(CHILDREN CHATTER)
Come in. Sitting on the mat.
My name's Amie Sanderson.
I'm a graduate teacher studying at Charles Darwin University.
This is my final placement.
(SINGS) # Eyes, eyes, eyes on me. #
(CHILDREN SING) # Eyes, eyes, eyes on you. #
AMIE: So the silkworm lesson
is based on us having silkworms within the room
for the past four to six weeks.
They came on a tiny piece of cardboard as eggs
and we've watched them grow through the whole life cycle,
and they've just laid eggs now.
Today's lesson was based on the observations
that the children have had over that time.
OK, so we've seen them from tiny eggs
to big plump silkworms.
What came next?
-CHILDREN: Eggs. -No.
-CHILD: Cocoons. -Cocoons.
-CHILDREN: And then moths. -And moths.
So we have seen them for a very long time.
What I've got up on the board...
It says, "What we have observed."
What would that mean, 'observed'?
I use lots of strategies to try and bring the children in.
So one of my strategies is think, pair, share,
and the reason I like that
is because the children need to think before they speak,
so they need to think about what they know.
Think to yourself. Close your eyes. Have a think.
What's something that you have observed?
I'd like you to turn to the person next to you and ask them,
"What have you observed?"
Then they pair up, speak to the person next to them,
share what they've thought about with that person.
Then we all come together and share as a whole group.
Who would like to share?
The ones that have the orange
leg suckers are the boys
and the one that has the white are the girls.
AMIE: OK, so you thought
that if they had yellow feet or suckers they were the boys
and white were the girls.
As part of the instructions, I provided a model
for the students to see what I was expecting from them.
So I've drawn a mulberry leaf
with a big hole out of the leaf, and it says,
"I liked to hear the silkworms munch on the mulberry leaves."
Can anybody remember hearing them?
Yeah.
So draw a picture, nice and big so we can see it,
and have a try to write - or we can come and help you -
what you liked to observe about the silkworms.
After I sent the children off to do their work
I then walked around the room, helped where I was needed.
I had to chat with some children, just to jog their memory
and help them decide on what they wanted to draw.
So, girls, what I'm looking for
is I'm hoping that you can draw something
that you have observed about the silkworms.
So it might be the cocoon.
CHILD: I'll do it on this side first.
It might be the moths.
So what I want you to do...
Hang on. One second, darling.
..is to draw a picture of something that you liked to observe,
and then I want you to try to write what you have observed
or what your picture is about.
Do you understand? OK.
So I'm really glad that the children listened carefully
to the instructions.
Most of them just went straight to work, straight into their drawing,
and asked for help with writing when needed.
They took on board what needed to be done
and really enthusiastically went about their task.