Sharing Good Practice
LANGUAGE
Storyline Approach
Lynda Bancroft at Aberfoyle Primary School was filmed by LTS using a storyline approach to the teaching of writing within early years.
While you are watching, think in what ways does this storyline approach relate to either the four capacities or the Principles of Curriculum Design.
Click on the picture below and it will take you straight to Lynda’s presentation.
A power point presentation about the use of personal writing journals to encourage children to enjoy writing through relevance, personalisation and choice. The presentation also focuses on the importance of using formative assessment to enable children to make progress and plan independently next steps. The journals are shared within the classroom to develop a community of writers.
A useful resource to support this is ‘Children’s Writing Journals’ by Lynda Graham and Annette Johnson, UKLA. This is a small booklet based on action research into the use of a social model of writing journals.
This Midlothian literacy project focused on close reading and inferential comprehension. The project aimed to devise strategies to support the teaching of reading at levels B and C, embedding formative assessment, as part of an initiative to raise attainment.
The novel ‘The Fish in Room 11’ by Heather Dyer was chosen to provide teachers with a range of reading opportunities that would engage children and teachers enthusiastically in purposeful reading activities.
The strategies provided can be used with other novels, and have been instrumental in developing teachers’ confidence in embedding formative assessment strategies.
HOMEWORK
A different approach to Homework which allows children personalisation and choice within their homework. Included below are some examples of Homework that is currently taking place.
Mary Queen of Scots Wallace and Bruce World War II
Another approach to Homework has been the use of a ‘Blog Site’ to further engage children with their learning out of school. Just click on the link below to take you to another innovative approach to learning and teaching.
Engaging Reluctant Writers
Sandra Harvey, from SLANT, has been working with a number of reluctant writers from the upper school.A writing project that was primarily aimed at engaging disaffected writers in a primary 7 class. The pupils experienced a range of difficulties in the writing process from complete disaffection to specific needs.
In the end the pupils were motivated and produced a completed piece of work which they were able to share with other children and were proud of. Just click on the image below to find out more.
A Curriculum for Excellence In-service(February 2007)
David Cameron’s Keynote Address
David Cameron’s keynote presentation at the recent Curriculum for Excellence in-service at Balfron High School. The presentation was both inspiring and thought-provoking.
Ian Smith’s Keynote presentation on Motivation, Learning and Assessment. Ian looks at some key issues : Why AIFL is a good initiative, shifting ideas about motivation, different types of classrooms and achievement mindsets. As ever Ian was able to provide practitioners with an opportunity to reflect on their current practice but also to provide practical examples of ways forward within the classroom.
(N.B. Both these files are very large so if the option to save appears then I would suggest you either save the file to the hard drive on your computer or a portable storage device.)
Below you will find a number of the workshops that took place at Balfron High School during the February in-service. Just click on the title of the workshop to find out more.
‘Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of her or his work, with advice on what he or she can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons with other pupils. … feedback…should give each pupil guidance on how to improve, and each must be given opportunity and help to work at the improvement.’
Inside the Black Box
Children’s Posters and Activities
This presentation and the accompanying activities can be found in the resources section of this Blog.
Elaine Wyllie’s presentation on formative assessment across the Wallace Cluster through the ‘big task’ on the Titanic.
Dunblane Primary’s approach to rich questioning to encourage and engage children’s thinking skills.
Bannockburn Primary’s journey so far with AifL by embedding a variety of formative assessment strategies.
Making Learning Visible to Children
‘Creating a familiar and exciting learning environment in school where children feel comfortable and confident, where learning is active, challenging and enjoyable.’
A Framework to Support Continuity of Learning in P1, Stirling Council
