How was it used?

The resource was used as an introduction to a local area investigation and what features should be used when making a short film about the locality.  

The main part of the resource used was lesson 3 – Looking Around Your Local Area.  The resource was used with a class of 22 Year 6 children, using laptops in pairs.

• The school, in Pwlleli has a number of local features that appear in the resource.  To elicit responses from pupils, lollipop sticks were used and the teacher asked initial questions to raise awareness of the similar features, such as:

‘What features do you see that are similar to your area?’ to confirm their knowledge of the local area.

‘Why was a town (human feature) built here?’ to see if the children comprehend why certain features of the locality appear as they are.

‘What makes ‘Pwlleli’ a good place to live in/visit?’

‘Why do people come here?  Long term, short term?’

• The pupils were asked to sort the human and physical features into their two groups.  The pupils were also told that they had had to, with their thinking partner, think of a relevant question for another pair of children regarding the physical and human features.  
• It gave good focus to the pupils and Curriculum Cymreig was introduced regarding road signs and translation.
• The pupils were then given instruction in how to use and organise their previously gathered resources into Windows Movie Maker.  The teacher asked, ‘Can you create a film that shows others the features of our local area?’ (Synthesis) The pupils were referred to the geographical vocabulary from the resource again.
• Pupils were asked to feedback to other pairings in the class as to what vocabulary they might use when narrating the short film.  The teacher referred to the sorting activity again to remind the pupils of the vocabulary they could use.
• After 30 minutes, the teacher then showed parts of resource number 5: Jobs in the local Area. The pupils were asked to analyse the information as to why people have specific jobs according to the map of the harbour and whether there were any similarities with their own area.  The teacher asked some of the questions that are embedded in the resource, such as:  ‘Which of the jobs could be done in both places?’ and ‘Can you think of any more jobs that could be done in the town or harbour?’  At this point the pupils worked in pairs to discuss this and fed back to the group with ideas about their own area.
• As peer assessment, the pupils showed their movie to other partners and the pupils gave a verbal two stars and a wish.

The teacher selected pairs to show their film.  When each sort film was shown, the teacher questioned the pupils with questions like, ‘How successful was your approach?’ and ‘What can you add to improve the film?’ to evaluate the pupil’s efforts. Pupils gave positive feedback and discussed some of the technical vocabulary needed to complete the film.

Impact and Outcomes

• Pupils were given focus by the teacher directing them to vocabulary they had not previously used.
• The pupils were engaged in questioning strategies, the resource aided this by its strong visual nature
• Discussion in thinking partners was prompted by use of the resource.
• The modelling of how to organise ideas into different groups was beneficial, in particular to a group of boys who found this difficult at first.

Learner Feedback

The pupils gave positive feedback to the resource and agreed that it was helpful in organising their ideas for a film into different parts using geographical terms.

The pupils liked the nature of the resource and agreed that it was colourful and fun to use.

The children enjoyed the sorting and decision making activities.

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