Tag: storyline

Deanburn Celebrates Global Citizenship Learning

IMG_4652Pupils, parents and staff from primary 2, 3, 4 and 6 at Deanburn Primary School celebrated more successful learning on Thursday 29th January.

Liz Stephens, class teacher, and Laura Beattie, principal teacher have been part of Global Storyline training delivered by partners from WOSDEC in collaboration with Falkirk Education Services. Last session they developed their use of the storyline approach and drama to deepen pupil understanding of global citizenship issues. This session they have continued this process and supported primary colleagues in delivering their own global storyline – The Farming Community. As these photos show, each class created their own crop and farming community then experienced the ups and downs of market fluctiations and the impact these have on rural economies.   IMG_4651

Yvonne McBlain, support officer with Falkirk Education Services enjoyed listening to pupils from each class sharing their learning. In primary 4B “The Scott Family” looked forward to sharing their market stalls and video jingles with the guests. Claire and Holly liked pretending to be part of the Johnstone family. “I really liked doing Josh. I got angry because the buyer said she wouldn’t pay all the money.” “I got confused, like I didn’t know what to do.” Other primary 4 pupils enjoyed making their characters and learning about Fair trade – “Because it helps farmers all over the world and I didn’t know that” said Rebecca Smith.

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 In primary 3M, a character called James Bond! made a stall to show that their crop “Magic Tree” could be made into perfume.

In primary 2G the village was called Treetop and the crop was called the Spectacular Seeing and Healing tree. Reece and Robbie gave Yvonne a great tour of their storyline diary. Their drawings clearly show how they felt about the price the buyer’s origninally offered for their crop, AND the new price when the market “fell”. The boys enjoyed painting the scarecrow “to scare the birds away cos they might eat our crops.” They also liked making the harvesting machine with their bodies “we got to make a big machine what harvested our crops.    IMG_4666IMG_4665                                                   

 

 

 

 In each class it was clear that the pupils understood how unfair global trading could be to small, rural communities. They used a variety of activities to help their parents and guests understand this too. Some children manned the Fair Trade activity, and told the story of how crops like tea and bananas get from the field to our shops.

SAM_6273At second level in primary 6, pupils took their exploration of global trading a step further when their storyline community was subjected to a “land grab” by a multi-national company. Pupils shared their understanding of the complex issues which enable this to happen, but staging their own land grab and protest during the afternoon.

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There was a great turn out of guests sharing in the learning of their children. Laura, Liz and colleagues gave their pupils’ another opportunity to present and share their learning by inviting other classes in the school to come and visit the global storyline classes the following day.

Staff at Deanburn PS are effectively using collaborative planning and professional dialogue  to develop their interdisciplinary learning through the cross-cutting theme of Learning for Sustainability. They are making excellent use of their training to improve the learning experiences for their pupils.

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Deanburn Primary 6F learn about the Jacobites

On Friday 12th December, Yvonne McBlain visited primary 6F at Deanburn PS to find out about their Jacobites interdisciplinary learning. Robyn, Findlay, Cara, and Aiden volunteered to write the rest of this blog post to show everyone how much they have learned.

 We started learning about the British Royal family tree. We discovered that this went down and down to James II of England and VII of Scotland. He got exiled to France and was the grandad of Charles Edward Stewart – also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie (the young pretender). 6F made up a Jacobite character called Angus Ferguson (see our photo of Angus with the prince).

 Angus, our made up character was good friends with the Macdonalds, and went to the massacre of Glencoe.

Findlay and Aiden got to become Angus – they got asked questions by the rest of the class and had to think on their feet to answer the questions. Robyn really liked it when Aiden was pretending to be Angus and described how he fought back. We all liked it when we got to pretend to be talking in Gaelic as Angus. He had 3 children and a wife. Cara learned “Angus was in danger because he kept some Jacobites in his house with his wife and his kids so he might have got caught.

 We have also learned the Robert Burns song “Ye Jacobites by Name” which we think is an anti-war song. We think Robert Burns sympathised with the Jacobites but thought that they should stop fighting. 

We learned that the final battle on British soil was the battle of Culloden and after this Bonnie Prince Charlie left Scotland forever.   We made targes, Highland sheep and pictures of Highland cows.” The Jacobites was a great topic because we got to learn about wars in history and we got to make targes, highland sheep and Highland cows pictures in art.”

Findlay “I feel I learned that the Jacobites were intelligent at some points – not all points.”

Aiden “The Earl of Mar wasn’t very bright – he tried to get inside a castle but the ropes he brought were too short!”

