Attention Deficits ADD : Tips Teachers Should Know
Over 100 suggestions on teaching children with attention deficit problems and/or learning disabilities.
Research shows there are an estimated 3 to 5 percent of school-age children with Attention Deficit Disorder. In response to the needs expressed by teachers for teaching strategies that work with these children, the U.S. Department of Education has supported research in classrooms to determine successful teaching techniques employed by elementary school teachers to keep children focused and on task. The following tips, for experienced and inexperienced elementary school teachers alike, are tried and true methods for reaching children with ADD.
Children with ADD typically have problems with inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. They often have difficulty paying attention in class and seem to shift aimlessly from one unfinished activity to another. These children generally appear restless, fidgeting constantly in their seats, playing with pencils or other objects, or disturbing nearby students. Many children with ADD also have difficulty following their teachers' instructions or forming friendships with other children in the class.
Like other children with disabilities, children with ADD learn best when their teachers understand their special needs and individualize their educational program to meet these needs.
"Attention Deficits: What Teachers Should Know" is a how-to guide with instructional practices you can use to help children with ADD in your class. The practices themselves should be part of an educational program based around three key components-classroom accommodations, behavior management, and individualized academic instruction.
To make this book as valuable a resource as possible, you should consider these steps in developing an effective educational program for your students with ADD:
Evaluate the Child's Individual Needs
Assess the unique educational needs of a child with ADD in your class. Working with a multi-disciplinary team, consider both academic and behavioral needs, using formal diagnostic assessments and informal classroom observations.
Select Appropriate Instructional Practices
Determine which instructional practices will meet the academic and behavioral needs you have identified for the child. Select practices that fit the content, are age appropriate, and gain the cooperation of the child.
Integrate Appropriate Practices Within an Individualized Program
Combine the practices you have selected into an individualized educational program. Plan how to integrate the educational activities provided to other children in your class with those selected for the child with ADD.
Because no two children with ADD are alike, no single educational program, practice, or setting will be best for all children.
Children with ADD often have difficulty learning and achieving academically in school. Effective teachers constantly monitor the child and adapt and individualize academic instruction.
General Instructional Principles
Effective teachers help prepare their students to learn when they introduce, conduct, and conclude each academic lesson. These principles of effective instruction, which reflect what we know about how to educate all children in the class, will especially help a child with ADD to stay focused on his assigned tasks as he transitions from one lesson to another throughout the school day.
Students with ADD benefit from clear statements about their teacher's expectations at the beginning of the lesson. Consider these strategies.
- Review Previous Lessons. Review information about previous lesson on this topic. For example, remind children that yesterday's lesson focused on learning how to regroup in subtraction. Review several problems before describing the current lesson.
- Set Learning Expectations.State what students are expected to learn during the lesson. For example, explain to students that a language arts lesson will involve reading a story about Paul Bunyan and identifying new vocabulary words in the story.
- Set Behavioral Expectations.Describe how students are expected to behave during the lesson. For example, tell children that they may talk quietly to their neighbors as they work on a seatwork assignment or raise their hands to get your attention.
- State Needed Materials.Identify all materials that the child will need during the lesson. For example, specify that children need their journals and pencils for journal writing or their crayons, scissors, and colored paper for an art project; rather than leaving children to figure out on their own the materials required for a lesson.
- Explain Additional Resources.Tell students how to obtain help in mastering the lesson. For example, remind the children to refer to a particular page in the text book to get help in completing a worksheet.
When conducting an academic lesson, effective teachers use some of the following strategies.
- Use Audio-visual Materials.Use a variety of audio-visual materials to present academic lessons. For example, use an overhead projector to demonstrate how to solve an addition problem requiring regrouping. The students can work on the problem at their desks, while you manipulate counters on the projector screen.
- Check Student Performance.Question individual students about their mastery of the lesson. For example, you can ask a student doing seatwork to demonstrate how he or she arrived at the answer to a problem or ask individual students to state, in their own words, how the main character felt at the end of the story.
- Ask Probing Questions.Probe for the correct answer before calling on another student and allow children sufficient time to work out the answer to a question. Count at least 15 seconds before giving the answer and ask follow-up questions that give the child an opportunity to demonstrate what he or she knows.
- Perform On-going Student Evaluation.Identify students who need additional assistance. Watch for signs of lack of comprehension, such as day-dreaming or visual or verbal indications of frustration. Provide these children with extra explanation or ask another student to serve as a peer tutor for the lesson.
- Help Students Self-Correct Their Own Mistakes. Describe how students can identify and correct their own mistakes. For example, remind students that they should check their calculations in mathematics problems and reiterate how they can do that; remind students of particularly difficult spelling rules and how students can watch out for "easy-to-make" errors.
- Focus DawdlingStudents.Remind students who dawdle to keep working and redirect these students to focus on their assigned task. For example, you can provide follow-up directions or assign learning partners. These practices can be directed at individual children or at the entire class.
- Lower Noise Level.Monitor the noise level in the classroom and provide corrective feedback, as needed. If the noise level exceeds the level appropriate for the type of lesson, remind all students -- or individual students -- about the behavior rules stated at the beginning of the lesson.
Preparing for Transition
Students with ADD often have difficulty refocusing their attention as they end one academic lesson and move on to the next lesson. Effective teachers help their students prepare for these transitions when concluding a lesson.
- Provide Advance Warnings.Provide advance warning that a lesson is about to end. Announce five or ten minutes prior to the end of the lesson (particularly for seatwork and group projects) how much time remains. You may also want to tell students at the beginning of the lesson how much time they will have to complete it.
- Check Assignments.Check completed assignments for at least some students. Review with some students what they have learned during the lessons, to get a sense of how ready the class was for the lesson and how to plan the next lesson.
- Preview the Next Lesson.Instruct students how to begin preparing for the next lesson. For example, inform children that they need to put away their textbooks and come to the front of the room for a large group spelling lesson.
Individualized Instructional Practices
Effective teachers individualize their instructional practices based on the needs of their students in different academic subjects. Students have different ways of getting information, not all of which involve traditional reading and listening. Individualized lessons in language arts, mathematics, and organizational skills benefit not only children with ADD, but also other children who have diverse learning needs.
Language Arts Reading Comprehension
To help children with ADD who are poor readers improve their reading comprehension skills, try the following instructional practices:
- Silent Reading Time. Establish a fixed time each day for silent reading (e.g., DEAR: Drop Everything And Read).
- Follow -Along Reading.Ask the child to read a story silently while listening to other students or the teacher read the story out loud to the entire class.
- Partner Reading Activities. Pair the child with ADD with another student partner who is a strong reader. The partners take turns reading orally and listening to each other.
- Storyboards. Ask the child to make storyboards that illustrate the sequence of main events in a story.
- Storytelling. Schedule "storytelling" sessions where the child can retell a story he or she has read recently.
- Play-acting. Schedule "play-acting" sessions where the child can role play different characters in a favorite story.
- Word Bank. Keep a word bank or dictionary of new or "hard-to-read" sight vocabulary words.
- Board Games for Reading Comprehension. Play board games that provide practice with target reading comprehension skills or sight vocabulary words.
- Computer Games for Reading Comprehension. Schedule computer time for the child to have "drill-and-practice" with sight vocabulary words.
Phonics and Grammar
To help children with ADD master phonics and grammar rules, the following are effective:
- Mnemonics for Phonics and Grammar. Teach the child mnemonics that provide reminders about hard-to-learn grammatical rules such as (a) correct punctuation, (b) irregular verb tenses, and (c) correct capitalization.
- Word Families. Teach the child to recognize and read word families that illustrate particular phonetic concepts (e.g., "ph" sounds).
