primary headteachers, teachers and practitioners in …sealcommunity.org/files/resources/theme 4...

Headteachers, teachers

and practitioners in

funded Foundation Phase

settings, primary schools,

special schools, and

local authority and

Children’s Services staff

Date of issue: 09-2010

Ref: 1348-2010-WALES

PrimarySocial and emotional aspectsof learning – Cymru

Theme 4 Going for goals! Years 3 and 4

Disclaimer

The Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills wishes to make it clear that the Department and its agents accept no responsibility for the actual content of any materials suggested as information sources in this publication, whether these are in the form of printed publications or on a website.

In these materials icons, logos, software products and websites are used for contextual and practical reasons. Their use should not be interpreted as an endorsement of particular companies or their products.

The websites referred to in these materials existed at the time of publishing. Please check all website references carefully to see if they have changed and substitute other references where appropriate.

Yellow set

Introduction

This theme focuses primarily on the key aspect of motivation, with a subsidiary focus onself-awareness. It gives an important opportunity for all pupils’ abilities, qualities andstrengths to be valued. The theme provides opportunities for them to reflect on themselvesas individuals, particularly their strengths as learners and how they learn most effectively.

Each set of activities focuses on the underlying prerequisites for successful goal-directedlearning and behaviour, for example, taking responsibility and building feelings of confidenceand self-efficacy – the belief that what you do makes a difference. Goal-directed behaviouris only valuable if we are able to make wise and balanced choices about our goals, so thistheme provides opportunities for pupils to consider this and to practise problem-solvingstrategies.

The intended learning outcomes for Years 3 and 4 are described below and over the page.Teachers will be aware of the different stages that pupils in the class may be at in theirlearning, and may also want to draw on intended learning outcomes from the Blue andGreen sets.

Intended learning outcomes

Description Intended learning outcomes

This theme provides opportunities for pupils toreflect on their own strengths as learners usingthe concept of multiple intelligences. They will alsoconsider the feelings associated with learning andwhat level of emotion supports or hinders learning.

Pupils will consider the barriers to meeting theirgoals and to learning, and how they mightovercome these.

They will consider how feelings might influenceprogress towards the goal – particularly feelings ofboredom and frustration.

Pupils are encouraged to explore what helps themto be successful, and to attribute their successesto the effort that they put in.

They continue to explore how they might solvesocial problems and how they might make wisechoices about their learning and behaviour.

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Knowing myself I can tell you about myself as a learner.I can use my strengths as a learner.I know that I am responsible for my own learning andbehaviour.I know what I need to learn effectively.I know how my feelings can influence my learning.

Setting a realistic goalI can foresee obstacles and plan to overcome themwhen I am setting goals.

Planning to reach a goalI can set success criteria so that I will know whether I have reached my goal.I can break down a goal into a number of steps andwait for the result.I know how others can help me to achieve my goalsand how I can help others.

Pupils will be provided with opportunities to set agoal, plan to reach it and persevere to ensuresuccess.

Links to the curriculum

There are opportunities to develop social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL)throughout the school curriculum in Wales.

Personal and social education framework for 7 to 19-year-olds in Wales

These are the particular links with the Key Stage 2 learning outcomes of the Personal andsocial education framework for 7 to 19-year-olds in Wales.

Note: Whilst SEAL has the potential to contribute to personal and social education (PSE)at Key Stage 2, it must be stressed that for PSE to be broad and balanced othercomponents from both Skills and Range also need to be addressed within the schools’planned PSE programme.

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PersistenceI can recognise when I find learning difficult andpersevere when I need to.I can manage frustration by using a number ofstrategies.I can tell you how I keep going even when the task isdifficult or boring.I know when to keep trying and when to trysomething else.I can identify some barriers to my learning.I can think of ways to overcome barriers to mylearning.I can understand that some thoughts help me reachmy goal and some are a barrier.

Making choicesI can identify advantages and disadvantages of thesolutions or goals I set myself.I can predict the consequences of myactions/solutions or goals for myself, other individualsor groups.I can make a choice about what to do based on mypredictions of the likely consequences.

