(This project was delivered online with Creative Practitioner Jodie Davidson, delivering a 90 minute session via WebEx with the teacher and students each week for 16 weeks, along with project planning and reflecting with the teacher after the sessions to reflect on the learning.)
Curriculum Focus
Term 3 - HASS History
Present and Past Family Life
Differences in family sizes, structures and roles and how these have changed or remained the same over time.
The differences and similarities between students' daily lives and life during their parents' and grandparents' childhoods.
How the present, past and future are signified by terms indicating time.
Questioning and Researching
Reflect on current understanding of a topic.
Sort and record selected information and/or data.
Analysing
Process information and/or data collected.
Explore points of view.
Represent collected information and/or data in to different formats.
Communicating and Reflecting
Present findings in a range of communication forms, using relevant terms.
Reflect on learning and respond to findings.
TERM 4 - SCIENCE - PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Light and sound are produced by a range of sources and can be sensed
SCIENCE AS A HUMAN ENDEAVOUR
People use science in their daily lives, including when caring for their environment and living things
SCIENCE INQUIRY SKILLS
Pose and respond to questions, and make predictions about familiar objects and events
Participate in guided investigations to explore and answer questions
Use informal measurements to collect and record observations, using digital technologies as appropriate
Use a range of methods to sort information, including drawings and provided tables through discussion, compare observations with predictions
Compare observations with those of others
Represent and communicate observations and ideas in a variety of ways
CROSS CURRICULUM LINKS
English
Language - visual language, spelling.
Listening and speaking.
Literacy – oral presentations, handwriting.
Mathematics
Length
Time
Measurement And Geometry Proficiency Strands
Problem Solving - Includes using materials to model authentic problems, sorting objects, using familiar counting sequences to solve unfamiliar problems, and discussing the reasonableness of the answer
Digital Technologies
STEM solving real life problems
potential use of 4 or 5 iPads in class groups
CROSS CURRICULUM PRIORITIES
Sustainability
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories & cultures
CONTEXT
Year 1 encompasses a large scope of learning abilities with approximately 30% of this class being reluctant writers and readers. Exploring family methods of communication throughout history and using a variety of documentation methods, we hoped to improve this number; however, it was always going to present challenges, delivering a mix of in person and online sessions. Working with technology yet encouraging hands on learning, and moving beyond the classroom, meant determining methods in which quieter students could share ideas, while stronger students were comfortable watching themselves on a screen. Balancing effective communication with a young class is an exercise in trial and error, a process of reflection and feedback. Developing the Creative Habits of Learning while exploring history provided these opportunities.
WHAT WE DID
History is built and changes over time, through each generation, but what do young people know about the history of their own families? Introducing mind maps and group work to increase collaboration skills; it was important to initially determine where that information stood in the mind of the student. This also provided opportunities to group those who appeared to have a shallow grasp of what was going on with other, deeper learners, to become part of a bigger conversation. Group work also enabled the sharing of skills and knowledge along with hands on discoveries evoking a sense of curiosity.
Some students were challenged by their limited awareness of what the word history signified but were able to engage with questions about their parents and grandparents, often continuing conversations at home and returning with grandparent names, jobs and an expanded understanding of history.
"History is the world, history is water and trees, history is things that happened a long, long time ago, houses, things you know, people, bridges, dinosaurs, the big bang." (Student)
How have things changed between then and now? What are the similarities and differences over the past 100 years? They would look to the teacher for answers, demonstrating a fear of getting things wrong. To encourage responses, students were chosen by name at random rather than by raised hands in an effort to increase persistence and their comfort with uncertainty. Reducing the amount of information being fed to them, it relied on students making decisions, experiencing that through getting things wrong and making mistakes, they could learn more.
Over three face-to-face sessions group warm-ups and outdoor activities were used to explore communication and introduce the Creative Habits of Learning. In the natural environment, although chaotic, loud and distracted at first, eventually it settled into non-verbal collaborative performances using gathered rocks and sticks. Repetitively challenged with the human knot warm-up, students were engaged and slowly crafted and improved, using imagination to develop the techniques required to succeed. Utilising different forms of communication had unexpected results. Some managed in groups of 4 but struggled with an extra person. The groups who accomplished the task went to help others. They negotiating sharing in a positive way, collaborating effectively and in their excitement, enthusiastically tried as a class group, not succeeding, but wanting to try again.
