Word Link and Word Bounce

APOLOGY – not really ICT based as my usual content on this blog is but is very much about teaching and learning.

These are two quick and easy activities for developing the use of terminology, consolidating understanding, applying knowledge and making synoptic links that I use with my A’level group.

AIM OF BOTH:

• Increase familiarity with key terminology
• Develop and consolidate understanding of the meaning of the key words
• Develop the ability to apply understanding by showing that understand how the word and its meaning fits into the wider glacial topic
• Can be used to help develop synoptic links and help students identify synoptic links more quickly if using vocabulary or named examples from across the spec.

The example below is Glaciation based (after the first few weeks of introducing the topic) but can be used at any time in the course and with any topic. It is good for checking as you go that students can see the links between the knowledge they are developing and is good for revision at the end of a topic.

It is really flexible – only involves writing words on board (so little prep needed) can be done with any topic – physical or human AND a variety of words from across topics to get the synoptic links going. (We are particularly focusing this year on trying to build student capacity to make links within and between topics throughout the A Level course). 

First you need a set of words – either on the whiteboard or given to students – for example..

WORD LINK
– can just be done in pairs or teacher led asking individuals.

How does it work:
Either:
(i) give students any two words and they have to make a sentence which links them
e.g.   Accumulation and Equilibrium   – e.g. “when accumulation and ablation are the
same, equilibrium occurs.”

OR

(ii) Students have to choose two words that they are going to make a link between in a sentence.

WORD BOUNCE
– done in a team – could do as a whole class or split into groups depending on class size (similar concept to Word link – but have to keep the chain of words going ‘bouncing’ between students….)

How does it work: Students to make a sentence with any two words on the board (so starts like work link) – e.g.

Student 1 “A cold based glacier is also known as a Polar Glacier.”

The next person has to start their sentence with the second word that the student before used so would start with Polar Glacier and link to another word – e.g.

Student 2 “Polar Glaciers move by internal deformation”

Next students has to start with internal deformation e.g.

Student 3 “Internal deformation includes processes such as Laminar flow”

Student 4 “Laminar Flow does not occur in Temperate Glaciers”

Student 5 “Temperate glaciers are found at high altitude and are also known as warm based glaciers”

etc.

The challenge for the student becomes how to then link to another aspect – so the next student could change the focus from types of glacier to mass balance by then saying “Warm based glaciers will be in retreat if there is a negative mass balance“.

So basically students are ‘bouncing’ a word to the next in team to make a link between and build a sentence with – I have found that this can become very competitive as the aim is to keeping going from person to person for as long as possible without stopping – you could do it where they can use the same word twice in a different context – OR to make it harder – give them a copy of the key words and they have to tick them off as they use them so those words can’t be used again.

 

 

Online Learning – supporting independent learning.

On April 23rd, we have a joint training day between St Ivo School and Hinchingbrooke School. The focus of the day is independent learning and I am running a 20 minute workshop looking at Online Learning and how it can be used to try and support and encourage independent learning. The presentation is below and supporting booklet can be downloaded here: Online Learning Summary.

Using Technology in teaching KS4/KS5 Geography

I haven’t posted for a while due to the hectic nature of preparation for the new GCSE and A’level courses. Back in November however I gave a talk in London looking at Utilising Technology in Teaching KS4 and KS5 Geography and thought I would share the resources on here.

The handout can be downloaded here and has lots of direct weblinks and advice to support geography teachers in following up the ideas discussed.

The presentation given is below. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Apps for Geography Fieldwork

With preparations underway for fieldwork to support students with the new AS and A2 specifications and to provide them with tools that may be useful for their independent investigations I have been exploring options for useful apps to take into the field. The screenshot below is a small selection of some the key ones that we hope to use during fieldwork over the next couple of months. I will be reviewing some of these as and when we use them. For now just something to think about….