Evaluation and reviewI can tell you how I am going to apply what I havelearned.I am able to take responsibility for my actions andlearning when the outcomes are positive or negative.I can recognise when I have reached my goal or beensuccessful with my learning.I can tell you what has gone wrong with a plan andwhy.I can talk about the bits that went well and the bitsthat I need to change if I used my plan again.

Skills

Developing thinking

Learners should be given opportunities to:

• identify links between cause and effect

• distinguish between ‘facts’, beliefs and opinions

• form personal opinions and make informed decisions

• use appropriate techniques for personal reflection.

Developing communication


• listen carefully, question and respond to others

• express their views and ideas confidently through a range of appropriate

methods

• contribute to class discussions and take part in debates.

Working with others


• work cooperatively to solve problems

• empathise with others’ experiences and feelings

• ask for personal help and advice.

Improving own learning


• experience various learning styles and recognise the ways in which they learn

best

• reflect on progress, identify strengths and weaknesses and set targets for

improvement

• apply learning to similar situations within school

• develop practical skills necessary for everyday life.

Range

Active citizenship


• develop respect for themselves and others

• value families and friends as a source of mutual support

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and to understand:

• the benefits of families and friends and the issues that can arise

• the challenges learners might have in accessing learning opportunities in

school.

Health and emotional well-being


• feel positive about themselves and be sensitive towards the feelings of others

and to understand:

• the range of their own and others’ feelings and emotions.

Moral and spiritual development


• explore their personal values

and to understand:

• that personal actions have consequences.

Preparing for lifelong learning


• enjoy and value learning and achievements

• take increasing responsibility for their learning.

Skills framework for 3 to 19-year-olds in Wales

These activities provide many opportunities for pupils to develop the thinking andcommunication skills outlined in the Skills framework for 3 to 19-year-olds inWales. These are the particular links within this set.

Developing thinking across the curriculum

Plan

Asking questions

Activating prior skills, knowledge and understanding

Gathering information

Determining the process/method and strategy

Determining success criteria

Develop

Generating and developing ideas

Valuing errors and unexpected outcomes4


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Entrepreneurial thinking

Thinking about cause and effect and making inferences

Thinking logically and seeking patterns

Forming opinions and making decisions

Monitor progress

Reflect

Reviewing outcomes and success criteria

Reviewing the process/method

Evaluate own learning and thinking

Linking and lateral thinking

Developing communication across the curriculum

Oracy

Developing information and ideas

Presenting information and ideas

Reading

Locating, selecting and using information using reading strategies

Responding to what has been read

Writing

Organising ideas and information

Wider communication skills

Communicating ideas and emotions

Communicating information

PlanningObjectives from Speaking, Listening, Children’s versio Stages 1 and 2(DfES 0623-To help with planning, the type of learning and teaching involved in each learningopportunity in these materials is indicated by icons in the left-hand margin.

Ideas from schools are noted in the right-hand margin of this book. The ideasinclude ways in which teachers planned for diversity in their class or group, forexample, to support the learning of pupils with language acquisition or additionallearning needs.

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Whole class

Individual

Pairs

Small group

Key vocabulary (to be introduced within the theme and across the curriculum)

goal target obstacle barrier

responsibility responsible perseverance boredom

frustration respect encouragement

Resources

These are a list of the resources that can be used to support the work within this book.They are available in the Whole-school resource file.

Resources

Year 3 Working together self-review checklist

Year 4 Photocards – children learning

Working together self-review checklist

Key points from the assembly story

1. Samindra lived with his mother and sister. His father was away fighting in a war. Theyhad a tractor to help them with the farm.

2. The tractor broke down and needed a new part (a carburettor). Samindra’s mother hurther leg and couldn’t go to get the new part.

3. Samindra set off over the mountain. It seemed a long way and he was scared.

4. Samindra got over the mountain and bought the new part.

5. He returned home and gave his mother the new part for the tractor.

Suggested whole-school focus for noticing and celebrating achievement

Use the school’s usual means of celebration (praise, notes to the pupil andparents/guardians, certificates, peer nominations, etc.) to notice and celebrate pupils (oradults) who were observed:

• taking responsibility – for our successes and when things go wrong

• waiting for what you want; persistence (keeping going)

• resilience – bouncing back or maintaining effort through a difficult experience or after amistake or failure

• setting and achieving goals.

