1

Developing the partnership between out of

school educational agencies and initial

teacher education.

Interim Report

March 2009

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Contents

Page

Summary 3

1.Project rationale and aims 4

2.Project calendar 5

3.Project details 7

4.Evaluation and dissemination strategy 9

5.Preliminary outcomes and findings 13

Appendices 25

Financial statement

Sample Lesson Plan

Sample Teachers’ evaluation questionnaire

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Summary

The project involved 23 final year undergraduate student teachers teaching in teams across a

total of six classes from two Belfast primary schools. The students co-panned, co-taught and co-

evaluated a series of science lessons in support of a class trip to the W5 Discovery Centre

Belfast. Throughout the project the students recorded video material of their lessons and the

trip to W5. The recorded material was edited to produce a short video recounting their

experience which was then annotated to produce a video-paper.

The project evaluation sought to explore the extent to which the project aims had been

achieved. The principal research aim was to explore the extent to which the project had

developed student teachers’ appreciation and future teaching intentions regarding the use of a

visit to an external educational resource within the school curriculum. Data was collected from

questionnaires and focus group interviews before and after the project.

All 23 students found the project extremely useful. The students reported:

• A much greater awareness of the potential role of external agencies within the primary

curriculum

• A large increase in their confidence in their general planning and classroom teaching

• A large increase in their confidence in planning science schemes of work and in their

classroom management of science activities

• A greater awareness of resources and strategies for connecting science to other areas of

the curriculum

All 6 teachers also found the project extremely useful. The teachers reported:

• A welcomed focus on primary science as there had been no recent INSET training in this

area

• An appreciation of the new ideas and resources for making science more engaging ,

‘hands-on’ and relevant

• A realisation of the importance of preparation and follow-up work associated with a visit

to W5

• The welcomed opportunity to observe their own pupils and to reflect on the pupils’

reactions to the various learning experiences provided by the students

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1.Project rationale and aims

• Out of school ‘informal educational’ visits to science discovery centres, museums,

nature reserves, etc. have much to contribute to the overall learning experience of

children. However the extent to which such trips impact on pupils’ learning largely

depend on how the experience is complimented by classroom teaching, in the form of

both preparation and follow-up work, and the ease with which pupils connect it to their

school based curriculum. We therefore feel that initial teacher education programmes

should include opportunities for student teachers to develop their appreciation of the

huge potential of local external educational agencies, and develop best practice with

respect to planning and managing such a visit. External educational agencies have

themselves much to benefit from partnership with ITE institutions as they seek to adapt

and modify their provision in accordance with the ever changing school curriculum.

• Over the course of school based teaching the opportunities for student teachers to

teach science can vary greatly from school to school. Therefore year student teachers,

including students in their final year of training, may feel less confident about teaching

science.

• During their undergraduate course student teachers rarely get the opportunity to c0-

plna, co-teach and co-observe with other students.

The project aims to;

• Develop student teachers’ appreciation of the valuable contribution which educational

trips can make to the school curriculum.

• Develop student teachers’ practice with respect to co-planning, co-teaching and

evaluating cross-curricular schemes of work to support such a visit.

• Provide student teachers with the opportunity to accompany and supervise their class

on a visit to the W5 Discovery Centre and experience both exhibits and a ‘workshop’.

• Extend student teachers’ school-based experience by providing the opportunity to

engage with co-planning, co-teaching, peer observation and evaluation, self-evaluation

and critical reflection

• Provide student teachers with the opportunity to critique and develop their own

teaching skills by interfacing video footage of their teaching with digital cognitive tools.

• Provide partner schools with the opportunity to observe first hand best practice

regarding planning and resourcing cross-curricular science schemes relating to the visit,

and to reflect on the impact on pupils’ learning experience.

2.Project calendar

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September 2008

• Planning meetings with education staff from W5 Discovery Centre Belfast

• Planning meetings with Principals and teachers from both partner primary schools

• Planning meeting with Stranmillis University College CETL Coordinator (Fergal

Corscadden)

2nd October 2008

Introductory seminar to students. Outline course schedule and assessment assignment.

Presentation of educational theory underpinning the project

9th

October 2008

Students visit W5. Tour and discussion of exhibits by W5 Education Coordinator (James

Stewart).

