Packaging so far...

Yesterday I got started on the packaging of my product. As well as that I also managed to complete the following...

• Print out all worksheets onto card, ready to be trimmed (after that they're ready to be put into the activity pack)

• Printed the majority of the documents for my research and development folder (just a few remaining which I should be able to do on Thursday since someone is kindly covering my shift at work)

• Arranged all of the documents so far in my folder so I could see if there was anything missing

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Today my time has to be managed wisely as I am working in the middle of the day until early this evening, so the only time I have available is the earlier part of this morning and this evening. Through looking at my gantt chart it would probably be best if I aim to finish the packaging tonight and work on paperwork this morning. Tonight, whilst parts of my packaging are drying, could be more of an opportunity to get paperwork done.

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Cover for the Egyptian Activity Pack (in progress) I will aim to finish the rest today - the front and the inside. 

I wanted it to look like an Ancient object that had a feeling of luxury. I feel the textures provide something tempting to children which is more likely to get them drawn to the product and want to touch it and see what it is.

Getting started on the packaging

There's been a change of plan this morning as I haven't been able to get into uni to get the printing done, however I did purchase some card which I'm going to be using for my flash cards and a few other things. I've made use of my time so far today by amending my statement of intent and starting the work on the packaging for my finished product. 

Left - The card I have cut for the packaging, which includes a pocket. The sheet shown in the picture demonstrates how the worksheets would fit in. 

Right - This shows the packaging laid open (front and back shown) I decided to cover the book in brown paper mache, which at the moment has been left to dry and then various other layers and bits and pieces will be added. 

Added part to session

Just a snippet from my annotations (and one I almost forgot to add!) 

The various items shown on this page are a few of the gifts given to me from Ancient Egypt. As part of my sessions, I would like to take them in to show the class.

Through my research I have found that children respond well in learning environments, particularly when they have the opportunity to engage with objects. I read a great informative PDF on UCL Museums and Collections outreach, which gives awareness that children respond better if they are in an interactive environment.

UCL work by sending their employees into schools with museum artefacts and objects to let the children touch and feel and really get a sense of what the topic is about, all in all creating a positive response from the children with a passion to learn more in their subject area. 

Almost time for the hand-in

Tomorrow is Monday, which means I will then have four days to complete everything and get it handed in by 12:30pm.

My time management is proving a success and the trusty lists I like to keep.

Today I have completed the following: 

• Annotations finished off and neatened ready to be printed and put into file 
• Put my PowerPoint presentation onto a disc (for teaching resources)
• Made corrections to any worksheets I've produced 

And tomorrow I will be aiming to complete the following:

• Get all professional printing done in the morning 
• Spend the late morning and afternoon on the packaging for my activity pack 
• Check over my Statement of Intent 
• Arrange documents/development/all paperwork in file 

Results from worksheet testing

      Today I have tested the following out on two children of the ages 8 and 10:

·                     Quiz Wordsearch (from Session 1 – The Pyramids)

·                     Draw Your Day worksheet (from Session 2 – Living In Egypt)

·                     Memory card game (from Session 3 – Mummification process)

Please note that only one of these children have studied the History of Ancient Egypt (the 10 year old) the 8 year old has little knowledge of Egypt. Also, the age I aim aiming this activity pack at is the age of 9.

Before each task, I spoke with both of the children about the topic. The first one for example, was the pyramids. We discussed them for 10-15 minutes and they discovered they knew a lot more than they thought they did.

Quiz Wordsearch (from Session 1 – The Pyramids)

This is a quiz wordsearch I have produced on the Pyramids. The idea is to fill in the missing letters on the quiz sheet to complete words and then once those words are complete, the children must find them in the wordsearch.

