2. INTRODUCTION
A brief overview of the school’s technology:
In my school setting we have currently improved our technology by going Wi-Fi, as a result we have new laptops in each
classroom as well as iPads , which allows teachers and pupils to develop their ICT skills. Phase leaders have also received
interactive whiteboards in their classrooms. Recently our school joined the local HWB network and we were given staff
training on how to use this new communication tool. Unfortunately only teachers are able to log in to the programme, however
teaching assistants are able to participate in their classroom setting. The HWB allows teachers to share events, birthdays and
communicate different teaching styles which the feel may benefit other colleagues which I believe will support the teaching
and learning throughout the school. I.C.T at he school is taught as part of PPA cover weekly and also as a result of the school
going Wi-Fi and receiving more equipment, it is integrated within classroom lesson on a daily basis.
My position in the school:
I wok as a teaching assistant at a primary school in the Swansea area. In my position I am fortunate enough to be able to work
throughout the school as I cover PPA by teaching P.E. On top of this I have been given the title of ‘Boys Champion’. With this
title I carry out intervention groups to attempt to improve boys literacy, currently I am working with year 4 boys but mainly I
have had my boys from key stage 2. In the intervention group I follow a programme called ‘Project X’ this is an interactive
animation which hooks the boys from the start. I am able to use I.C.T regularly in my post both for P.E. lessons ,when filming
actions and evaluating and in my intervention groups as they can access the stories on e-books and carry out worksheets on line.
My intentions for the activity:
In my activity I intend to get the pupils to use numerous aspects of I.C.T. to support English by teaching skills to help design
and complete a fact book about a famous sportsperson or sport. In doing so they will mainly be concentrating on fact finding, so
as a result they will be accessing search engines and copying and pasting information and pictures. In addition to this the pupils
will be attending a question and answer session with two guest professional sportsmen.
3. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
What do you want the learners to achieve by the end of the session/activity?
Support English through ICT by developing the pupils Oracy, reading and writing skills.
• Listen carefully to presentations using techniques to remember the main points, e.g. making notes and
summarising.
• Respond to others with questions and comments which focus on reasons, implications and next steps.
• Contribute to group discussion, taking some responsibility for completing task well, e.g. introducing
relevant ideas, summing up.
• Use internet searches carefully, deciding which sources to read and believe.
• Scan to find specific details using graphic and textual organisers e.g. sub headings, diagrams
• Identify ideas and information that interest them to develop further understanding.
• Gather and organise information and ideas from different sources.
• Distinguish between facts, theories and opinions.
• Use features which show structure of the writing e.g. sub –headings, captions.
• Use features and layout which are constructed to present data and ideas clearly.
• Use a full range of punctuation to guide reader in complex sentences, e.g. commas, bullet points, speech marks and
apostrophes for possession.
4. CLASS DYNAMICS
Number of children: 6
age range: 10/11 years (Key stage 2) year 5/6 mixed.
comparable attainment level : .M.A.T. Pupils working at level 5 in English.
National Curriculum documents reference:
Schools should provide opportunities, where appropriate, for learners to develop and apply their ICT skills across the
curriculum by finding, developing, creating and presenting information and ideas and by using a wide range of equipment
and software (Learning.gov.wales).
The group have been selected from the more able and talented pupils from year 5 and 6. The pupils are all boys and show a
keen interest in sport. One boy is an English additional language (E..A.L.) pupil.
Wilson(2013) believes that there is a misconception about computers being a miracle cure for underachieving boys. He writes
that some argue that computers are better for girls as boys play more games where girls spend more time on social sites.
Wilson goes on to say that it is known that computers engage and motivate boys but not necessarily for educational purposes.
He states :if a boy cannot write a story on a piece of paper, why should he suddenly be able to when placed in front of a
keyboard? P.23.
I agree to a point with Wilson(2013), that boys play more games, but through my experience of working with boys in my
intervention groups, having a programme to follow which allows them access to the computer to read books and complete
linked work the results the boys have achieved with their literacy skills have been very positive. As this lesson and class is
linked to a topic they enjoy I believe the end result will be a successful piece of completed work.
5. LESSON/ACTIVITY OUTLINE
By participating in this lesson the pupils will be able to use the internet to
recognise different routes to search for relevant information and also be able
to recall and list any saved findings in relation to the lesson. The pupils
should be using sound comprehension skills by discussing their work and
explaining the process they have chosen to complete the task in hand using
relevant vocabulary, they should produce a good standard of completed work
by producing a informative piece of work using and applying all ICT skills and
show this through applying all the information in a finished illustration. By
using all the skills learned the pupils will be able to understand and
categorise the researched information into a well designed illustration.
6. RESOURCES
• I pads.
• Interactive white board .
• Notebooks.
• Previous learning notes.
• Book Creator.
• Paws explore/Ask Jeeves or kids.
For this lesson I will mainly be using I pads, however my I pad will be connected
to the white board so I can navigate through the lesson. Pupils will have note
books to make any notes or record websites etc. Also pupils will use answers
from the question and answers session with the guest sportsmen they recorded.