The time frame for each focus will need to be decided over the whole school.

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Yellow set: Year 3

Circle games and rounds

Circle games

Can we do it?

This is a very simple but effective game. There should be no talking during the

game. Everyone starts sitting and should end standing. One person starts by

standing up. Other pupils follow suit, but if two people move at the same time

everyone must sit down and start again.

Rocket launch

Count how many people are in the room. This number starts your countdown.

Sitting in a circle, pupils start to count down from the starting number, standing

up as they call out. Anyone can stand up and call out the next number but, if

more than one pupil stands at the same time, the countdown has to start again.

When you reach 1, everyone stands, raises their arms and shouts ‘We have

lift-off’.

Rounds

One achievement I am proud of is …

One thing that stops me from achieving things is ..

Learning opportunities: knowing how we are clever

Remind the pupils that people are all different. They look different. They learn

differently. They are interested in different things and they are clever or intelligent

in different ways. Explain that they are going to explore the question, ‘How am I

clever?’ Explain that this is not the same as another question that they might

sometimes ask themselves: ‘How clever am I?’

Give them a copy of the How am I clever? resource sheet (see pages 14–16).

They use the scaling on the second resource sheet to show how much they are

like the person in each section of the first resource sheet.

Form groups of pupils who have similar strengths as learners. Give each group a

task that goes with this. Examples of group tasks might include:

• linguistic learner – writing a poem together

• logical/mathematical learner – completing a maths investigation

We limited the‘intelligences’ and Imade cardsshowing pupilstalking, making amodel, playing aninstrument, doinggym, working ontheir own at acomputer. Pupilschose the one theyfelt they were mostlike. We set a taskin each categoryand all the pupilstried out all thetasks, thenreported back onwhich theypreferred.

Intended learning outcome

I can tell you about myself as a learner.

• spatial learner – making a model

• musical learner – composing a piece of music

• bodily/kinaesthetic learner – making a dance or mime to illustrate a science topic

• naturalistic learner – classifying leaves and making a key

• interpersonal learner – deciding on how to solve a problem between peoplethat happens in the classroom or playground

• intrapersonal learner – doing some private research about the current sciencetopic.

Review how they managed the task. Include:

• group skills – did you enjoy working with the group?

• level of interest – did you feel involved and excited?

• motivation – was it easy to keep going with the task?

On another occasion, repeat this activity but this time give each group a task thatis poorly matched with their strengths as learners.

Review how successful they were with the task.

Review how they managed the task, repeating the questions above.

Ask the pupils what they learned about themselves and other people.

Learning opportunity: scaling

Sometimes our goals are really difficult to achieve. Negotiate with the pupils aclass goal. For example this might relate to any curriculum area, to their social,emotional and behavioural skills work, or to their behaviour in class or in theplayground. Examples might be:

• Our class want to be good at writing.

• Our class want to try harder with their work.

• Our class want to be more friendly in the playground.

Spend a little time with the class trying to identify what it would be like if the classhad achieved this target. They should try to explain as fully as possible what thatwould be like. If appropriate, you might like to divide the class into groups so thatsome draw what it would be like, some demonstrate what it would be like andsome write what it would be like. From the ideas the pupils have come up with,agree some success criteria.

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I devised activitiesthat all related toour current workon volcanoes.


I can set success criteria so that I will know whether I have reached mygoal.

I can break down a goal into a number of steps and wait for the result.

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Draw a line (success line) on the whiteboard or on the floor with chalk or withstring. Place a number 0 on one end and a 10 on the other. Explain that whenthe class have reached the target or goal they will be at number 10, and that ifthey couldn’t do it at all they would be at number 0. Ask the pupils todemonstrate where they think that the class is now. This might be by the pupilsmoving to that place on the line or by simple hands up. Ask them to justify theirview.

Try to come up with a consensus of where the class is at the moment.

Ask the pupils to decide where (which number) they think they would like to beat, or could be at, by the end of the week. They should then try to define whatthat might be like. They will be setting their success criteria for the small steps onthe way to their long-term goal. You might like to use partner talk to help withthis.

