Continental Drift and Population Growth
Today was the first day the new timetable is enacted but more on what happened last Thursday (11 Jan) first. A major highlight was the use of the plate tectonics jigsaw puzzle. I basically used the map of the major plates and cut the plates up along the boundaries. The activity in class consists of the following:
Step1 : Getting the students into groups.
This was the first time I did groupwork with the 3E4 students so I had to go through the 4 roles which I prescribed.
1. The COORDINATOR shows or clarifies the relationships among various ideas and suggestions, tries to pull ideas and suggestions together or tries to coordinate the activities of various members. The Coordinator also expedites group movement by doing things for the group, e.g. passing out materials or setting up chairs.
2. The RECORDER writes down suggestions, makes a record of group decisions, or writes down the product of discussion. The recorder fills the role of "group memory". S/he is also responsible if an oral presentation is required.
3. The ELABORATOR spells out suggestions in terms of examples or developed meanings, offers a rationale for suggestions previously made, and tries to deduce how an idea or suggestion would work out if adopted primarily upon relevant facts or information. S/he also suggests or proposes to the group new ideas. S/he offers a novel point of view concerning problems, procedures, goals, or solutions.
4. The information and opinion SEEKER asks for clarification of suggestions made in terms of their factual adequacy, for authoritative information and facts pertinent to the problem being discussed. S/he also asks primarily for a clarification of values pertinent to what the group is undertaking or values involved in various suggestions that have been made.
The students received this quite well and we proceeded with the activity with the students noting and enacting their roles very well.
The actual acitivty itself took a little longer than I had expected. I planned it for a 30 minute class but I guessed I spent a little more time on explaining the Gorupwork roles, resulting in the lack of time towards the end. The activity also involved labeling three main features on their jigsaw – Pacific Ring of Fire, Mid Atlantic Ridge and the Himalyas. The students had the textbook as a reference guide. I then used Socratic reasoning to get the students to explain why the features are found along the cut edges of the jig saw.
Luckily I was seeing them later that day and we picked up the lesson from where we left off. The next activity was to explain plate movements and the resultant boundaries. A deductive method starting from the explanation for features along the edges was used ending with the conclusion that there are 3 main types of boundaries – convergent, divergent and transform.
Overall, CS and I were very pleased with the learning arising from the activity. CS mirrored the activity for her class but it was not as successful. There were a few points to note.
The composition of her class was different. She had many more boys than girls while I had more girls in my class. The students were less comptent with crafting. To quote “Mrs Wong, I cut South America in two, how?” In the end, many groups could not finish. CS intends to carry this on to the next period the following day.
Students also had difficulty locating Himalayas on the jigsaw. This would be a good learning point for them.
The centrality of the maps was also a consideration. The jig saw was Asia centric but the text book had euro centric maps. This created some confusion when students were looking for the pacific ring of fire.
I will hear from CS after she concludes her class tomorrow.
Just before I left on Thursday, I received the new timetable that I am following today. To my horror, I have 4 periods with 2N1 today. 3 are back to back. This means a 1 hr 40 min session. I quickly designed a board game activity around the topic of population growth – causes and consequences. After the session I realized several points:
The spaces on the board game had to be redesigned as some spaces would “trap” the students. Eg. Two spaces ahead and two spaces back cannot be place in sequence with one space in between. Duh! That was silly.
The phrasing of the words should be more consistent with the wording in the textbook for easy discussion
Ms Chong, a relief teacher also sat in to observe the class so as to get an idea of what other things can be done in class. Her comments were limited.
On the whole I enjoyed the class on the board game but it was a little strenuous in terms of classroom management.
Just before going home, CS and I sat down to discuss our plan for tests and projects for the coming weeks. It seems that we are moving along at a comfortable pace.
More on Thursday then….
Step1 : Getting the students into groups.
This was the first time I did groupwork with the 3E4 students so I had to go through the 4 roles which I prescribed.
1. The COORDINATOR shows or clarifies the relationships among various ideas and suggestions, tries to pull ideas and suggestions together or tries to coordinate the activities of various members. The Coordinator also expedites group movement by doing things for the group, e.g. passing out materials or setting up chairs.
2. The RECORDER writes down suggestions, makes a record of group decisions, or writes down the product of discussion. The recorder fills the role of "group memory". S/he is also responsible if an oral presentation is required.
3. The ELABORATOR spells out suggestions in terms of examples or developed meanings, offers a rationale for suggestions previously made, and tries to deduce how an idea or suggestion would work out if adopted primarily upon relevant facts or information. S/he also suggests or proposes to the group new ideas. S/he offers a novel point of view concerning problems, procedures, goals, or solutions.
4. The information and opinion SEEKER asks for clarification of suggestions made in terms of their factual adequacy, for authoritative information and facts pertinent to the problem being discussed. S/he also asks primarily for a clarification of values pertinent to what the group is undertaking or values involved in various suggestions that have been made.
The students received this quite well and we proceeded with the activity with the students noting and enacting their roles very well.
The actual acitivty itself took a little longer than I had expected. I planned it for a 30 minute class but I guessed I spent a little more time on explaining the Gorupwork roles, resulting in the lack of time towards the end. The activity also involved labeling three main features on their jigsaw – Pacific Ring of Fire, Mid Atlantic Ridge and the Himalyas. The students had the textbook as a reference guide. I then used Socratic reasoning to get the students to explain why the features are found along the cut edges of the jig saw.
Luckily I was seeing them later that day and we picked up the lesson from where we left off. The next activity was to explain plate movements and the resultant boundaries. A deductive method starting from the explanation for features along the edges was used ending with the conclusion that there are 3 main types of boundaries – convergent, divergent and transform.
Overall, CS and I were very pleased with the learning arising from the activity. CS mirrored the activity for her class but it was not as successful. There were a few points to note.
The composition of her class was different. She had many more boys than girls while I had more girls in my class. The students were less comptent with crafting. To quote “Mrs Wong, I cut South America in two, how?” In the end, many groups could not finish. CS intends to carry this on to the next period the following day.
Students also had difficulty locating Himalayas on the jigsaw. This would be a good learning point for them.
The centrality of the maps was also a consideration. The jig saw was Asia centric but the text book had euro centric maps. This created some confusion when students were looking for the pacific ring of fire.
I will hear from CS after she concludes her class tomorrow.
Just before I left on Thursday, I received the new timetable that I am following today. To my horror, I have 4 periods with 2N1 today. 3 are back to back. This means a 1 hr 40 min session. I quickly designed a board game activity around the topic of population growth – causes and consequences. After the session I realized several points:
The spaces on the board game had to be redesigned as some spaces would “trap” the students. Eg. Two spaces ahead and two spaces back cannot be place in sequence with one space in between. Duh! That was silly.
The phrasing of the words should be more consistent with the wording in the textbook for easy discussion
Ms Chong, a relief teacher also sat in to observe the class so as to get an idea of what other things can be done in class. Her comments were limited.
On the whole I enjoyed the class on the board game but it was a little strenuous in terms of classroom management.
Just before going home, CS and I sat down to discuss our plan for tests and projects for the coming weeks. It seems that we are moving along at a comfortable pace.
More on Thursday then….
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12:07 AM
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