiple_int/index.htm

I am now in the process of collecting all the learning styles data for years 5 and 6 and I’m hoping to pass this on to all Key Stage 2 teaching staff at the start of next half term.

I would appreciate any comments from other teachers in the Study Skills team on how they have found this unit.