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Part 1: Prompt
Lesson idea prompt : Senior infantsResources
Paper cups
Card
Blocks (wooded cuboid shapes)
Barbie doll
Timer
Story: Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood has just discovered her Grandma is a witch, she needs to get out of the forest as quickly as possible. The problem is, the forest has a river that has flooded, and Little Red Little Riding Hood needs to get past the river using a bridge. The bridge needs to be tall enough to make sure that the water doesn’t touch it, so at least two blocks high,(show blocks) and strong enough for Red Riding Hood to walk across. Can you design the bridge in less than 10 minutes using card, blocks and cups?
The test will be that the bridge has to hold a doll the size of a Barbie up for 30 seconds
Final question: Can you help Little Red Riding Hood get across?
The children will be asked to build their bridges but will not be able to test them until the end.
Part 2
The article highlights the important skills that developed through teaching coding in the early years. Noticeably, a lot of the skills mentioned are significant problem solving skills which can be used in other subjects, particularly Maths in future years. It is very important that children are taught how to use these skills from an early age, as they are transferable skills which will make them more independent learners that can adapt what they know and apply it in other settings. These skills are extremely useful for students, particularly the problem solving, puzzle solving types of activities. Many students can learn how to apply things they learn in certain contexts however they can lose confidence quickly when asked questions in slightly different ways, particularly in like Maths. I agree that these are complementary skills which work well alongside each other. Additionally, students may not find maths easy, but may thrive with these more digital activities. I would predict that for students who struggle with maths but enjoy these computational thinking tasks, their confidence may improve with other similar Maths activities, when they’ve experienced some success. Coding skills also integrate will with topics like shape, angles, algebra and with activities like mapping in SESE. Computational thinking overall is a very important skill for children to continually develop, and the resources like bee bots, codebot, lightbot etc all offer a way to make these activities fun and interactive. Overall the article highlights the importance of these computational thinking tasks, particularly in the younger years. It’s also important to make coding less daunting and more accessible to students, and these types of activities manage to make coding tasks fun and engaging for students in the early years. The article also mentions the importance of family engagement and I agree that it would also be nice to demonstrate activities like the bee bots and similar robotic kits like sphere Indi to parents and caregivers, so that they could see and experience coding activities themselves. Coding is something that many people have no real understanding of and so this could be a very enjoyable and interesting activity for parents and caregivers to participate in.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MWcXlOgeXfeZ5e0bPkAcWAReqsxkYJnnOWymqwLyC3Y/edit?usp=sharing
In this lesson, students enhanced their STEM skills through a hands-on activity based on the story “The Three Little Pigs.” By constructing houses using marshmallows and cocktail sticks, the students aimed to create structures that could withstand the “Big Bad Wolf’s” huff and puff, simulated by a paper fan and a hairdryer. The lesson begins with a reading of the story to engage the students and set the context. This nicely integrates a well known story that the children are already familiar with and could be further extended with other lessons based on well known stories. Students will discuss 3D shapes using mathematical language, stability, and security, making predictions on what kinds of shapes and designs will work best which will then guide their construction process. They work in mixed-ability pairs, allowing for collaborative learning and idea sharing. Informal tests using paper fans can be conducted to encourage real-time adjustments and problem-solving. It also introduces the scientific skill of experimentation and trial and error in design. In the conclusion, the houses will be tested with a fan and hairdryer to observe their durability. Reflective questions will prompt discussions on why certain houses stood longer, why others collapsed, and what improvements could be made, including considering better building materials. This lesson was designed to promote collaborative learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, making the activity both educational and engaging. The lesson could be easily extended and could link well with more similar lessons whereby the students use problem solving and a variety of other skills in order to solve a problem. The test at the end is also a way to discuss how to conduct a fair test, by ensuring that each house is tested in the same way each time. This could be demonstrated by asking the children beforehand how the test should be conducted, that is how to ensure it is fair. This will involve questioning regarding the distance and the device used each time. The results will also be recorded and analysed afterwards, which will integrate well with data in Maths.
Digital tools can make lessons more interactive for students by making them more accessible and easily differentiated. Activities can be easily differentiated and tailored to particular groups and abilities. Lessons can become more collaborative and can challenge students to use problem solving skills along with communication skills. By teachers improving their own uses of digital technology, they can encourage and model these digital skills for their students while also making their lessons more efficient, engaging and collaborative. It is important that a school chooses their own focus of their SSE, so that they can focus on where the majority of their students level would be with digital skills, as this may differ widely across schools. Resources differ hugely across schools, and therefore the skills and experiences of students will be very different, depending on the resources that the school has access to. Professional development is also essential for teachers in order for them to be able to keep their own skills up to date. The Digital Strategy can guide a school in assessing the aspects that they will work towards in the future and highlight areas that would be beneficial for professional development and instruction. It is important that schools work collaboratively, with a whole school plan in place to ensure that by the end of their schooling, students will have been able to develop the relevant digital skills.