16th

October 2008

Allocation of student ‘teams’ and assignment details relating to video task

Tutorial on capturing video and the production of video paper

23rd

October 2008

Video paper production workshop

28th October 2008

Student teams visit to W5

30th

October

Student observation visit to host class and preliminary planning meeting with teacher

6th

November

Teaching Week 1 (Lessons preparing pupils for visit)

13th

November

Teaching Week 2 (Lessons preparing pupils for visit)

20th

November

Schools and students visit W5

27th

November

Teaching Week 3 (Follow-up to trip to W5 lessons)

4th

December

Teaching Week 4 (Follow-up to trip to W5 lessons)

11th

December

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Editing of video and production of videopaper

18th

December

Dissemination Seminar. Student teams present their work using powerpoint, videos and video

papers to partner teachers and education staff from W5.

Collection of evaluation data

January-February 2009

Preliminary analysis of evaluation data.

March 2009

Completion of project interim report

March-April 2009

Completion of project evaluation

May 2009

Presentation of findings at ESCalate Annual Conference

June 2009

Completion of full project report

Resources and findings posted on Stranmillis University College website and possibly ESCalate

website

3.Project details

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Project Team

Project Leader

Dr John McCullagh- (Department of Education (Primary) Stranmillis University College Belfast)

Mr James Stewart- Education Coordinator at W5 Discovery Centre Belfast

Mr Fergal Corscadden- CETL Coordinator (Stranmillis University College Belfast)

Project Schools

Gilnahirk Primary School Belfast (Principal: Mr. Steven Harrison)

Holy Rosary Primary School Belfast (Principal: Mr Sean Merrick)

Assignment task

The assignment task included elements from the evaluation strategy and included:

• Theoretical discussion of the role of external agencies in science education

• Schemes of work and lesson plans for teaching phase

• Peer observation and evaluation tasks

• Production of a video-paper per team reporting on their experiences

• Presentation of work at Dissemination Seminar

Video recording

• One ‘Flip’ camcorder was supplied to each of the four teams and a 4 GB memory stick

• Video material was edited using Windows Movie-maker and the video-paper produced

by the software ‘Video-paper Builder’

• Written permission was received from parents for the recording and using of video

Holy Rosary PS Class Teacher Topic

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Nicola King P3 J McGurk Materials

Cara Green P3 J McGurk Materials

Niamh O'Kane P3 J McGurk Materials

Jessica Glasgow P3 J McGurk Materials

Nichola White P4 B Hyland Light

Leanne Thompson P4 B Hyland Light

Kathryn Thompson P4 B Hyland Light

Sarah-Louise Craig P5 H McClorey Human Body

Beth Loughrey P5 H McClorey Human Body

Emma Pickering P5 H McClorey Human Body

Ben Robinson P5 H McClorey Human Body

Gilnahirk PS Class Topic Teacher

Reuben Skinner P6 Forces Mrs McClune

Kate Roleston P6 Forces Mrs McClune

Victoria Newberry P6 Forces Mrs McClune

Gemma Brown P6 Forces Mrs McClune

Sarah Whiteside P5 Human body Mrs Johnston

Martin Johnston P5 Human body Mrs Johnston

William Ritchie P5 Human body Mrs Johnston

Paul Montgomery P5 Human body Mrs Johnston

Emma-Jayne Earls P3 Light Mrs Brown

Heather Thompson P3 Light Mrs Brown

Ashleigh Johnston P3 Light Mrs Brown

Amy Barnes P3 Light Mrs Brown

Table 1. Student teams, topics and classes

4.Evaluation and Dissemination Strategy

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Evaluation

The project will be evaluated using:

• Questionnaires administered before and after the project (students and teachers)

• Focus group interviews (students and teachers)

• Student evaluation and reflection tasks during teaching phase

• Production of video-papers

Dissemination

The findings and outcomes of the project take the form of:

• Recommendations for best practice regarding the use of external agencies within the

school curriculum

• Examples of lessons, teaching resources and classroom activities which support a visit

to the W5 Discovery Centre

Primary Science beyond the classroom 2008-2009

Pre-course questionnaire.

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1.What is your main subject? _________ 2. How important is the role which science centres could play in supporting the primary science curriculum? Please circle your response. Very important Important Limited No importance 3. To what extent, if any, do you feel a visit to a science centre could support other areas of the curriculum, apart from science? Please circle your response. Significant extent Marginal extent No extent Please explain your response. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4.(a) Please identify what you consider to be the most important ways in which science centres support the primary science curriculum. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4(b) Which of the above do you consider to be the most important and why? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5.(a) How confident do you feel about teaching science? Very confident Confident Limited Confidence Not confident 5(b) Which aspect of your teaching have you developed most?