Page 1 – Fieldwork Apps

Page 2 – Fieldwork Apps

Free Online Earthquake Teaching Resource

Natural Disasters: Earthquakes

The British Red Cross, supported by the Geographical Association, has launched a new, free educational resource for geography teachers. Natural disasters: earthquakes is a curriculum-led geography teaching resource that draws on the recent experience of the  Red Cross during the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

Using case studies, maps and eyewitness accounts, this latest British Red Cross teaching resource provides a unique perspective on how individuals and communities prepare for, respond to and recover from earthquakes.

The British Red Cross, which provides a range of educational resources for teachers to download online, created this resource in response to research that showed geography teachers were looking for case study content that brought human stories into the classroom.

With the unique perspective of the Red Cross the humanitarian impact of a natural disaster is explored alongside understanding how earthquakes happen. Resources start with activities for all students and then differentiate into activities for Key Stage 3, GCSE and A level, a curriculum mapping document shows how the resource can contribute to the curricula of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  Natural disaster: earthquakes and can be downloaded for free from the British Red Cross website.

The resource will help students:

• Learn about the physical geography, hazards and risks which can cause a natural disaster such as an earthquake.
• Explain and analyse the varied impacts an earthquake may have on individuals and communities.
• Gain insight into the role of the Red Cross in disaster preparedness, response and recovery.
• Explore the concept of resilience and what might make a community more able to cope in a crisis.

Practical Pedagogies 2016

Following the success of last years conference, Russel Tarr (@russeltarr), an inspirational History teacher, responsible for sites such as ClassTools.net and Active History is organising the second Practical Pedagogies conference on November 3rd/4th 2016 at the International School of Toulouse, “a high-impact training conference for classroom teachers by classroom teachers.”

It is a not-for-profit teacher training conference with a genuine focus on improving the quality of education in schools with sessions let by practising teachers who have had lots of hands-on classroom experience. (More information is given here).

EARLY BIRD 25% DISCOUNT RATE – for those that book before 15th June 2016 there is an early bird 25% discount rate of 150 Euros (standard rate thereafter is 200 Euros).

Practical Pedagogies 2016 is being held at the International School of Toulouse in France in November and is an excellent opportunity for teachers from all over the world to meet with the shared aim of improving the quality of education in our schools. The school is located close to Blagnac Aiport and is accessible by cheap flights from most European Cities. This years keynote speaker is Ewan Macintosh, a highly regarded educational consultant and founder of NoTosh.

There are over 100 sessions (workshops and seminars) on offer over the course of the two days, with sessions providing a focus for both primary and secondary staff and including a variety of topics from subject specific to wider whole school pedagogical issues such as assessment and revision and the use of educational technology. Delegates will be able to attend up to 8 sessions over the two days. The full programme can be accessed here.

Full details are available on the Practical Pedagogies 2016 website and there is a contact form here for any questions.

You can also follow Practical Pedagogies on twitter @pedagogies

Digimap for Schools – Primary Schools Competition – Win a visit from Steve Backshall

As of today, any primary school in GB is able to access the wonderful contemporary and historic Ordnance Survey mapping in University of Edinburgh’s award winning Digimap for Schools www.digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk service to take part in a wildlife mapping competition.

Any school in Great Britain with primary aged children is eligible to enter the competition with the winning school receiving a visit from Steve Backshall (www.stevebackshall.com), one of Ordnance Survey’s #GetOutside Champions https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getoutside/os-champions/steve-backshall-life-outdoors/.

The competition requires schools to use the annotation tools within Digimap for Schools to create a map annotated with photographs and text labels showing signs of wildlife around their school.  Each photograph will be accompanied on the map with a question the pupils would like to ask Steve relating to the wildlife they have photographed.  If a school wishes to enter the competition but is not a current subscriber to Digimap for Schools they can register for 30 days free access to the service.

The competition is being launched at this year’s Geographical Association conference and runs until 10^th June.   Schools should visit www.digimapwildlife.ed.ac.uk  today to sign up.