- "Everyday" Examples of Grammar Rules. Take advantage of naturally occurring events to teach grammar rules skills in the context of everyday life. For example, ask a boy and a girl who are reading a story together questions about the proper use of male and female pronouns.
- Board Games for Phonics and Grammar. Play board games that practice phonetically irregular words.
- Computer Games for Phonics and Grammar. Use a computer to provide opportunities to have "drill-and-practice" with phonics or grammar lessons.
- Structured Programs for Phonics and Grammar. Teach phonics and grammar skills through a structured program such as Sandy Rief's "Simply Phonics" program.
Writing and composition
In composing stories or other writing assignments, children with ADD benefit from the following practices:
- Standards for Writing Assignments. Identify and teach the child classroom-wide standards for acceptable written work.
- Recognizing Parts of a Story. Teach the student how to describe the major parts of a story (e.g., plot, main characters, setting, conflict, and resolution).
- Post Office. Establish a "post office" in the classroom and provide students with opportunities to write, mail, and receive letters to and from their classmates and teacher.
- Visualizing Compositions. Ask the child to close his or her eyes and visualize a paragraph that the teacher reads aloud. Another variation of this technique is to ask a student to describe a recent event while the other students have their eyes closed.
- Proofreading Compositions. Require that the child proofread his or her work before turning in written assignments. Provide the child with a list of items to check when proofreading his or her own work.
To help children with ADD who are poor spellers master their spelling lessons, the following have been found to be helpful:
- Teaching Frequently Used Spelling Words. Assign spelling words that the child routinely uses in his or her speech each day.
- Creating a Dictionary of Misspelled Words. Ask the child to keep a personal dictionary of frequently misspelled words.
- Using Partner Spelling Activities. Pair the child with another student. Ask the partners to quiz each other about how to spell new words. Encourage both students to guess the correct spelling.
- Working with Manipulatives. Use cut out letters or other manipulatives to spell out hard-to-learn words.
- Using Color-Coded Letters. Color code different letters in "hard-to-spell" words (e.g., receipt).
- Using Movement Activities. Combine movement activities with spelling lessons (e.g., jump rope while spelling words out loud).
- Using "Everyday" Examples of Hard-to-Spell Words. Take advantage of naturally occurring events to teach difficult spelling words in context. For example, ask a child eating a cheese sandwich to spell "sandwich."
Students with ADD who have difficulty with manuscript or cursive writing benefit from these instructional practices.
- Individual Chalkboards. Ask the child to practice copying and erasing the target words on a small, individual chalkboard. Two children can be paired to practice their target words together.
- Quiet Places for Handwriting. Provide the child with a special "quiet place" (e.g., on a table outside the classroom) to complete his or her handwriting assignments.
- Spacing Words on a Page. Teach the child to use his or her finger to measure how much space to leave between each word in a written assignment.
- Special Writing Paper. Ask the child to use special paper with vertical lines to learn to space letters and words on a page.
- Tape Recorders. Ask the student to dictate writing assignments into a tape recorder.
- Dictating Writing Assignments. Have the teacher or another student write down a story told by a child with ADD.
- Structured Programs for Handwriting. Teach handwriting skills through a structured program such as Jan Olson's "Handwriting Without Tears" program.
There are several individualized instructional practices that can help children with ADD improve their basic computation skills. The following are just a few:
- Recognizing Patterns in Mathematics. Teach the student to recognize patterns when adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing whole numbers.
- Partner Mathematics Activities. Pair a child with ADD with another student and provide opportunities for the partners to quiz each other about basic computation skills.
- Mnemonics for Basic Computation. Teach the child mnemonics that describe basic steps in computing whole numbers. For example, "Don't Miss Susie's Boat" can be used to help the student recall the basic steps in long division (i.e., divide, multiply, subtract, and bring down).
- "Real Life" Examples of Money Skills. Provide the child with naturally occurring, "real life" opportunities to practice target money skills. For example, ask the child to calculate his or her change when paying for lunch in the school cafeteria.
- Color Coding Arithmetic Symbols. Color code basic arithmetic symbols such as +, -, and = to provide visual cues for children when they are computing whole numbers.
- Using Calculators To Check Basic Computation. Ask the child to use a calculator to check his addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division.
- Board Games for Basic Computation. Ask the child to play board games to practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing whole numbers.
- Computer Games for Basic Computation. Schedule computer time for the child for "drill-and-practice" with basic computation facts.
- Structured Programs for Basic Computation. Teach basic computation skills through a structured program such as Innovative Learning Concepts' "Touch Math" program.
Solving Word Problems
To help children with ADD improve their skill in solving word problems in mathematics, try the following.
- Rereading the Problem. Teach the child to read a word problem two times before beginning to compute the answer.
- Using Clue Words. Teach the child "clue words" that identify which operation to use when solving word problems. For example, words such as "sum," "total," or "all together" may indicate an addition operation.
- Mnemonics for Word Problems. Teach students mnemonics that help remind them of basic questions to ask in solving word problems (e.g., what is the question asked in the problem, what information do you have to figure out the answer, and what operation should you use to compute the answer).
- "Real Life" Examples of Word problems. Ask the student to create and solve word problems that provide practice with specific target operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. These problems can be based on recent, "real life" events in the children's lives.
- Using Calculators to Check Word Problems. Ask the student to use a calculator to check his or her answers to assigned word problems.
Some children with ADD benefit from using special materials to help them complete their mathematics assignments.
- Number lines. Provide a number line for the child to use when computing whole numbers.
- Manipulatives. Use manipulatives to help students gain basic computation skills such as counting poker chips when adding single-digit numbers.
- Graph Paper. Ask the child to use graph paper to help organize columns when adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing whole numbers.
Many students with ADD are easily distracted and have difficulty focusing their attention on assigned tasks. However, there are several practices that can help children with ADD improve their organization of homework and other daily assignments.
- Assignment Notebook. Provide the child with an assignment notebook to help organize homework and other seatwork.
- Color-Coded Folders. Provide the child with color-coded folders to help organize assignments for different academic subjects (e.g., reading, mathematics, social science, and science).
- Homework Partners. Assign the child a partner to help record homework and other seatwork in the proper folders and assignment notebook.
- Cleaning Out Desks and Book Bags. Ask the child to periodically sort through and clean out his or her desk, book bag, and other special places where written assignments are stored.
Children with ADD who have difficulty finishing their assignments on time can also benefit from individualized instruction that helps them improve their time management skills.
- Using a Wristwatch. Teach the child how to read and use a wristwatch to manage his or her time when completing assigned work.
- Using a Calendar. Teach the child how to read and use a calendar to schedule his or her assignments.
- Practicing Sequencing Activities. Provide the child with supervised opportunities to break down a long assignment into a sequence of short, interrelated activities.
- Creating a Daily Activity Schedule. Tape a schedule of planned daily activities to the child's desk. Study Skills
- Using Venn Diagrams. Teach a child with ADD how to use Venn diagrams to help illustrate and organize key concepts in reading, mathematics, or other academic subjects.
- Note-Taking Skills. Teach a child with ADD how to take notes when organizing key academic concepts that he or she has learned with a program such as Anita Archer's "Skills for School Success."
- Developing a Checklist of Frequent Mistakes. Provide the child with a checklist of mistakes that he or she frequently makes in written assignments (e.g., punctuation or capitalization errors), mathematics (e.g., addition or subtraction errors), or other academic subjects. Teach the child how to use this list when proofreading his or her work at home and school.
- Using a Checklist of Homework Supplies. Provide the child with a checklist that identifies categories of items needed for homework assignments (e.g., books, pencils, and homework assignment sheets).