The quiz wordsearch proved to be a success, particularly after we’d talked before hand and discussed the reasons why pyramids were built and how they were build. I found that both of the children enjoyed finding each word in the wordsearch in particular but needed some help with filling in the words on the quiz sheet (to be able to find them in the search) However, this only happened for a few words and I found the majority there were able to fill in themselves, particularly the 10-year-old who seemed to get very excited when he matched a word correctly in the missing-letter-spaces provided.

Overall I am pleased with the way the children carried out this task. They seemed enthusiastic and keen to learn and asked almost right away what I have for them next!

Draw Your Day Worksheet (from Session 2 – The Pyramids)

This is a worksheet where children have six boxes on a page where they must ‘draw their day.’ The idea is to compare their day to that of an Egyptian child, which would be the analysis at the end of the session.

When testing these sheets out, I found that both the children enjoyed and seemed to be equally involved with as there was no ‘academic testing’ involved to test their knowledge of Egypt. Even though the task was to draw pictures, I found that when we talked about them as they were drawing, they had developed an interest and were able to already see the differences from their life to that of a child 4000 years ago in Ancient Egypt. For example, the 8-year-old commented on the cereal she eats, comparing it to the breakfast of an Egyptian child, which consisted of bread and fruit.

The results and enthusiasm I got from the children whilst completing this worksheet has given me confidence that the approach I have taken with it has come across correctly and proved to be an enjoyable experience for both of them. 

Memory Card Game (from Session 3 – Mummification)

This particular activity is taken from Session 3 which is about Mummification. The activity is card game based on memory, a bit like snap where you have to match the pairs up. Each card is supplicated and placed face down on the table infront, and each child must take it in turns to turn over 2 cards at a time to try and match up a pair. I’ve tried to help this by making sure each card has a strong visual of an object used during the mummification process.

The results of this activity showed the children thoroughly enjoyed the game as they wanted to play for a second time. I wanted this task to not only be a fun game to play, but something for the children to remember and retain information from. I wanted the visuals on the cards to help the children remember all the important items used during mummification. After playing the game, we discussed the mummification process again and I’m delighted to say that they managed to retain the information I gave them previous to playing the game! 

Change of plan for today...

Change of plan for today....

I am going to be testing my products on two children I know. The ages of these children are 8 and 10. I have chosen to test out the memory card game from session 3 (on the mummification process) and the pyramid quiz wordsearch from session 1, as well as well as the Draw You Day worksheet from session 2 (Living In Egypt)

I will document later how it went.

Lesson structure

This evening I have completed all three lesson structures. I have not yet put them in grid/table form but I have the structure ready to go...

My research, particularly from the book Learning To Teach In The Primary School  has helped me to formulate each lesson structure...

Rough Lesson Structure Session 1

Year: 5

Term: Spring

Key Stage: 2

Teaching Group 2a, Mrs Chapman

Curriculum Subject: Introduction to Ancient Egypt

Key Vocabulary: Egypt, The Nile, Red Land, Black Land, Pyramids

Learning Objectives:

Attitudes to show enthusiasm towards Egypt and eagerness to go on to the next session

Skills to be able to build a pyramid from paper straws and

Knowledge and Understanding that the Egyptians were reliant on The Nile for the yearly flood so the crops could get water and they could eat well.

Why the Egyptians built the pyramids and how they built them

Introduction:

This part 1 of a 3-part session, which will cover 3 lessons.

The children will be introduced to Egypt as a country, learning about The Red Land and The Black Land and the importance of The Nile.

Key Activities:

·      Intro PowerPoint (15mins) - Children will engage in a 15-20 minute interactive PowerPoint presentation

·      Activity 1 (15mins) – Challenge the children to create a pyramid from paper straws in 15 minutes. Children will be split into pairs

·      Activity 2 (20mins) – Egyptian Quiz Wordsearch – letters of broken words must be filled in and then found in the wordsearch

·      End of session (10 mins) – Encourage children to show the pyramids they have made and show and their understanding of why they have or haven’t worked

Resources:

·      Use of a computer for PowerPoint purposes

·      Paper straws, scissors and Selotape for pyramid building, ruler and pencil for measuring (if desired)

·      Pyramid word search and Pyramid Quiz worksheet (combined – same activity)

Cross-curricular opportunities:

·      Geography

·      Art and craft

·      Maths

·      English/Spelling

Planned Method of Assessment:

·      Children’s knowledge and skills must show in results of craft based activities and worksheet challenges. 