They should agree something that as a class they might do over the week to helpreach the next point on the line.

At the end of the week, remind them of their success criteria for the week. Theclass should assess where they are on the line of success again and agree if theyhave met the success criteria. Use their work from the previous week to definewhat meeting the final goal would be like and set another small-steps target andlinked success criteria.

Learning opportunities: foil frustrations – beat boredom

Recap on the meaning of a ‘goal’: Ask pupils to talk to a partner and come upwith a definition of what a goal is. Discuss similarities and differences and agree aclass definition to display.

The definition should include the key characteristics of ‘something you reallywant’; ‘something that you need to work for’. Emphasise the fact that effort islikely to have to be sustained and it may not be easy to achieve.

Elen and Rehana: Remind pupils of the story they heard previously (inFoundation Phase Element 4) about Elen and Rehana, who wanted to go to atheme park and tried to overcome frustration and disappointments to raise themoney (see Blue set resource sheets). Reread if there are a significant number ofpupils who are new to the class or have forgotten the story.


I can identify advantages and disadvantages of the solutions or goals I setmyself.

I can foresee obstacles and plan to overcome them when I am settinggoals.

I can predict the consequences of my actions/solutions or goals for myself,other individuals or groups.

I can manage frustration by using a number of strategies.

I used the sameidea with a fewindividuals in myclass who werehaving problems inthe playground.They each had theirown ‘success line’.

For the ‘successline activity’, weused a washing linewith the numbers 0 to 10 pegged onit, a pointer, and aphoto of what theclass would looklike for each one.The pupils enjoyedenacting ‘chaos’for 0 and being‘perfect’ with theclassroom tidy andorganised for 10.Each time the classhad a goodsession, one pupilhad theresponsibility tomove the pointerup the line a little.

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Remind them of the ‘feeling/impulsive’ and ‘thinking’ parts of our brains, whichthey may have met in earlier year groups.

Ask them: If Elen and Rehana had behaved ‘impulsively’ (check that theyremember the meaning of this word), what might they have done? (For example,torn up the paper chain; walked out.) Would they have achieved their goals?

Strategies: Elicit from the pupils the strategies they know to manage theirfeelings of frustration and irritation, for example:

• keeping the goal in mind/seeing the big picture

• saying encouraging things to yourself (relate to the assembly story)

• imagining the end result

• setting yourself a reward for finishing the task

• setting yourself a time challenge.

Refer also to their previous work on anger management and calming down. Askthem to remind you about the ways to calm down that they have identified. Usethe poster on ‘calming down’ if they made one in their work in Theme 1 Newbeginnings.

Invite a visitor: Invite someone who has achieved a goal (that will be of interestto the class) to describe it to the pupils. Prepare a number of questions to ask.The visitor could be a pupil or adult in the school, or an outsider. The focus of thetalk could be on obstacles: what obstacles they anticipated; what obstacles theyencountered in pursuing their goal. In particular, the visitor could be asked if therewere periods of frustration and boredom and how they overcame these.

The visitor could also be asked to focus on whether there were times when theyfelt embarrassed, disappointed or angry, and how they had managed thesefeelings. What sort of strategies were these?

Obstacles: Explain that there are some obstacles that are outside our controland these might make it even more difficult to reach our goal. In the class theremight be pupils who have come from a different country and did not speakEnglish to start with. They might be happy to share their experience and talkabout how communication was a real obstacle to their learning.

Learning opportunities: taking responsibility

Prepare one copy per group of the Lucky dip resource sheet (see page 17). Cutout the sentences and place them in an envelope (one per group).

This activity is designed to help pupils to develop a positive attitude to learningand to take responsibility appropriately. It is helpful if they have a belief that theycan make a difference. For example, if they are successful it is because they triedhard rather than they were just lucky, and if they were unsuccessful it wasbecause they needed to try harder rather than because they are ‘not clever’enough.

Intended learning outcome

I know that I am responsible for my own learning and behaviour.

In our class wehave a boy whosefamily came to thiscountry to seekasylum. He asked ifhe could tell hisstory about hisjourney to thiscountry. He showedpictures of hishouse and what hehad left. A teachingassistant helpedhim to prepare ashis language isn’talways very fluent.