- Preparing Uncluttered Workspace. Teach a child with ADD how to prepare an uncluttered workspace to complete his assignments. For example, instruct the child to clear away unnecessary books or other materials before beginning a seatwork assignment.
- Monitoring Homework Assignments. Keep track of how well your students with ADD complete their assigned homework. Discuss and resolve with them and their parents any problems in completing these assignments. For example, evaluate the difficulty of the assignments and how long the children spend on their homework each night.
Children with ADD often are impulsive and hyperactive. Effective teachers use behavior management techniques to help these children learn how to control their behavior.
Students with ADD benefit from frequent reinforcement of appropriate behavior and correction of inappropriate behavior. Verbal reinforcement takes on the form of praise and reprimands. In addition, it is sometimes helpful to selectively ignore inappropriate behavior.
- Verbal Praise. Simple phrases such as "good job" encourage a child to act appropriately. Praise children frequently, and look for a behavior to praise before -- not after -- a child is off task.
- Verbal Reprimands. Do not hesitate to request that a child change his or her behavior. The most effective reprimands are brief and directed at the child's behavior -- not at the child.
- Selective Ignoring of Inappropriate Behavior. Carefully evaluate whether to intervene when a child misbehaves. In some instances, it is helpful to ignore the child's inappropriate behavior, particularly if a child is misbehaving to get your attention.
Effective teachers also use behavioral prompts with their students with ADD, as well as with other students in the class. These prompts help remind students about your expectations for their learning and behavior in the classroom.
- Visual Cues. Establish simple, non-intrusive visual cues to remind the child to remain on task. For example, you can point at the child while looking him or her in the eye, or hold out your hand, palm down, near the child.
- Proximity Control. When talking to a child, move to where the child is standing or sitting. Your physical proximity to the child will help the child to focus and pay attention to what you are saying.
In some instances, children with ADD need counseling to learn how to manage their own behavior.
- Classroom Interviews. Discuss how to resolve social conflicts with classroom interviews. Conduct impromptu counseling sessions with one student or a small group of students in the classroom where the conflict arises. In this setting, ask two children who are arguing about a game to discuss how to settle their differences. Encourage the children to resolve their problem by talking to each other, while you quietly monitor their interactions during the interview.
- Social Skills Classes. Teach children with ADD appropriate social skills using a structured pull-out class. For example, you can ask the children to role play and model different solutions to common social problems. It is critical to provide for the generalization of these skills, including structured opportunities for the children to use the social skills they learn.
For some children with ADD, behavioral contracts, tangible rewards, or token economy systems are helpful in teaching them how to manage their own behavior. Because students' individual needs are different, it is important for teachers to evaluate whether these practices are appropriate for their classrooms.
- Behavioral Contract. Identify specific academic or behavioral goals for the child with ADD. Work together with the child to cooperatively identify appropriate goals such as completing homework assignments on time and obeying safety rules on the school playground. Take the time to ensure that the child agrees that his or her goals are important to master.
- Tangible Rewards. Use tangible rewards to reinforce appropriate behavior. These rewards can include (a) stickers such as "happy faces" or sports team emblems or (b) privileges, such as extra time on the computer or lunch with the teacher. In some cases, you may be able to enlist the support of parents in rewarding the children at home.
- Token Economy System. Use token economy systems to motivate a child to achieve a goal identified in a behavioral contract. For example, a child can earn points for each homework assignment completed on time. In some cases, students also lose points for each homework assignment not completed on time. After earning a specified number of points, the student receives a tangible reward such as extra time on a computer or a "free period" on Friday afternoon.
Many children with ADD benefit from accommodations that reduce distractions in the classroom environment. These accommodations, which include modifications within both the physical environment and learning environment of the classroom, help some children with ADD stay on task and learn. Accommodations of the physical environment include determining where a child with ADD will sit in the classroom. There are two main types of special seat assignments.
- Seat Near the Teacher. Assign a child a seat near your desk or the front of the room. This seat assignment provides opportunities for you to monitor and reinforce the child's on-task behavior.
- Seat Near a Student Role Model. Assign a child a seat near a student role model. This seat arrangement provides opportunities for children to work cooperatively and learn from their peers in the class.
Effective teachers also use different environmental prompts to make accommodations within the physical environment of the classroom.
- Hand Gestures. Use hand signals to communicate privately with a child with ADD. For example, ask the child to raise his or her hand every time you ask a question. A closed fist can signal that the child knows the answer; an open palm can signal that he or she does not know the answer. You would call on the child to answer only when he or she makes a fist.
- Egg Timers. Note for the children the time at which the lesson is starting and the time at which it will conclude. Set a timer to indicate to children how much time remains in the lesson and place it at the front of the classroom; the children can check the timer to see how much time remains. Interim prompts can be used as well. For instance, children can monitor their own progress during a 30-minute lesson if the timer is set for 10 minutes three times.
- Classroom Lights. Turning the classroom lights "on and off" prompts children that the noise level in the room is too high and they should be quiet. This practice can also be used to signal that it is time to begin preparing for the next lesson.
- Music. Play music on a tape recorder or chords on a piano to prompt children that they are too noisy. In addition, playing different types of music on a tape recorder communicates to children what level of activity is appropriate for a particular lesson. For example, play quiet classical music for quiet seat activities and jazz for active group activities.
Effective teachers make accommodations in the learning environment by guiding children with ADD with follow-up directions.
- Follow-Up Oral Directions. After giving directions to the class as a whole, provide additional, oral directions for a child with ADD. For example, ask the child if he or she understood the directions, and repeat the directions together.
- Follow-up Written Directions. Provide follow-up directions in writing. For example, write the page number for an assignment on the blackboard. You can remind the child to look at the blackboard if he or she forgets the assignment.
Effective teachers also use special instructional tools to modify the classroom learning environment and accommodate the special needs of their students with ADD.
- Highlighting Key Words. Highlight key words in the instructions on worksheets to help the child with ADD focus on the directions. You can prepare the worksheet before the lesson begins or underline key words as you and the child read the directions together.
- Using Pointers. Teach the child to use a pointer to help visually track written words on a page. For example, provide the child with a bookmark to help him or her follow along when students are taking turns reading aloud.
- Adapting Worksheets. Teach a child how to adapt instructional worksheets. For example, help a child fold his or her reading worksheet to reveal only one question at a time. The child can also use a blank piece of paper to cover the other questions on the page.


Welcome to Class Willow
Pharaohs and the River Nile
In our English sessions, we will be reading Tutankhamun and sections of ‘Orphan of the Sun’, both by Gill Harvey. We will carry out reciprocal reading challenges, looking at the elements of prediction, clarification, questioning and summarising and use shared writing techniques to help us plan and write non-chronological reports and recounts. We will review the grammar we have learnt this year, with particular focus on types of subordinate clauses. We will continue to learn new spellings with our sounds and syllables approach.
This term we will be focussing on statistical reasoning, Roman numerals and time, proportional reasoning, measures and describing patterns, as well as topics on problem solving and financial maths and enterprise.
GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY
Our topic is ‘Pharaohs and the River Nile’. We will:
In Computing, the children will become cryptographers. They will transmit information by semaphore, use Morse code, create and crack codes, as well as reviewing online security and password strength.
In Science, we will carry out research based on the question - how do humans develop and mature? We will also investigate whether we slow down as we get older.
We will be exploring Muslim families and beliefs looking at:
- Fast during Ramadan
This half term our topic is all about healthy and safer lifestyle choices. Children will find out about things that cause harm to our bodies and discuss how to respond to tricky situations.
