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I really like this idea – I think it’s a lesson the children would really enjoy. Using Copilot to help create stories, questions and resources is a great way to support planning, and finishing the lesson with a song from MagicSchool is a fun and engaging way to bring everything together.
Subject – History
Strand – Story
Strand Unit – Stories from the lives of people in the pastLearning Intentions:
By the end of the lesson, the children should be able to:
Name at least two differences between homes long ago and homes today.
Talk about what they noticed in pictures of old homes.
Share one new thing they learned about life in the past.Introduction
I’ll begin by showing the class photographs of homes from long ago alongside modern homes. I’ll ask questions such as:
“What do you notice?”
“What is different?”
“Would you like to live in this house? Why or why not?”
To encourage discussion, I’ll use MagicSchool AI beforehand to generate a few simple questions about homes in the past. I’ll choose the questions that best suit my class and use them to guide our conversation.Development
The children will work with a partner to compare an old home and a modern home using a Venn diagram.
I’ll also use MagicSchool AI to create a short, child-friendly description of life in an Irish cottage many years ago. We’ll read it together and talk about what daily life might have been like.
The children will then draw either an old Irish home or their own home and write one or two sentences describing it.Conclusion
To finish the lesson, we’ll come back together and share what we discovered. I’ll ask each child to tell me one difference between homes long ago and homes today.
We’ll also have a short discussion about MagicSchool AI and how it helped us. I’ll explain that AI is useful for giving us ideas and helping teachers prepare lessons, but we still need to use real historical sources like photographs, books and museums to learn about the past.I completely agree Tracey. I think OSMO is a great way to make learning more interactive, and I really like that it lets children learn through trial and error without feeling like they’ve got something wrong. It seems like a fun resource that would keep pupils engaged while building their confidence.
I will be teaching 1st Class next year, so I’d love to use ScratchJr with them as an introduction to coding. I’ve used Scratch with older classes before, and they really enjoyed creating their own projects and learning the basics of coding. I would start by demonstrating a simple project, such as getting a character to move, walk, or jump, so the children can see how the coding blocks work. They would then work in pairs on tablets to recreate the project before adding their own ideas, such as changing the character, background, or creating a simple story. As they explore, I would encourage them to predict what each coding block will do and support them in solving problems if their program doesn’t work as expected. I would also give the children opportunities to share their finished projects with the class, helping to build their confidence and allowing them to learn from each other’s ideas. By the end of the lesson, pupils will have created a simple interactive story while developing creativity, teamwork, and early coding skills.
I completely agree. I also thought Copilot Image Creator would be a great way to encourage oral language, build vocabulary and support storytelling in a fun and engaging way. I really liked Microsoft Reading Coach too, as it gives children the opportunity to practise reading at their own pace while receiving instant feedback, helping to build their confidence and fluency
I thought some of the tools introduced in this module were brilliant. I’d never come across Diffit, Twee or MagicSchool before, so I’m really looking forward to trying them out next school year. They seem like great time-saving tools, particularly when it comes to creating differentiated resources. I was impressed by Diffit, which can quickly generate differentiated reading comprehensions and activities at different levels. Twee also stood out to me because it can create engaging English language learning activities, including discussion questions, gap-fill exercises, vocabulary tasks and comprehension activities based on articles or videos. I can see both of these being really useful for planning lessons. I thought Copilot Image Creator was a great tool for creating engaging visuals quickly. I can see myself using it to create images for lesson introductions, creative writing prompts and classroom displays. I really liked how Microsoft Reading Coach gives students personalised reading practice and instant feedback. It would be a useful way to build reading confidence while helping me identify where students need extra support.
I also like the idea of Carnegie Learning and how it adapts to each child’s ability. I hadn’t come across it before, but it seems like a really useful tool. I like that it can provide extra support for pupils who are finding a topic challenging while also offering more advanced work for those who are ready to move on. I do think, however, that teachers need appropriate training so they feel confident using AI tools effectively in the classroom.
AI can support both teachers and students by creating more personalised learning experiences while helping teachers work more efficiently. For example, AI can help generate lesson plans and activities that are tailored to different ability levels, making it easier to meet the needs of all learners in the classroom. It can also save teachers valuable time by helping with planning and paperwork, allowing more time to focus on teaching and supporting students. For students, AI can be a useful learning tool by providing instant feedback on their work. This allows them to identify mistakes, improve their understanding, and make changes before submitting assignments. However, there are also challenges to using AI in the classroom. Students can become too reliant on it, and I have seen this in older classes where some students use AI to complete projects instead of doing the work themselves. It’s also important to remember that AI is not always accurate, so any information or ideas it generates should be checked carefully. For AI to be used effectively, students need to be taught how to use it responsibly. This includes understanding that AI is a tool to support learning rather than replace their own thinking, as well as developing skills in fact-checking and recognising misinformation.
I completely agree. One of the biggest benefits of AI is the amount of time it will save teachers, allowing them to focus more on teaching and supporting their students. I really enjoyed exploring tools like Vidnoz and Pictory, I had never heard of them before. I also agree that AI needs to be used responsibly. It should be seen as a tool to support teachers, not replace them.
I think AI has the potential to be a very valuable tool in the classroom. When used properly, it has the ability to reduce workload for teachers – support planning, coming up with new ideas and help to create fun learning experiences for children. Using the right prompts, AI can make lesson planning much more manageable. It can help create yearly plans based on the curriculum, generate lesson plans, produce worksheets, and suggest ways to differentiate activities to meet the varying needs of students in the classroom. When it comes to creating resources, AI is particularly useful. It can quickly generate fun and interactive activities , giving teachers fresh ideas that they may not have thought of themselves. AI can also support both teaching and assessment. It can help teachers create assessment questions and revision materials, and also provide students with additional support when they are finding a concept difficult. One part of this module that really stood out to me was Sal Khan’s TED Talk. I found his idea of using AI as a one-to-one tutor for children interesting. It highlighted how AI could provide personalised support, allowing students to work through challenges at their own pace while still being guided by their teacher. At the same time, it’s important to remember that AI isn’t perfect. It should be seen as a tool to support teaching and learning. Teachers still need to review and fact-check anything AI produces, ensuring that the information is accurate and meets the needs of their students.