(SINGS) # Eyes, eyes, eyes on me. #
(CHILDREN SING) # Eyes, eyes, eyes on you. #
So my name's Amie Sanderson.
I'm a graduate student teacher from Charles Darwin University
and this is my final prac, final placement.
So this classroom is set up
as a play-based, kind of child-centred classroom
where children have the option to choose their activity.
They don't have to spend 10 minutes at one activity and five at another,
and they can choose to go from one to the other.
This is really helpful for children
to become engaged in what they're interested in,
and we, as adults, can then extend that learning
through whatever they've chosen to play with.
This term we've been working on recount
for our literacy unit of work,
and we've been working with the 'Gingerbread Man' story.
The children are working towards...by the end of the unit,
they're working towards their own oral recount.
So today's lesson I was modelling
what an oral recount looks like in terms of story
and they were to participate with their own puppets,
so keeping along, they could talk with me during that oral story,
which most of them did.
But the gingerbread man said,
"The little old lady can't catch me and neither will you.
AMIE AND CHILDREN: "Run, run, as fast as you can.
"You can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread man."
I use lots of strategies to try and bring the children in.
They're very young - some of them have just turned five -
so they don't like being on the mat for a very long time.
So lessons are kept short.
Some children need to be in particular spots on the mat
in order for them to learn and not talk to their neighbour.
(CLAPS RHYTHMICALLY)
(CLASS REPEATS CLAPPING RHYTHM)
So some of the strategies I use
to keep the children engaged and ready to learn
are hand clapping patterns which they need to repeat,
little songs that they need to repeat...
(ALL SING) # Wind the bobbin up Wind the bobbin up
# Pull, pull Clap your hands
# Point to the ceiling Point to the floor
# Point to the window Point to the door. #
It just brings them back into their own body
and away from touching other people and those kind of things.
Lucky last question. Anyone who didn't like the activity?
Leigh, how come you didn't like the activity today?
Because it was quite boring to me.
AMIE: It was boring to you. So you needed a bit more of a challenge?
So if you were going to do that lesson again,
would there be anything that you would change?
I think just...it could also be done in small groups
so that those who needed longer stories, or different stories,
or extension or more support could have got that.
That was really difficult to do with a whole group.
So I thought the student who found it boring,
he could have been extended with a small group.
-Yeah. -Yeah. Yeah.
And maybe it's sometimes nice to do a whole-group activity
and then to maybe take those kids
that maybe you see were, you know, having a bit of trouble,
to take them off with a small group.
And it was really nice to see
that Ngaire and Cassie were making their own video,
and obviously they knew the story really well
and they were really happy to film it.
And you could probably do that as an activity over the week,
get, you know, everyone in a small group
and actually, you know, film it.
-Film what they come up with. -Then watch it at the end of the day.
That's a great idea.
I think the lesson was really engaging today, the recount lesson.
I think students participated really well
and I was happy with that level of participation.
I think next time I would add a focus table
for extension for particular students
and perhaps a session for those who needed some extra help.