Linked to our topic of Egyptians, we will learn about hieroglyphics and complete writing in this style, as well as using clay to create model Canopic jars.
During this term, we will learn rules for striking and fielding games and review skills such as short and long fielding techniques, short and close catching, and driving through with a hit. Some children will also complete their swimming sessions.
This half term we will continue to work with Madame Balestra. Children will learn vocabulary and key phrases for a variety of sports and games.
This term we will continue to work with Mr Tryner developing our skills on the Ukulele. We will review pitch and pulse, and continue to apply our skills to play songs as a group
Peasants, Princes and Pestilence
This term we will be focussing on spatial reasoning looking at volume and capacity, proportional reasoning of scaling and ratio, positional reasoning of angles and translations and fraction problem solving.
In our English sessions, we will be reading the text ‘Children of Winter’ by Berlie Doherty, which takes us back in time to what it might have been like to live through the plague in the Derbyshire village of Eyam. We will carry out reciprocal reading challenges for each chapter and use shared writing techniques to help us plan and write first person recounts such as letters and diary entries, as well as descriptive writing. We will review the use of apostrophes for possession and contractions, changing the formality of a text, uses of the colon and semi-colon, determiners, dialogue, adverbials and active and passive voice. We will continue to learn new spellings with our sounds and syllables approach.
During our topic of pilgrimages, we will focus our learning on:
What are people of faith’s special places?
What are pilgrimages?
Where are important pilgrimage places?
Why is Jerusalem a special place of pilgrimage for different religions?
Where else do Christians go on pilgrimages and why?
Where do Muslims go on pilgrimages?
What happens at the Hajj?
Where do Sikhs and Hindus go on pilgrimages?
We will also focus on the special time of year for Christians – Easter – reviewing:
What happened in Jesus’ last week and what is the meaning of the cross?
How does the issue of forgiveness fit into the story?
Our science work will focus on micro-organisms and life-cycles. We will study:
What micro-organisms are and how they grow
How germs are easily transferred
The bacteria Yersinia pestis
The life cycles of rodents and fleas
We will also describe and investigate helpful and harmful micro-organisms.
GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY
Our topic is ‘The Great Plague’. We will:
Research and record the main events of the great plague
Use sources of information to research plague remedies and their effectiveness
Use historical sources to debate an event from the past
Present historical data as graphs
Use maps to locate and label places of interest
Compare and contrast our village with Eyam, Derbyshire
Linked to our topic of The Great Plague, we will research and create our own medieval bread recipe.
In Computing, the children will become market researchers where they will collect, record and present their own data.
Spring Term 1
Road Trip to the USA
This term we will be focussing on geometric reasoning, reviewing our understanding of 2d and 3d shapes and applying this to problem solving. We will be revisiting fractions, decimals and percentages, looking at finding percentages and fractions of amounts. We will deepen our understanding of formal methods for division, using known multiplication facts to help. We will review our understanding of area and perimeter and apply this to problems, as well as multiplying and dividing with fractions.
In our English sessions, we will be focussing on Native American myths and legends. We will carry out reciprocal reading challenges on a variety of myths and use shared writing techniques of boxing up the tales to help us plan and write our own. We will review the use of colons, semi-colons and dashes, as well as modal verbs and punctuation of dialogue. We will continue to learn new spellings with our sounds and syllables approach.
During the Spring term, we will become detectives, investigating the life and teachings of Jesus. We will ask questions such as:
What were his relationships like?
Was he a good friend?
Who were his disciples & why did they follow him?
What miracles did Jesus perform and why?
Our science work will focus on electricity. We will study:
Circuits and circuit diagrams
We will also investigate how to tell whether a circuit will light a bulb or series of bulbs from a diagram.
GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY
During our topic on ‘Road Trip to the USA’, we will:
study maps of north and south America
review lines of longitude and latitude
learn about physical geography of regions in America
compare physical and human geography of areas in America to our local area
research and learn about lifestyles of Native American tribes
The children will use software to create art work such as tessellations and create programs to design their own artwork.
Our topic is ‘Alchemy Island’. In geography sessions, the children will investigate and explore maps using 4 and 6 figure grid references to locate places on a map of the island, recognise and describe human and physical features, use a scale to calculate distance, as well as combining all of this knowledge to create their own island map.
Art work will focus on creating views through a portal using digital images as a starting point. They will use these to create an imaginary painting of a landscape, using watercolours and different brushes for purpose. They will build up the picture in layers, looking at distance, middle ground and foreground, and use cold colours and shades to recreate a Narnia style scene, relating to their own island.
In our English sessions, we will be using ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ by CS Lewis as a stimulus for descriptive writing of settings and characters. We will be writing dialogue between two characters, as well as first person accounts. Grammar and punctuation work will link into our writing. It will focus on direct speech, parenthesis, use of semi-colons, colons and dashes to join main clauses and different types of subordinate clauses.
We will continue to think about amazing men and women in the Old Testament of the Bible, looking into the lives of Noah, Abraham, Esther, Daniel, David, Hannah & Samuel.
Our science work will focus on reversible and irreversible changes around us. The children will plan investigations such as:
How much gas is produced from a non-reversible change?
How long do candles take to burn?
How long does it take for a nail to rust?
What are the bubbles in honeycomb?
In our English sessions, our writing will focus on the life of Charles Darwin. We will be writing diaries from first person perspectives, non-chronological reports and using pictures to aid our descriptive writing. Texts that will support our writing are:
GEOGRAPHY & HISTORY
Our topic is ‘Darwin’s Delights’. We will research and plot on a timeline the key events of Charles Darwin's life and track his travels on the HMS Beagle, naming and locating key oceans and continents. We will research and compare the Galapagos Islands, the Falkland Islands and the Cape Verde Islands. In addition, we will explore the lines of longitude and latitude of each place.
Our science work is all about evolution and inheritance. We will look at how organisms can be bred to create certain characteristics, we will observe and investigate the effects of the environment on plants, explore how living things adapt to their environment, as well as how they adapt over time, look at how fossils help us to learn about the past and describe the process of natural selection.
Children will create their own sketch books in the style of Charles Darwin, using graded pencils, pen and ink and water colours for their observational drawings.
During the Autumn term, we will be thinking about amazing men and women in the Old Testament of the Bible.
identify aspects of Esther’s story and some of the events at the festival of Purim.
In our English sessions, we will be writing a biography about Albert Einstein, as well as using Ripley’s Mighty Machines to help us structure and write our own non-fiction texts. All grammar and punctuation will be reviewed alongside and linked to our writing challenges.
Our science topic will focus on forces. The children will:
Review balanced and unbalanced forces.
Investigate air and water resistance.
Review what friction is and carry out investigations.
This term in Geography, linked to our topic ‘Scream Machine’, the children will research:
The main theme parks in the UK and where they are located.
Where they are in relation to urban, rural and transport links.
Which theme park is nearest to home and plan the route for a particular mode of transport.
Visit websites of parks outside of the UK.
Take virtual tours and analyse maps and plans.
Compare the parks to the UK in terms of size, capacity, cost and transport links.
In DT, we will be investigating fairground rides and how they work, looking at levers, pulleys and gears. The children will design, plan and make their own mechanism.
This term in maths, we will be reviewing the following: converting units, position and direction, as well as volume, area and perimeter. We will be applying our learning to problem solving situations and using the bar model to help us.
In RE, we will continue to explore the Bible. We will be asking questions such as:
How is the Bible made up?
How was the Bible written?
What can be learned from the Bible?
What is in the New Testament?
Who were the main people that taught about Jesus after he died?
How do Christians use Jesus’ teachings?
