WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.719 Do you like sitting and just listening to someone got on and on. 00:00:04.230 --> 00:00:05.310 I know I don't. 00:00:05.399 --> 00:00:08.549 Cause I get bored with that in the first five minutes, especially if 00:00:08.549 --> 00:00:11.640 it's something that you already know or you have no interest in. 00:00:12.360 --> 00:00:13.230 Well guess what? 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:14.069 Kids. 00:00:14.069 --> 00:00:18.030 Don't like sitting around, listening to us, go on and on either. 00:00:18.299 --> 00:00:22.049 They've got better things to do, like chat to their friends, 00:00:22.379 --> 00:00:25.620 socialize, play, run around. 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:31.379 If you've ever taken time to just watch children just observe, which should really 00:00:31.379 --> 00:00:35.129 be the thing that you're going to do as you go back to school for the first 00:00:35.129 --> 00:00:40.440 week, at least is to create activities where you can just observe children. 00:00:40.800 --> 00:00:44.249 Look at their strengths look where they need help social emotional, or 00:00:44.249 --> 00:00:49.440 they've got issues, making friends, communicating, whatever it might be. 00:00:50.040 --> 00:00:53.790 But if you just look at the way children learn, you will notice very 00:00:53.790 --> 00:00:56.309 quickly that they like being together. 00:00:56.910 --> 00:00:59.940 That they like really getting stuck into things. 00:01:00.239 --> 00:01:02.219 Sometimes, really messy play. 00:01:03.059 --> 00:01:04.679 But they don't just sit. 00:01:05.710 --> 00:01:10.540 it's actually not part of their natural makeup for them to just sit. 00:01:10.930 --> 00:01:12.550 They are active. 00:01:12.550 --> 00:01:14.230 They are active learners. 00:01:14.830 --> 00:01:19.290 So, how could we take these natural God-given traits that 00:01:19.290 --> 00:01:23.970 our children have and use them to our best advantage as teachers to 00:01:23.970 --> 00:01:26.100 really get them hooked on learning. 00:01:27.180 --> 00:01:30.540 Well, the one little experience that I found really, really helpful, 00:01:30.930 --> 00:01:36.810 especially as you just going back to school now is to connect everything 00:01:36.810 --> 00:01:39.060 that we're doing through stories. 00:01:39.370 --> 00:01:43.140 Because, if you think about it, apart from socializing and playing with their 00:01:43.170 --> 00:01:50.400 friends and being outside and being active, kids love listening to stories. 00:01:51.150 --> 00:01:57.000 And so if you can take those three things being active, being sociable and listening 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:01.950 to stories and create learning experiences that integrate those three things. 00:02:02.250 --> 00:02:04.920 Then you're onto a winning formula. 00:02:05.820 --> 00:02:09.900 Now, one of the things that I've done really successfully over the years is 00:02:09.900 --> 00:02:11.400 to take a little picture book called 00:02:11.490 --> 00:02:13.320 I went walking by Sue Williams. 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:18.450 We read the story and then we go walking and see what we can see. 00:02:19.050 --> 00:02:22.950 Now you can take this activity and you can use a camera or an iPad 00:02:23.220 --> 00:02:24.870 to record what the children see. 00:02:25.350 --> 00:02:29.100 Or, if the things are small enough, I mean, obviously, you know, I see a 00:02:29.100 --> 00:02:34.320 tree, whatever, but if you see a red bucket or you see a blue shovel, you 00:02:34.320 --> 00:02:37.950 might want to pick those things up and bring them back to the classroom. 00:02:38.040 --> 00:02:42.300 Or perhaps it's a brown pine cone or a green leaf or. 00:02:43.200 --> 00:02:46.740 You know, yellow twig, whatever it might be. 00:02:47.340 --> 00:02:52.110 So it's a combination of actually collecting these things , and also 00:02:52.110 --> 00:02:55.980 just taking photographs either with a camera or your iPad or your phone. 00:02:56.950 --> 00:03:00.270 Or you put kids into little groups and you give each group an 00:03:00.270 --> 00:03:05.520 iPad and they take turns taking photographs of the things they see. 00:03:06.570 --> 00:03:07.800 So then what do you do? 