“It was kind of hard to say what to do so we had to try and find a way how to do it. We kind of showed the actions and we made it work.”… (Student)
Adding a timer into elements of each challenge carried forward into online sessions, especially moving between outside and the classroom. Games designed using only leaves, sticks and a piece of paper enabling reflection on ways parents and grandparents might have played. Through snakes, ladders and portals (if you throw a 4 you go back through the portal), rocks and leaves (noughts and crosses) and making a dice from a rock, students discovered similarities between old and new.
“Different because I think my grandparents’ played games that were sort of like that and I think they played the one that is the same as that but used a ball and rolling pins.” (Student)
With inquisitiveness and imagination, students tackled the making up of games quickly, expanding from the simplistic view they began with, to more complex, the longer they spent in their groups. They developed dice, rules and began trials.
Using gathered sticks, leaves and rocks, they went beyond and began to play, later drawing and writing descriptions as part of the reflection process. Having made small concertina books as history journals, students decided on how information could be sorted. They made decisions on how to collage their discoveries onto a timeline putting their drawings, images and photographs in order initially from old to new, but expanding this to become new (us), old (parents) and a very long time ago (grandparents).
“First, I started with me and then I did Mum because I think my Mum is younger than my Dad and mum liked playing hopscotch. Nanna was last and she liked playing elastics.” (Student)
In term 4, we extended student exploration of sound and light to determine how much they recalled and what they knew by experimenting with what happened when you use the same objects to experiment with the transfer of sound and/or light and whether the density of an object changes what we see and hear. Using instruments, students discovered that light and sound are produced by a range of sources and can be sensed throughout the body? Incorporating mindfulness, yoga and meditation students they experienced how their body responded to sounds and how sounds can create light and dark. Their discoveries progressed into collaborative group work which produced a series of videos comprising sound and image. This allowed students to delve into individual strengths and weakness and demonstrate their developed creative habits while extended their concentration span.
WHAT WAS THE IMPACT?
Extending student understanding of history through ‘doing’, children began to grasp how things change often, resulting in further exploration at home. Space beyond the classroom prompted investigation and experiments, extracting colour from plants, wondering and questioning, exploring and investigating and playing with possibilities. In some cases, tasks weren’t understood. This meant re-wording activities without completely providing the answer on what to do. What developed was the amount of writing and their way of sharing information. With light and sound, they were able to recall a lot of what they had previously learnt and put this along with their increased collaboration skills into practice when sorting instruments in order of light and dark sounds.
“I'm finding it interesting watching the kids and slightly discombobulating not leading them! I think the biggest change is their ability to work together. This boils down to that they now understand they can achieve a goal together as a group.” (Teacher)
They were excited to have a different person presenting lessons. Students were curious about the person on the screen but equally about their own reflection. Removing the ability to see themselves lessened the distraction. Determining the best camera location and angle as well as sound quality was a group effort. Some days it worked and others less so. Students became adept at offering solutions including standing in front of the camera to talk and show their work. Maintaining a group near the camera enabled constant observation of group communication.
Sessions flowed better being broken up into smaller activities and moving between inside and outside, on the mat and off the mat. The quicker pace increased attention across all levels with improvement on listening and considering creative habits. Although some students initially had limited ability to reflect on their own learning, this varied with each student. Posing questions relating to time spent in their own families, students had opportunities to connect with family through shared stories. In online sessions, students would collaborate in small groups, sharing ideas and knowledge of their families, then listening to those of their peers. They were utilising their creative habits.
Working together improved with more voices, particularly when coming up with game ideas and being able to share these. Their ability to think on their own and share ideas emerged alongside their recognition of creative habits. As the sessions progressed, so did their understanding that they each have different roles that they can play. They realised that they need to share their ideas and listen to the ideas of others which developed through working with different children resulting in less clashing over sharing roles/equipment and increased communication.
“I want to get better at being collaborative and working together.” (Student)
“I wonder what we are doing next. We are using inquisitive.” (Student)
“When we are working in groups. We are being persistent and imaginative.” (Student)
“We are listening to the person and then when they’re finished talking it’s the other persons turn to talk.” (Student)
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