Tag Archives: #dlw16

3..2..1.. Mission 4 accomplished!

We are learning to research and report on scientific news items

A successful report will include:

  • Mission name
  • Date it happened
  • Information about the significant event
  • Country responsible
  • Duration- 1 minute

This week, Primary 5 received Mission 4 as part of their IDL context, Project Planetarium. We were challenged to work in our home teams to research two significant space missions from throughout history. We then worked as a class to put together a timeline of space exploration in our very own documentary, A History of Space Travel.

To prepare, each home team had to select an envelope containing two space missions they were to research, along with some QR codes which linked to useful websites they could use. We also had a set of useful links posted on our Yammer page and could use our own or the schools devices to access these.

Most teams decided to share the work between them, researching a different mission each and then sharing their findings with each other. Next, we began to rehearse our news reports, utilising the skills we have been developing in drama, and, finally, we filmed them. So fasten your seat belts and prepare for lift off as we blast you into the past on a journey through space travel…

BYOD Glow Meet

To celebrate Digital Learning Week, today some of our Technical Troopers took part in a Glow Meet with Williamston Primary School to share our progress with Bring Your Own Device so far. Both schools shared how they have been using BYOD to enhance teaching and learning, and it certainly inspired our thinking and gave us some great ideas about what we could do next. Some of the pupils in Williamston have been using online tools to create their own profile pictures for their Yammer accounts, which has inspired P5 in Mid Calder to do the same.

Thank you to the pupils who gave up some of their lunch time to share some of the great examples of learning through digital technologies happening in both schools.

Anytime, Anywhere Learning: Socrative

Yesterday, Primary 5 used Socrative to demonstrate our learning about space and our Solar System. We completed a ‘Space Race’ which involved us being put into teams and racing to answer 25 questions all about what we have been learning about through our IDL context, Project Planetarium. We were able to track our progress on the SMART Board, which definitely encouraged us to be quick and accurate with our answers.

Today we expanded our use of Socrative, using it to demonstrate our knowledge of fractions during a mental maths warm up. We had to answer a range of different styles of questions including multiple choice and true or false. We’re looking forward to exploring other ways we can use Socrative in our classroom.

Mission 4: Astronaut Adventures

Mission 4 arrives at project Project Planetarium this week and it was all about Space Missions!

Part 1:

We used Twig on Glow videos to investigate how the news reported Neil Armstrong landing on the moon compared to Tim Peake at the International Space Station. We recognised that videos have changed over the years, for example videos now are clearer, coloured pictures, sharper images and have zoom. We also noticed how Tim Peake used Social Media to share his adventures in space via Twitter and a Video Log, this is something they could not do during Neil Armstrong’s mission.

Part 2:

Each Home Team are currently researching 2 space missions each. We made notes under the following headings:

  • Name of the Mission
  • Date of the mission
  • Important information about the mission

We skimmed and scanned a selection of websites and books to find out the relevant information. We had to use key words to research using different search engines. We used Yammer to make a list of useful child friendly websites that we could use – this was so we could help each other. We will use this information to make a timeline of missions.

Part 3:

We have been learning about the job of a astronaut. We used books, videos and websites to discuss:

  • The role of an astronaut
  • The experience you need
  • The skills/ qualities you need

We found out that you need to have a qualification in Science or Technologies, and that is was useful to have a knowledge of different languages. We will use the information we found out to write a job advert for an Astronaut.

We also have been trying to build our own spacecraft – watch this space!

Orienteering Club

For the last 4 weeks, the orienteering after school club have been having great fun learning all about the different knowledge and skills needed for orienteering. This week, we brought all of these skills together to take part in a space themed orienteering challenge using QR codes to help us. We split into teams and, by using our growing map reading skills, we navigated our way around the school to locate 10 different markers. At each marker, we had to answer a space quiz question by scanning a QR code and using the URL link to find the correct answer. When reflecting on the challenge, we thought we had used our listening, memory, sharing and teamwork skills. We also had to use our sense of direction, as well as our ICT skills.

Using ICT to enhance learning in Mid Calder

We are living in a constantly evolving digital world and technology has an impact on nearly every aspect of our lives. And, we are very lucky to be able to use this technology in school to develop skills that will help us in the world of work and in our journey as lifelong learners in our ever advancing world.

Here are some of the ways that we use ICT to enhance our teaching and learning in Mid Calder Primary School: