Qwizdom
voting pads IS SU E 3
The Jigsaw Technique
Opinion
chains
MARCH
2014
PedEx WBGS
IM AGINE, IMPROVE, IN SPIRE
CONTENTS Page 1 Welcome back to PedEx Page 2 I went to market... Who am I? Timeline Races
Revision Special!
Page 3 Revision Circus
It‘s March. The evenings are starting to get lighter and longer, we‘ve got a (tiny) bit more sunshine, and hat, scarf and gloves have been relegated from ‗essential‘ gear to just ‗desirable‘. Bring on Spring time! Not everyone is celebrating though; for our students it means exam season is looming ever more threateningly on the horizon. But don‘t panic yet – we‘re here to help. We‘ve
Page 4 Paper Chase Students as teachers
scoured through all the very best ideas brought to Teaching and Learning group meetings and spent far too long trawling the internet for ‗top revision ideas‘ to bring you this: our very first ‗Revision Special’ edition of PedEx. We do hope you enjoy reading it and are able to use some of the ideas with your classes. And as ever, we welcome any feedback, positive or less positive!
T&L Group meetings coming up… Tuesday 20th May 3.30-4.30pm Monday 16th June There will be refreshments! Editors—Tu, Cx Contributors—Cw, Gf, Cl, Wa, Ca, Tu, Cx Thank you very much to everyone who has contributed to the first issue. If you would like to contribute in the future please get in contact with Tu or Cx. 1
Page 5 Memory drawing Comic creator Page 6 Wordles Flash cards Mind maps Page 7 Revision techniques Page 8 Coffee break fun—games, puzzles and more
PedEx WBGS is published twice a term by WBGS Teaching and Learning Group.
Competing to be the best! I went to market… Everyone knows this game as a good way to pass a long car journey. However, it can also be used for recapping learning points from a lesson or for memorising facts and concepts. The activity links to the multisensory aspect of memorising (i.e. sound of the voice, where the person was sitting when they spoke), forces all students to listen to each other and brings in an element of competition. You can also differentiate by starting with weaker students and ending with stronger students. For example Jonny: ‗The capital of England is London‘ Samir: ‗Jonny said the capital of England is London and I say the capital of France is Paris‘ Alex: ‗Jonny said the capital of England is London, Samir said the capital of France is Paris and I say the capital of Spain is Madrid‘ Etc.
WHO AM I?
Timeline Races
This game can be used to test students‘ knowledge, inform teachers of students‘ level of understanding (AfL), and just for a bit of fun! It is particularly useful for revision of key terms.
This game can be used to help students revise anything that can be sequenced (e.g. historical events, formation of a landform, steps in a process). First, spend some time teaching the topic. Next, create a set of cards, each with one step of the sequence or one event printed on it. Get students into groups of 5 or 6 and ask them to put the cards in the correct order. As the teams are working, go round the room and challenge them on their decisions – this will not only get them thinking about the correct order, but also about the justification behind their decision. The first team to get the order right are the winners.
One by one the teacher should read out clues to a key term to students. After each clue students write their idea on a sheet of paper and fold the top down. After all the clues have been given (usually around 4 or 5) students swap their folded sheets and award each other points. For each clue given the number of points gained for a correct answer decreases. Example: Clue 1 – A European country Clue 2 – Has a coastline Clue 3 - Borders with Germany Clue 3 – Warsaw is the capital.
You could go further with this activity by cutting up a model answer for students to put in order, or by asking students to rank ideas in order of importance. In fact, the possibilities are endless!
If the correct answer (Poland) was guessed after clue 1 four points would have been gained. After clue 2 = 3 points, after clue 3 = 2 points etc.
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CLOWNING AROUND Revision Circus Setting up the room for a class of 28 Arrange 14 double desks into one large rectangle or horseshoe shape. At each desk put two chairs (one inside the rectangle and one outside Put a revision question (or set of short questions) at each desk. Number the questions. You might want to sellotape the questions down so that students don‘t carry them away during the lesson. Running the circus Each student sits at a chair (either inside or outside the rectangle) and has a sheet to write answers on. A certain amount of time is given for the first question to be answered. On the teachers signal, all the students on the inside of the rectangle move one place in one direction (say anticlockwise) and students on the outside of the rectangle move in the other direction. The new pairings tackle the next question. Continue this process until all questions have been tackled. The questions could be based on weaknesses highlighted from a recent piece of homework. Plenary Go through the answers with the class, winners could maybe get a prize! Where is the pedagogy? All students are spending a large fraction of the lesson thinking and answering questions, instead of classic Q & A where the teacher asks the class the question and only one student gives the teacher the answer. Each question is discussed and answered by a pair of students. This will facilitate discussion and even argument! If there is a ‗weaker‘ student in any pair they will learn from the ‗stronger‘ student. This will hopefully reduce the number of questions where students might fail to put any answer because they ‗can‘t do it‘ or ‗can‘t understand‘ The teacher is released and can simply listen in to discussions and gather information about issues or questions where there is misunderstanding The size of circus can be scaled up, and has even been used with 30 set 2 Maths students inside the rectangle and 30 set 3 Maths students outside the rectangle! 3
s... d i k e h t o t r e v Hand o
Paper Chase Most pupils will work in pairs to answer questions, whilst two (or more if a big class) pupils will be designated ‗Examiners‘. These will usually be more able pupils. Pairs are picked so that weaker pupils get to work with stronger pupils. In pairs, pupils will work through an exam paper in any order that they choose. The question will be discussed by the pair before pupil A will write down the answer and explain it to pupil B. Pupil B must then come up to the Examiners and explain the answer to them. The Examiners will decide how many marks to award, based on the mark scheme and examiners report. They may deduct marks for poor explanations and/or poor written answers. Pupils will rotate between explainer and scribe through the questions. This will enable pupils to all practice answering questions and explaining answers verbally too. The ‗Examiners‘ will learn what is expected from the exam board and will have to explain errors made to the pairs – giving them a better understanding of what is expected from pupils and what the common misconceptions are. Pupils will be making constant progress as everything they do should improve their exam technique. To add a competitive edge, Examiners will add the amount of marks awarded into a table which is projected on to the board. If needed, the teacher can jump in as the third examiner. Otherwise, the teacher can circulate and to make sure that pupils are working. The Examiners will do the rest!