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:10.780 When you get back to the classroom, there's a multitude 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:14.830 of integrated activities you can do that help you meet actually 00:03:15.010 --> 00:03:17.350 cross-curricular learning outcomes. 00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:20.540 There are so many ways that you can use the objects that 00:03:20.540 --> 00:03:22.550 you see in a mathematical way. 00:03:22.580 --> 00:03:23.480 You can weigh them. 00:03:23.480 --> 00:03:24.500 You can measure them. 00:03:25.220 --> 00:03:28.580 Group them, according to characteristics, the list goes on and on. 00:03:29.870 --> 00:03:33.800 Now, if you've taken all these photographs what you will then do is 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:35.810 to very quickly then print them all off. 00:03:35.810 --> 00:03:41.100 And you've then got these objects and these photographs and children 00:03:41.100 --> 00:03:44.190 then record their own little booklet. 00:03:44.670 --> 00:03:49.200 And I have made this little booklet for you in a fabulous little resource where 00:03:49.200 --> 00:03:55.070 I've given you the integrated lessons, ideas, for maths, science and English. 00:03:55.550 --> 00:03:59.480 And in this little booklet, children can then write and create their own little 00:03:59.480 --> 00:04:02.720 story of what they saw on their walk. 00:04:03.410 --> 00:04:05.120 And once you have all your pictures. 00:04:05.510 --> 00:04:10.850 You can then use, hula hoops and you can categorize all your objects 00:04:10.850 --> 00:04:13.880 that were found on your walk, the things that the children saw. 00:04:14.600 --> 00:04:17.540 Into whatever the characteristics are. 00:04:17.570 --> 00:04:21.440 So it could be in a hard things, soft things, natural things, or 00:04:21.440 --> 00:04:23.420 living things, non-living things. 00:04:23.990 --> 00:04:26.060 So here, you're integrating your science. 00:04:26.150 --> 00:04:28.730 You're integrating your maths because you are. 00:04:29.570 --> 00:04:34.100 Uh, grouping, according to certain characteristics, you can even use the 00:04:34.100 --> 00:04:37.040 pictures or objects to create patterns. 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:41.310 So you've got your AB AB you've got ABC, ABC, so like stick, leaf, 00:04:41.310 --> 00:04:43.760 flower, stick, leaf, flower, whatever 00:04:43.760 --> 00:04:48.350 it might be loads of different ideas that you can do with something so simple as 00:04:48.350 --> 00:04:54.260 just taking the children outside, having a walk, see what they can see coming 00:04:54.260 --> 00:04:59.360 back, using those objects, either in science, where you can look at living 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:04.850 and non-living, and then go off and even do a inquiry project on what is living? 00:05:04.880 --> 00:05:08.180 What is non-living, what are the characteristics of living things? 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:10.280 What do they need in order to live? 00:05:10.700 --> 00:05:14.900 And in non-living or what makes them non-living why are they non-living. 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:19.310 And then of course, in writing in English. 00:05:19.610 --> 00:05:23.690 So if children are still learning to write and they not quite there yet, 00:05:23.780 --> 00:05:27.530 and they will just tell you, they will paint a picture or draw their picture, 00:05:27.530 --> 00:05:31.700 however, you've decided whether they're going to draw paint and they 00:05:31.700 --> 00:05:34.160 just then will tell you what that is. 00:05:34.460 --> 00:05:36.530 And you then just write it for them. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:40.370 If they get to the stage where they are now being able to write themselves, 00:05:40.400 --> 00:05:42.680 well, why not allow them to have a go. 00:05:43.100 --> 00:05:49.490 What sounds do you hear in leaf perhaps they know how to write an L or perhaps 00:05:49.490 --> 00:05:55.730 they know F and they're just having a go remember this doesn't have to be perfect. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:58.760 You want children to love learning. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:01.340 And so if you're going to straight away, come down on them well that's 00:06:01.340 --> 00:06:05.540 not really how you write leaf, you automatically going to get them 00:06:05.540 --> 00:06:08.690 to shut down because they're going to be too afraid to make mistakes. 