This is an excellent opportunity for schools to realise maps are relevant to all areas of the curriculum (flora and fauna study, history and measurement to name a few) and to find out what their school and local environment looked like in the 1950s and 1890s.

 

Using new technologies in Geography

Back in January I ran part of a training session for a local network of Geography teachers. The main session was taken by Jason Swale from ESRI UK looking at the fantastic ArcGIS and the ways in which it can be used to successfully integrate GIS into the curriculum, particularly in light of the new GCSE and A’level specifications. Prior to this I did a short 30 minute session exploring some of the ways in which new technologies can be utilised in the teaching and learning of Geography, drawing particularly on some of our experiences in the ways we use it in my department at St Ivo School. Here is the presentation summarising the key ideas discussed during the session.

In case it is useful you can download the handout of links I gave out on the evening here to help explore some of the ideas covered in more detail.

Revision Strategies and Support – in and beyond the classroom – Version 3 – 2016!

Last year, whilst still in my previous role as Lead Practitioner I wrote / compiled a document called “Revision Strategies in and beyond the classroom”. The aim was to bring together ideas for teachers with regards to planning activities for both within the classroom as well as those which could be used to support students with revision outside of the classroom. Whilst my role in school has changed, Teaching and Learning remains a central responsibility and I wanted to return to this document as we enter the new exam/revision season.

The hope was that the document could continue to be a live one which could be updated with suggestions of strategies that have worked well for practising teachers which they would be happy to share with others.

Lots of people have kindly made suggestions for good ideas to add and please do send feedback or other ideas of good practice which could be added to share with the education community. Here is Version 3 of the document, updated for the 2016 exam/revision season. As well as new revision ideas in Part 1, other updates, amongst others, include the use of Kahoot as a interactive response system and the use of Schoology as a way of providing an online course with revision materials for students.

You can download Revision Strategies and Support – in and beyond the classroom – Version 3 – 2016! here.

As with previous versions I would like to thank those people that have contributed, both from St Ivo and from the Twittersphere!

Please do email any feedback or suggestions to me (contact at side of blog). Ideas can also be sent via twitter to @RobGeog.

Into Film Launches Innovate Free App Storymaker – The Gruffalo Edtiion

Education charity Into Film puts film at the heart of young people’s learning and have just announced the launch of new teaching aid Storymaker: The Gruffalo Edition. The innovative new, literacy focused iPad app and teaching resource has been developed in partnership with Magic Light Pictures and is available for free, along with a free film club membership. The charity’s UK-wide programme provides 5-19 year olds with unparalleled opportunities to see, think, make and imagine, contributing to their educational, cultural, creative and personal development and is supported by the BFI through Lottery funding.

Using the app, pupils can record their own dialogue, music, and sound effects for a number of selected clips, and create their own unique version of the award-winning film, for the very first time.  This new platform will allow students to apply their creative skills to an actual film and is currently also the only app to be supported by an extensive teaching resource. Designed for Key Stage 1 (and useful also for older pupils who have SEN or English as a second language), the app enables students to develop their reading, writing, speaking, listening and technical skills by interacting with popular fictional character The Gruffalo, in many different languages.

Highlights from Storymaker: The Gruffalo Edition include the ability to watch key moments from The Gruffalo film and for users to record voices over the top of the clip using subtitles from the original script, or creating a new narrative completely. Users can add depth to the scenes by choosing suitable soundtracks to enhance the mood, or record their own sound effects.  Each creation can be saved to the device and shared in class.

Russell Hardy, a teacher at Bookwell Primary School in Cumbria who tested the app said: “There is lots in there education wise – speaking and listening. Play is such an important part of learning at this age. Some students find it hard to articulate themselves so giving them the chance to have several goes at reading or saying something in their own time like this was valuable to them.”

This new platform for learning can be downloaded from the Apple app store and accessed by any school, college or youth organisation which runs a free film club with Into Film. To start a film club and access the app click here.

For more information visit www.intofilm.org.