Hauora and Play Based Learning

This year I have focussed on play based learning with my Year 1 students. The primary objective was to support students with their learning in a way which also helped their emotional, physical, social and 'spiritual' well being or Hauora. 

Several of the Year 1 students had anxiety issues or outbursts of anger on a regular basis and they needed a way to learn that would help them manage these behaviours. 

The concepts of Hauora in our Health and PE document shows how this can be related to play based learning and supporting our tamariki to work towards a balance and a stronger sense of themselves as learners. 

This Whare Tapawha model by Dr Mason Durie incorporates the 4 areas where the walls of a whare are each supporting each other and working together to provide "strength and symmetry."

It is this strength and symmetry that I am trying to support my students with. Alongside this scaffolding comes concepts of student agency and growth mindset. 

Many of the students would refuse to do certain activities because they believed they couldn't achieve at them or they became angry and frustrated at their limitations. Through a planned play based learning environment with workshops and open ended activities students could begin to learn in an environment where you could try again, have something not work, talk about the problems through role play and then come to a point where learning worked for them. Failing had begun to be normalised. 

The classroom became a calmer and more relaxed environment. Instead of the constant internal banter and monologue play helped them to clear their thinking to a more mindful state. 

Play based activities could be picked to indirectly target behaviour so they could practice through play. Also areas of passion for the students could be targeted and linked to learning through inquiry, literacy or maths. At the same time these four areas of Physical, Cognitive, Social and Emotional Development are focussed on as well. 

Of course there are still challenges and days where activities and play based learning just don't work. From this reflection comes and we can start to work through changes together. Student input into this is vital to their learning. If we can help our students focus this through play and reflection then their Hauora and mindful state will support their learning journey and future challenges that they may face.

Maths driven through Play Based Learning

My Year 1 Students learning about Geometry through play based learning was my main focus in Term 3. Since working at an IB PYP school I have been particularly interested in inquiry and play based learning. 

My students and I designed a variety of activities for Discovery time together. We also posed open ended questions so they could investigate areas they were interested in. Questions such as: 

What could we make with these resources? 

How could we incorporate these shapes in our design? 

I wonder how we could use these shapes? 

enabled students to develop their wonderings and explore shapes in a variety of ways. They were free to investigate their own and/or other's questions through out the term. 

Investigating shapes and having a 'shape race.'

Designing a mini golf course using different shapes. 

Making a 3D shape marble run. 

Designing shape robots and describing them with the help of our Year 4/5 buddies. 

Our finished products. I love how they are all so different! 

Making different shapes bubbles with our hands and other shapes made from straws. 

Designing shape jewellery with wire and cardboard. 

'Baking' with play dough. 

Making shape 'mood boards' These have a New Zealand beach and outdoors theme. 

Although the students had the freedom to explore I still incorporated workshops to focus on our Junior Team learning intentions. I could then support or solidify their maths learning with rich learning tasks. Embracing their curiosity meant we could investigate shape concepts as they came up through discussion, reflection and sharing. 

I really like this image from uLearn 2016 as it shows the heart of our maths learning this term.

The utilising connectivity came primarily through the class blog but it is something that we would expand on in the future. 

 In particular thinking critically, communicating clearly, working collaboratively, developing creativity and embracing culture were particularly evident during the term.  This is why I value play based learning as I see students thriving in these areas. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on play based learning or maths inquiry. 

Nga Mihi Nui

Musical Inspiration

As we head towards production in Term 3 we are starting to explore the different senses to find out how these can affect an audience and performers. Today we focused on auditory senses and classical music. Probably the least listened to kind of music for Year 4/5 students in the Kete. 

Students were split into Whanau classes. Two music workshops were set up with one library rotation also included. The two pieces were choosen as they both had a compelling story that could be shared afterwards and the music could evoke strong emotions and help kickstart their imaginations. 

The first workshop listened to 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' by Edvard Grieg.

The second focused on the music for an animation called 'The Piano'.

Students could sit at tables, on chairs or lie on the floor, where ever they felt comfortable. They then listened to and responded to the music by drawing what they imagined was happening. We discussed that they would need a beginning, middle and end with characters and a setting. They were then free to interpret the music by themselves. 

