Science Club

On my most recent professional practice I organised and ran an after school Science Club for children between the ages of 4 and 11 to explore different exciting investigations with the other student in the school. We decided to explore fun experiments which may not necessarily link to the national curriculum to get children engaged in their learning. We catered 16 children in the club and each week looked at different activities. The science club ran for 4 weeks after school on a Thursday and we looked at experiments ranging from making slime to the Coca-Cola and mentos investigation.

Running the after school activity for the children was beneficial to my own development as prior to this practice I had not taught any science lessons to a group of children on previous practices, so felt uncomfortable teaching the subject. It helped to build my confidence when teaching the subject and encouraged me to become more familiar with the science strand of the National Curriculum.

Attached below is a copy of the lesson plan for the first Science Club session:

25.01.2016 Science Club lesson plan

How it meets the standards:

• TS1: Parts A and C of standard 1 are met in this piece of evidence because I had to make sure it was safe and a non hazardous learning environment for the children to learn in. Also, I feel as though I have demonstrated  positive attitudes, values and behaviour which are expected of pupils throughout the Science Club sessions which we held. 
• TS2: I feel as though I can show working towards part D of this standard because I had to demonstrate my own knowledge and understanding of how children learn and how this can impact on the teaching of an after school club, which need to be approached differently from ordinary national curriculum based lessons.
• TS3: I feel that this piece of evidence shows that I have been working towards part A of standard 3 because I had to understand and have a secure knowledge of science investigations and curriculum areas, in order to maintain pupils’ interests in the subject, and address any misunderstandings the children may have.
• TS4: I have been able to impart my own knowledge of maths into the sessions and develop understanding through effective use of lesson time, as well as promote a love of learning in sessions which shows I am working towards sections A and B of this standard. The out of school hours club shows I am securely working towards section C as I have arranged and ran an out-of-class activity to extend the subject knowledge children have in Science. i also feel as though this shows I am contributing to the design and provision of an engaging curriculum within science, working towards part E.
• TS5: I feel as though this piece of evidence shows that I have been working towards all parts of standard 5, A, B, C and D because I had to differentiate the sessions due to it being available for children between the school years of 1 and 6, covering two key stages where the children would have different understandings in Science. I had to have an understanding as to how all of the children in the group would be able to learn with their capabilities and support them through their different stages of development. I also had to have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs, as two of the older children in the group suffered from cases of SEN/D and needed extra support when learning in a classroom environment.
• TS7: Running an out of school club for children to access and enjoy shows that I am working towards parts A, B, C and D of standard 7 because I had to manage the behaviour of the children who attended the club and have high expectations of all, especially the older children who should have been setting a good example for the younger children attending the club. I also had to maintain good relationships with all children in the club in order for it to run smoothly and effectively.
• TS8: Parts A and E of this standard have been met with this piece of evidence because I made a contribution to the wider school community by providing the experience of an out of school science club for the children and I had to communicate with the parents of the children to inform them of the club or any concerns with any of the children after each session.

Seed Investigation – Continuous Provision

As I was in a mixed year group class on my final Professional Practice, I had to think about the classroom environment which I taught in, and how it could be enhanced for the younger Reception children in the class. The younger children required a continuous provision of activities for them to take a lead in their own learning, however with an aim for the activity. The continuous provision activity which I decided to put into the investigation area of the classroom was the one pictured above. The aim of the activity was for the children to feel the different seeds which were in the basket, and to sort them into the surrounding pots. The seeds which I incorporated into the basket were:

Sunflower Seed

Yellow Split Pea

Pinto Bean

Pumpkin Seed

The children enjoyed feeling the different textures of the seeds, and telling me what they think they were called. Each of the children who worked in the main learning classroom in the morning (Reception and Year 1) wrote in a speech bubble about the seeds, saying what they felt and looked like. These can be seen on the all behind the activity.

