Pirate Pop-Ups - moving toys in Year 3 September 13, 2007
Posted by Linda in : KS2, project based learning , 1 comment so far 
Pirate Pop-Ups, originally uploaded by LindaH.
Pneumatics were used to make these pop-up toys by Year 3. You can see how they work from the back here:
The basic design used a cereal box. One side was covered in blue funky foam (neoprene) and simple shapes were cut out to make the scene. Children then made a pirate, jolly roger, shark or other monster and stuck it onto a lolly pop stick. The pnuematic system was then attached using masking tape.
This formed part of the Treasure Island themed work for the Telling into Writing project. More details about Telling into Writing on usefulwiki
Hands Around the World August 1, 2007
Posted by Linda in : geography , 2comments 
DSCF1475.JPG, originally uploaded by Cefn Fforest Primary Photoblog.
From Cefn Fforest Primary comes a nice idea you might want to include in next year’s planning. Hands Around the World is a web exchange with a difference. One of the drawbacks of things like this is that children can put large amounts of effort into their thing to send off and then time pressures or postal problems mean that the other schools don’t always respond.
However this one is different. Instead the hand templates are filled in and all sent to a central clearing house. You then get back a packet with a selection of hands from all over the world.
I agree it doesn’t have the impact of something like Postcards from Virtual Friends but it’s still a lovely thing to do.
You need to register if you are going to do it though as the timing is quite tight.
Art Workshops - working with artists July 13, 2007
Posted by Linda in : project based learning , 2comments 
The main display in the hall - end of day three, originally uploaded by hydra arts.
Hydra Art Workshops are a group of artist who work in schools in the North West of England. I’ve been a fan of their work for sometime and I particulary like this recent project. They worked with 78 Year Six pupils to produce several panels for the main hall. The children who took part were presented with certificates to mark their involvement but I think the lasting impact for them will be the knowledge that their work will remain on view in the school now that they’re moving up to High School.
This kind of continuity in school can easliy be overlooked. A Leavers Assembly or a party are lovely but it’s quite powerful for children to feel that some part of their work will continue to be valued. At my last school Year 6 usually worked on a leaving gift for the school. We were lucky enough to have an artistic learning mentor but we never managed to afford ‘real’ artists. Often it was an art work for the hall, although one year they made a musical washing line for the circle garden. We felt it was important for the school to mark their departure in this way. The works were well liked by later children, some liked to remember brother’s or sister’s involvement. Sometimes when children came back for various reasons they were quite touched to see their work still on display.
Hydra Arts said:
when we were originally booked for the workshops, i absolutely wanted to mark the fact that the year 6 pupils were leaving primary school and wanted them to all be involved in the same process and contribute to a collaborative art project
Do you have experience of working with artists in schools? Did you find it worthwhile? How do later children view the art? Please tell your story in the comments.
Jane Goodall’s Camp June 14, 2007
Posted by Linda in : project based learning , 1 comment so far
This diorama was produced by a girl in Grade 3 in a US elementary school. It’s featured in a new blog called Re-inventing Project Based Learning
Jane Krauss, the blog’s author has some kind words about the Classroom Displays blog and group and then asks an interesting question:
What do class displays tell us about what goes on in school, and about what we value in student work?
My own feeling is that in this case some of what we are valuing here is that ‘doll’s house’ urge that many little girls go through. There’s a delight in the miniturisation of the world combined with an almost obsessive eye for detail. I have vivid memories of just such a topic that grabbed my attention as an 8 year old. I spent a whole term obsessed with yurts, gers, and all things Mongolian. I built a tiny village of gers with my own handmade felt and willow twigs, made covers, rugs, and saddle bags and generally lost myself in the creation of my own tiny world. I’m not sure how much I actually learned that term, when others were doing maths or writing poems, I remained steadfastly perfecting my village. Long after the project was over I continued my interest and even now I still love yurts.
That was the topic work of the long ago ‘60 and ’70s and it was swept away in England with the introduction of the National Curriculum. But of course it was never really totally swept away. Good teachers always look for ways of introducing themes, it’s just that now they might be called ‘cross curricular integration’. They’ve always looked for ways of providing work that caught children’s interests at a particular stage of development, that channeled children’s skills and built on their existing capabilities. It’s just that now it might be called ‘personalisation of learning’.
I recently asked a teacher who does a great deal of work that could be described as themed how she felt about the latest swing of the pendulum back towards project work. She surprised me by recoiling in horror. With all their faults there was no way she wanted to abandon the Literacy and Numeracy hours and return to “the chaos of the classroom free-for-all.”
So what does this diorama say to you?
Fruity Friday May 27th 2007 April 13, 2007
Posted by Linda in : Science, pshe , add a comment
The World Cancer Research Fund is organising Fruity Friday on 25th May 2007. The idea is a day of fundraising and awareness. It aims to promote the importance of a healthy 5-a-day diet and lifestyle. It emphasises the importance of diet in the fight against cancer.
There’s a free pack for schools, full of suggestions, ideas and lesson plans. If you are outside the UK some of them can be downloaded rather than having to send for the pack.
Via Year Six Teacher blog.
