jann's inquiry planner learning communiuty

Inquiry Learning Planner- Learning Styles.5/6 W – 4/5S

Lightning Reef Primary School – Holmes Road Campus

Inquiry Title/Question:

What do I need to do to be a better Learner?

Level Team Term Duration

Working towards Level 4

4/5/6 1 9 weeks

Rationale: Focus of Unit VELS HOST DOMAINS

Civics and Citizenship

Interpersonal

Personal Learning

Thinking processes

Science

Literacy

ICT

Students begin to build on personal strengths by recognising strategies for learning which help them learn most effectively. With support, they use their past learning to inform their future learning, and begin to set learning improvement goals. (Personal)

They develop their skills and strategies for getting to know and understand others within a variety of situations. (Interpersonal)

Understandings Focus Questions

Students will understand that…

Effective learning needs to be organised.

Effective learning behaviours are formed through practise and routine.

Each student needs to play an active role in their own learning.

People learn in a variety of ways using various strategies

There are processes and skills we can use to be a successful learner

We all have roles and responsibilities to ensure our learning community is

What makes me unique?What is learning?What skills and processes help me learn best?What role and responsibility does each person play in their own and other’s learning?What makes up a learning community?Why is it important to be unique? What organisational skills do I need to be a good learner?How does being organised help my learning?How do people learn?

Adapted from Inquiry Learning Units of Mel Cashen and Jo Ryan with permission by Jann Watson- Lightning Reef PS.

safe and happy for everyone

It is important to maintain our minds and bodies for optimum learning.

Students will know… Their preferred learning

styles Classroom expectations

of learning behaviours and code of conduct

The benefit of cooperative learning and the skills involved

The importance of participation in group tasks

Student will be able to… Apply attentive listening

skills Ask effective questions Follow class routines Independently organise

their daily learning requirements

Utilise their classroom resources

Key Concepts Values

Interdependence, relationships, decision making, roles and rules, independence, social organisation

Respect, Honesty, Resilience, Co-operation, Perseverance, organisation,

Resources:

SEAL – UK curriculum (Goal setting) Tribes (Lyn Watt) Tom Daly-“ 7 Steps to a Calmer Classroom.” Wilson McCaskill activities. “Bravery. The substance of Survival”- source unknown. www.freeology.com activities


http://www.freeology.com/

www.teachthis.com activities Mind Maps Use of Netbooks and’ Inspiration’ and’ Kidspiration programs’. “Stride Program”- Anger Management Program- www.stride.org.au Lane Clark – “Habits of the Mind.” Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence. “Luke’s way of looking” – Nadia Wheatly “Pearl versus the world” – Sally Murphy “Magician’s Nephew” – CS Lewis

TUNING IN

How can we: Engage students in the topic? Gauge interests and attitudes? Find out what they believe?We need to: Provide opportunities for students to share their prior knowledge and ideas, introduce terms, identify gaps in their knowledge and misconceptions, and allow this to inform our learning?For the Tuning in Process students will be taking part in an intensive 6 day “ Start Up Program” which is embedded below. From this platform the students will be expected to now have a sound understanding of what a learning community look like, feesl like, sound like as well as the importance of maintaining it.Students will investigate: If we are going to build a learning community what will we need?

What I value in a...o Classmateo Teachero Learning environmento School

How can I achieve this? Draw a picture about where you imagine you would do your homework.

Why did you choose to do this? Do you think about where you will sit or just go? Do you have a choice? How can you make this happen?

Write a letter to your teacher in a million words or less. You can write about anything that you feel is important and will help you to have more success this year. Share your likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, what makes you unique, fears and courageous acts, hopes and dreams, past successes and failures, who you work well with – anything and everything. Make sure you include things that worked well in the past with teachers and things that did not work so well.

Photo drop: Give groups of children random photos and have them choose one to reflect our learning community. Children discuss reasons why.

People Hunt – find people in your class who can…. Spotlight on Me (or similar personal profile) – reflective statements


http://www.stride.org.au/

http://www.teachthis.com/

regarding learning styles, preferences and personality statements Behavioural Guidelines – reflecting on and establishing a class Code of

Conduct Circle Time – Class Meetings – SRC discussions Unpacking the focus questions –

a. Students are assigned one focus question and create an ‘illustrated student’. The student uses thought clouds and speech bubbles to depict a connection to the focus question

b. Class complete a wall collage of ‘illustrated students’ all displaying:

i. Their role in learningii. Good learning behavioursiii. Routinesiv. Things to help us learn

Individual analysis – iTC Publications Multiple Intelligences Quiz Venn Diagram – in groups of three, students cut, discuss and sort

captions that relate to roles played in learning. Student only / student & teacher / teacher only

Word Wall – produce an evolving word wall of thematic unit words- focus on building the wall and using it to help with the spelling of thematic and class words.


Look at a model of the brain. Brainstorm what the brain helps us do. Establish that the brain is the ‘control centre’ of our body.

As a whole class complete a Y chart: When my brain is switched on for learning I look like, feel like and sound like…

As a whole class complete a Y chart: When my brain is switched off for learning I look like, feel like and sound like…

Individually draw a picture of ‘me at school’ when my brain is switched on for learning in their Integrated Studies book. Use the Y chart for reference.

Create class posters of switched on and switched off behaviours.

excellent thought provoking film clip for teachers

FINDING OUT FOCUS QUESTIONS SORTING OUT

How can we take students beyond what they already know? Challenge their ideas, beliefs and attitudes? Enable them to use skills and knowledge to collect new information? Provide a range of experiences to develop our understandings? Why is it essential to

Which questions will guide this line of inquiry? View the Power Point

of Learning to Learn and have accessible on the desk top for children to individually access.

