Year 7 Information Literacy lessons

I have now re-evaluated my Year 7 lessons for the Autumn term. There is a clear focus on how to read, reading techniques and decoding information texts. I have also included some exploration into the world of blogging and microblogging. Pupils will have the opportunity of examining how ideas and thoughts can be expressed using these formats.

Creating more brainstorms

Now I have learned to use the brainstorming function in MindView I am finding it to be really useful. I have just created one on Sources of Information that I can use with the Year 5 class. I will be introducing the concept that there are many different types of information that are available.

I wonder how many sources a Year 5 pupil actually uses?

Year 5 Independent Learning Unit

I am just researching all things current affairs for the new lesson that I will have with Year 5 pupils next term. The aim is to increase their awareness of the world around them by introducing them to different new reporting.

I am really interested to see which stories they pick up from the media and compare them with the main headlines.

I also wonder in which medium they will prefer to get their news - paper, online or broadcast.

The sessions are designed to develop some lively debate and questions about how and what is reported.

Assistant Librarian

Tomorrow I will be interviewing for a new Assistant. This is an exciting process and I am looking forward to seeing who will be joining me in September. It would also be nice if it were a sunny day!

MindView 4.0

I have been using this software to create some sample brainstorming diagrams for the Year 6 project. So far so good. After I had listened to the tutorial, things went a lot more smoothly! I really like the functionality offered by this tool and feel that it has got alot of potential especially with the links that you can add into the diagram. The exporting functions to Word and PowerPoint also look like they could be useful.

My next battle is to work out the Gantt chart features on the software. Unfortunately this has not been as intuitive as I would have liked.

Planning Year 6 Independent Learning Challenge

Have just spent the last few days reviewing the Year 6 Independent Learning challenge unit that starts again in September. I have now redone the sheets and planned out the whole year. It's a great project to work on and the pupils enjoy being able to make their own project choices. What they don't realise is all the planning that goes into running a sucessful project. With this in mind I have redonethe planning sheets to try and make them more user friendly. I have also built in some more review time so that pupils are able to evaluate their planning and time management skills. I'm please with the result and am hoping that they go down well in the Autumn term.

Film complete

I have finished making my film now!

Making another short film

In September I will be helping some of the lower school pupils to make short films about each other. For this I am now making a "How not to make your film" short film. The Assistant Librarian has just helped me with the film clips and I will be editing it together soon.  I am hoping that it will teach and amuse at the same time.

The Flip cameras we have are easy to use but can result in shaky-hands filming that can make the viewer quite sea-sick. I am hoping that the pupils can watch my film and avoid those common pitfalls.

They will plan, film and edit their film in just one day so it is a big task to get it right. I am hopeful though and I think that this practise session will enable them to learn some techiques that they can use later in the year for some of their projects and class work.

Display boards from Expressive Arts Week

The publicity team that was based in the library, ended up producing some fine displays around the school to promote the activities that were going on during the week (with some expert assistance from the Assistant Librarian).

Outside the Drama Centre

In the main corridor - including the wicker art objects

In the Drama Centre - assorted photos of the week