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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. In what ways do you think the class teacher can maximise the learning opportunities of a trip to a science centre? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. How confident do you feel about linking science to other parts of the curriculum? Very confident Confident Limited Confidence Not confident 8. In what ways did you find the following useful: Co-planning Co-teaching Peer observation 9. To what extent do you feel watching the video after the lesson helped develop your appreciation of the importance of connecting classroom work to the trip to W5? 10. To what extent did the experience of watching the video of your teaching help you to evaluate your own classroom teaching? 11. Any other comments on your experience of making the videopaper?

W5 Teachers 2008 Post Project Interview

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Did you find the project useful to your own teaching? How. Has the project altered how you might use a visit to W5 within your teaching scheme? Might the project influence your future practice? Have you found watching the video useful? Could you see potential for the use of video and or videopapers as a way of supporting reflection on your teaching? Any other comments on the project

5.Preliminary outcomes and findings

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The student teachers have found the project very useful. Data from the questionnaires and

interviews confirm that all the aims and objectives of the project have been achieved.

The key findings include:

• Large increase in students awareness of the role of external agencies within the

primary curriculum

• Large increase in students’ confidence in teaching science

• Large increase in students’ general classroom practice

• A significant development of teachers’ appreciation of the importance of planning

and follow-up work with regard to a trip to W5

Dissemination

The outcomes of the project are and will be disseminated by:

• Dissemination seminar (18th

December 2008)

• Full project report (June 2009)

• ESCalate annual conference (15th

May 2009)

• Links to project report and resources on Stranmillis University College Website

(June 2009)

• Project outcomes available from ESCalate website (To be arranged)

One of the videopapers produced by the students

Sample schemes of work

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TITLE: Forces and Energy CLASS: Primary 6 OVERALL AIMS: The students will:

• Understand important aspects of

Forces & energy including; gravity, friction, air resistance & air movement.

• Be able to conduct science experiments in classroom relating to the above topics.

• Develop the ability to offer their own ideas for scientific enquiry.

• Work collaboratively in groups throughout investigation and discussion.

• Make predictions about experiments based on their own knowledge.

• Have the opportunity to take part in a science centre based in the classroom.

SUBJECT AREAS: World Around Us, Literacy, Numeracy, Personal Development, Physical Development.

KEY STAGE: 2 KEY VOCABULARY: friction, gravity, push, pull, force, energy, Newtons, Newton meter, air, resistance, height, surface area, investigation, challenge, pressure, effervescence.

TIME: 6rs plus trip to W5

TEACHING SEQUENCE & TIME

LEARNING INTENTIONS

TEACHING/LEARNING ACTIVITIES

RESOURCES ASSESSMENT SAFETY ISSUES

1. 1hr 30 mins

The children will: - assess previous knowledge related to forces. - discuss units of measurements for forces. - discuss push/pull forces and

Mind map previous knowledge. Discuss Newtons and Newton metres. Develop knowledge of gravity, friction and push/pull forces; 1. Discuss impact 2. Use visual aids to

demonstrate direction of force.

3. Carry out investigation.

Laminated pictures (Car & Duck) Investigation Resources; paper towels, coke cans, blu-tack, sponges, elastic bands, plastic cups, bin liners, washing-up liquid, unifix cubes, sand

Questioning to discover prior knowledge. Work with each group while they are making predictions and carrying out investigations to help with difficulties. Take feedback from each group, to compare each groups’ findings. Peer assessment

General classroom management.

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conduct a related experiment. - discuss gravity/friction and its impact. - carry out investigations related to the above topic.

paper, tin foil, paper. Worksheets, Powerpoint presentation.

2. 1 hr 30 mins

The children will; - understand that air resistance is a force and that it will act in the opposite direction to weight. - recognise that this force will slow objects moving through the air. - demonstrate the ability to use questioning & discussion with peers, as well as whole class activity; to find out more about air resistance and then evaluate their results. - develop the ability to offer their own ideas for scientific enquiry to show their understanding of air

Discuss previous knowledge from lesson 1. Make way to the playground in pairs. Direct pairs to run width of playground, with large piece of card. Explain what they felt and observed. Explanation of scientific term. Task 1 – provide with box of materials. Encourage thinking on exploration of how the air affects each piece of material, in its different forms. Use white board for hypothesis. Whole class discussion on results. Use this knowledge and understanding to draw arrows showing the forces acting on the objects in the pictures. Task 2 – Carry out a short investigation in groups - ‘How does the length of wings affect the time it takes the spinner to fall to the ground?’ Worksheet with blank

Interactive Whiteboard, makers, school playground, children’s coats, large piece of card between each pair, boxes for each group containing the materials which will be needed; 2 x A4 paper, 2 x tin foil, 2 x paper towels, 2 x kitchen roll. Strips paper – 15x4 cm Scissors & Rulers(2/group) Paper clips, worksheet – Speedy Spinners, Pencils, Pictures of man with & without parachute, makers for each group.