·      Children will have the opportunity to show their skills in pyramid building and then present them to the class.

·      Showing success in completion of Quiz Wordsearch

Aims of today...

Unfortunately due to having a job as well as studying, I'm unable to work on my client brief during the day, so I have to make use of the time I have available in the evening.

This evening I am going to be working on the following -

• Ammending lesson structures/plans for each session, ready to be printed out
• Get started on the packaging for my product 

Tomorrow I will aiming to...

• Print out and arrange additional paperwork in folder 
• Continue with packaging 

Materials

Over the past few days, I have focussed the majority of my time towards my essay for Creative Reflective Studies, however yesterday I purchased a few materials which I'll be using for the packaging of my final product...

There will be more materials involved, of course, but for now I have a large sheet of firm card, a roll of brown paper and some rich gold paint. I have a rough idea of what I would like the packaging to look like and I am 100% sure of the layout, just not quite 100% with the design yet, although I find with things like that that I work best if I'm able to be spontaneous, so this is likely to be the approach I take.

Actions -

• Purchase disc for Powerpoint presentations and design packaging
• Printing done by next Tuesday at the latest 

I've completed my slides!

It feels great to have another thing ticked off my To Do List. This afternoon I managed to finish my PowerPoint presentation for Session 3 (mummification) that makes all three PowerPoint presentations complete.

A slide from Session 1's Intro to Egypt -

I've aimed to approach each PowerPoint presentation in a way which allows the children to engage with the topic more. I didn't want the Powerpoint to reel off fact after fact where children would have to listen in silence. Instead, I've made the presentations more interactive. For example, in this one which talks about the lives of different types of people in Ancient Egypt, I've asked the children for their thoughts by asking them questions "What kind of people lived in houses like this?" "What kind of people do you think live here?" I think this helps to break up the PowerPoint and makes it much more interesting.

My research has shown me that if children are able to engage and take part in class discussions then they are more likely to take the information in and remember it.

A slide from Session 2 - Pyramids 

This is a slide explaining how the pyramids were built. Previous to this I have asked the children how they think pyramids were made in Ancient Egyptian times without machinery to lift heavy loads. After the class discuss that, the PowerPoint then leads on to this slide where it tells them just how the Egyptians did it. 

I've taken an approach which combines visual and auditory. Visual because the information is both written and depicted visually with illustrations and auditory because I will be pointing to each step and explaining. The kinesthetic-type learning will play its part when the children engage in the activity after the presentation, which will be to build a pyramid from paper straws. 

A slide from Session 3 - Mummification

In this slide I've aimed for interactivity where children can identify and call out the names of each organ. Instead of listing them, I thought this was a much better way of making this piece of information fun and memorable. 

Action - 

• The next step for me now is to get these three PowerPoints put onto a disc which during the next few weeks I'll be designing packaging for. This will then go inside the activity pack as one of the teaching resources. 
• Check over and arrange lesson plans/structures so they are ready to be printed and put into the activity pack

Looking into lesson plans

Looking into lesson plans has been vital in making sure I know the ways in which the class room works in terms of timings, structure, aims and outcomes.

Belfield CP School Lesson plan

Lesson		Year group	Term	Lesson Length	Lesson
Art		2	Spring 1	2 Hours	1 of 6
Aims / Outcomes
Use different materials and techniques to paint. Know about the artist Frank Stella, his techniques, art and his inspiration for the pictures. Collectively produce a relief collage.
Key Vocabulary
Artist Frank Stella Collage Relief ‘Materials’ and the names of the materials used.