00:06:09.080 --> 00:06:13.610 The idea is to get children, to encourage them, just to have 00:06:13.610 --> 00:06:16.160 a go and to enjoy the process. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:20.650 Remember we always talking about it's the process, not the end destination. 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:21.670 It's not the product. 00:06:21.970 --> 00:06:26.170 It's the process that matters in these early years of learning. 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:30.610 And so I've created this little e-guide for you, what is a little 00:06:30.640 --> 00:06:35.650 booklet really, for, I went walking, you can download it for free. 00:06:35.880 --> 00:06:40.390 I'll leave a link in the show notes, and this is a great activity just to get you 00:06:40.390 --> 00:06:44.380 started as you go back to school or even if you've already started and you're in 00:06:44.380 --> 00:06:49.120 the Northern hemisphere, you guys are probably some places you've got snow. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:52.300 You've got all sorts of fabulous things, cause you've got cold weather. 00:06:52.690 --> 00:06:58.150 Why not take a camera, take an iPad or bucket or whatever, go and see 00:06:58.150 --> 00:07:02.770 what you can see, get kids to recreate the story for themselves, and then 00:07:02.770 --> 00:07:09.310 use those objects in multiple ways to tick off your outcomes in other areas. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.870 So hope you have a lovely week, and I hope this has given you some kinds of 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:19.330 inspiration into how you can use a simple picture book activity to spark curiosity 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:21.340 and a love of learning in children. 00:07:21.710 --> 00:07:24.470 So I will leave a link in the show notes for you. 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:27.410 Go there, download it and enjoy. 00:07:27.770 --> 00:07:31.950 But here's a little top tip before you actually leave the classroom. 00:07:31.980 --> 00:07:34.050 You've got to make sure that you're organized. 00:07:34.380 --> 00:07:38.340 So you're going to tell the kids exactly what you expect, how they need to 00:07:38.340 --> 00:07:40.710 behave, how they need to use the iPad. 00:07:40.710 --> 00:07:44.970 You cannot just go out free for all, because it's going to get chaotic. 00:07:45.330 --> 00:07:48.810 So you have to make sure that you are really explicit, that 00:07:48.810 --> 00:07:53.430 you model exactly what you expect in terms of their behavior. 00:07:53.760 --> 00:07:56.700 That you model exactly what you want them to do. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:02.400 And also be ready for when they get back so that you can download the images. 00:08:02.700 --> 00:08:06.930 Or have a space ready for them to put the objects that they have come back 00:08:06.930 --> 00:08:10.380 with and make sure that your equipment makes sure that the little booklet is 00:08:10.380 --> 00:08:12.750 printed off and ready for all of them. 00:08:12.960 --> 00:08:16.170 Make sure that they've got all their equipment that you want to use 00:08:16.170 --> 00:08:20.520 to create their pictures, whether that be colored pencils, texters. 00:08:21.030 --> 00:08:23.340 Uh, paints, whatever you've decided. 00:08:23.670 --> 00:08:26.310 So organization is key. 00:08:26.550 --> 00:08:29.730 So make sure you do that before you go out. 00:08:30.738 --> 00:08:31.518 Next week. 00:08:31.548 --> 00:08:33.768 I have a really, really. 00:08:34.518 --> 00:08:37.608 Fabulous episode coming that is not to be missed. 00:08:37.668 --> 00:08:41.928 I have interviewed Tonya Gilchrist and she is going to be talking 00:08:42.018 --> 00:08:48.498 all about inquiry and integrating inquiry into all your subject areas. 00:08:48.738 --> 00:08:50.658 So you don't want to miss that. 00:08:50.958 --> 00:08:54.738 So make sure that you follow or subscribe so that you get 00:08:54.738 --> 00:08:57.708 notified when that episode drops. 00:08:58.218 --> 00:08:59.298 I'll see you next week. 00:08:59.378 --> 00:09:02.018 And until then stay bloomin' curious.