What are features of the Bible?
In Computing, the children will become Web Developers - planning, designing and creating their own webpages.
In Music sessions, the children will listen to and appraise ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams, comparing and contrasting it to other songs of a similar theme. They will discuss pulse, rhythm and tempo when making comparisons.
Our PSHCE work will focus on ‘managing changes’ and we will be supporting children with their transition into Y6 or Y7.
PE sessions will focus on net and wall games. Please make sure appropriate footwear (supportive trainers) and school PE kit is in school each week. Children have also been given their timetable for swimming sessions if they have them this term.
This half term in French, we will continue to work with Madame Balestra learning about phrases and vocabulary linked to our homes.
What was life like in Britain before the Roman invasions? Why did the Romans invade? How did people feel about this?
During our topic entitled 'I am Warrior', children will learn about the impact of the Roman invasions on Britain.
They will research:
Celtic tribes in Britain before the Roman invasions.
Roman invasions and the spread of the Roman Empire.
How Roman roads were built and why.
Hadrian’s Wall and Emperor Hadrian.
Gods and Goddesses.
This half term we will be exploring the Bible. We will be asking questions such as:
Why is the Bible important to Christians?
What characters are there in the Bible and what stories are there about them?
What is God like?
What does God like and dislike?
How is the Bible made up?
How was the Bible written?
What can be learned from the Bible?
The children will be developing their own apps by assembling assets, establishing algorithms, coding, debugging, refining and testing.
Our science topic will focus on sound. The children will:
Learn about the parts of the ear and how we hear.
Explore how sound travels.
Investigate ways to absorb sound.
The children will continue to have ukulele lessons this half term looking at pitch, following musical scores and learning new songs.
This half term, we will be exploring patterns in the form of Roman mosaics, as well as sculpting Roman style oil lamps from clay.
During this term our PE sessions will focus on striking and fielding games. Please ensure long hair is tied up and earrings are removed for PE. Please also make sure warm outdoor clothing is in school.
This half term we will learn about food, using French vocabulary to ask for and buy a variety of foods from different shops.
This term our topic centres on ‘Healthy Lifestyles’. We will discuss how to maintain a healthy mind and body, as well as ways of receiving support if needed. Our 'Take 5' breathing will help us with maintaining a healthy mind and body.
Guilty or not guilty?
It is 1830 the Defendant, Isabella Makin, is 11 years old. She has been charged with stealing three coats, two waistcoats, a pair of breeches, a pair of boots and a table cloth.
The defendant lives in Narrow Marsh, an area of Nottingham, with her family.
Isabella must help her family out as her father is ill and cannot work. Her mother must look after Isabella’s younger sisters and cannot go to work because there in no-one to care for them. They are very poor and have very little money to live on.
This is not Isabella’s first time in court. If she is found guilty this time, she will be punished harshly.
Isabella has been found guilty of stealing on four previous occasions. She has been imprisoned four times.
Will our jury find her guilty of theft?
Will our judge sentence her to prison for a fifth time?
What fate will await her?
Our English work this half term will focus on William Shakespeare's Macbeth. We will look at different adaptations of this play for children, use drama activities to help us understand and interpret the play and complete writing activities such as first person accounts and newspaper reports, using our talk for writing techniques to support us.
This term we will be focussing on averages, area, perimeter and volume, as well as angles. All of our learning will be linked with prior knowledge and applied to problems solving contexts.
This half term our topic is about Jewish celebrations and we will be learning about the Shabbat experience. We will also be looking at the story of Easter and what happened to Jesus in the last few days of his life. We will discuss how it must feel to have your friends disown you, as well as discussing how Peter (& the other disciples) disowned Jesus.
We will use ‘photostory’ to import and arrange pictures, adding captions and voice overs to show the changes in crime and punishment throughout British history.
Our science topic will focus on classification in terms of families and inheritance. We will ask questions such as:
Why are things classified?
How does inheritance work?
As part of our topic on ID, we will look at changes in crime and punishment throughout British history, ranging from the Roman era to Victorian Britain. We will also discuss how our knowledge of the past comes from a variety of sources and that different interpretations of stories exist.
Class Willow will have ukulele lessons again this term and will continue to look at pitch, follow musical scores and learn new songs.
This half term, we will be researching and critically analysing the artwork of David Hockney. We will recreate pieces of his work to show light and shadow, as well as using ‘pic stitch’ to alter images in his ‘joiners’ style.
During this term our PE sessions will focus on physical challenges and athletics. Please ensure long hair is tied up and earrings are removed for PE. Please also make sure warm outdoor clothing is in school.
This half term we will continue to work with Madame Balestra learning about family, using French vocabulary to describe our own families.
Our topic centres on ‘Myself and My Relationships’. We will discuss how to recognise emotions in ourselves and others, coping strategies for difficult times and how to manage our changing emotions.
As part of our topic this term, we will be comparing and contrasting different mountains, looking at their locations and statistics such as their height & temperature at different levels. We will also be learning about the water cycle.
We will be researching the life of Edmund Hillary to determine why he is a key figure in history and using photographs as sources of historical data.
We will also be looking at the life of the Adi people, a mountain dwelling community and comparing their lifestyle with our own. We will also be researching and replicating their weaving designs.
Our Science topic will focus on states of matter. We will be investigating questions such as:
We will be using the story of 'A Bottle of Happiness' by Pippa Goodhart as a basis for our story writing, as well as the fantastic illustrations by Ehsan Abddollahi as stimuli for our descriptive writing.
RE work will take us on a journey of our lives to share and discuss key times of celebration. We will then look into the religions of Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism to see what key ceremonies are celebrated and how these religions prepare children for adult life.
This term we will be continuing to find out about our digestive systems. We will investigate how each part works and look at the role of spit in the digestive process.
Our DT topic will focus on chocolate! We will carry out market research to establish the type of products that our customers want to buy. We will design, plan and make chocolates based on our research, to sell at the Christmas Fair!
We will learn about 'Fair Trade', why it is important and how it has helped farmers all over the world. We will look at the process of chocolate being made, from bean to bar, and write an explanation text.
Our RE work will centre on 'Arts in the Faiths'. We will learn about music, dance, drama and much more throughout a range of religions.
This half term, our English, geography and history work will be based on our topic about Mexico.
We will be learning about and writing our own Maya creation stories, creting a powerpoint presentation to compare England with Mexico in a country comparison study, as well as researching what life was like for the ancient Mayans....
We will also be designing and making our own tortilla based pizzas!
Our science work is all about burps, bottoms and bile! Children will review what constitutes a healthy, balanced diet, learn about teeth names and functions, as well as oral hygiene and investigate the digestive system.
The year is 2050 and the children have been commissioned by the Government ministers to investigate and explore the problems and solutions that could be encountered in sending 30 people into space for five years.
For the next 7 weeks, the children will become ‘Space explorers’ and will seek information about a mysterious Planet called Earth and its Solar System. During the duration of their commission, they will be given a number of ‘Space Missions’ to complete.
At the end of their mission, they will present their findings to Government Ministers!
Work will also include an exciting visit to the National Space Centre to find out more about the Space Race and the Earth, Moon and Sun, the stars and our Solar System.
Our English work will link into our space topic with 'Cosmic' by Frank Cottrell Boyce and 'Cosmic Disco' a collection of poetry.
Our Topic this half term is ‘Tomorrows World.’ During the term, we will explore the rapidly changing new technologies that shape our world. We will investigate how technology affects the lives of people across the planet and their impact on natural resources. We will meet four families living in China and think about how one country is trying to overcome the pollution problems created by its rapid expansion of industry.