My pupil withautism shared thework from theindividual ‘Bookabout feelings’ thathe kept to remindpupils about thework they haddone on anger.

I made the cardssuggested in Blueset: Element 3‘Just because’,because it tacklesthe same issue butat a simpler level,more appropriatefor some of mypupils with learningor languagedifficulties.


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The group has to decide which sentences show that the person is takingresponsibility, and which sentences show that they are blaming things outsidethemselves.

A number of sample sentences are given on the sheet. You can extend the list toinclude common classroom or school issues, so as to personalise the activity.

Bring pupils together to discuss what they thought and highlight anydiscrepancies in interpretations.

Learning opportunities: going for a goal

This is a development of the Going for a goal activity pupils carried out inFoundation Phase Element 4. Ask them to work in pairs to come up with a goalthat each of them would like to achieve in the next few days (specify the timeperiod). The goal must interest them both and build on something that they cando already (such as running times, current record for skipping or hula-hooping,juggling, poi-poi, skateboarding, roller-blading, computer game score).

Each pupil should specify their goal, state their current performance and name ofthe buddy. It should say how the goal will be achieved (in at least two steps) andwho can help with it. You could make a proforma for the pupils to use, withspaces for the name of the buddy, at least two steps and an evaluation.

The evaluation should take place at the end of the specified period and includequestions such as:

• Did you keep to your plan? If not, why not?

• What helped you – in particular, what did your buddy do that helped you?

• If you achieved your goal, how did you feel?



I know how others can help me to achieve my goals and how I can helpothers.

I can tell you what has gone wrong with a plan and why.

I can talk about the bits that went well and the bits that I need to change ifI used my plan again.

I can recognise when I have reached my goal or been successful with mylearning.

Emphasise the importance of working well together, particularly how wellthe pupils include and respond to all members of the group. At the end of the activity, you may like to ask groups to use the Working together self-review checklist, from the Whole-school resource file, to review howthis went.

We used theinteractivewhiteboard tomake this conceptclear. Using asimple grid as akey visual, thepupils moved thesentences aroundthe board, sortingthem into ‘I’mresponsible’ and‘Someone else isresponsible’columns or sets.

We extended thispaired activity byintroducing a digitalcamera. Each pairhad to photographthe steps theymade along theway to reachingtheir goal, and alsoadd a shortcommentary on thephotograph. Weused thesephotographs assequencingactivities for pupilswho had languageacquisition needs.

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• If you did not achieve your goal, what got in the way? What can you do?

• Did you have to change your plan as you went along? If so, how and why didyou do this?

• How could you improve your plan?

• How does your plan compare with the plan you came up with last year? Is thegoal harder to achieve? What can you do now that you could not do then?

Learning opportunities: weighing up the consequence

Ask the pupils to talk in pairs about something they have done or they haveknown other people to do that was brave (this might include characters fromstories or films and why they think that this was brave).

Read the two stories from the Brave or unwise choices challenge resource sheet(see page 18). The pupils should work in pairs to consider the stories. As a wholestaff group, try to unpick what makes something brave and what makessomething just dangerous and silly.

Use the Brave or unwise choices challenge resource sheet (see page 18) to setthe pupils a group challenge.

Display their work and refer to it when they are making choices about theirbehaviour.

Ongoing activities

Giving feedback about work and behaviour

As a teacher, consider how you provide feedback about work and behaviour. Try to make sure it encourages effort rather than suggests that the pupil is notable or lazy.

For example, you might say:

• Let’s see – you have put in a title, labelled the axis, and drawn the barsaccurately.

• You should be proud of yourself for listening well and working hard in today’smaths lesson.

• Let’s have a look. You have done this part right so next time you will have tothink harder about that part.

• Which parts can’t you do yet?


I can predict the consequences of my actions/solutions or goals for myselfother individuals or groups.

I can make a choice about what to do based upon my predictions of thelikely consequences.

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• You’ve done really well to get yourself to school every day for the last fortnight– that means you have 100% attendance, when it was only 80% before.

• Do you think you made a good choice when you … ?

• What are you going to choose to do next time?

Questions for reflection and enquiry

• Is it OK to stay still and do nothing?