Robyn liked when we learned about the old and young pretender trying to come back to Scotland – the old pretender got no support but the young pretender’s army grew from 7 men to thousands. And I really liked how it was the last battle and he was like we can do it again but he didn’t. I liked making the targes too.”

 

Yvonne McBlain was impressed by the pupils’ knowledge of these important Scottish historical events, and was bowled over by their enthusiasm for their learning. It is clear that their teacher  made powerful use of Angus the storyline character to deepen the children’s understanding of the impact of these events on real people at the time. By using drama conventions and building in skill development in technology and expressive arts, learning has obviously been very engaging for these primary 6 pupils.

Titanic Disaster at Deanburn PS

On Friday 12th December, Yvonne McBlain visited Deanburn PS to hear all about the Titanic storyline topic which primary 6/5C have been working on. Hollie, Miah and Iona were kind enough to give her a tour of their classroom and wrote the rest of this blog post.

We received secret missions with information about what we had to do for our topic. One Monday morning, we were told we had to wear old clothes – it was the 16th of October. On that morning, we were told we were going to be doing arts and crafts and that we had to build a 2D model of the Titanic. We didn’t know much about the ship, but worked in four groups and there was a funnel group, a deck and promenade group, a hull and under-hull group, and a sea group. Our teacher Mrs Crawford showed us lots of pictures and we searched Google images for more. It took us two days, but in the end we managed to finish our ginormous picture of the Titanic.

 Hollie took a photo of the first class cabin, Iona took one of the second class cabin and Miah took the ones of the crew cabin. 

The girls felt that this topic helped them to understand how things have changed since those days and nowadays. It also helped them respect other people more because “when we were reading the novel about the Titanic, the book says “life’s too short for arguing”.  So now we think it’s a good thing to teach people that, and you should make sure you make the most of life.” Iona said “When we worked in the groups there was a lot of arguing and I think this topic helped us with problem-solving and we HAD TO solve the problem together.”

Miah looked through the evaluations written by others in the class and picked out Sophie’s which said “I really enjoyed my character and completing the missions. It was a very interesting topic.” Jamie’s said “I liked building the Titanic because it was super fun and we got to work together in teams.”

Hollie picked out some comments from the parents of people in our class. One parent said “Thought it was excellent and was really impressed with the effort they had all made, dressing up, etc.” another parent said  “I was most impressed by the amount of research that was carried out. The children obviously worked very hard and it showed.”

It is very clear that these pupils have gained a great deal of knowledge and understanding from Mrs Crawford’s use of the storyline approach with this topic. Yvonne McBlain also noticed the real changes in attitude pupils had developed through taking on roles as characters on the ship, and really enjoyed sharing in the girls’ obvious enthusiasm for their learning.

Our Crop, our Land Storyline at Wallacestone PS

All four Primary 1 classes at Wallacestone Primary School shared and celebrated their Our crop, Our land storyline at the end of November 2014.

The photo on the left shows the farming community frieze created by the children during their global citizenship storyline. Each child took on the role of a villager in the farming community. 

They helped create a new crop called the Super Berry plant and learned all about the processes and stages involved in growing, harvesting and selling it. Even at early level, class teacher Jennifer Main and her colleagues have noticed the impact of this project on pupil understanding of fair trade and global commerce.

The children shared their learning with the many parents and guests who came along to their open afternoon. Jennifer is one of the teachers from Falkirk schools who are making excellent use of their Global Citizenship Storyline training delivered in partnership with WOSDEC over sessions 2013/14 and 2014/15. 

So far everyone involved has been very positive about the impact of this interdisciplinary work. The combination of the drama, social studies, science/HWB and literacy seems particularly engaging for pupils when taught through the storyline approach.

Global Storyline develops at Carron PS

Heather Nicol and her primary 6 class at Carron PS in Falkirk, are working on the Global Storyline project “Our Crop, Our Land” created by WOSDEC. Click here to learn more about this excellent global citizenship resource.

Heather’s pupils created the community of Springfield where most of the villagers rely on farming the crop Berryblush to earn their living. Each pupil has a Springfield persona which they pop in and out of during the storyline to help them understand complex global citizenship and sustainability issues. Click here to see how pupils shared their existing knowledge of farming, and here to see the daily diary of Olivia Spriengeer, one of the Springfield farmers.

Within the drama, it is harvest time and the people of Springfield are preparing to sell this year’s crop of berryblush to the highest bidder at market. (See their marvellous harvesting machines on the right). Outside the drama they have been learning about farming and global commerce and how the cost of real life crops is appropriated to each party who helps to get it to our shops. Click here  and here to see how pupil thinking has been affected by a learning experience called Banana Split, and explore pupil thoughts on why people are hungry by clicking here.