Discussion of the running activity outside. Discussion and questioning for the dropping paper investigation. Questioning on what objects the children think are affected by air resistance. Ability to show direction of force on the given pictures. Ability to provide explanations/reasoning. Ability to predict. Overall application to the tasks and involvement.

General classroom management. Ensure that children are all run in the same direction. Safety when using the scissors at all times.

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resistance and record their results.

table for results. Share results with other pairs at the table, through questioning what they have learnt.

3. W5

4. 1hr 30 mins

The children will be able to: - recap on previous knowledge from the entire three sessions. - develop further understanding of air movement. - work independently using their own knowledge and understanding of forces and energy. - construct a yacht in relation to their given challenge. - use skills to questioning, reasoning, and evaluation to predict and test each yacht. - complete an individual

The children will; - recap on previous knowledge from the entire three sessions. - Continuing on from lesson 2 (Air resistance) bringing in the idea of air movement. - Demonstrate all equipment which they will have access to, without indicating which items they are required to use, i.e. using their own thinking skills. - Explain task – ‘Using their own knowledge and understanding of air movement to construct a yacht out of the materials provided’. - Predict outcomes for each yacht, high lightening strengths and weaknesses. - Test each yacht fairly, discussing why it did or didn’t work. - Complete worksheet predicting and evaluating their outcomes.

Foil containers, kebab sticks, A4 paper, blu tack, sellotape, balloons. Worksheets. Water tray. Water. Paper towels.

Assess previous learnt knowledge through first discussion. Team work throughout entire lesson. Peer Assessment. This lesson was initiative based, providing the children with a chance to discover science. Therefore, no one group won the challenge or lost. The key element of the lesson was evaluating their individual work.

General classroom management. Discuss of safety aspects associated with each piece of equipment.

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evaluation of their yacht.

- Discuss possible improvements.

5. 1 hr 30 mins

The children will be able to: - Take part in various experiments, challenges and exhibits in order to demonstrate their learning from over the previous four weeks - Understand various elements of forces and energy. - Use their thinking and communication skills to work as a team. - Act responsible when working at the different exhibits and experiments. - Use activities from the LaunchPad site to demonstrate forces and energy.

Discuss previous knowledge and record findings on the white board, ‘What we have learnt so far....’ Explain the various exhibits. Address any questions. Explain worksheets for each station. Discuss key safety aspects associated with the lesson. Assign a group to a station. Explain the time limit of 8 minutes at each station. Begin the experiments/ exhibits/ challenges. Discuss the findings of each group from each station. Time Management: 10:45 – Organise the class into their science groups. 10:50 – Begin explanation of the stations etc. 11:00 - Begin the main part of the activity. 8 mins per station, i.e. involves quick thinking and effective use of team work. 12:00 – Discussion of findings.

See individual diagrams attached for resource lists.

Observation of; thinking skills, team work & scientific knowledge. Gather information from the children concerning the entire four lessons and the trip to W5, in order for us to evaluate its effectiveness.

General classroom organisation. See individual sheets attached for safety issues connected to each station.

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Title of scheme: Light School: Gilnahirk Primary School

Class: P.3

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Overall aims

• Pupils will be encouraged to learn and discover information about light through enquiry based science and cross curricular activities.

Prior knowledge

Some work on light covered the previous year (P.2).

Thinking skills and personal capabilities

• Make ideas real by experimenting with different designs, actions, outcomes.

• Value the unexpected or surprising.

• See opportunities in mistakes and failures.

• Take risks for learning.

Areas of the Northern Ireland

Curriculum which will be addressed

Pupils should have opportunities to:

• Investigate different sources of light

• Understand the importance of light in our everyday lives

Cross-curricular skills

• Pupils will be able to communicate with each other and teachers through talking and listening.

