The last week has been a huge week for me and my inquiry. It started by observing my boys early last week and seeing that they were quickly moving off task and just generally bored. I had started looking at paragraph structure with them and it was too much sitting around with very little purpose to them.
Things I have learnt:
Boys need to see a bigger picture - there needs to be purpose (for them, not just me).
Boys need to move around, don't just stick them at a desk and expect them to engage.
Boys have brilliant imaginations, and love to have fun!
Boys learn by doing and experiencing.
Boys need to experience different learning environments.
From these realisations I have....
Moved them away from having lessons completely in one space.
Started exploring the environment around us.
Created new learning spaces in my classroom for my students to work, e.g beanbags, couch, mat etc.
Tried to put my self in the boys shoes, what would make me excited about writing? How can I get them to use their imaginations?
Asking the boys "What do you want to write about next?" "Why?"
Opening up the discussion - Wow, the language that comes out when they can 'just talk'. Exciting! They don't even realise they are talking in similes, metaphors etc.
Finding other ways to express their written language. Presentations, recording their voice, video etc.
I am so excited, i just need the ideas now!
The other day, it was so windy. So we went outside, in the wind. We sat by the buildings and listened to the wind howl around the corners,
We went to the middle of the field and felt the wind, played in the wind. We talked, we shared and then we wrote all our ideas down. They boys wanted to sit outside in the cold wind to write, they loved it. "Can we stay out a bit longer?" They asked, "I want to be able to write down all my ideas!" Love it! Yay!
Once the boys had written down their own ideas, they shared their notes with each other and then wrote a description of their time in the wind. Check out the video of their writing.
