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Part 1
Prompt and Class: Charlotte’s Web studied by a 2nd Class
Charlotte has fallen from her web and needs assistance in getting back. Using the black and white chess board in the playground, pupils will be asked to move Charlotte from one side of the board to the other, and back to her web. Create a series of commands/steps for Charlotte to follow to allow her to arrive to her web safely. Extensions or challenges to this activity could include getting Charlotte there using the fewest number of commands, or Charlotte must pass obstacles such as a hay stack on her way back to the web or avoid predators in her path such as frogs or birds.
Materials: playground chess board, pen, paper, colours for colour coding
Part 2
The paper explores the importance of CT and an social-emotional development within young people. An interesting concept to delve into, as often times, children engaging with digital tools and gaming can be branded as being unsocial and engaging in solitary activities. In the learning environment, the paper highlighted the importance of those oppertunities for developing communication skills and collaboration between children and their shared application of CT for a common goal. The paper went on to illustrate integration of STEAM across curricular areas, not solely focusing on maths and science. Digital skills such as programming and coding were then likened to literacy and the learning of a new langugae, which certainly rings true for any teachers who have explored coding within their classrooms. The paper identified the importance for the introduction to this lanaguge and therefore these tools to be developed in early learners. It stated that in Finland, changes were made to their curricula to allow concepts of CT to be introduced before formal schooling, at the ECCE stage of a young child’s learning. The report also referred to the ever topical issue regarding current teachers lack of knowledge and being at the ‘sharp end of implementation’. Moreover, it recommended adequate and ongoing training for professionals to ensure for the accurate delivery of CT to young learners. The paper also identified tools for developing CT such as robotics, opened activites that encompass ‘low level, high ceiling’ <wide walls> approaches, oppertunities to play and create as well as unplugged activities. Overall, I feel this paper mirriors our experiences in Irish classrooms currently. The importance of introducing these skills as early as ECCE was thought provoking.
STEM Lesson Plan for 2nd Class – A sustainable bird bath
Pupils will be tasked with designing a bird bath for the school garden from sustainable materials, which could be purchased in a local garden center or reclaimed equipment. Pupils will be encouraged to work in small groups.
Materials:
> Drawing materials – pencils, paper, rubber, ruler
> Construction materials – cardboard, tin foil, rubber bands, lollipop sticks, straws, pipe cleaners, cellotape, glue, colouring equipment
Lesson
1. Class brainstorm on the concept of ‘sustainable’ and identifying sustainable materials.
2. Explain task to pupils and divide students in small groups of between 3-4, making strategic groupings to ensure pupils worth to the best of their ability. Explain roles for within groups, such as drawing and design role, construction role and feedback/communication role. Alternatively, if students can assume their own roles without teacher assistance they may.
3. Allow time for pupils to firstly draw their design – labelling the sustainable items clearly.
4. Next, in the maker-station, the students will be encouraged to construct a model of their deisgn.
5. Lastly, they will present and explain their ideas to their peers after which the best design will be voted on and a letter of persuasion written as a shared activity by the class and sent to the Green School Committee.
Assessment
Observation of collaboration and need for teacher intervention and redirection. Success of both finish product in terms of design and construction as well as the sustainability of the bird bath. Questiong students on materials suggested during presentation of their deisgn – why did you select x, how will x balance on y, how will you join part x to y etc.
Developing digital literacy with our pupils is of critical importance to their future success in the digital age. The development of these skills can be directly linked to the teaching and leanring already taking place in our classrooms. Creative solutions to integrating digital tools into learning are key for the students to allow them to build on their application of skills such a research skills, typing skills, coding skills and computational skills. The amazing varieties of digit tools available, can ensure for engaging and interactive lessons in the classroom. Time is needed to allow for purposeful planning and selection of these tools – time for the teacher to use the tool to it full potential whilst also allowing the pupils time to use the tool in a meaningful way, on a repeated number of occasions to develop their digital literacy.
To add to this, it is necessary for the SSE plan to be an ongoing focus and allow us to be steered in a clear direction. The wide variety of digital tools available to teacher to familiarise themselves with, can be a dawnting process and also discouraging at times. Teach meets and the sharing of knowledge and expertise within a staff, at a slow and meaningful rate, allows people to learn from each other whilst also allowing them a time-frame to explore and use the tool within their classroom. Avoiding an overload of information is something which we need to remember, and instead refer to the identified plan which has been put in place to meet the needs or both pupils and teachers.
Using digital tools and technology within your classroom, allows teachers to create alternative engaging learning oppertunities for the pupils in the class. It further allows these pupils, who are already au fait with and living in a digital world, to apply and develop an array of digital literacy skills whilst also accessing the curriculum in an engaging way. The devlopment of these digital skills leads to enhanced communication and collaboration between pupils. These are the rich learning oppertunities we as teaches strive to foster in order to maximise the learning between the learners. SSE will play a key role in helping schools to identify manageable ways in which they can introduce or embed the use of ICT across the primary school classroom. I feel it is important to take well thought out and calculated steps, utilising the expetrise of the staff and pupils, to progress the teaching and learning in the ICT area.