Using a simple comic strip template gave them the opportunity to add speech, thoughts or onamatopeia if that fit with their story. But the main focus was drawing, with music as inspiration. 

It was wonderful to see students relax, close their eyes and think about the story the music was telling them. They then drew and I kept the music playing for the next 15 minutes. 

I haven't seen this particular group being that focussed, especially on a rainy Friday afternoon. Only 3 out of 80 students struggled to think of ideas and we helped them by sharing our main idea  in one or two keywords, eg cry, lost, unhappy, die, funeral, rain, ballet, piano. They then "hitch hiked" someone else's idea to get started. 

In our busy teacher lives we sometimes forget the impact that music can have on our students and ourselves. We can also underestimate the perceptiveness of our students when it comes to responding to unfamiliar mediums. 

Seeing students being capable of interpreting music in a sophisticated way was awesome. Creative thought and artwork being triggered by something as simple as a song or piece of music and a space they felt comfortable to create in. 

I'm looking forward to exploring the other senses on our path to become performers. 

Writing and Play based Learning

Today we started a focus on incorporating play based learning into our writing. Our goals for this are to: 

1. Increase engagement and achievement for all learners and in particular our target students. 

2. Provide an opportunity for students to discuss and role play ideas creativity before they draw and write. 

3. To decrease negative behaviour and attitudes towards writing. 

Students were provided 3 rotation activities and 1 workshop that was choosen by the Teacher. 

Activities were set up before the students arrived and it was interesting to see several of the target students came to play with the farm animals and equipment. Many asked 'when can we do this activity?'

During mixed ability workshops students 

choose a Disney character sticker added their own background and then described their character's physical attributes and actions. The target students who are often very reluctant to write were more engaged and happily shared their ideas in the supportive group setting. 

The other options were to design, draw and write about a Lego creation:

Also a focus on onamatopeia and rainbow writing: 

Using the mixed ability groups allowed children to support each other during workshops. They were far less dependant on the teacher and there were no interruptions during workshops. Student also enjoyed role playing with the farm animals and equipment when they had finished writing. It was fantastic listening to the conversations and discussions as the students played. 

We are looking forward to setting up our writing rotations for the remaining 5 weeks of Term 2. Watch this space!

 

Play based Learning and Lego

Does looking at this huge pile of Lego make you feel excited about the possibilities that you could create?! 

Today I went to a Lego exhibition and was reminded that people of all ages hold a passion for creating whether that is through following instructions or doing it the 'organic' freestyle way. Problem solving, designing and collaboration were clearly evident. That is why I have been incorporating Lego based activities in learning through workshops and play based learning. 

The Year 4/5 students started by unpacking a co constructed recount. Looking at what makes a good recount, effectively working from a tried and tested recipe to write one. They then decided to add their own ideas and 'ingredients' to take it in a new direction. 

Students opted into the Recount workshops and began to add their creative spin with Lego. 

Three groups choose this and they decided that each group would make part of the story with Lego and video their explanation for the following group. They would have to collaborate within their own group and across all groups so that a complete recount was 'built' by the final workshop. 

By listening to each other explain which part they had choosen to make and examining their models they began to hugely enhance their understanding of what a recount is. The discussion and language used was far more indepth than if they had sat alone and written on a device or paper. Most students collaborated in twos or threes and a few opted to create alone. However they all agreed that it was essential that what they made in each workshop had a cohesive flow for the next group to follow on from. 

In total 24 students collaborated to build their Lego recount. I think it was the most engaged I have seen many of the students in a writing 'piece.' 

In addition to using Lego for written language I have also recently used it for measurement activities. We first focused on using blocks as a non standard form of measurement to estimate the length of lines. Then we checked our estimate using a ruler. 

This task was especially engaging for the boys who were finding these Maths concepts challenging. Several felt confident enough to share their knowledge with others which was exciting to watch. 

For my younger Year 1 students I have been encouraging play based learning with Lego linked to our Space Science Inquiry. Many students have enjoyed this, creating role play scenarios to match their creations. It has been the students who often can't communicate effectively due to language, emotional or behaviour issues who have thrived in this environment. By simply observing and 'eavesdropping' during this Discovery time a huge amount of knowledge can be gained. 

