How was it used?

• The resource was used by a Year 5 class at the beginning of a topic about healthy living.  The focus was to encourage the pupils to use the resource to discuss a healthy lifestyle.
• Following taking on board many thinking skills ideas and strategies at the school, it was seen as a well thought out, step by step resource to use as part of the topic.
• The first and second pages were easy to use and understand. The children used their knowledge gained so far in the topic to make informed judgements about the statement and viewpoints on offer.
• They liked the look of the third page and enjoyed commenting on what they had discussed in their thinking partners.  Some pupils researched the topic further by Googling and visiting the Food Standards Agency website.  http://www.food.gov.uk/
• The pupils found the drag and drop activity worthwhile to further their discussion.  This was modelled by the teacher first and the pupils made informed decisions based on the information gathered. Pupils liked the open ended nature of the drag and drop activity (tab 4).  Decisions were made in pairings and any incorrect answer was quickly rectified by the partner in discussion.  The teacher revisited this activity in the plenary.
• Tabs 5, 6 and 7 were easily understood and answered.  Pupils agreed that they found the activity on tab 7 easier to undertake following the previous discussion in the resource.
• Boys contributed well to all aspects of the lesson.  It was noted that the boys in the group gave full attention to the task and reported their findings clearly.  Many of the usual problems about who they were partnered with was not an issue due to the exciting nature of the resource.
• It was decided by the class teacher that it could be used as a model for Summative assessment of the topic of Healthy Living and pupils could produce a presentation, e.g. Powerpoint, Textease presenter, etc.

Impact and Outcomes

• The pupils were keen to use the resource and found the layout helpful to be able to make notes about their ideas.  
• The children were confident in using the resource and showed greater confidence in feeding back to the rest of the class when required.
• The pupils were engaged and the step by step nature of the resource was beneficial.
• Boys used the resource very confidently.  In previous activities, some had not been as keen to discuss their ideas and findings without the aid of the resource.
• The teacher who delivered the lesson felt it was a useful tool to help the more reluctant pupils, particularly when grouped or paired with more able pupils.

Learner Feedback

‘It was good to discuss what we did with a partner before we spoke.’

‘We used our notes to help us talk about the different foods.’

‘It helped me to talk about it with my partner and we could make notes.’

Other Resources

Activ Inspire/Primary to take screen shots of the pupils ideas/notes.