We will become software designers. The children will start by playing and analysing educational computer games, identifying those features that make a game successful. They will then plan and design a game, with a clear target audience in mind. They will create a working prototype, and then develop it further to add functionality and improve the user interface. Finally, they will test their game and make any necessary changes.
We will explore the work of the artist Eric Joyner and the robot sculptor, Clayton Bailey. Using modroc, we will design and make our own robots.
Our English lessons this half term will focus on the text ‘Floodland’ by Marcus Sedgwick. We will be writing in role, writing formal persuasive letters to a character, composing instructional writing for rules to live on Eel Island, as well as narrative and report writing.
Spring Term 2 2017
Under Our Feet!
This term we will review our knowledge of fractions, decimals and percentages, looking at equivalence, mixed and improper fractions and converting amounts. We will be working on algebraic formulae and geometry, focussing on angles, properties of shapes and direction & position. In addition, we will be converting between different units of metric measures and solving problems.
Our English lessons this half term will focus on the short story ‘The Giant’s Necklace’ by Michael Morpurgo. Writing will include using descriptive language, writing setting descriptions for contrasting coastal images, newspaper reports and diary entries. We will also be writing explanation and instruction texts.
History and Geography
This half term we will research our local area to find out about the impact on the mining community and the effects of pit closures. We will begin our topic with a visit to the National Coal Mining Museum, learning about the life of a miner. We will investigate the conditions of working in a Coal mine over time, for both adults and children.
Art and Design
We will be sketching buildings and artefacts linked to our visit to the National Coal Mining Museum. We will use powder paints to build up paintings of imaginary landscapes and industrial buildings. In addition, we will research and design our own Miner’s lunchbox.
We will become interface designers sketching, planning and developing ideas for our App interface. We will source and develop backgrounds, images, sound effects and a video for the App.
This half term, we will become geologists, looking at what is under our feet! We will research fossil fuels and investigate the formation of coal and fossils. We will learn about the different rock types and how they are formed. We will also become ‘Plant Detectives’, learning about how plants reproduce and whether all flowering plants are the same.
This term the children will continue to explore different religions in our local area. They will develop positive attitudes and thoughtfulness through the investigation of non-violence and recognise the consequences of actions. They will explore freedom of beliefs, harmony and respect.
This half term we will be thinking about ‘Financial Capability’. The children will explore what money means in a broader context, as well as learning how jobs are paid depending on skill set. We will introduce children to pensions, insurance and tax, as well as thinking about how the future can be planned for. We will discuss the difference between essential resources and desirable resources.
This term we will become Historical Detectives and travel back in time to research a time when Victoria was Queen and Albert was Prince Consort. A time when some people lived in slums while others prospered. We will examine first hand evidence including photographs, paintings, diaries, artefacts and census material.
We will take on the role of an important reformer and present our good causes to the Queen. Will we be able to cause a revolution of change?
During our English lessons, we will be studying the book 'Street Child' by Berlie Doherty. We will discover what happens to Jim when he finds himself all alone in the workhouse and desperate to escape. Life in Victorian times was very different to today.
Our Science learning will focus on our investigative skills linked into the topic of light. We will learn about the eye and how we see, investigate shadows, coloured light and refraction, as well as making our own light bulb.
We will be looking closely at the work of the Victorian artists L.S. Lowry and William Morris. We will sketch Victorian artefacts, developing our skills using pencil, pastel and pen and ink. We will draw close up views of bicycles and enlarge them into detailed pen/ink sketches.
Follow Erik the Viking to discover:
In English we will be writing our own sagas, using 'The Saga of Erik the Viking' by Terry Jones to help us, as well as writing a recipe for Viking bread.
We will map out where the Vikings came from and where they travelled to raid and trade, as well as looking at the place names they left behind.
Our Science topic is based on 'Light'. We will study how light travels, shadows and how they change.
RE learning will centre on Christian and Muslim charities that help people throughout the world.
Our Music learning this half term will be based on the nativity story and we will be studying the poem 'Bethlehem' by Carol Ann Duffy in the build up to Christmas.
Have a look at our class newsletter below for additional information.
This is a project aimed to last throughout the half term. Each child will present their project to the rest of the class in the last full week of school. A timetable will be organised nearer the time.
There will be weekly 'Mathletics' challenges set for each child which are linked to the learning in class. Each child has been given their own username and password to access this.
Please also continue to embed all times tables.
Each child also has a username and password for 'Education City'. Class learning zones have been set up to help with multiplication facts.
This term our learning will be centred around our topic 'The Blue Abyss'. During our residential trip to Boggle Hole, we will be visiting Whitby and the Captain Cook Museum. Children remaining at school will also be researching his life and voyages, so that we can write a biography.
We will also be finding out about Whitby and the surrounding area and writing persuasive texts in the form of holiday brochures.
We will also be learning about 'Oceanography' and the HMS Challenger, as well as learning about threats to our coastline and sea creatures and what can be done to help. Our writing focus will be on information texts and reports.
Our artwork will follow on with our sea theme, where we will be researching famous artists and their seascapes.
During DT sessions, we will design, plan, make and evaluate fish cakes and submarines, keeping to our ocean theme.
Science sessions will focus on classification of living things, life cycles and reproduction of plants and animals. We will ask and investigate questions such as:


PART A –Today’s technology
Television, film and computer games are already playing a role in educating young children but there is significant potential to capitalise on their ability to enhance development and learning.
Media technology is pervasive and covers:
This paper focuses primarily on children under the age of eight who are less involved with the communicative media.
Research suggests most children acquire many of their media literacy functional skills early and without much formal instruction.
Children under age 6 already have good media skills – by themselves:
A recent Australian Communications and Media Authority survey of media use (ACMA, 2007) found that children aged 0-4 spent:
That makes a total viewing time average of 5 hours 48 minutes per day for the youngest children who are the heaviest viewers of television in the family. Programs made for these children are often inadequate and the children are regularly viewing adult programs for much of the day.
Comparable figures for 5-12 year olds were:
This represents a total viewing time average of 4 hours 50 minutes per day. This average is arguably too much for young children who need a variety of physical and social experiences for healthy development. Averages also hide the extensive viewing by children at the upper limit of the normal distribution curve that takes up a large proportion of a child’s day.
The Australian Institute of Family Studies’ Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) provides an indication of variations in media use by different social groups in Australia. For example:
Between 2000 and 2005, young children’s use of computers and the internet rose from 7% to 23%, with children showing a strong preference for educational interactive games. (Children Now Report, p. 10).
The latest figures on computer-based games come from a survey of 1600 Australian households conducted by Bond University for the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (October, 2008). This is a rapidly growing area of media involvement, with:
According to the Cartoon Network’s New Generations 2008 survey, since 2004 the number of seven- and eight-year-olds surfing the web daily has jumped from 7% to 22%. (Emily Power, 2008) The 2008 Norton Online Living Report said 96% of Australian children now find information for their school projects on the internet.
Television can be a wonderful story-teller. The benefits that flow to children from good storytelling are many and television’s learning outcomes need to be considered as part of the 0-8 curriculum. Children have always been drawn to drama over factual children’s programming. (SPAA, 2008)
Stories are the glue that binds the community together. They give children a shared purpose, a roadmap for their lives and teach them about their feelings, their tribe, their culture and their place in the world. A cohesive national culture and identity that requires development through education from an early age would not be possible without shared cultural experiences which film and television programs enable. That is why Australian and local programming is important for children.
When done well, television programs can stimulate a child's imagination and open up the infinite opportunities that life presents. Like good books, good television programs can extend children’s understanding of their world. Stories are particularly effective in helping children develop emotionally.
