In class today, I used the prompt cards with the children.
Tasks: Scratch - How an athlete's body moves.
Speaking & Presenting Opportunity: Respond to learning from today as you work your project.
Time spent on new intervention: 30 minutes think time.
Responses:
NB: Prompt is in red
- Child 1: "I learned how to draw ears."
After he said this, I explained how he could add detail to this idea.
- Child 2: "I decided that I wanted to make my character get bigger as he moved towards the camera."
After he said this, I asked the children if they knew the name for this. We discussed how this was perspective.
- Child 3: "My friend ________ asked how you could make a bone appear in scratch...whether that was possible. If anyone is thinking how to do that, I can help you."
- Child 4: "If you want your sprite to move in a different direction then you need costumes to make the animation happen."
When I encouraged this child to share something about the topic focus (i.e. How an athlete's body moves) rather than the medium for creating (Scratch), they found this really difficult. They finally responded based on their sport of boxing, "If someone is punched in the head then they will be knocked out."
- Child 5 (talking about another child's project on boxing as a sport at the Olympics): "I was walking around to have a think about what I was going to say and I saw ______'s work. He just had the person standing and punching. I asked him a question and I told him that before he started to punch he could change the position (put the hand here) to make it animate."
- Child 6: "I don't understand what happens to the Archer's hand when they let go of the arrow? Do they just let go with two fingers or the whole hand?"
- Child 7: "I still want to know how a sailor actually sails the boat because it is very confusing."
- Child 8: "I'm confused about how the runner's bones get stronger each time they take a step."
- Child 9: "One reason for making my pad [crash mat] 3D was I wanted to see / I wanted the pad [crash mat] to perform like in real life."
- Child 10: "_________ pointed out when I was drawing the legs on my person that the bottom part was thinner and the top of the leg is thicker so I changed it around."
- Child 11: "_______ mentioned that if you use your whole hand or 2 fingers it...
At this point, I mentioned that we needed more information. It wasn't clear what was being talked about. I wanted this child to be explicit by stating what sport was being talked about. She responded with:
"If you use 2 fingers then it will go way further than your whole hand. If you use your whole hand it will just flop on the ground. "
Based on this response, more work needs to be done to teach the children what it means to be explicit with their responses so the audience knows exactly what you are talking about. In this case, the child was talking about archery however there was no information to tell us that.
Five children did not know how to respond, even with the support of the prompt, which they had been given 30 minutes before the time of sharing. During this time, they were also encouraged to talk with their neighbours about how they could respond with the prompt they were given.
What can I do next?
As a result of this, the children who did respond were thoughtful and purposeful with what they shared. I need to teach the children what it means to be really explicit with what they are talking about so their audience understands them.
I need to teach the children how they can add detail to their ideas, rather than just sharing one sentence.
Conclusion:
This was a really good attempt of using these prompt cards. Many of these children need support with their confidence in sharing their ideas via speaking and presenting and this supports many of these children. I need to figure out what I can do to support those children who did not share any ideas.