These are some of the learning activities integrated within the storyline to develop real and deep understanding of global commerce, rights, fair trade and social responsiblity and help pupils to become responsible citizens and effective contributors.

Heather’s class are really enjoying this connected learning experience which links experiences & outcomes in social studies, expressive arts and health and well-being. The storyline approach develops empathy and genuine understanding of global issues, as well as making the learning coherent and relevant to the pupils. Heather has applied her global storyline training and context building so well, that pupils asked to take some of their learning experiences home to work on them with their parents. They feel outraged that most farmers get so little payment compared to the other parties involved in getting food to us, and want to make sure others get to know about this too. Heather and her pupils will soon discover just how volatile this market can be, and how that volatility impacts on food producers around the world.

This is an excellent example of type 2 interdisciplinary learning where pupil skills and understanding are broadened and challenged through the cross-cutting themes of global citizenship and sustainability. The storyline approach and integration of drama and art and design ensure that pupils are consistently engaging in higher order thinking and reflection, which results in real progression.

Deanburn Primary School Global Storyline Celebration

On Friday 30th May, Liz Stephen and Laura Beattie of Deanburn PS celebrated the conclusion of their Giant of Thistle Mountain global citizenship storyline. They have both been part of the first cohort of  Falkirk teachers being trained by the West of Scotland Development in  Education Centre (WOSDEC) to deliver their global citizenship storylines.

All of the teachers who have taken part in this interdisciplinary learning have reported very valuable impact on their pupils. This includes development of pupil understanding of social justice and equality (Why is the giant so unhappy? What can we do to help?), their respect for diversity (Don’t assume the giant is bad because he is loud and scary-looking), and their critical thinking and ability to understand the importance of communities.

The pupils in Liz Stephen’s primary 1 class greeted fellow pupils, parents and other guests by miming their character role in their imaginary village of Thistle Mountain. They then took their guests on a guided tour of their work throughout the storyline and the frieze and model village they had created. Both classes had created their own giant too.

This storyline bundles a small number of experiences and outcomes from Religious and Moral Education, Health and Well Being and Social Subjects. It skillfully combines active learning experiences with drama interludes where the children are in role and have to deal with very difficult questions and issues. They are taken on a journey which effectively supports them in forming their social attitudes and emotional development. There was lots of evidence of deep understanding of the dangers of stereotyping and the value of co-operation and collaboration to build a succesful community. It was clear from the children’s readiness to take on their character role, that they thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. (Click here to view a video compilation of the work displayed)

 Laura effectively built opportunities for pupils to apply their literacy knowledge and understanding through a before and after “role on the wall” activity. Each class created their own giant and village using their chosen media.

Liz and her class used a flip chart to capture their developing ideas throughout the project, and this was available for parents to view during their visit. It can be very difficult to capture evidence of developing learning during discussion with groups of children, and Liz found this flip chart method worked really well.

Developing literacy skills through Storyline in Secondary School

On 23rd May, Yvonne McBlain visited Falkirk High School to see Lynne Ferguson, English teacher, and her S1 class working on their Space storyline.

Lynne has continued to develop her use of this approach following initial exploration with Yvonne 4 years ago. This year, Lynne’s pupils needed to develop their listening skills in particular, so she tailored the storyline to help pupils progress these. She structured the literacy tasks to allow particular development of note-taking and the associated understanding required to do this well.   The E & Os targeted were 4-05a & 4-09a, and Lynne also integrated significant aspects of learning which she knew the pupils would need to develop for NQ5.

During this lesson, some pupils took on their storyline role as a member of the crew destined to save Earth. They were making themselves available to the world’s press who wanted to find out about their mission to initiate the colonisation of a new and unpolluted planet in order to save human kind. The rest of the pupils were in role as international press reporters from a publication of their choice. The mission director conducted the conference according to protocols observed on the news. Pupils had prepared some initial questions, but readily used their listening and notes to question statements made by the crew. There was strong evidence that pupils were developing questions from their notes and they grew increasingly skilled and direct in building on the answers of the crew. Their questions showed that they were an informed audience with deep concerns over issues around the mission, and they were increasingly probing in pursuing satisfactory answers. 