In Howard Gardner’s terms they develop their inter- and intra-personal intelligences. Several studies have demonstrated, for example, the strong link between Sesame Street and children’s readiness for kindergarten, regardless of socio-economic status, and those effects can last well into high school. In more recent years, Sesame Street has gone beyond the basics of number and the alphabet to incorporate elements of Gardner’s ‘multiple intelligences’.
Children will watch good programs repeatedly, and keep watching them as they grow older, learning different things each time because they can engage with quality content in increasingly sophisticated ways. The young brain’s plasticity, its capacity to learn through repetition and reinforcement and the forging of new connections, make good media experiences a potent learning and developmental tool.
Play is important in children’s emotional development. A young child can try out roles not yet possible in the real world; television can expand their world of play and take them to places they could not imagine. The 0-5 age group is moving from a self-centred view of the world to a more social outlook, so observing the experience of others in stories on television can enhance their understanding of their world. Preschoolers are also forming their personal style, their sense of identity within their family, in a sex role, outside the family and within an ethnic or racial group. Television programming feeds into this emerging social-self and can be used to present a wide range of role models and images that show different cultures, styles and environments.
Good children's television comprises programs made especially for children that reflect the complexity of the emotional changes within the age group and honestly deal with conflicts that such diversity demonstrates. These programs can help clarify emotions, reflect anxieties and hopes and recognise problems while suggesting solutions to overcome hardships and worries. In their early years preschoolers need to be hearing and seeing stories which help them work through their fears in a positive manner. They need to learn to share, to appreciate others, to know that jealousy, greed and anger are feelings we all have that we must learn to control. They are on a journey to discover how to connect emotions and motivations of characters to their actions. Zimmerman (2007) says programs such as Blue’s Clues ‘cleverly use the medium of TV to expand not only the child’s understanding of, but also his or her interaction with the real world’. Television is well placed to provide such experiences.
Programs such as Barney & Friends, Sesame Street, Blue’s Clues, Dora the Explorer and others claim to combine more than 100 potential teaching elements and enhance children’s performance in social skills, imagination, singing and dancing through active engagement with program content. Cognitive gains include numbers, letters and vocabulary; social learning such as taking turns, sharing and cooperation; physical improvements in small and large motor skills; and emotional lessons in dealing with anger, disappointment, feeling sad or happy. (Weber & Singer, 2004).
Unlike some curriculum and media approaches which rigidly separate what experiences are appropriate for infants compared with toddlers and older children, the evidence is that quality TV programs and games can be designed for three to eight-year-olds and understood by them at different levels. The younger ones take in messages that match their level of cognitive development and older children interpret them at a more sophisticated level. Technology makes it possible to design programs that are not only appropriate to a particular age group, but also to different developmental levels within that age group. The computer is inherently adaptable to different learning styles, but there is as yet little evidence of that adaptability being harnessed in the cause of more individually appropriate learning.
Gaming has come a long way over the past decade. Early games were played on a dedicated video device; now platforms range from personal computers to small hand-held devices. Equipped with user-friendly screens, mobile phones, PDAs, graphing calculators, GPS receivers, MP3 players, digital cameras and watches can be used to play games on-line or off-line. This increased accessibility has helped create a huge explosion in gaming, leading to many young gamers drifting away from television to spend time with interactive play.
Games can be used with positive results to assist learning from 3-8 but so far there have been relatively limited attempts to integrate game-playing into the classroom in Australia.
There are games being sold to teach times-tables, numbers, letters, reading and comprehension. Such materials can be overtly didactic with content that is little more than drill with graphics rather than carefully and well developed curriculum content. Puzzle games, however, are now beginning to realise the promise of technology and learning. For example, Nintendo’s Brain Age and Big Brain Academy, based around maths, logic and visual exercises are research-based games that develop skills and they are regarded as quality entertainment.
Quality educational games can be developed for preschoolers around shapes, colours, numbers, counting and reading. Games are particularly useful for children with learning disabilities and enhance hand and eye coordination. (Novak and Levy, pp.222-3).
There is now, however, a growing body of evidence demonstrating that narrative-based games are effective and valuable tools for learning. Narrative-based games have an enthusiastic following with children from a very early age and across all ages.
The iterative strategies developed through game-playing include the following elements:
Game players can acquire these skills at a very early age. Four- and five-year-olds play such games as The Sims (the most popular computer game ever made, which is essentially a ‘living dollhouse’) and Roller Coaster Tycoon where the basic goal is to create a successful theme park.
Children Now sums up the research on children’s use of interactive media saying thatchildren who use computers show superior spoken communication and cooperation, can play better within a set of rules, share leadership roles, take turns, and initiate interactions. Children learn to use more complex speech patterns and higher levels of verbal communication because they tend to narrate what they are doing as they play. They have better phonological awareness, tell more sophisticated stories and have better writing skills. Interactive story books allow children to control the story and ask for help and get it. (Cassell, 2004; Foster, Erickson et al 1994; Ryokai et al, 2003; Chera & Wood, 2003; Lewin, 2000)
For most children, using the computer does not isolate them but helps to connect them with others. Computer activity motivates and produces a longer attention span and enhances self-concept and attitudes to learning because it insists on mastery from level to level.
In 2006, the Federation of American Scientists issued a statement supporting the use of computer and video games in classrooms:
“…educational games are fundamentally different than prevailing instruction because they’re based on challenge, reward, learning through doing and guided discovery in contrast to the ‘tell and test’ methods of traditional instruction … Games offer attributes important for learning – clear goals, lessons that can be practiced repeatedly until mastered, monitoring learner progress and adjusting instruction to learner level of mastery, closing the gap between what is learned and its use, motivation that encourages time on task, personalisation of learning, and infinite patience.”
There is no research with pre-schoolers that documents their capabilities with technology and the potential for learning games can engender. But there is an interesting case study reported by Professor James Paul Gee, Professor of Reading, University of Wisconsin, USA:
“Gee described his nine-year-old son's progress with technology which began at age three with him sitting on his father’s lap with one of the Winnie the Pooh books on the computer. The father would control the mouse and the son would tap the screen. The three-year-old soon learnt how to use the mouse, the conventions of a computer, how the screen worked and that some things on the screen were clickable. Eventually the child wanted to take over much more control of the game itself.
“Gee bought his son two plastic Pokémon figures from the supermarket; he was given a few Pokémon books, activity books and sticker books which introduced him to the whole Pokémon universe, including the game. They got him a Game Boy but because the boy couldn't read he was unable to play. His mother sat with him and they played the game together. Pokémon motivated the son very strongly to want to read the names of the Pokémon, play the game by himself and do a lot more on the Internet.
“By the end of his first year at kindergarten the boy was able to read. He became interested in evolution because of the evolution of Pokémon characters. This led to his dinosaur craze and he went on to other games. By the age of seven in First Grade, the son wanted to play Age of Mythology. His father told him he felt it was over his head. The response was that there were several children in first grade playing it. And in fact there were. He and his friends got books out of the school library – fifth and sixth grade books. They went onto a lot of web sites about mythology and wanted to visit museums. By age nine the son started to play Yu-Gi-Oh on Game Boy. To play you need to read the back of the card to negotiate what you are going to do; this game playing is done in a very social setting.”
Marc Prensky, Don't bother me mom - I'm learning!, pp. 161- 167)
Children up to age eight are learning many cognitive skills which can be assisted by games, including:
Mark Prensky (2006) shows in his book Don’t bother me Mum, I’m learning! how games help cognitive development in progressively complex ways.
