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LEARNING TEAMS UPDATE Wokingham Day Two - 5th July, 2007 1. Separating the Learning Objective from the Context Foundation Stage/Y1 Children find it easier to apply skills in new contexts. They also focus more appropriately on the learning objective. For example, one teacher had previously worked on children making treasure maps and their focus had been pirates, treasure etc. By focusing on map making, the quality of their work was far higher and their talk more about map making than treasure. The language of the learning objective is more explicit and is therefore less confusing. Three teachers found that using the terms ‘learning objective’ and ‘context’ confused children and so had changed those terms. In teachers’ planning, the learning objective now leads the contexts which has been liberating because teachers can now more easily follow children’s interests. Yr 2 Teachers found this a difficult process at first and found some subjects easier than others, because the objective was lost in the context. However, the impact on children’s learning has been huge as they now know what they are learning and are able to use their learning in future situations. One teacher described doing work on explanations with the context of a car travelling down a ramp. Children were able to explain very clearly what they had learnt. At break time, the teacher from a parallel class who had been teaching the exact lesson was expressing frustration that her class could only say that they had learned to make a car whiz down a ramp.
Yr 3/4 Teachers agreed that learning objectives had become more generic. Children are now starting their work more quickly and are beginning to realise where they can use the learning objective elsewhere e.g. persuasive language and letter writing. Children now have greater ownership of the context. All agreed that the process was harder for mathematics and had had greater success in the creative curriculum. It was now easier to link cross-curricular activities because teachers were no longer focusing on the context. One teacher described how she had started a unit on persuasive language with the context of making a persuasive poster. She took children’s views on how they could contextualise this skill which resulted in her scrapping her planning and basing two week’s work on their suggestion of ‘The Apprentice’. The children were extremely motivated. Yr 5/6 Teachers found this hard, especially in mathematics, easier for literacy and RE. The impact was that children know what is expected and have a clear idea of what they are learning. One teacher described how, in the past, they had looked at what food the Egyptians ate and designed a banquet menu. Children had previously focused on the menu. This time she had made the learning objective ‘To know what foods the Egyptians ate’ with the context of designing an Egyptian banquet menu. The children and the teacher were more focused and understood what was being learnt. When revisiting aspects of Literacy (e.g. persuasive language) children can remember the success criteria when the learning objective is separated from the context and apply it in new contexts. One teacher had a lesson with the learning objective of ‘Why people worship’ and the context of different religions. Children were able to see the links between the different lessons even though the context changed.
Yr 6 Children are able to transfer skills and knowledge across the curriculum. One teacher described teaching children about a recount. Three weeks later they looked again at recounts and the children remembered the success criteria and were able to generate them again. Children can see the purpose of their learning and make connections. Teachers know this because children ask fewer questions, they are on task and their comments and questions are now related to the skill in hand. The quality of work is also higher. The process gets rid of the ‘woolly’ objective and motivates children to achieve more. Children are clear about learning expectations and teachers have ‘firmed up’ their planning.
2. Success Criteria issues Foundation Stage/Y1 Success criteria enable children to transfer learning to another topic. When a skill is revisited children remember the success criteria. Children now find it easier, following a series of lessons in which the same success criteria are used. Children are really proud of their work. They verbalise their success and don’t need to be told that they have done it right or ‘well done’, because they self mark against the criteria. One teacher described a lesson about the life cycle of the butterfly which was very successful because of the success criteria. Children self assessed and were very clear about their achievement and said it was the best work they had ever done! The teacher tried the lesson with another class without success criteria and said that far less was achieved with more mistakes. There is less time wasting in lessons and children get started quicker with their work. Teachers found that it took a long time to generate the success criteria (with children) at first. The plenary is now more meaningful at the end or during the lesson as success criteria are referred to. Success criteria help support staff focus appropriately.
Yr 2 Children are now able to refer to success criteria while they are learning with their peers and are very clear about what they have to do to achieve the learning. When success criteria are written on the whiteboard, children take their work to the board and check and discuss whether they have achieved them. Some teachers print the criteria and put them on the tables. Success criteria have given opportunities for children to stop and do mini evaluations. The scope for self and peer evaluation is huge. The work is of higher quality. One teacher described a history lesson with a closed learning objective for which almost all children said they had achieved the learning objective.