• Should you always be working towards a goal?

• Can you enjoy yourself doing nothing?

• Why should you work hard?

Review

• What have you learned about setting goals?

• What helps you to achieve a goal?

• How will it change how you do things in the future?

• These are the things we said we would learn to do in our work on this theme …Do you think you can do those things now?

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Yellow set resource sheet: Year 3

How am I clever? (1)

What sort of a learner are you? Some people have tried to classify our strengths aslearners in different ways. Talk about each and about what you are good at.

Linguistic learner

I like to read, write and tell stories.

I am good at remembering names, places,dates and facts.

I learn best when I say, hear or see words.

Logical/mathematical learner

I like to do experiments, figure thingsout, work with numbers, ask questions,and explore patterns and relationships.

I am good at maths, reasoning, logicand problem solving.

I learn best by grouping things, workingwith patterns, shapes and numbers.

Spatial learner

I like to draw, build, design and createthings, daydream, look atpictures/slides, watch movies and playwith machines.

I am good at imagining things, sensingchanges, solving mazes/puzzles andreading maps or charts.

I learn best by visualising, dreaming,using my mind’s eye and working with colours/pictures.

Musical learner

I like to sing, hum tunes, listen to music, play an instrumentand respond to music.

I am good at picking up sounds, remembering tunes, noticingpitches/rhythms, and keeping time.

I learn best when I use rhythm, melody and music.

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Bodily/kinaesthetic learner

I like to move around, touch and talk,and use my body.

I am good at physical activities(sports/dance/acting) and crafts.

I learn best by touching and moving.

Naturalistic learner

I like to be outside, with animals, or learningabout geography or weather.

I am good at grouping and organising plantsand animals, and looking after theenvironment.

I learn best by looking at nature out in theopen and learning about how things work.

Interpersonal learner

I like to have lots of friends, talk topeople and join groups.

I am good at understanding people,leading others and sorting out conflicts.

I learn best by sharing, comparing,relating, cooperating and interviewing.

Intrapersonal learner

I like to work alone and pursue my own interests.

I am good at understanding myself, thinking aboutmy feelings and dreams, following instincts, pursuinginterests/goals and being original.

I learn best by working alone, doing my ownindividual projects, having my own space andworking at my own pace.

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How am I clever? (2)

Shade in the grid like this to show how much like the person you are. 10 is very much like the person. 1 is not like them at all.

1 10

Linguistic learner

1 10

Logical/mathematical learner

1 10

Spatial learner

1 10

Musical learner

1 10

Bodily/kinaesthetic learner

1 10

Naturalistic learner

1 10

Interpersonal learner

1 10

Intrapersonal learner

1 10

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Lucky dip

Cut out the sentences below and place in an envelope. Use one envelope for each group.

I lost the game because I hadn’t practised.

I lost the game because the other side cheated.

He made me laugh so I got thrown out of class.

I did well in that spelling test because the spellings were easy.

I got a good comment on my maths work because the teacher likes me.

Sherona doesn’t want to be my friend because I wasn’t very nice to her when she first started at school.

I did well in that spelling test because I did my homework and learned the words really well.

I feel proud of myself because I did the right thing when Shaheed hit Naomi.

I got a good comment on my maths work because I have beenworking really hard in class recently.

I am good at swimming because I practise every day after school.

I couldn’t finish my homework because I had to watch myfavourite TV programme.

I had to take the chocolate because they would call me names if I didn’t.

I didn’t get the part in the play because I hadn’t learned my lines.

�

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Brave or unwise choices challenge

It is sometimes hard to tell when someone is being brave or when he or she ismaking an unwise choice. What do you think about Meleri in these short stories?

In your groups think about these two stories and decide whether Melari made abrave or unwise choice in them. Your challenge is to decide how we know ifsomething is brave or unwise, so that you can tell the rest of the class (or ayounger class) how they might decide what is brave and what is unwise.

You will have some time to present your ideas to the class. This should include:

• a story to illustrate your ideas – you might write this or act it out

• a picture

• a list of ideas about choices that are unwise and those that are brave.

You will have 30 minutes to complete the challenge and 2 minutes todemonstrate it to the rest of the class.