Visit the senior/middle school and see children working with drink

How will students sort out, organise, represent and present what they have found out? How can they communicate and express what they know? How will they use preferred ways to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and values?

Discuss which switch


drink water? Why are the students allowed to have a Water bottle In class as well as Brain food?

bottles on their desks. .

Give children opportunities to experience brain switch ons such as food, water, breathing, music, relaxation, smells, brain gym, exercise, colours, sleep, natural light, fresh air and natural environment.

ons they experienced were most / least effective for different children.

Role play children working well at school, taking drinks of water, looking, listening, eating healthy snacks, breathing.

Collage on a T chart pictures of food and activities that are switch ons or switch offs.

Create a simple mind map of switch ons.

Flies on the Ceiling – After students have been working together on a task, have them close their eyes and pretend they have been flies on the ceiling. What would they have thought of their working together? Answer the reflective questions.

Use a flip video camera to film the scenario to compare with the findings of the students.How can we improve how we work together?

Who did what to get you started? What did you do while your group was working together?What did the other members of the group do?What helpful things happened?Who did them?Did everyone participate?How did you help each other?

Students return to groups and discuss their answers. Each group makes a list of things we can do to have a group work better. Choose a leader to share this back to the whole class.

Who do you most admire?Choose a member of the community or a sports person ie: Lane Beachley

Follow your dreams!


Make a concept map in your project books showing the’ Road Blocks’ which could have stopped the person from realising that dream.

What members of the community help you and how do they do this? Have students look at the different types of communities – family, class, school, outer.

Put these results into a growing donut organiser.

Read the” Magician’s Nephew” where they fall into the new world. If you could have a new world what would it look like? Create a new world- Lightning Reef Primary school).

Reflect on our class charter.

Investigate learning styles – visual, kinaesthetic, auditory. Trial, test and reflect.Students trial different types of tasks. Some easy, some difficult. Write a reflection diary as you work through these. How did you feel?Keep a food diary. How do you feel after eating different types of food? Do the same with a diary of how tired you are at different times of the day.

Graph the results of how tired you area at different times of the day.

Keep a personal journal with students reflecting on their day.

How did you feel about the work you completed?What did you do really well?


What would you like to question about the events of today?What goals would you like to set?

Learning environment – Investigate the impact of the environment on our learning – music, temperature, light. Students complete an activity in different conditions and write a reflection.What would I like to learn more about? What am I an expert in and what am I interested in learning more about?Luke’s Way of looking. Read the text and discuss how colour tells the story.

Art – A world of black and white with a few things in colour. What colour will you chose and what objects will you choose?

Read ‘Giraffe’s Can’t Dance.’ What are your strengths and weaknesses? Collate these for the class and find ‘go to’ people. Discuss the message that goes with this story.

Create a dance to show the message from the book.

Read Pearl verses the world. Discuss the text. What groups do we have? Finish the sentence: No nicer school noise than….. She describes he school as a prison. How else could you describe it?

Write poetry to describe your feelings about school.

Test areas of the school for noise pollution. Where are the quietest places to work?

Map out the best places to work in the school.

Look at how you arrive at Why is important to share On a picture of a suitcase, write the types of feelings and


school each day. How do the different members of our class feel? Leave your problems on the gate as you come to school each day and pick them up on the way out.Why is it important to do this in order to have a successful day?

our feelings?How does this change the feel of our community?How can we know how another person is feeling?

emotions which will impact on your day.

What are your areas of strengths? Ask other members, including teachers and other classes what they believe your strengths are. Have a piece of paper stuck to each student’s back and the class writes on them what they believe their strengths are.

Everybody is good at something .....no matter how small it is. What is your strength? Ie: I help mum with my sister....I am kind to her.

Create a mind map of your strengths (from your beliefs and those of the community) – attach these to a multiple intelligence.

GOING FURTHER

How can we negotiate and broaden the unit? What other perspectives or dimensions can we explore? What are the ways in which students can negotiate their own personal inquiries?Laying it on the line: The teacher gives simple statements related to switch ons and children agree or disagree. Eg: Water helps us learn better. Chocolate is a switch on.Students relate to which of the statements they believe is a switch on or off.

Unpack the Inquiry Process Design your own personal learning classroom. Make a timeline of your ideal day. What times are best for

working/sleeping/eating etc?


Had a fight with mum

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS AND REFLECTION

What are the ways in which: Students can think about their learning (how, what and why)? We can identify changes in skills, knowledge and values? Students can draw conclusions and make connections between ideas?Redesign the homework space – how has your thinking changed about where you work best at home?Revisit what we need to build a learning community.

TAKING ACTION

How can: Students take personal action? Make choices and apply their ideas? Relate their learning to real life situations?Children design a response to ‘how do I learn best’, which outlines where they like to work, what type of learners they are, what they and others can do to help them learn. This will become a personal profile, which can be passed to people in their learning community to assist them. Children set goals and share these with their parents in a meeting.

ASSESSMENT SUMMARY (ONGOING: FOR, AS and OF LEARNING)What are the cumulative and summative opportunities for assessment? How can teachers and students monitor progress? What strategies can we use to cater for variance in learning styles and progress? How can we allow for expected and unexpected outcomes? How can we provide opportunities for self, peer and parent assessment?

INQUIRY STAGE DESCRIPTION PURPOSE

UNIT EVALUATION

P M I


jann's inquiry planner learning communiuty

Documents