The children told me about what they thought the seeds would grow into if we planted them and engaged with the activity well, sorting them into the flower pots and using them in their role play in the other learning areas.

How it meets the standards:

• TS1: This piece of evidence meets parts A and B of this standard, as I had to think about the safety elements of putting this activity into the learning environment and make sure it was safe to run with. I had to talk to all of the children before putting the activity to make sure that all children were aware the seeds should not be eaten. I also challenged the children daily to see how many of the seeds they could separate and sort before the end of the day.
• TS2: I think that the sub sections A and D are met as I had to understand the concept and running of continuous provision before implementing this activity into the classroom. The children used topic appropriate language when engaging in this activity which was developed over the 5 week term.
• TS4: This piece of evidence meets section E of this standard as I had to consider if the activity would be engaging enough for the children in the continuous provision environment.
• TS5: Sections B and C of this were met with this piece of evidence because I had to understand how the activity would engage the minds of the youngest children in my class, and how it would aid their physical, mental and emotional growth.
• TS8: This display shows that I am working towards section A of this standard because I have thought about the learning environment for the mixed Reception and Kew Stage 1 children, and how it can link into the topic work for the term.

 

 

Phonics Garden – Continuous Provision

Being in a mixed age group class on my most recent Professional Practice proved to be a challenge, especially being in a mixed Key Stage class. The class of mixed Reception/ Year 1/ Year 2 required the older children to be focussing on their upcoming SAT’s whilst the youngest were to be taught a completely different curriculum, encouraged to explore the enhanced learning areas and take a lead in their own learning. Because of the different styles of learning happening in the same classroom it was essential to enhance as many areas as possible to aid the younger children. I decided that due to the nature of our topic ‘Plants’, to enhance the Phonics area by making a garden, where the children could plant their phonics sounds and words if they could say them out loud. The area which I created looked like this:

The area was in the middle of the classroom with access from all angles. I decided to get a tuff spot tray and put it onto one of the stands, to make it elevated with easier access for the children. I filled it with compost and small planting pots. On each of the corners of the tray there was a  plastic pouch containing some flowers on lollipop sticks, each with a different sound or word from the Read Write Inc. programme which the children were familiar with. The sounds were on different template flowers to the green words, as were the red words. I also placed some grass along one of the edges with some other words along it. Above the tray I hung a watering can with water droplets ‘pouring’ from the spout which the children had previously completed, with everything they knew about plants on them.

The children found the area engaging and went to it frequently, and even though I was teaching another group in the classroom, I could clearly hear them pronouncing the sounds and words which I had made for the area. They became fond of the area and the new activity very quickly, engaged with their own personal learning.

The different words which I included were also appropriate for all of the children in the classroom, promoting reading and blending skills for all. As we introduced a new set of green words for the children, I made their corresponding flowers and inserted them into the pouches to encourage children to continue their phonics development.

How it meets the standards:

• TS1: This piece of evidence shows that I have been working towards parts A and B of this standard because it promotes a safe learning environment and it challenges children to enhance their own learning by reading the words which they know or are working towards in their phonics lessons.
• TS2: For this standard I have been working towards parts A and B because I had an understanding of where the children were in their phonic learning after teaching many lessons, and throughout about how the children could be progressed in this area of the continuous provision. They could be extended with new words and alien words as they become more familiar through the programme.
• TS3: Parts A, B and D are all shown in this piece of evidence as my knowledge of phonics and early reading had to be strong in order to teach the lessons and create this resource for the classroom.
• TS4: This evidence supports that I am working towards part E of standard 4 as I have contributed to the design and provision of an engaging curriculum which emphasises the importance of phonics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 areas of the Primary Curriculum.
• TS5: Sub sections B, C and D have all been worked on and are displayed in this evidence because I understand how children develop in the earlier years of their development through schooling and that the activity had to be suitable for children of all backgrounds and abilities. Through the final weeks of my practice, a child who spoke little English was able to engage with this activity and develop her own English by using the activity put into place and the other children were able to help the child with this.
• TS8: Part A of this standard is being developed in this piece of evidence as it impacted not only the children in my class, but other children in the school who had difficulties in their English could access the activity to develop their communication skills.