Prensky says games teach children about:
Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) has analysed the effect of playing a brain-training game every day on the dual-screen handheld Nintendo game console. The study, which involved more than 600 pupils in 32 schools across Scotland, found the game improved pupils’ concentration and behaviour with less time needed to complete the tests. The improvement in the games group doubled that of the control group. LTS said the results offered the first independent, academic evidence that this type of computer game could improve attainment when used in an educational context. (BBC News 25/9/08, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/hi/scotland/7635404.stm
As a lucrative industry, games are developing apace. As the production values of video games have improved over the years, both in visual appearance and depth of storytelling, the creators have produced more and more lifelike, complex games that push the boundaries of the traditional gaming genres and make them an increasingly important communication, entertainment and educational medium.
Through such games young people are learning how to play, express themselves and collaborate in large-scale communities. But according to Professor Henry Jenkins from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology there is another skill often missing in games – judgment. Few children ask about the motives or accuracy of the way games depict the world or the ethics underlying the choices both game players and game creators are making. This is a subject for a media literacy program.
Another area of exponential growth is that of social networking and virtual worlds. Social networking is used by children as young as 12 months old who use virtual communication tools such as webcams to interact with parents or others who are in a remote location. On www.superclubsplus.com.au, which is popular among six- to twelve-year-olds, children can build their own web pages and talk in forums and by e-mail, with online mediators monitoring the site and ensuring that content is age appropriate.
It is estimated that more than 200 virtual world projects are in development globally. (McIntyre, 2008) Children love the idea of virtual playgrounds, places where they can create their own identities, or avatars and interact with others in new digital environments.
This section draws on The Developing Child, a publication produced by the Children's Programme Committee of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal in 1980, which was based on a Children's Programming Report produced by the Children's Programming Department WNET/13 New York in 1978. This publication was adapted for Australian producers to assist their understanding of the C classification for children's productions and became the underlying philosophy for programs produced by the Australian Children's Television Foundation during the 20 years Patricia Edgar was Director.)
Professor Jenkins is the principal investigator of a project on Games to Teach. This project is an interdisciplinary collaboration across the humanities, sciences and engineering disciplines, developing a series of conceptual prototypes for games to teach science and engineering subjects.
The family is the most significant context for early learning and the home is a media-saturated environment. Parents are doing their child no favour by keeping them away from the internet. Technology is part of a child’s life and learning today and is a growing part of their identity, connectedness, community participation and future civic engagement.
Given the recent research on the significance of learning experiences in the early years for brain development, any curriculum for children up to the age of eight must place a heavy emphasis on informal learning in the home and the ways family members mediate the impact of media content and media usage by young children. Whereas access to quality child care and pre-school programs is unequal, access to the mass media is ubiquitous.
Increasingly, television, videos and computer games are used as babysitters as parents have become two-income households, with less time for parenting. Single-parent households have increased; there are fewer siblings and neighbourhood friends so media have become a companion for more hours in the day than ever before. (Edgar, 2008) The potential of media is lost if children are left to observe commercialised programming that makes little sense to them but is, nonetheless, shaping their values and behaviour.
At this critical age their brains are being wired and re-wired, not just through parental words and actions but through the repeated images, patterns, sounds, music, stories, emotions and behaviour they see on the screens in their homes. The new digital media are shaping children in ways their parents could never have imagined.
Repeated research emphasises that children learn most when their parents or other adults ‘mediate’ what they are seeing or doing, whether that is on the TV screen or in the kindergarten classroom. (Dens, Pelsmacker & Eagle, 2007; Buijzen & Mens, 2007; Evans Schmidt, 2006; Barr, Muentener & Garcia, 2007)
The main point about learning via the media is much the same as for any other mode of learning: assistance from a parent, carer or teacher needs to be ‘scaffolded’ – in Vygotsky’s terms, targeted at the learner’s ‘Zone of Proximal Development’, which is the difference between the child’s actual level of development and the level he or she could achieve with the assistance of a more competent adult or peer (see Berk and Winsler, 1995).
In the early years children naturally love to learn as they love to play and appropriate video and computer games can very effectively combine these experiences. Pre-schoolers are inducted into many forms of technology before they can read, write or even talk clearly, particularly if they have older siblings. With the right software there are gains for pre-schoolers in intelligence scores, nonverbal skills, manual dexterity and long-term memory and there are better learning gains from home use of interactive technology compared with limited use at school. (Calvert et al, 2005; Lewin, 2000; Labbo & Kuhn, 2000: Haugland, 1992; Van Scoter et al, 2001; Frei, Su, Mikhak & Ishii, 2000; Siraj-Blatchford & Siraj-Blatchford, 2001)
Good programming can teach valuable lessons about living in a community. Children need to learn that they are part of a group; they can’t always win and life is not a competition, that trying and effort are admirable. They need to see human endeavour at its best, not just the side that produces conflict.
Parents and early childhood educators can control and regulate the amount of time spent watching television or on the computer, guiding children towards a balanced, responsible use of technology. Censorship or banning is not effective because children need to learn how to use new technologies to become effective citizens in the digital age.
An oft-expressed concern is that of the link between children’s viewing of violent television and computer games and aggressive behaviour (Clements, 1994; Haugland & Wright, 1997; Wartella, O’Keefe & Scantlin, 2002; Calvert, Stron & Gallagher, 2005; Van Scoter et al, 2002;. Lewin, 2000, Luckin, Connolly, Plowman & Airey, 2003). Such causality is, however, disputed across many research studies. It has some support if viewing hours are high (Bushman & Heusman, 2001) but other family-related factors are at play and children are just as likely to be influenced by positive social messages in television programs, learning and internalising messages about friendliness, altruism, cooperation, self-control, delay of gratification and the reduction of stereotypes. (Fisch, 2004)
Children are not just passive users, victims of media effects. They are, today, active users eagerly exploring the new media technologies to learn about the world and express themselves in new ways. The goal must be to help children make informed choices about how they use the media and for how long, and how much they can trust and be informed by what they see. This is a preparation for a citizenship model of media literacy. (Penman & Turnbull, 2007, p. 15)
If the task of early childhood is defined as ‘learning to find your way around in the world’, then the mass media and the tools of modern technology have the potential to help in this task by taking every child well beyond the intimate confines of the family home to a wealth of ‘life experiences’ to discover who they are in relation to the wider human family and their social and physical environment. Media provide visual, verbal, emotional, social and even physical modes of dealing with the world. They also offer a pervasive set of commercial values which may not be what is needed for citizenship in the digital age.
The internet age has ushered in ‘a powerful new combination of technological, social and economic trends which has placed children and youth at the centre of digital politics, commerce and culture’.(Wartella & Jennings, 2000, p. 4)
This is a big step forward from previous discussions about media literacy that have focused on the basic technological know-how needed to use it, a mechanistic, analytical approach, and a fairly negative form of critical understanding of the processes of media production.
Ofcom, the British communication regulatory authority (Buckingham, 2006) calls for media literacy in three main areas, covering children’s ability to:
This is a useful framework around which to build a national approach to the development of media literacy in all young Australians.
However, it is necessary to now go further and add a fourth dimension:
4. Learn through the media - this involves having parents, carers and teachers build on the content of what children view to enhance child development and learning in the areas of physical growth and health, language and communicative competence,self-understanding and interpersonal skills, cognitive skills and general knowledge.
To fully realise this potential of the media as a tool for learning will, however, require the development of new media content that will serve as both a resource and an agent in the cause of a meaningful education revolution. New media content is needed to deliver the kind of high-quality television programs and games that provide rich learning experiences and so further the objective of universal access to high-quality education for early childhood development.
Together, these four areas provide the basis for a forward-looking framework that will address the emerging as well as existing potential of the media as a tool for learning.More ...