Yr 3&4 Success criteria have given children a focus which can be transferred to subsequent lessons. They have improved the quality of children’s work and their expectations have been raised through looking first at good finished products. There has been a great impact on lower achievers because the success criteria scaffold steps. Children’s self evaluation has improved. Success criteria have made teachers question their assumptions and preconceived ideas about what children thought was important and what the teacher wanted, as children focused first on secretarial features. One teacher created a list of ten generic features as a separate poster. Teachers have been able to fine tune success criteria with the help of the children. These were initially too broad. One teacher described how her low achieving maths group talk about their success criteria all the time. Overheard: ‘My answer’s different to yours.’ ‘That’s because you’ve missed out Step 2.’ She said that success criteria had led to significant progress for all children.
Yr 5/6 Success criteria focus children on the improvements they need to make, what they need to do and the achievement they have made. They also focus teachers’ marking, which may need to be explained to parents. Teachers said that children entered SATs tests for writing and reading comprehension very confidently, knowing what to do and how to do it because of success criteria. Results showed that they had achieved higher levels. Yr 6 Children are now more involved in their learning. They know what they need to do, they are more on task and they start work more quickly. Learning moves on quicker: children identify next steps more readily which reveals the gaps in their understanding. Showing children a good finished product makes it clear what they are expected to do and reduces fear of failure. Discussion between children is now much more productive: children talk in partners more often and are more reflective about whether suggestions meet the learning objective. Teachers used previous children’s work to get the class to generate the success criteria and found they were very engaged and keen to do better than the child. Seeing the work makes it much easier to create success criteria. There has been as change of atmosphere in the classroom as control has now shifted from teacher to pupil. Children’s own expectations have been raised. They are more prepared to take risks and don’t view success criteria negatively. One teacher used old test mark schemes to help children understand success criteria and the difference between various levels. This helped children’s confidence and understanding.
3. Unit Coverage (making sure children know how each learning objective fits the unit coverage) Foundation Stage/Y1 Involving children in the planning means that topics keep going more effectively. Children are able to use the interactive display and ask relevant questions about the topic. It was found to be more successful to give children an idea of the minimum coverage as a starting point for them to say what they know and would like to know. These discussions reveal prior knowledge and misconceptions, which then lead the planning. One teacher asked children what they knew about light and, amongst the predictable response, one child said ‘pasta’. Unpicking this revealed that some pasta had boiled dry and caught on fire and the child thought the light was coming from the pasta. The teacher felt more able to address misconceptions before teaching, with subsequent increased clarity and less wasting of children’s time. Giving children time to explain their thinking and knowledge gives a window into how they learn. Teachers believed that they had previously unwittingly missed opportunities to build on what children already know.
Children are more focused. They link their learning in class to home and bring in things relevant to the topic. Parents have been given information about the coverage so that they could contribute. Yr 2 Teachers who had started with showing children minimum coverage were pleased and excited about what the children already knew, realising that they did not need to start at the beginning. One teacher described how, in the topic about Italy, children were able to chart a course through their learning, ticking off progress as they went. This made them feel empowered. Teachers found that, when children know what is going to be learnt, they want to bring in resources from home and talk about their personal experiences and research they’ve done. What the children are learning becomes relevant to them. It has given some children who are reluctant to contribute the confidence to contribute when they have found something out. They feel they are making a valuable contribution. All teachers were now planning to meet their new classes to have preplanning discussions.
Yr 3&4 Children were now engaged at the beginning and empowered. They become the experts, it improves self esteem and challenges all children. Children feel that work has a purpose. It is now rare to have behaviour problems. Children are now bringing things in from home. Parental involvement has increased as parents are aware of what work is being done from the children’s talk. Children often want to find things out which are different and often more advanced than teachers’ expectations. Teachers felt it was important that weekly plans were not set in stone. One teacher talked about the ‘Arena for Arts’, an annual celebration of the arts in Wokingham. Schools who opt in work on a theme, producing a gallery display and a performance. She looked at the theme of explorers, in particular the Aztecs. One child who usually contributes very little offered a great deal of information about the Aztecs. His involvement in the planning made his peers re-evaluate him more positively and stimulated them to research more.
Yr 5/6 Teachers used mind maps or other devices and included children in pre planning discussions. Initial coverage was driven by teachers but children added much more. The impact was higher achievement and increased motivation. One teacher shared with children what they needed to know about ‘Earth and Beyond’ and asked which activities they wanted to do. Most were predictable, but cooking space meals was not! She puts next week’s planning on the school website on Friday and children interact with this before the following week. One child e mailed the teacher a Power Point presentation he had created because he was so enthused! Yr 6 Teachers felt that sharing unit planning with children gave more meaning and ownership to their learning, made them more engaged and was true personalised learning. This approach develops independent learning. One teacher described a Year 6 end of year focus on moving on. He asked children what they wanted to know about moving on and what did they want to get out of secondary school. They then did CVs in Literacy, job Application letters and wrote references for each other. They decided to rehearse interview skills, looking at body language etc. and used digi blues for analysis. They were highly motivated and their work was of high quality. There was discussion about adequate resourcing if children’s ideas were to be followed.
4. Talking Partners/Wait time/No hands up Foundation Stage/Y1 Teachers felt that talking partners had had a great impact on lower achievers as they were more involved and talking more. Children now ask for thinking time if it is not given and there are improved listening skills. Talk partners has become the norm, as well as evaluations of being a talk partner. Children’s confidence had increased and every child was now able to contribute with no child dominating. There was some variation in how often partners were used. A non-speaking child from a pre-school setting has learnt, through talking partners, to talk and share. This week she had been organising the class! Questioning The right and wrong strategy, when used with maths had created good discussions. Yr 2 Children are now engaged and speaking and listening skills have been enhanced. Teachers have been training children how to be good talk partners, for instance that it is sometimes necessary to ask questions when listening. Socially, children gel better and have become more tolerant of each other. Knowing partners change in 3 weeks is important to them. They have become more supportive, especially to children with special needs. One teacher uses an amber pot and a green pot. Lolly sticks with children’s names on are moved from the amber pot when a child has answered a question, then placed in the green pot. The same system has been used for choosing who will answer a question. This has been a great success because of its fairness. Questioning The range of answers was successful in mathematics and resulted in much more talk. Yr 3&4 Children are clearly processing their thoughts and have ‘rehearsed them before saying it out loud, which has resulted in a faster pace. It has been very successful to have children with EAL in 3s. Fewer answers are repeated by children as they are now listening to each other more carefully. The quality of children’s answers has improved and their vocabulary has increased. Self esteem has been boosted, especially for the lower achievers. Children now know they have a voice. Children love the random partners and can’t wait to get their new partner. Talk partner evaluation has been generated by children. One teacher said it was important to make visitors to the school aware of the no hands up policy to maintain consistency. Thumbs up has replaced hands up in one classroom. The use of an ‘ice breaker’ question was found to be useful in helping children start talking with their new partner. Questioning Teachers found it easier to apply the strategies in maths than in Literacy. The planned questions gave maths lessons an investigative theme.
Yr 5/6 All teachers found random talk partners very successful from the outset. Children asked if they liked the system answered positively. Children enjoy sharing ideas with one another. Children have become friends with people they had never played with before. Children who do not usually answer questions are contributing more and the quality of contributions has improved. One teacher randomly chose 4 difficult boys to sit together and found they were better behaved than they would have been if sitting apart. Questioning One teacher used the statement question successfully: ‘All singing games involve clapping.’ Another used the strategy in PSHE: ‘Going through change is easy’. This prompted much discussion about how the opposite was true. Yr 6 Teachers agreed that talk partners had led to improved quality of discussion Socially the system is very effective. Children are very responsive and like random partners. Once partners are set up, teachers use them all of the time. Even children with difficulties have become used to working with a partner. No parents have complained about who their child is working with. One difficult child was originally partnered with the teacher, followed by successful pairing with one of his peers. Questioning Teachers found the stalling strategy, saying ‘hold that thought’ then returning to the child later was very effective, especially for lower achievers. Children are beginning to question questions and answers given by their peers.
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