Beacon Media Supporting Christian schooling worldwide Working with a group

The value of group work Collaborative learning – children work together Children learn from each other and with each other – not just passive listening Children may be grouped according to ability and can therefore be helped at their own level Fewer resources needed

Information in, information out

Is there creative thinking involved?

Types of group work Literacy and Maths groups according to ability levels Projects Creative work such as art or story writing – the teacher’s aid can supervise a group while the teacher is working with the rest of the class

Projects On topics of interest Usually Science, Social Studies Children find out information for themselves by researching

What are research skills? “Finding out” skills Using written, visual or verbal information Reporting on the information found

Why should we teach students to research? When engaged in research student will: develop skills for life long learning be able to find out information for themselves be inspired to learn as they answer their own questions become independent learners

Inquiry-based learning Students want to find out about topics of interest Teacher finds out what the students want to know. The students present questions. How do they find out?

How do children find out? Students should be encouraged to ask questions. The teacher’s aide can direct the children in finding out the answers to their questions.

How can children find out? Exploring Observing Excursions Science experiments Speakers Books and computers Demonstrations

Primary students can learn research skills by doing projects Steps: Choose a topic – whole class or individual Make a list of questions – ask who, what, when, where, why, how These questions can become headings for the project. Sort the information and organize it under the headings.

Guidelines when helping students with their projects When supervising students with research, be alert when it comes to the literature the students are using. Is the material telling the truth? Is the material presenting humanistic and evolutionary viewpoints? Are there any references to “millions of years”? Is there anything that goes against the Bible? If you find any problems with the material, discuss it with your student and later, inform the teacher.

Skills for students to master Tips for children when doing research: First draft: When reading information encourage the student to look for the main ideas. They write these ideas as dot points under headings. They do not write whole sentences at this stage.

Second draft: Now they expand the dot points into whole sentences. They organize the sentences into paragraphs. They have their work checked for mistakes. Third draft: This is the final. They add drawings and coloured headings. They include references.

What other resources can be used? Apart from books and texts students use: maps charts posters photographs interviews objects

Group projects A group leader is chosen to co-ordinate the project. Work in pairs. Each pair takes a different aspect of the topic. Then they share with each other what they have found out. The leader assigns jobs for the final presentation – headings, written information, illustrations.

What is the supervisor’s role? A supervisor can be a teacher or a teacher’s aide. The supervisor moves around the groups making sure that all are participating Helps out where needed Inspires

Presentation of projects Posters 3D Models Hand made books Class talks

Posters

Charts

Models

Hand-made books

Self-assessment of a project The following questions can be presented to the students BEFORE doing their project so they know where they should be heading. The students can use the questions at the END of the project to see how well they have done.

Have I explained how God is involved in this topic? Have I written in my own words and not just copied slabs of text? Have I written in full sentences? Have I used paragraphs? Have I included any of my own original ideas or opinions?

Have I thought about whether the information is actually true? Or does it include some untruths such as evolution? Would any part of this information be against what the Bible has to say? Is the project interesting, neat, clear and well designed? Does it include pictures / diagrams / graphs?

A summary of what to present in a written research project Topic title Questions and answers (who, what, when, where, why, how) OR main idea headings with information set out under headings A sentence or paragraph about God and the topic A Scripture to support this Diagrams, drawings or photographs A list of references

Discussion What are some of the challenges you might face when working with a group, and how can you overcome any problems that might arise?