Category Archives: Contemporary issues

History – Repeating itself?

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For my first input on Social Subjects and History, I feel inspired, motivated and ready for the challenge.

I can investigate a Scottish historical theme to discover how past events or the actions of individuals or groups have shaped Scottish society. SOC 2-03a

Ø Think about the selected outcome.

This outcome not only involves researching a theme but using judgment and current research to compare and reflect for today’s society in Scotland. I think choosing a war or focusing on war as a whole would be a good topic to use for this outcome as it has clear impacts that children might have previous knowledge on and would be able to identify.

Ø Brainstorm key questions – line of inquiry for the outcome

  • What effect does war have on how we treat other people in our society and beyond. (Example could be to compare how women, immigrants, and citizens from a certain country are treated)
  • What effect does war have on our industries and how it has shaped what we create now
  • The differences in how we dress as a society – have our attitudes changed through the time of war
  • Have our values as a society changed since then and how?
  • How do the children in the class feel about war

Ø Think of some activities

  • One group creates a newspaper from a certain date and one creates one of current news – review the differences
  • One group acts out a family situation from the time of war and one group acts out one from today
  • Reviews images of scenarios from wartime to today or simple aspects of society such as the high street.
  • Reviewing how society shares information from then to now

Ø What resources might you need?

  • Artifacts
  • Video clips and documentaries
  • Sourced pictures
  • Information – facts about war
  • Fact and fiction books
  • Class trip to a museum and visiting local areas – research and review

ØWhat concepts are you developing

  • Building on previous knowledge
  • Inquiry
  • Classroom talk

Talking about how to involve history in the classroom has inspired me to watch ‘Back in time for School’, a programme about time traveling students and their teacher. This episode involves a social historian exploring secondary moderns in the 1960s. This visually made it clear of the issues involved in the education and social systems of the time and I think it would be very beneficial to explore in a classroom.

Intro to HWB

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  • Can teach children about different types of sugar
  • Show an item that is high in sugar such as chocolate then one low in sugar. Get children to measure out amounts of sugar next to them and see what they think about
  • Sugar in both savory and sweet foods
  • amount of recommended sugar in one day
  • sugar in ‘healthy’ foods
  • History of sugar – Britain after WW2 to now. Reducing fat = increasing sugar – mathematical lessons can be possible.
  • Different sugar related diseases – sugar as dangerous. Also in less obvious ways.
  • ‘Sweet tooth’ – show effects on teeth
  • Relating sweet items to occasions or socialising – birthdays etc
  • Build a healthy meal – get play food
  • Sugar vs sweeteners?
  • Damien Gameau documentary – Calories are not equal.
  • Process of sugar digestion in body – show a picture of insides and get children to label parts such as liver.
  • Healthy sugars in fruit
  • Metabolically unhealthy in non-obese children
  • How can children reduce their sugar? – Small swaps
  • What does added sugar mean? – Juice drink vs real fruit
– Up to 2 years of age children shouldn’t have any added sugar or salt in their diet.
Growth, Development and Relationships 
Dr Suzanne Zeedyk shows that babies are born connected. Important for children to have secure and healthy relationships from birth. As primary practitioners we have the responsibility to provide support and take action.
I would encourage a lesson which is purely based on relationships. I would start with getting children to come up to the board and provide one person they have a relationship with. If the children think they have no-one to write about then I think this is a Gage of how much they know and understand about what relationships are. I would then go on to explain that relationships are not just with partner but do exist with the people in your life. I would provide a couple of examples I have such as professional relationships with other staff in the school. I would then do the same activity and see what answers the children write (if there was a lack of answers before). We could continue with a class discussion over what it means in a relationship, what values exist in a relationship, what makes a positive relationship and a negative one. I would bring it simply to the example of a pet and how this brings responsibility, trust and companionship to a relationship. Continuing, I would encourage children to pick one relationship they have which means a lot to them and to write a letter to the person it is. Not only does this encourage literacy and language development but supports children in understanding how they feel and how to express this to another being, hence showing the impact we have on each other through our relationships. I would encourage children to explore how they feel towards this person and if they have anything they would like to express to them – such as an apology or simply being thankful. When completed I would get the children to either post the letter (which support) or give it to the person and see what the response is and how it makes each other feel. 
This has also made me reflect on the relationships I currently have and has reinforced to me how important it is to treat others with kindness, being nonjudgmental and positive, which I have noticed can be easily lost in day to day life. Therefore, it is part of my professional responsibility to make a conscious effort to work around this. I also hope to make to build this into the foundation of my classroom so each child can feel welcome and happy. 

The 1st Dance

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1ST DANCE INPUT

From this introductory experience of dance, I have learned the importance of:

  • How and why to present myself in a confident manner through body language and movement
  • Facilitating children to be creative and active
  • To help children understand why and how they are learning through dance
  • The use of music as a tool
  • How to manage classroom dynamics of organising a dance lesson
  • How to build children’s confidence
  • Supporting children in showing their personality through their work
  • How to utilise the space in a room
  • Health and Safety
  • The reality of classroom situations – friends falling out, insecurities.
  • Checking music before use in class and or when using youtube videos. Dance-related videos as the stimulus – create discussions with class around dance
  • Learning dances from different religions – RME.

Key Ideas and concepts:

  • Interdisciplinary through dance (Active cross-curricular learning)
  • Having conversations with kids over what they have developed in their dance lesson – different skills such as critical thinking
  • Exploring the benefits of dance such as better mental health

This workshop has helped me to understand how to plan a dance lesson to BEGIN to support meeting identified E’s and O’s such as:

 

  • I have experienced the energy and excitement of presenting/performing for audiences and
    being part of an audience for other people’s presentations/performances.
    EXA 0-01a / EXA 1-01a / EXA 2-01a
  • I enjoy creating short dance sequences, using travel, turn, jump, gesture, pause and fall, within safe practice. EXA 1-08a