Practical Teaching Advice, Ideas and Opinion

Archive for the ‘Subject Teaching’ Category

3 Free Science Experiments You Can Try In Class

After the massive success of the Sue Cowley behaviour management videos we showed in a previous blog post, I thought it would be nice to give away a few more freebies from our video archive. This week a free video from each of our 3 DVDs on creative science experiments. [myyoutubeplaylist ZYyjk25HhII, XDzI-Q10Vi0, -sMUfUuSNvw] There are 36 experiments in total across chemistry, biology and physics each with an explanatory video, student worksheets and health and safety guidance. Blog readers can get a £10 discount fo the full set by quoting the code Blog (cunning eh?)

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10 Ideas for using Geochaching at School

Geocaching can really capture pupils' imaginations

This post gives you an introduction to geocahcing and a range of ideas for how you can use it at school to engage and motivate your class.

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10 Ideas for Communicating History Understanding at KS1 & 2

Have your pupils design coins to commemorate the Romans - deciding what to feature and why is a great way for them to explore what they've learnt

History is a topic that can really capture the imagination of primary school pupils and there are a whole host of exciting ways to further their learning whilst enabling them to communicate what they have understood about a topic so far.  Ten ideas are suggested below – do you have any more to add? Audio-visual commentary: Pupils provide a spoken commentary e.g. for some selected pictures of mysterious looking Ancient Greek or Egyptian objects, as if for someone using a headset in a museum today. This gives the activity real purpose and, of course, a certain appeal to reluctant writers!

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Tackling Tricky Topics in PSHE

Some topics can be embarrassing or difficult for you to discuss as well as your pupils.  Preparation is vital!

Teachers need to create a safe environment in which pupils can share their feelings, explore their values and attitudes, express their opinions and consider those of others without attracting negative feedback.  This will help to enhance self-esteem and encourage more open discussion. It will also help to make sure that teachers are not anxious about unexpected language use or comments. To do this, teachers should: Help pupils set ground rules about how they will behave towards each other in discussion Judge when to allow pupils to discuss issues confidentially in small groups and when to support them by listening in

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MFL: 8 Things you should know about every pupil

Taking the time to learn a little about your pupils makes it much easier to motivate them with the content of your lessons

Get to know your pupils so you can make MFL come alive for them

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