Learning

outcomes

Teaching and

learning activities

Key Questions Key

vocabulary

Resources Monitoring

and Evaluating

Lesson one

Pupils will: - identify different light sources - understand that we need light to be able to see in the dark - understand that shiny objects are not a light source - know that light can pass through some materials and not others Lesson two

The children

will:

-Recognise that a shadow forms when sunlight is blocked -Recognise that light from a range of sources produces shadows -Describe

- DVD ‘Can’t you sleep little bear?’

- Circus of 4 activities, each lasting approximately 5-10 minutes: sorting light sources, experimenting with light sources, looking at shiny light objects and hide activity

- Curtain investigation

- Groups will feedback to the whole class: what material would Little Bear like to use for his curtains?

- Read the

story ‘Izzy and the skunk’

- Discuss light and shadows

- Demonstrate the shadow a

What was little bear so scared of? Are you scared of the dark? How did the bears make it not as dark in the cave? Light came from different places in the story, what were they? Where does the light come from outside? What materials would be good for Little Bear to use for his curtains? What materials would he not want to use? Where there any materials that surprised you?

How are shadows made? How can shadows be made smaller or bigger? What is a shadow? What animals shadow is this? Can you make your own shadows? How? How could you change the shadow?

Light, light source, let light through, shadow, reflect, shiny.

Shadow, block, light, big, small

Reflect, reflective,

-see lesson plan

- see lesson plan - see lesson plan

-Observation of pupils carrying out the activities will demonstrate their level of understanding. -The results that groups come up with will show whether they have understood the concept of light passing through materials.

-listening to the verbal responses to key questions - Worksheet will evaluate if pupils have grasped the key concept of the lesson, shadows.

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Samples of students’ presentations

Lesson 2: Mrs Barnes

Activities:

� Interactive whiteboard

� Shadow boxes

� Shadow puppets

� Light sources

Introduction: “Izzy and Skunk”

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Lesson 3: Mrs Thompson

Activities:

� Reflective Materials

� Mixing colours

� Colours of the rainbow

� Opaque, transparent

and translucent.

Introduction: “Disappearing Dog”

Discovery Dog

Lesson 4: Miss Earls

Activities:

� Shadow puppets

� Light catchers

� Quiz

Introduction: Discussion of previous learning

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Appendices

Appendices

Financial Statement

ESCALATE PROJECT - FINANCE MONITORING 2008-09

AS AT JANUARY 2009 £

Income

Funding - First Instalment 774.00

Total Income 774.00

Expenditure

Visits to W5 Belfast 735.00

Bus Hire 240.00

Belfast Education & Library Board 479.53

Hospitalty 18 December 15.50

Total Expenditure 1,470.03

Funding Due at January 2009 -696.03

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Sample Lesson Plan

Primary Science Beyond the Classroom - Lesson Plan

Gilnahirk Primary School P3 Topic Light

Team B Lesson 3 Thursday 27th November 2008

Area(s) of Learning /Cross Curricular Skills/Thinking Skills and Personal

Capabilities

- The World Around Us

- Communication through talking and listening; listening to and taking part in

discussions and explanations

- Communicate information, ideas and opinions

- Make predictions

- Work with others by listening actively and sharing opinions

How does this lesson relate to W5?

Our previous lessons prepared the children for our trip to W5. Our workshop in

W5 was on the topic of light and the aim of this lesson is to consolidate what the

children have learned and expand on this.

Learning outcomes:

- discuss the properties of reflective materials, giving examples

- select the materials that will be easily seen in the dark and discuss

- investigate rainbows, mixing colours

- properties of transparent, translucent and opaque materials.

Resources

Discovery Dog CD ROM

Discovery Dog Puppet

Investigation Pack for Collars

Fluorescent Yellow Material

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Naughty Nora Puppet

Big Book – Look Out on the Road

Big Book – Rainbows

Reflective Jacket

Reflective Bib

Reflective Belt

Reflective Arm Band

Reflective Vest for Dog

Teddy Bear Keyring Reflector

Break Down Triangle

Bicycle Reflectors

Cats eyes from the road

Cards with Colours of the Rainbow

Cards with Names & Definitions

Of Transparent, Opaque etc.

Rainbow Cut & Stick Sheet

Testing Materials Recording Sheet

Scissors & Glue

Silver Holographic Tape

Silver Sequined Material

Black Paper

Cardboard

Pink Foam

Pink Straw

Red Net

Investigation Pack for Materials

Kitchen Roll

Greaseproof Paper

Tinfoil

Clear Plastic Sheet

Red Net

Black Paper

Colour Paddle

Coloured Plastic Sheets

Torches

Introduction

The children met the puppets and started the lesson by watching the Discovery

Dog story ‘Disappearing Dog’. In this story Naughty Nora gets lost in the dark. At

the end Discovery Dog asks the children to help design and make a collar for her so

she can be seen in the dark.

Development

To prepare the children for this we look at page 20-22 in the big book – Look Out

on the Road and discuss reflective clothing and other reflectors to help us be seen

more easily in the dark. We also looked at cats eyes and the children had to guess

what they were.

The children were put into groups of 7 and each group was given a few torches and

an investigation pack. They had to test the materials and decide which would be

the best material to make Naughty Nora’s collar out of and report back to the

group giving their reasons for their choice.

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Activities

Half of the class worked on Rainbows. We read pgs 4 & 5 from the big book –

Rainbows and discussed what rainbows are and how they are formed. We then had

to remember all the colours in the correct order and put the cards up on the wall.

The children then had a cut and stick sheet where they had to cut out their own

colours and stick them in their World Around Us books in the correct order. When

they had finished this they used the torches and the colour paddle and coloured

plastic sheets to investigate what happened when light was shone through 1 colour

or 2 colours together. This knowledge would prepare the children for the Art

lesson the next week.

The other half learned that materials could be transparent, translucent or opaque

and the words and definitions were stuck up on the board. They then predicted and

tested the materials in the investigation pack to see if they were transparent,

translucent or opaque and completed the sheet which they later stuck into their

books.

Then both halves swapped over so that everyone got to do both activities.

Classroom organisation

Everyone watched the story on the IWB from their seats and then we discussed

reflective clothing and objects bringing children up to the front to help

demonstrate these. The dog collar investigation took place in groups of 7 around

the tables with 1 student working with each of the 4 groups. Each group chose 1

person to come up to the front and report their findings and conclusions and we

tried all the collars on the puppet.

For the other activities the class were split in half and each did the activities on

colours and rainbows and testing materials. 2 students worked with each group. We

all came together again as a whole class for the conclusion.

Conclusion of lesson

At the end of the lesson we discussed what we had done and reported on our

findings from the investigation about materials. We also talked about our trip to

W5 and looked at the photographs (over 100) on the interactive white board.

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Monitoring and Evaluating

Listening to the story and taking part in the follow up discussion.

Identifying reflective materials and objects and explaining their uses.

Investigating the best material to use for the dog collar and explaining their

choices.

Answering questions about rainbows and ordering the colours correctly.

Predicting and giving reasons why they think light will/will not travel through a

certain material. Carrying out an investigation.

Discussion about their trip to W5.

Approach adopted to team teaching

I took the lead in this lesson; introducing the topic, explaining what the class were

going to do and concluding the lesson. The other three students and I were

designated to one of the circus activities about light where we individually lead

discussions and demonstrated a particular aspect of light to the children. During

the investigation all four of us worked around the groups to develop their ideas

through discussion.

Lesson Evaluation

Were the learning objectives met? How do I know?

All four learning outcomes were met during the lesson. The children all took part in

the discussion and demonstration about reflective materials. They used this

knowledge to carry out the dog collar investigation and explained their choices.

During each activity we observed how the children were working and questioned

them about their predictions and results. During the conclusion the children

discussed their results with the rest of the class and answered questions.

What might I have changed?

We found that the investigation into opaque, transparent and translucent materials

took longer than expected. This left us with less time for the conclusion of the

lesson. If I was to repeat the lesson again I would leave out the activity about

colours and rainbows (to be included in another lesson). Completing the worksheet

for the investigation took a long time as each child had to write all the words out in

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full (& there wasn’t enough room on the worksheet). These could have been

simplified or they could have just had 1 worksheet per group.

Did the team teaching approach work? How?

Yes it worked extremely well. Team teaching allowed us to plan and share ideas

about each of the lessons. I found this a great resource as we all have different

ideas and experiences. Planning also made each of us aware of what we wanted the

children to achieve in each of the lessons and we all drew this out when supervising

the activities. It allowed exciting activities to take place easily; activities that

would have been very time-consuming to set up alone. The team teaching approach

also ensured that children had lots of opportunities to discuss their ideas with one

of us. The team worked together to set up the investigation quickly, therefore

children were not sitting idly at any point during the lesson.

(Post visit lessons only) Any evidence of reinforcing experiences from the visit

to W5? The visit to W5 introduced the children to the concepts of the rainbow, and

initiated learning about reflective materials. The lesson reinforced these

experiences through the examining of the different materials and the discussion

and investigation of materials.