7. CORNERSTONE
S TOPIC OF
CHAMPIONS
Question and
answer
session with
professional
sportsmen
Distinguish
between
facts,
theories and
opinions.
Support English
through ICT by
developing the
pupils Oracy,
reading and
writing skills. Questioning
Success
criteria
Challenging
objectives
Relevant, facts,
summarise, order
Design cover
using relevant
words.
Add 3 facts
Insert pictures and
design pages.
Teacher led:
Introduce app and
how to insert
vocabulary to front
cover
Pupil led: Find and use
relevant adjectives or
captions making links to
sport/sportsperson.
Teacher led: Search
internet to find true
facts and copy and
paste into pages.
Making sure they
are ordered.
Pupil led:
Summarise their
work using key
words, supporting
each others work
and communicating
clearly.
8. THE EVALUATION
While presenting this lesson I feel the group of pupils I was working with were very engaged, previous to the
introduction the whole phase had been introduced to a question and answer session with 2 sportsmen which had hooked
the pupils immensely so my introduction into designing a book relating to facts about sports was helped by their
previous learning, they showed this by their questioning and participation in the tasks. I choose to model the book
maker step by step and in doing so the pupils were able to follow instructions fluently. Some of the group were more
able in their ICT skills, so I had to slow them down without taking away their confidence as they were trying to move
on through the lesson to quickly and as a result were making errors. I firstly showed them how to make the front cover
and we discussed why different titles have been chosen for different texts. They had previous knowledge of using
pictures from the internet so they were able to copy chosen pictures for their cover independently. The next step was to
attach relevant vocabulary to the chosen picture, this proved to be more of a challenge to the group, however they all
were able to link the vocabulary to the picture well. Some pupils decided to use a slogan for the picture and others
scribed lots of exciting adjectives that represented the sportsperson, this I feel as a positive aspect of the lesson as they
met the literacy strand of the literacy and numeracy framework effectively. The next step was for the pupils to search
the internet to find 3 facts about their chosen subject. Before I started this aspect of the lesson I was aware that the
pupils had had lessons on internet safety, therefore they had been pre warned about searching and what sites were safe
to use. Immediately the pupils got excited and were deep into searching relevant information, at this stage I challenged
the pupils by stating that I knew so much information about their sports person that they could not find a fact that I was
unaware of. This I believe was very effective as they obviously wanted to beat me so they really scanned and searched
for their facts. Finally the pupils had to copy and paste their information into their books, this aspect of the lesson was
carried out very effectively by the pupils and they were very capable with the skill. On completion of finding all their
facts , the next stage was to order the facts and design the pages. Some pupils put a fact on each page…
9. EVALUATION CONTINUED
Others chose to split the pages and put multiple facts on each page , this showed sound I.C.T. skills and they were
also able to share their skills with the group. To close the lesson the pupils added colour and effects to their books
and we shared and discussed their work as a group.
Through the lesson the pupils learned fact finding skills and also learned how to share their findings in a
descriptive text. I.C.T. supported this skill by giving them the tools and resources to be able to search and access
so much information. In addition to this the pupils I believe became digital literate as they are now capable to
discuss how they used the search engines and talk about how they investigated their findings. Leach (2015),
believes that Digital Literacy is the awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital tools
and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, analyse and synthesize digital resources, construct
new knowledge and create media. Personally I feel I contributed to the pupils learning by pacing each stage of
the app and modelling each section giving each child thinking time and support in order for them to achieve their
target. It was clear to me that as the lesson was progressing there were obvious levels of the pupils I.C.T. ability,
therefore my teaching had to be organised so that I was able to give support to encourage the lower ability pupil.
With all the group being more able and talented children it would have been easy to assume that they were all
more than capable to achieve in the lesson , however this was one aspect of my personal development that I will
remember for future lessons and make sure I am available to support even the highest achievers to succeed and
never to assume pupils are capable. Using I.C.T. in this way has given me confidence to include it more
widespread in the activities I deliver within my setting, especially through the use of sport and for developing
boys literacy. I believe by the pupil using I.C.T. they forget they are producing a piece of work and their thought
process is different as they are used to just playing on computers and not doing work so as a result their work is of
sound quality and they are more engaged. If I was to deliver the lesson again I would break the lesson into
sections as I feel d have spend more time on extending the pupils learning on each aspect, for example the
research into fact books and searching the internet could have been one lesson where we could have spent some
time looking at a wide selection of books and internet sites, however the pupils were at a level where I was able to
push their I.C.T. skills to a higher level and as a result some very good pieces of work produced.
16. REFERENCE LIST
1. http://Learning.gov.wales. Skills across the curriculum, Developing ICT
2. What is Digital Literacy?/ Digital Literacy on WordPress.com (2010) Available at:
https://cleach.wordpress.com/what-is-digital-literacy
3. Wilson, G(2006), BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS TO BOYS’
ACHIEVEMENT, DEVELOPING A CARING MASCULINITY, 50 Bedford
Square, London.
Hinweis der Redaktion
Pupils used their books to quiz their class using the facts they searched.