Maths Makes Sense

Recently, whilst on my third Professional Practice, I had the opportunity to observe a mathematics lesson based on the Maths Makes Sense Programme. The lesson focussed on simple addition. The following  video demonstrates the addition method which was introduced to the children in the session:

The children worked with a mat each, where one side is a ‘Resource Table’ and the other is a ‘Maths Table’. The children used paper cups to have physical objects which they can use. Their Maths Makes Sense mats were laid out like the following photograph:

The children found it easy to use and showed a lot of progress within the 50 minute mathematics session. The children were thoroughly engaged in the session and chose it as a continuous provision activity throughout the day to revisit.

This is a method I hope to adopt in future mathematics lessons, throughout my final year placement and teaching career.

How it meets the standards:

• TS1: I think that this piece of evidence shows that I am working towards section A of this standard because we had to establish a safe environment for the activity before introducing the children to it. Even though I was only observing this lesson, I still had to ensure that all of the children were sensible with the equipment which we provided them.
• TS2: This evidence also shows that I am working towards part D of standard 2, as whilst observing this activity I had to demonstrate my current knowledge and understanding of how children in Key Stage 1 learn and how it impacts on the teaching which was provided.
• TS3: I think that this evidence shows I am working towards 3 areas of standard 3, parts A, B and E. I had to develop my own knowledge of mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1, as well as understanding how developments can be made in the subject and curriculum area. It was also an opportunity to learn more about mathematics in the Early Years, and Key Stage 1, and to think about how I could implement the strategies which I had seen into my own teaching.
• TS5: 3 areas of this standard have been addressed with this piece of evidence, B, C and D. I had an insight on how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn, and had a chance to develop my understanding of physical, social and intellectual development of children, especially in the earlier years of the Primary Education. Also, in the class were children with additional needs and with English as an Additional Language, so I had the opportunity to observe how the learning can be enhanced to aid these children.

Book Art

Whilst on Professional Practice 1B, I taught a series of English lessons leading up to the creation of a 3D book. The children did lots of writing based on the book Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. They created letters, postcards, recipes and instructional texts based on the story. I challenged the children to create informative pieces of writing which could be put into their books later. Attached below are a couple of examples of the example booklet which I created, using examples of the children’s work.

The children, who were in Year 6, found it to be enjoyable, engaging and rewarding to work towards a final outcome. This was a nice way for the children to complete work which lead to a final outcome, especially after their difficult time completing their SAT’s.

How it meets the standards:

• TS1: I think that this piece of evidence meets part B of this standard because I set the children an end goal to work towards which challenged pupils of all backgrounds and abilities as the children I was working with on this placement were from many cultural backgrounds, all working at different ability levels.
• TS2: This piece of evidence shows that I have been working towards sections A and C of this standard as I was accountable for pupils’ progress and outcomes throughout this activity, planning lessons which addressed all of the elements of the 3D book which the children produced. I also let the children reflect on the progress they had made in their work before it was able to be put into their books, re-drafting and editing their work if necessary to make sure it met the target audience.
• TS3: I feel I have met the sub sections A and C because I had to have the knowledge of how to teach Year 6 English and the different topics which can be covered throughout the year in order to teach age and curriculum appropriate content for the children. Also, I feel throughout all of my lessons in this particular teaching practice I promoted a high standard of Standard English, and high standards of literacy throughout the curriculum.
• TS5: I feel that throughout the series of lessons taught on the lead up to the  production of their 3D book, I had to consider differentiating the lessons to cater for all of the children in the class. This addresses sub section A and due to working with children from many different backgrounds, it shows I am working towards meeting section D.