Lockdown Learning

Learning during Level 3 Take Two 

This team as a team we have been learning about different countries around the world. We are exploring location, people, culture, food, sport, animals, wildlife and even popular culture. We started out learning looking at the continent of Europe learning about France, Italy and Belgium. The we started looking at Brazil. When we were looking at Brazil we moved into level 3 lockdown in Auckland and as a team we decided to keep our learning looking at countries and locations so that we would have some normality for our learners.

During level three we started by looking at Canada. Our team have introduced ideas and parts of the countries and continents to our learners so that they are aware of different countries of the world and exposing them to the outside of New Zealand. I am going to give a brief outline below of how we have been running our online learning during level 3 and term 3 as a whole. 

Four Facts
Each day we introduce a new part of the topic or country with videos and facts related to that particular part of the county. We create different tasks daily, allowing them to use their chromebooks as a research tool to find new information about the different countries we learn about weekly. We start off with a video of the day that leads them to finding 4 facts to write in their own words about the learning for the day.They need to watch the video and create four facts that they have learnt. This allows all of our learners the opportunity to post something on their blog and feel success for the day. 

Reading 
Each day our reading leads on from the four facts and the information that they have learnt already. Reading is time to build upon the original facts. Each day for reading we look at a different aspect of the country whether if be landmarks, animals, popular culture, sports or food. For reading we create our own texts using research from online to make the reading accessible for all of our learners. We also provide extra reading resources to challenge our readers who need this. We have a supported reading section as well which provides audio and extra assistance for our lower level readers. 

Supported Reading 
We also provide extra reading resources to challenge our readers who need this. We have a supported reading section as well which provides audio and extra assistance for our lower level readers. I looked at how to make reading more engaging for our lower readers so created a fill in the blacks activity which we have continued on each week. The response to text is to ensure that all of our learners are engaged in the reading and reading every day. For the supported learners this is exactly the same audio is just added for assistance. 

Writing 
Next on the site is writing. Writing is also linked to what we are learning for the day. With a focus on what our learners need to work on in writing. At the moment we are working on paragraphs so that is the learning intention for our learners however each day we add in a different type of writing to make it interesting for our learners and also relatable to what we are learning about. 

Maths 
For maths I have been creating problem solving actives that are related where possible to the topic we are learning about. We have also been making a big push for our learners to learn their times tables which is now a daily task for our learners to practice each day. With being at home some of them may not have access to pencils and paper however they are still able to practice using a digital tool. We have been looking at fractions at school so I have continued this on into level three. Some of these problems are related to what we are learning about I try and make the word problems match as best as I can. 

Design Task 
We have decided to incorporate a design task in each day for our learners so that they are able to practice using google draw and other digital drawing tools. Each week we start of by having the learners design the flag of the county that we are learning about, this is a great way to have them practice using the drawing tools as a well as being able to recognise the flags of each of the countries in the world.  

Chapter Book 
During the first lockdown I started reading a chapter book to my class. I recorded myself reading the story for them and they loved it. This gave them a chance to hear a story read and be exposed to new and interesting vocabulary. Since coming back to school we have kept this as a part of our site with listening to the David Walliam's stories. It gives each of the learners an opportunity to have a brain break and restores calmness back in the classroom and opens them back up to learning. 

Checklist
Each day we provide a checklist which allows the learners to see what they have achieved and also hold them accountable for their own learning. It is a quick and easy way to see what activities they have completed and what they need to do.  

Check out our Team 4 site here :)