Introduction
Over the next two weeks tell the pupils that they will be producing a relief collage based on an artist called Frank Stella. Give them the background on Frank Stella That he lives in America, born in Massachusetts 1936 He is still alive
Main Activities
Tell the pupils that: We will be looking at a certain type of painting he produced a number of years ago around 1970 His inspiration – Brazilian birds, with bright colours and the shapes of the birds outline, beak and eye. That he does not produce pictures as they look, he takes different parts and muddles them around to make a collage – (describe collage) he then stacks the images on top of each other to make a piece of relief work. (describe relief) Show the pupils various pictures that he has produced as a hard copy or on the IWB as a Powers Point Presentation. Look in further detail at some of the shapes, how they have different textures. Tell the pupils that we are going to create the different textures and styles using various materials and our hands with paint, we will then cut the shapes out next week again in the style of Stella and stick them onto the wall to produce a relief collage. On the wall have a blank canvas for a number of pupils to use rollers and create the background for the collage. Other pupils paint using various materials and techniques quickly demonstrated by the teacher/TA onto large sheets of paper shared between 3-4 children.
Plenary
Quick recap on the class artist questioning pupils as to what they remember.  Question what they through about the various techniques, if they thought they looked attractive, why? If not, why? What techniques were hard to do, why? Tell them that they will be continuing this work next week.

Resources		Assessment Evidence
Teaching Assistant Paint Various materials including sponge, cork and bubble wrap. IWB PPP of Pictures by Frank Stella		Q & A Paintings and techniques used
Cross Curricular Links	SoW / NC ref and level	Differentiation	EAL
Science Numeracy Geography	Art 1a, b, 2a, b, 3a, b, 4a, b, c, 5a, b, c, d.	Q & A Support given Outcome	Oracy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11.

I found this lesson plans to be very clear and helpful. I like its organisation, structure and layout. I’d like to include a lesson plan in my activity pack, which breaks down my sessions and pinpoints key areas so that as soon as a teacher opens the pack, its right in front of them and is very clear how the session is to be laid out. I like the way this lesson plan also has “Key Vocabulary” added to it. I think it’s important that the children leave the classroom and remember what they have learnt. I think having a key words section is a good way to fix in the teachers mind the words he or she must be putting across to the pupils. I also like the way it has a section for ‘cross curricular links’ to show other areas which have been incorporated into the particular lesson, allowing children to use other skills from other areas.

Another thing I like about these particular lesson plans is the structure. They have an introduction, a main activities section, which is clearly bullet pointed and a plenary. I feel that this will allow for better structure, organisation and time-keeping. Overall I think these lesson plans are broken down well and come across clearly. I think they should be so clear and understandable that another teacher could walk in, not know what it is the class are learning about, look at the lesson plan and have a clear understanding.

Actions – Organise my lesson structure into a format that is easily readable and understood by a practitioner. 

Apologies for the lack of posts on teaching methods!

I've looked through my entire blog and realised I haven't given any insight into the kinds of academic teachings and resources I've been looking at and that I've been blogging mostly about my design/illustration approach. This is not all I have been doing/researching, but rather using this blog as a reflection of my designs and sessions and that only.

I have been looking at a lot of teaching resources and methods. I have also just bought and received a copy of Learning To Teach In The Primary School which provides a good insight into different teaching techniques and approaches to learning.

