Thursday 14 July 2016

Integrated Learning - Year 8 ENSS - Shakespeare

Happy Birthday Shakespeare!
How can we provide our students with the opportunity to bring more technology into our programmes?


It was a pleasure to work with Aimie Sibson and her year 8ENSS class on an inquiry question: "Why is Shakespeare still relevant 400 years on…?"

The students had studied "Twelfth Night" this term and as part of their celebration of learning, they were asked to bring Shakespeare alive and make it relevant for the modern audience.

Below are some of the wonderful ways in which the girls presented aspects of the Twelfth Night.

3D designed and printed Shakespeare merchandise - Bobblehead of Shakespeare
3D printed QuoteHanger - "If music be the food of love play on"



Trailer for a recreated film of the Twelfth Night using the coding programme of Scratch


Papertronic gift cards using Shakespeare language and themes that flash and light up supported by Sarah Coursey



Music Video using iMovie and Garage Band




Recreating a setting from the Twelfth Nigh using Minecraft

Gamifying the plot using an app called "Sploder"

Using the classroom window to show the "Love Triangle"
Many students were challenged to learn a new skill and to learn alongside their peers.  The students sought support and guidance when they needed it.  They produced some absolutely amazing pieces of work and this class now understands the process of learning better.  When students were asked for some feedback on how we presented this unit, they understood why there were some 'dull' lessons in getting to grips with the Twelfth Night  - the language, structure, characters and story.  Looking back, the students have a deeper understanding of Shakespeare, his writing and the Twelfth Night.  We emphasized the fun, in doing, creating and making something related to this unit which elevated the hunger to learn and know more.




Integrated Learning - Year 7 ENSS Survivor Island

Collaboration with the ENSS (English and Social Science) teachers has enable us to redefine the learning tasks for the Survivor Island Unit.  In the past students have completed activities such as making the island from paper mache, cardboard huts and created board games to apply their survivor knowledge.

This year we have tried to integrate technology by using the 3D design programme called tinkercad to recreate the island.  Based on a descriptive paragraph, students worked in teams to recreate the island with all it's landmark features.  Students then captured an image of their island and used thinglink to add their stories of survival.  Students wrote their diary entries for each day they survived and then recorded audio or video to upload as part of their links on thinglink.
This task has given students an opportunities to :

  • work collaboratively 
  • show leadership and delegate roles
  • be creative
  • be self managing
  • work to time pressures

I was impressed with the quality and accuracy of the work that the students produced in a 2 week period for the above activity which was one of several learning tasks that the students completed for this unit during this term.

Teaching Children to Code

Stephen Lethbridge presents at TEDx - Tauranga
Student asks, "What do I do next?" Teacher responds "How might you find out?"

Stephen presents how coding in context enable children to be bold and courageous in their learning.  They resilience, they are resourceful and divergent in their thinking.  He stresses that allowing children to copy, tinker and make mistakes along the way empowers their learning!
A "Maker Club" held after school where children must bring a parent means that this co-curricular group is not a drop-off centre.  Adults are encouraged to learn alongside children and teachers.

Stephen hopes that others can see the value in encouraging design thinking, collaboration, teamwork, and iteration spirals to solve real world problems.

"Do not limit our children to the world that came before them"