Meleri and Mark were on the way to school. They noticed that there was

a large hole in the road where some workmen had been working. There

was nothing to tell the drivers of cars coming down the road that there

was danger. Someone must have taken away the warning to drivers as a

dare. Meleri looked up. There was a car coming. She stood in front of the

hole and jumped and waved her arms. The car stopped just in front of

her.

Meleri was playing with her brother Mark. They were trying to see who

could jump down the most steps. They had started with three steps and

found that easy. Mark had tried four steps and so Meleri had a go and

managed that. Mark had then gone up to the sixth step. He looked at

Meleri and said, ‘I bet you can’t jump six.’ Meleri went up to the sixth

step and looked down. It was a long way. Mark was calling, laughing

and shouting ‘Scaredy cat’. Meleri jumped.

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Yellow set: Year 4

Circle games and rounds

Circle games

Find the pair

Give each pupil a card with a word or, preferably, a picture and word on it. Thecard will show an object that might go in a pair. For example:

cat and mouse needle and thread shoe and sock

sun and moon brush and comb dustpan and brush

knife and fork plug and socket cup and saucer

toothpaste and toothbrush dog and bone fish and fishing rod

fish and chips screen and keyboard letter and postbox

They should use the cards to try finding their partner without talking. When theyare successful they should sit down next to each other.

Rounds

I found this game easy difficult because …

When I grow up I’d like to be … like …

Learning opportunities: knowing myself

Ask the pupils to think of a piece of work or learning that they did particularly well.This might be at school, at home, in a club or in their place of worship.

They should take it in turns to describe the learning experience to their partner.The partner should use good listening and ask them questions to help themreflect:

• What did you learn?

• How did you learn?

• What did you find interesting about what you were doing?

• What kept you going?


I can tell you about myself as a learner.

I can use my strengths as a learner.

I know what I need to do to learn effectively.

I know that I am responsible for my own learning.

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• How did you overcome any difficulties?

• Where were you? Did that help with your learning?

• Were any other people involved? Did this help you to learn?

When both pupils have had a turn, they should individually complete the My learning map resource sheet (see page 26).

Learning opportunities: feelings and learning

Use photocards of pupils learning, from the Whole-school resource file to facilitatediscussion about how they feel when they are learning, and whether thesefeelings are helpful or a barrier.

Explain that one of the barriers to our learning or reaching our goals is the waywe are feeling. Thought shower as many ideas as you can about how we mightfeel when we are learning and record them on the whiteboard. To help with this,you could give examples of learning experiences and ask them to demonstratehow they might be feeling using mime.

Examples might be:

• you are stuck on a difficult piece of maths

• you feel left out from the group task

• you are writing a really interesting story

• you are planning a science experiment

• you can’t get the dance sequence right.

Write two labels on cards – ‘Helps me learn’, ‘Stops me learning’ – and placethese on the floor with an imaginary line between them. Read out the feelings oneat a time from the whiteboard. Ask them to place themselves on the line at apoint that represents how useful the feeling is when they are learning. Questionthem about why and when this feeling might be helpful. This might lead to somevaluable discussion about whether feeling a little anxious or frustrated might be agood or bad thing when learning.

Explain to them that they are going to make a graph of the way they are feelingover the next few days. On the side (y) axis they should write ‘stressed’ at the topand ‘calm’ at the bottom. On the bottom (x) axis they should write ‘time’. Overthe next few days, give them time to fill out the graph according to how they arefeeling. Ask them to annotate the graph to show what activity they are doingwhen they complete the graph.


I can identify some barriers to my learning.

I know how my feelings can influence my learning.

I can tell you how I am going to apply what I have learned.

One pupil in myclass was oftengetting into trouble.I followed up thisactivity with himand we used theemotionalbarometer to helphim recognisewhen he needed abit of time in thelibrary corner toread and cooldown.

We used theFeelings detectiveposter to remindTom, a pupil withautism, of the faceand bodymovements that gowith differentfeelings. Wephotographed himin each of thesituations describedand he put thepictures in his‘Book of feelings’.

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Review the activity with the pupils. Consider:

• What have you learned from this activity?

• How are you going to learn from what you have learned?

• What might you do differently as a learner in the future?