I also found a great PDF online a few weeks back by UCL Museums and Collections Outreach. One of the most useful things I took from this PDF on teaching was the importance of delivery in terms of the subject being taught. It gives awareness that children respond better if they are in an interactive environment where they can contribute to a class discussion rather than being fed information from a script-type talk. This PDF includes responses from teachers, children and parents of the way in which UCL learning techniques have boosted their child’s knowledge, real life skills such as communication and organisation and overall having a much more positive vibe about the topic being taught. UCL expresses how the child should be made to feel passionate about what they are learning about and that’s why the delivery of a classroom session is so important. UCL quotes “enthusiasm is infectious,” and they believe that there should be a natural flow from a class tutor that engages with the children whilst teaching and inviting them to ask questions instead of reeling them off facts, which children are not likely to remember. Since I will be the one delivering this to the children in the Spring I’ve taken this particular aspect into consideration on a particular part of my session, which originally started off as information on a worksheet. Since then I’ve switched idea and I’ve decided to do a PowerPoint presentation instead where I can engage and interact with the children whilst I talk. The key is to get them learning, but to deliver facts in a fun way so that it becomes more creative than academic.

This proved to be a very important read, especially since I decided to approach the ways of learning in a more interactive and engaging way than just handing out worksheets.

Something else that has been of value is this website ... Primary Resources  which has an incredible amount of worksheet examples and presentation examples to cater for many subjects - among them, History.

This is one of my favourites I came across because it combines, real facts, a challenge and it's open for class discussion. I think the fact that it is humorous makes it even more appealing and fun.

This is an example of the kind of thing UCL talk about in their PDF because it allows the children to engage much more. I like the way children can interact with an adapted version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire instead of a ‘quiz’ or a ‘test,’ which some find daunting. I think this way of learning is a much better approach. I feel as if the kids are having fun, they are more likely to learn something and remember it afterwards.

Response from my client

Ammended post from 6/11/12 (Not 8/01/13)

After much anticipation, I've heard back from my client! Unfortunately because the class isn't studying Ancient Egyptian History until Spring, I won't be able to test it out on the children, however, I'm going to still take the opportunity to test my final product out in the Spring as it's something I feel passionately about. I'm also looking to take a PGCE in the future and this is something I'm sure would help me greatly in gaining experience.

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So far...

It's now January and 2 weeks, 5 days until the deadline. I feel as though I am on-track and making good progress with my client brief.

So far I have managed to...

• Complete the worksheets for session 1, 2 and 3 which includes information and activities
• Annotated all of my research 
• Annotated my sketchbook so far 
• Get a lesson structure/plan together 
• Written brief and statement of intent 

Below is a breakdown into my sessions 

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SESSION 1

Powerpoint Covers – 

Introduction to Egypt as a country, explaining The Red Land and The Black land

The Pyramids - How and why Ancient Egyptians built them

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SESSION 2

Powerpoint Covers - 

Ancient Egyptian social ladder. Explain how Egypt was held together by important roles - Pharaoh, Scribes, Priests, Farmers etc...

The Nile and it's importance when it comes to flooding. mention the three stages - Inundation, Peret and  Shemu

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SESSION 3

Powerpoint Covers - 

Mummification. Explain why the Ancient Egyptians wanted to preserve the dead

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I'm going to do this by taking the information that I feel is most relevant and simplifying it into a PowerPoint. I'd like the PowerPoint presentations to be informative yet easy on the eye. What I don't want is for them to be overcrowded with information.

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Action - The next step for me is to take my annotated research and break it down into each session, coming up with a PowerPoint for each

     

Making adjustments

I've made some adjustments since I last posted. I was going to test the last activity, however, I changed my mind quickly because I felt I could improve on it.

Although I like the idea of Flash Cards, I have thought of another way to incorporate them into something else.

For now, I have changed the activity plan for the mummification process. My previous design was lacking something, and looking back it I realised that the amount of writing and the way it had been laid out on a page looked out of the Key Stage 2 age-range. After researching and browsing through various activity packs, it looked to me as though it would be more appropriate for ages 12-13. With this in mind, I went back and changed the approach to one that would be easier on the eye and would be more visual based rather than text. I felt the text was too much.

Here is what I came up with....

To help the children fill in the missing words, I drew up a Clue Sheet....

Action - I'll be testing this out in a weeks time on a few children I know to see what kind of response I get. I'll be putting together a questionnaire as well as documenting how they respond to the task.