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| Students use their iPads and the Lego to articulate their answers |
Creative A-Level teaching can be difficult with the pressures of time and assessment but I believe that if students really engage in an activity then it will stay with them and make revising a lot easier. In this particular lesson several students were away on a Shakespeare trip so it seemed like an opportune moment to try this.
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| The Lego StoryStarter Kit in action |
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| Students collaborating to produce their work |
What I like best about this type of activity is the unknown. I really had no idea what would be produced and as I sat watching them I had to stop myself from getting involved. The students had 45 minutes to produce their work and I tried my best to it leave them to it.
The students were really engaged on the task and produced very creative solutions. Before the lesson I imagined what I would do and I got pretty stuck. The students were quick to overcome any issues.
"Why is Hitler wearing a witches hat?""To show the spell that Hitler put on Germany."
"Why is Hitler waving to a cat?""He is giving up his personal happiness to devote himself to the nation"
"Why is the spider laid like that?""He is giving the Nazis salute showing how devoted all his people were"
The students were really engaged on the task and produced very creative solutions. Before the lesson I imagined what I would do and I got pretty stuck. The students were quick to overcome any issues.
"Why is Hitler wearing a witches hat?""To show the spell that Hitler put on Germany."
"Why is Hitler waving to a cat?""He is giving up his personal happiness to devote himself to the nation"
"Why is the spider laid like that?""He is giving the Nazis salute showing how devoted all his people were"
Reflections
I often find that when you gamble in education and try something new the results are always better. I have a very good group of dedicated students who immediately saw the value of the activity and ran with it.
Sixth form teaching can be pretty dry at times. We would normally have simply written the difference between the myth and reality and discussed the impact of this in a more traditional fashion. As you can see from the work produced (below) this activity was much more memorable and did not compromise on the depth and detail of what was created.
Sadly blogger won't allow me to upload a PdF but I hope that the images are clear enough to show the high quality work that was produced. There were three groups and all produced excellent work that was better than it would have been had the lesson followed its traditional course.
This is something I will definitely use again when the opportunity arises. The engagement and enthusiasm was clearly apparent. I believe that next time I use this the results will be even better as the students will already have an idea what is required.
That said, for a first attempt, the results are remarkable.
Group One Produced
Group Two Produced
I often find that when you gamble in education and try something new the results are always better. I have a very good group of dedicated students who immediately saw the value of the activity and ran with it.
Sixth form teaching can be pretty dry at times. We would normally have simply written the difference between the myth and reality and discussed the impact of this in a more traditional fashion. As you can see from the work produced (below) this activity was much more memorable and did not compromise on the depth and detail of what was created.
Sadly blogger won't allow me to upload a PdF but I hope that the images are clear enough to show the high quality work that was produced. There were three groups and all produced excellent work that was better than it would have been had the lesson followed its traditional course.
This is something I will definitely use again when the opportunity arises. The engagement and enthusiasm was clearly apparent. I believe that next time I use this the results will be even better as the students will already have an idea what is required.
That said, for a first attempt, the results are remarkable.
Group One Produced
Group Two Produced
Group 3 produced