Students as teachers A topic can be divided into sections and allocated to students in a class. The student must then be allocated a lesson where they teach their topic area to the rest of the class. May involve powerpoints or providing of handouts etc. They will also need to be prepared to take questions. Useful at KS5 but can be done with smaller topic areas for year 7 working in groups.
Get writing… If you‘ve got something you want to write about, we want to hear from you. Email Sarah Turner or Josh Coren with any suggestions.
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! ! s s e c c u s to y a w r Draw you MEMORY DRAWING AIM The aim of the task is for students to work together to recreate a picture or diagram from memory. The activity builds teamwork skills, can be a good introduction to a new topic, or be used as a revision game. HOW A picture or diagram is placed outside the classroom or in a location out of general view of the class. Students get into small groups and number themselves. Number 1s come up to the picture and look at it for 20 seconds. They then return to their group and describe the picture to the rest of the group (for about 40 seconds). The group has to try their best to draw out what is being described to them. At this point number 1s are not allowed to draw. The process is then repeated with numbers 2, 3 etc going out to look at the picture and returning to the group to describe until all students have had a chance to look at the diagram and relay their description. If necessary/applicable students can be stopped halfway through the task for a discussion about tactics and how best to approach the challenge. Diagrams can be judged at the end, to add an element of competition. 5
Techie tools to test out! Wordles
Flash cards
‗Wordle‘ is an internet based computer programme for generating ―word clouds‖ from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text or that you indicate are more important. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and colour schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like; you can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with others.
In order to create flashcards students must first review key terms and concepts in a topic. Once they have done that, the process of testing themselves will help them learn this information.
This could be used to remind students of key words for a topic, key concepts in an essay and more. You could also stick them up on the walls in classrooms as they are nice to look at too!
The website below offers a really simple way to create flashcards which can be viewed as PDF files and then printed out. http://www.kitzkikz.com/flashcards/
Mind maps Mind maps are a great visual way to layout information. Here‘s a checklist of how to make one: 1. Decide on the topic of your Mind Map – this can be anything at all. You just need a topic to form your central idea. 2. Take a sheet of plain paper and some coloured pens, and turn the sheet so it‘s in a landscape position. 3. In the centre of this page, draw an image that really represents your topic. 4. Now label this image for your Mind Map. 5.
By starting your Mind Map in the middle of the page, you have given your thoughts the freedom to spread out and go in different directions – this is the way you think naturally and it will increase inspiration and creativity!
Coggle is a free internet programme which allows you to easily create mind maps online. It‘s really easy and intuitive to use, and allows students to store and share their work. https://coggle.it/ 6
JUST IN CASE YOU’VE FORGOTTEN... Revision Techniques
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Seven Rules Of Revision Make your own revision notes. You'll learn as you write and, once you've got them, you're halfway there. Be brief. Check the syllabus or ask a teacher to make sure you've got the key areas sussed. Concentrating on the plus points of revision helps keep you going. Start by thinking how much easier you'll find the exams. Don't overdo it. Your concentration lapses after a couple of hours, so take regular breaks. Experiment with different revision techniques. Variety beats boredom. Focus. Don't make pointless notes. Look at past exam papers and see how questions could be asked. Get confident. If you're positive about exams, you should take in more information and remember it when it counts.
Some Simple Techniques 1. Condense. Fitting notes onto one side of paper makes the easier to stomach, so rewrite and cut down as you go. 2. Highlight. Target key areas using colours and symbols. Visuals help you remember the facts. 3. Record. Try putting important points, quotes and facts on tape. If you hear them and read them, they're more likely to sink in. 4. Talk. Read your notes out loud, it's one way of getting them to register. 5. Test. See what you can remember without notes, but avoid testing yourself on subjects you know already. 6. Time. Do past exam papers against the clock, it's an excellent way of getting up to speed. 7. Summarise: Read, and write summaries of, your notes 8. Draw diagrams. 9. Sketch mind maps (spider diagrams) of key issues. 10. Use mnemonics (rhymes of word lists) to prompt you 11. Revise with a friend: ask and answer questions.
12. Be realistic - do not attempt to revise for more than 45 minutes at a stretch - break up your
revision with breaks and rewards. If you give yourself a 10 minute break between two 45 minute sessions you will be amazed how much more you will achieve more. The Teaching Times 13. Be purposeful - Don't give up - even a mountain of work gets smaller and more manageable once you start to revise Revision techniques 14. Believe in yourself – be confident in your ability & your - the good, the OK revision. 15. Get plenty of good quality rest. Make sure you get at least 8 and the useless By Deborah Cohen hours sleep.
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Coffee Break
SIDE Jokes Did you hear oxygen went on a date with potassium? It went OK.
BIOLOGY CROSSWORD ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A YEAR 10?
Teacher: Anyone know any jokes about sodium? Pupil: Na Q: So where did you go for your holiday last year? A: Spain Q: A cheap place like the Costa Brava? A: No, very expensive, Costa Fortune!
COMING SOON Relay‌
...Triptico...
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...and much more!