Creative Teaching & Learning

Creative Investigations In Science

Rosemary Feasey asks what it means to be creative in primary science classes.

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Creative Teaching & Learning

Stars, sounds and simple circuits

11 Feb 2016

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Creative Teaching & Learning

Real–world science – consumer reports

1 Jan 2005

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      string(2513) "presenting their workto an audience. You could even have pupilswrite up their work in the style of anacademic report for others to check andtest. Emphasise the importance of clarity,since another person is going to carry outthe same investigation using just what iswritten in the report. This can also link to theconcept of reproducibility. Will the personcarrying out the pupil’s experiment reachsimilar results?Ed Walsh is a science adviser for CornwallLearning, and regional developmentleader for the Science Learning Centre,South West consortium. He taughtscience for 20 years in Manchester, SouthWales and Cornwall, and was a head ofscience for 12 years.Knowledge trails1. Unleash your inner Einstein! – Take a lesson from Edison, Einstein, Newton and more with Ainissa Ramirez’sselection of strategies to promote creative thinking skills through STEM.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/unleash-your-inner-einstein.htm2. Using dramatic enquiry to explore controversies in science – Promoting deep thinking on genetic diseases,Neil Phillipson and Gordon Poad use drama and a little imagination to drop a class of Year 9s right in the middleof an ethically complicated court case.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/dramatic-enquiry-gcse-scienceReferences1. CSnewin (2011) How Science Works – Accuracy & Precision [online] Available at: tes.com/teaching-resource/how-science-works-accuracy-and-precision-6100309 [Accessed 4 July 2016].2. RichardThornley (2013) Precision & AccuracyAvailable at: tes.com/teaching-resource/precision-and-accuracy-6354361 [Accessed 4 July 2016].3. Boohan, R., Campbell, P. Charlesworth, J., Galloway, I. Millar, R. Needham, R. and Roberts, R. (2010). The languageof measurement: terminology used in school science investigations. Hatfield, Herts: ASE Publications. Available at:gettingpractical.org.uk/documents/LoMsampleJan2010.pdf [Accessed 4 July 2016].http://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/unleash-your-inner-einstein.htmhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/dramatic-enquiry-gcse-sciencehttps://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/how-science-works-accuracy-and-precision-6100309https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/how-science-works-accuracy-and-precision-6100309https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/precision-and-accuracy-6354361https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/precision-and-accuracy-6354361http://www.gettingpractical.org.uk/documents/LoMsampleJan2010.pdf"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Turn your students into scientists!

28 Jul 2016

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      string(382) "... their ability to use reflective language’.Other teachers introduce the idea of personal writingthrough Reading Journals (see below). Logs can be aboutproblem solving in maths, investigations in science, orobservations about homework assignments. There is thenno one ‘right’ way to use think books, but many differentways. They can aid self-expression ..."
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      string(5618) "18 Teaching Thinking  Spring 2004www.teachthinking.comFocus on: WritingFocus on: WritingFocus on: WritingFocus on: WritingFocus on: WritingFetch me a pen, I need to think. VoltaireA think book is a home for my thinking.Claire, aged 10To think well you need a brain, but sometimes it helpsto have a pen too – and a book.  A ‘think book’ canoffer a space for thinking and writing about mattersof importance. And you are never too young, or too old, tobegin one!What are think books?A number of names are given to think books, includingjournals, jotters or learning logs. In my first school each childhad a diary in which to record what they had done the dayor night before. Little of value resulted because these, likemany diaries, were not think books.In the past, the terms ‘diary’ and ‘journal’ were usedinterchangeably. Dr. Johnson’s dictionary defined a diaryas ‘an account of the transactions, accidents andobservations of every day; a journal’. The French just call ita journal intime. What is important is the intimate nature ofthe journal. Pepys’ diaries, for example, were not onlyrecords of what was done but what was thought. As oneteacher said when introducing the idea to her children:‘I don’t want you to say just what you did but what youreally think about what you did or might do.’ThinkbooksRobert Fisher invites you to share his research into the useof think books for writing to learn19Teaching Thinking  Spring 2004www.teachthinking.com Focus on: WritingFocus on: WritingFocus on: WritingFocus on: WritingFocus on: WritingThe nineteenth century American writer Thoreauexpressed the purpose of a journal very well when he said itwas a space where he could ‘meet himself face to face’. Hismessage is that we live too quickly, without due reflection.Following Thoreau, we should find more time, and allow ourchildren more time, for slow, deliberative thought.The stimulus of a think book is that it is open-ended: freefrom formulae or convention. It opens a place where youmay explore your inner self, what you think and feel definedin your own words. It also provides the chance for thoughtsto be preserved over time. Thoreau’s thoughts will alwaysbe known through his journals. For some of us it would bea help to remember what we thought last week! In a journalwe wrestle with thoughts not fully formed, but as theydevelop and grow. They are better, as Thoreau said, for being‘allied to life’.A think book therefore is simply a general term for thatwhich houses personal kinds of writing –  ‘a book of one’sown’.  As Mary, aged eleven put it: ‘The difference betweena think book and other kinds of writing is that in a thinkbook you are writing for yourself but in all other kinds ofwriting you are writing for other people.’Think books in the classroomI wish them to view the writing in their logs as ‘think writing’(reflective writing) to provide the chance for them to evaluatetheir learning experiences. TeacherThink books can enhance the learning process byhelping pupils make meaning of their experience. As oneteacher put it:  ‘My main aim is to develop every child’sconfidence in their own ability to think, and toencourage children to express whatever thoughts cometo them, inside the classroom or out.’ Sometimes suchwriting is private, sometimes seen by the teacher andsometimes used as the basis for an interactive oralconference or written conversation between teacherand student. One primary teacher has her children writeregularly in their ‘Book of Achievement’.Some teachers find the use of interactive journalsparticularly useful with children learning English as aforeign language. An early years teacher gives hersix-year-olds their ‘Book of Inventions’ to record theirideas for improving the world. Another teacher ofyounger children keeps a journal for the whole class and,during discussions such as those following a dramalesson, key comments are entered either by the teacheror a child on behalf of those who had offered them. Shesays that  the class journal ‘provides written evidence ofthe children’s continuing critical reflection and growthin confidence of their ability to use reflective language’.Other teachers introduce the idea of personal writingthrough Reading Journals (see below). Logs can be aboutproblem solving in maths, investigations in science, orobservations about homework assignments. There is thenno one ‘right’ way to use think books, but many differentways. They can aid self-expression, self-esteem and selfawareness of young learners.The aims of think books● Helping children to think and write about their ownthinking and learning● Providing a regular, systematic and structured means forpersonal writing● Offering the opportunity for children to share theirthoughts, feelings, questions, problems, breakthroughs,confusions and concerns● Encouraging self awareness through reflective writing● Enhancing children’s self confidence and self conceptas thinkers and learners● Providing a means for children to report openly andhonestly on their successes and failures● Enabling children to evaluate and make sense of theirexperienceOne of the challenges of using think books is that studentscan get tired of ‘think writing’ if it is just seen as a mechanicalchore. Many teachers find that, once they have experiencedthe power of personal writing to help sort out ideas andexpress feelings, students find real value in their journals.However there is a need to find fresh ways to help studentssustain the mental effort needed to make the"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Think Books

25 Feb 2011