The pilot of the mission crew got a particular grilling about his lack of English and any communication issues this might cause during the journey – particularly if anything went wrong. The agriculturalist was confident that he had all of the requirements to grow food once they arrived on planet Tenalp Wen, but was a bit miffed that he couldn’t bring his dog and house it with the other beasts in the special hold. The scientist, medical officer, chief of security and supplies expert were also confident that they could fulfil their roles. Pupils were very able to apply their drama improvisation skills in conjunction with their listening to help them understand and respond. The crew answered well and increased in confidence visibly. They were able to sustain their roles with ease and all pupils made good use of factual and inferential information.

Following the press conference, pupils came out of role and were asked to pretend that lift off had happened, and the mission was now in progress. Lynne showed a video of life in the international space station during which pupils had to prepare to answer the following questions:

What is the purpose of this film (text)?  Who is the audience for the Film?

What did you learning about the environment? What surprised you about living in space?

Lynne paused the video to give pupils a chance to capture relevant notes before viewing the next section.

Lynne’s use of storyline has enabled her pupils to develop specific literacy skills within an engaging context. The storyline approach ensured that pupil voice/personalisation and choice was embedded in this work. Pupils were able to apply science knowledge and understanding through the context. They were also able to apply their drama and art & design skills in the development of their characters, setting, and the plot of their story.

Falkirk Global Citizenship Showcase

Teachers and pupils from a range of Falkirk establishments showcased their Global Citizenship work at an event in Larbert Village Primary School on 15th May 2014.

Bo’ness Academy shared International Education and Commenius projects worked on by their S2 & 3 pupils. This work targeted a range of skills and there was great evidence of pupil research and information handling capabilities. Larbert High School pupils confidently shared a range of Global Citizenship and Sustainability work. It was obvious that they have worked in a really effective way with partner organisations like Communities on the Carron to change their local environment. The school captains have also driven the Captain’s challenge initiative which is motivating  pupils to really push their own personal achievements out with their academic studies. Click here to see a flyer or use this link  http://youtu.be/SMmsECVH3zE  to get more information about this inspirational project.

 Inchlair Nursery children spoke confidently to visitors about all of the Commonwealth Games learning they have gained over the last few months. Click http://glo.li/1idQWh7 to read more about this work. They have been really engaged by the story of Captain Bristle’s Thistles and wore their special Inchlair Commonwealth T-shirts.  Larbert Day Nursery staff shared the learning their children have  gained about the Commonwealth and the games using their floor book and examples of children’s work.

There was also lots of good primary school practice on show, linked to the Commonwealth Games theme. Teachers in Falkirk schools have been creative in their planning and delivery of lessons within the cross-cutting theme of global citizenship. They have used the Commonwealth context to make their teaching relevant and coherent for their pupils. The examples displayed showed that pupil skills, knowledge and understanding were being broadened and deepened through this work – sometimes to develop new skills, sometimes to offer a new way to apply existing skills.

Pupils have also been developing their attitudes and ability to challenge their thinking about global citizenship issues. Teachers taking part in Global Storyline training shared their development of The Giant of Thistle Mountain. These teachers have adapted this storyline for their pupils and were able to evidence extremely valuable teaching and learning around issues like stereotyping, racism, needs and wants. Pupils from Limerigg PS and Carron PS shared their learning experiences with guests. Each class involved in these storylines has created their own visualisation of the “giant” character – see some of these in the photo above. 

Isabel Ross from Scotdec attended the event and shared valuable resources and training opportunities with people who attended. The showcase was organised by Megan Farr of Falkirk Service Support and Improvement Team in conjunction with Laura Willox and her Global Citizenship strategy group colleagues. Jane Jackson and Yvonne McBlain of Falkirk Service Support and Improvement Team hope to work with this group and other colleagues to support our authority implementation of the recommendations in the Learning for Sustainability report. Click here to link to this report http://glo.li/1nIWaZW .

Moray Primary School Teachers Develop Storyline Practice

Gillian Brodie, principal teacher at Moray PS, and her Raci task colleagues have been working since last session to develop staff use of the storyline approach to enhance interdisciplinary learning. All staff agreed that they would use this approach with their pupils between January and March 2014 to link experiences and outcomes within social subjects: people, past events, and societies and other relevant areas of the curriculum. Staff identified historical contexts for learning which they felt addressed the principles of curriculum design, consulted with pupils, and then planned the learning in a collaborative and mutually supportive way.

Nursery pupils tracked Dora the Explorer’s travels across the world which will lead to development of their knowledge of the Commonwealth Games later this term. Through various activities, they have been able to develop and apply their literacy and fine motor skills.

 Primary 1 have also focused on literacy skills using the Fairyland Learning Unlimited resource as a starting point. These pictures hopefully give a flavour of the way the pupils and teachers have developed this storyline. Staff reported that pupil motivation for writing and the amount of writing produced was greatly increased by the Fairyland context. It was a very successful context within which pupils could develop their independent writing skills.

