I may have to re-think some things!

After a group discussion today with myself, Johny and two other students, I realised I may need to re-think the way I'm going to present this project to children.

A lot of good pointers were made today! I found the session extremely helpful.

The Information provided 

• Too much - could it be cut down but still include everything I want it to
• Could I make it more visual (even more so) instead of listing facts - 1...2...3
• Could I deliver the information in another way? 

Visuals 

• Everyone seemed to like the style of my illustration which is great, and they seemed to appreciate and notice that I had a consistent style throughout the worksheets.

Using a different method - delivering it to children in another way - Working in a group

• Make it more hands-on and group based. This may help children to digest information better. "Deep learning."
• Produce flash cards with images one side and information the other. This could be more interesting than reading from a sheet. It allows the children to be more involved.
• Children could fill in missing words by using flash cards and help each other out. This way they can have a class discussion.

...............................................

After today and getting pointers, I'm going to re-think things so I can put my information across in a more memorable way and also a more enjoyable way. I really like the idea of group discussions and getting children to 'take part' in something, so that's what I'm going to focus on as of now. 

Even though I'll be changing my approach, I'm glad I did the worksheet layouts, because I 'do' like them, but I'm thinking that they would probably be appropriate for slightly older children, possibly aged 12 because of the amount of information. I'm aiming this project at age 9, so I think the group discussions and flash card tasks would work out much better.

................................................

Action - 

• Put information from the session to good use by considering the age range and the way the activity pack can be aimed at Key Stage 2 (age 9) in a way which is much more suited to their learning level.
• Look into learning and teaching methods for Key Stage 2