So If you are looking for a way to increase confidence, problem solving skills, creativity, collaboration and conversations then get a container of Lego for the class and let your students lead the way! 

Whipping up a Batch of Creativity

Passion projects, STEM, STEAM, Maker space, Moonshot Thinking. All recipes to help students to develop their creativity and problem solving skills, but do they really help? 

How do we engage our learners so they move from following a given recipe to having the creativity to adapt them to suit any new situation? How do we unpack those vital skills students will need in the future? Making their own recipes and collaborating with others to share and improve the world around them. 

I'm not a huge fan of them but I know how much most teachers love acronyms so here are some to get you thinking. 

The Human RACE, what makes us who we are? 

How can we best prepare our students to run their own RACE, where learning is their goal? 

Relationships

Agency

Collaboration and Creativity

Empathy 

If we look and the heart of what makes different people within and across cultures connect it comes down to relationships; whanau, friends, colleagues and community. Building positive relationships and modelling positive behaviour towards each other. Showing that learning happens anywhere and with all students and teachers is the foundation on which to build. This can be then extended to incorporate our wider learning community. 

If we don't take the time to find out about our students interests and lives can we support them on their path to agency? If they don't know about where we have come from and some of the factors that colour our lives why would they want to join us on a learning journey at all? 

Key Competecies and Learner Agency tag in to drive our daily learning. The simplification of these concepts for our students takes a huge amount of collaboration and creativity. Helping our students to become adaptable and agile learners is to move from the recipe and apply it to your specific group or Kete. 

Here is an example of collaboration and creativity in learning experiences so my students could take their knowledge and try to creativity build on it in a way that was meaningful for them. 

Students started by unpacking a co constructed recount. Looking at what makes a good recount, effectively working from a tried and tested recipe to write one. Afterwards students opted into the Recount workshops and began to add their creative spin with Lego. 

Three groups choose this and they decided that each group would make part of the story with Lego and video their explanation for the following group. They would have to collaborate within their own group and across all groups so that a complete recount was 'built' by the final workshop. 

By listening to each other explain which part they had choosen to make and examining their models they began to hugely enhance their understanding of what a recount is. The discussion and language used was far more indepth then if they had sat alone and written on a device or paper. Most students collaborated in twos or threes and a few opted to create alone. However they all agreed that it was essential that what they made in each workshop had a cohesive flow for the next group to follow on from. 

This was beginning to touch on empathy as well. If they couldn't create their part then they felt they would be letting themselves and the others in the group down. So for the students who often seem disengaged with learning and decide to opt out and not take ownership this was a huge breakthrough. 

 

So what does this mean for us as teachers? 

What qualities do we need to develop so that we can be that support crew for our students In their RACE while we work on our own? 

Anyone can follow a recipe but we want to be learning how to whip up our own batch of creativity! 

Learner Agency and the Reading/Writing Connection

"Show me where you practiced what we did as writers. This develops agency"

 -Rita Palmer

Today we focussed our attention on learner agency, mentor text, engagement and the reading/writing link during our TOD at Hokowhitu School.

The basic approaches to reading of shared, guided and independent were summarised through the ELP. Our main findings were that the purpose of shared reading/writing is to co construct and model. This is best done in a small group and would lend to a workshop based approach used in MLEs. 

With guided reading/writing students take control of their own work and their learning goals are based on focus areas. Teacher knowledge of the students levels and needs are important to scaffold learning. Student to student and teacher to student discussion is key. 

Finally, independent reading/writing can be teacher directed or based around topics of interest for individuals. Here students practice the skills they have learned during guided workshops  and apply them to their own experiences. The teacher guided students by modelling independent reading/writing and tweaks work only when necessary. The process should be an enjoyable one where students share learning through a format of their choice. 

"Effective teachers work with students until they can not get it wrong"-Rita Palmer

Developing our knowledge of Mentor Text provided the opportunity to practice specific skills based teacher and devolve into learner agency. 

Questioning such as: "What have you learned as a writer?", "Show me with your fingers each new idea about the character" and "Show me where you have practiced what we did as writers." Started our thinking. The fact that we write in a certain way, for a purpose and craft our writing through editing. It was all about developing the Show not Tell culture and engaging students and reluctant writers.