 

Most teachers have offered pupils the opportunity to choose from a range of rich homework tasks which can be done with parents and grandparents.

Primary 2 pupils led their storyline to help them learn everything they need to know about Pirates. Their teachers are ensuring that they develop skills across the technologies which extending their knowledge and understanding of piracy in the past. Click here to read the pirate code created by the pupils, and here to see and example of a power point presentation created by a pupil.

The children are revelling in their pirate alter ego characters, as can be seen from the biography here.

The primary 3 teachers are using the character of Howard Carter to guide their pupils through a range of challenges which extend their knowledge and understanding of Ancient Egypt. These challenges allow pupils to develop their problem solving capabilities, and apply skills within a small selection of relevant curricular areas.

 The pupils have also written some “little questions” which they want to have answered during their studies.

 Staff in primary 3/4 & 4 have adapted Falkirk’s own Roman storyline to meet the needs of their pupils. They are comparing the lives of rich and poor Romans and considering the conflict between the Romans stationed on the Antonine Wall and the native Celts already living here at that time.

Connor said “I learned that there’s a lot of differences – the rich ones have bigger houses and they can afford slaves… and the poor have to help their mums at home.”

Primary 5 staff and pupils are adapting Falkirk’s own Scottish Wars of Independence storyline. to broaden understanding of Scottish history and extend and consolidate a range of skills. Pupils are now creating a museum space for the exhibits they have made.

Primary 6 staff  worked with Sallie Harkness to pilot a Storyline Scotland Drovers plan. Pupils have followed Rob their young drover main character from his home in Lochaber to the Falkirk Tryst. This plan develops pupil understanding of people, place and society as well as people, past events & society within the Scottish context.

 

Staff have used the context to apply knowledge of Scot’s Language with traditional tales. Pupils were particularly worried when the prize bull of the herd went missing and they suspected he might have been kidnapped for slaughter! Click here to see their appeal for help during this incident in their storyline. 

Yvonne McBlain worked with Gillian and the raci group last session and returned on 23rd April 2014 to see how things had developed (unfortunately, she didn’t make it to primary 7 to hear about their drugs and alcohol work). Teachers, staff, SMT and pupils gave positive feedback about how the storylines have impacted on learning. It is clear that good progress is being made through collaborative planning and professional dialogue about interdisciplinary learning. Some storylines have really taken off and are ongoing. A few teachers have adapted and combined their storyline with other approaches such as rich task and big question, little question. Others can now see how they would like to adapt and improve their interdisciplinary learning through these contexts next session.

St Francis Xavier RC PS host Rich Task Open Day

On 23rd March, staff and pupils at St Francis Xavier RC PS welcomed parents, guests and members of the community into their school to share their interdisciplinary learning. Yvonne McBlain of Falkirk Council curriculum support team did her best to visit each classroom to capture a flavour of the learning which had taken place. The afternoon was a real success with a strong turnout of visitors leaving very positive feedback.                                             

Primary 1 & 1/2 classes had studied the film Monsters Inc to develop their ability to interpret digital text. Their teacher employed a storyline approach to guide their learning using the character of Boo. The class explored pattern and shape in a range of ways and worked with a parent who was an interior designer. They created a new room for Boo, complete with a new bed. Tegan enjoyed “when we made the pipes…because we got to paint them and put glitter on them”. Pupil learning linked experiences & outcomes in literacy, science and ICT.

Primary 2 used the story of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to develop their understanding of the design process. On the open day the children in each class experienced a rotation of tasks which their parents & guests could join in with. One of the tasks was making real chocolate crispy cakes.  Every classroom visited had great examples of rich task homework which pupils had self-selected.  

Primary 3 studied Ancient Egypt and most were dressed as Egyptians. Ahmad said “My favourite bit was doing my name in hieroglyphics.”

  In primary 4 Isla was an expert guide and explained the moon missions, alien creation and outdoor survival skills developed during their Space topic. She “enjoyed learning how the rockets work.”

Primary 5 pupils had studied the rainforest and linked learning in science, social studies, and developed their research and literacy skills. Primary 6 classrooms had gone all French and one even had a very large model of the Eiffel Tower in the centre of the room.

    Primary 7 had been working on a SCIAF project to develop their understanding of sustainability and global citizenship.

Staff across all stages had obviously planned thier interdisciplinary learning in a creative and collegiate way. They have impacted positively on their pupils’ engagement in and enjoyment of learning, and employed a range of approaches to “enrich” the curriculum for their pupils.