How was it used?

I have used the thinking skill ideas outlined in the resource with my year 5/6 class.

I found that careful selection of appropriate activities encouraged the children to focus and share their views and opinions as well as considering and empathising with the views of others.

The activities can be run at an interactive whiteboard to initiate or consolidate a whole discussion or task or given to smaller groups as a way of presenting their opinions or findings.

Overall, the use of these activities provided opportunities of extended concentration for pupils of varied ability and helped them develop their thinking and problem solving skills.

Impact and Outcomes

• A lot of children in class can find it difficult to communicate or extend their learning / understanding but using this technology and these types of activities gives them much more opportunity to develop alongside their peers.
• These activities have encouraged pupils to reflect further on topics and issues beyond home and the classroom, giving them ways of reflecting on wider issues.
• Pupils seemed to listen more carefully when others were engaged with the whiteboard activities and more willing to take turns with their opinions.  The children provided each other with good peer support.
• Following work at the board, the class worked well in smaller groups at the desks.  Once they were comfortable with the frames, they collaborated more effectively and listened to each others opinions and points of view.  Groups presented their findings and feelings in a clear and logical way.

Learner Feedback

It allowed me to get my point across more easily.

It was really interesting to find out other childrens’ points of view.

I’ve looked closely at what I do and also what my family does too!

I enjoyed working as a group to get our views across to the class.

Other Resources

Paper copies of activities for work at desks; selected laminated images; use of web for research purposes; Digital cameras

Lessons Learnt

These activities don’t essentially add an element to my lessons that weren’t there before – we always like to discuss what we thought before and after a topic and if / how our opinions and feelings have changed.

What they do provide, however, is a greater focus and ‘scaffold’ for the children, giving them more confidence to share their responses (rather than simply asking ‘What do you think?’)

Pupils quickly become comfortable with these frames and, when they do, the activities can be simply adapted or edited to suit a range of contexts.