Learning opportunities: barriers to reaching learning goals

Explain that you found this note on your desk. Read it out.

Ask the pupils to think of any other excuses or reasons the child writing the notemight have made. In pairs, they should write as many excuses as they can onsticky notes. Put up on the wall or whiteboard a large piece of paper with twoheadings:

• Barriers that I can change

• Barriers that I can’t change.

Ask them to stick their excuses/barriers under the correct headings.

Look at the ‘Barriers I can’t change’ notes and consider whether they are allcorrectly placed. If any refer to the pupil’s own ability (‘I can’t read’, ‘I can’t alwaysunderstand what you are saying’), consider whether this can be changed andhow this might be done. If there are some that the pupils or you really can’tchange, then ask them who might be able to make a difference. Suggest thatthey are given to that person (who might, for example, be the headteacher).

If a pupil says ‘I’m not clever enough’, it is especially important to explore whatmight be changed. You could ask, for example, ‘What does clever look like?What would someone who was clever do that you can’t do at the moment? Whatwould help you do that?’

Dear (insert your name)

You said that I could do better with my work. I don’t think this is fairbecause:

• the work was boring

• the room was too noisy

• I had to go out to play instead of doing my homework

• my best friend kept talking to me.


I can identify some barriers to my learning.

I can think of ways to overcome barriers to my learning.

I can set success criteria so I will know whether I have reached my goal.

Two of the pupilssaid they couldn’talways understandwhat I was saying.They agreed that ithelped when I usedpictures orexplainedvocabulary, andwhen I askedanother pupil to sayback to me aninstruction I’d giventhe class. It mademe stop andremember to takeaccount of theirneeds more often.

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In pairs, pupils should look at all the barriers to identify any that they think applyto themselves. They should consider how they are going to overcome them andwho might be able to help them. They might record this in their learning logs ifthey have them.

Then ask them to work in small groups on the Barriers to learning gamechallenge resource sheet (see page 27). Before they start they should identifyhow they will know if they reach their goal of creating a good game (successcriteria for the task). Thought shower the success criteria and write these clearlyon the board.

When the games are ready, each group has a go at playing its game. Pupilsshould rate their game against the success criteria. The groups then swapgames, each rating the game against the success criteria, and feeding back tothe group who made the game.

Learning opportunities: evaluation and review

Before the session, ask pupils to bring in information about a role model orperson who has achieved a goal that they respect or would like to achievethemselves. They should do some research. This can be done in a variety ofways depending on the person they have chosen. Ask them to bring in pictures,items and/or magazine articles relating to the person and what they haveachieved. You could make a display of their role models and offer some pupils theopportunity to talk about their own particular role models, using the followingheadings as a framework:

• What have they achieved?

• Why do you respect them for this?

• What obstacles were in their way?

• How did they overcome them?

• Who helped them achieve their goal?

• What do you think they said/did when they felt like giving up?

Review how the pupils have completed this task by encouraging them to reflecton what they have learned, what parts of their research have been successful andwhat they might do differently in the future. You could ask them to think aboutany obstacles they faced in doing their research, and how they overcame them.


I can recognise why I have reached my goal or been successful.

I can tell you how I am going to apply what I have learned.

Emphasise the importance of working well together as a group, particularlyhow efficiently they use time, resources and group members by distributingtasks, checking progress and making back-up plans. At the end of theactivity, you may ask groups to use the Working together self-reviewchecklist, from the Whole-school resource file, to review how this went.

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The Ethnic Minority Attainment website can provide information on role modelsfrom ethnic minority groups. www.emaonline.org.uk

Learning opportunities: perseverance

The race: Read the poem The Race from the resource sheets (see pages 28–29).

Discuss the following:

• Who is the child in the race?

• What is the ‘message’ of the poem?

• What obstacles were there?

• How did the child feel, when it hit the hurdles?

• How did the child plan for a different outcome in the future?

• What helped the child to overcome obstacles and barriers?

As a follow-up to the class discussion about the poem, the pupils could producea storyboard for a display. The storyboard will show each stage of the race, withthought bubbles showing what the boy was thinking at each stage. They couldwrite helpful thoughts and words spoken in one colour and unhelpful ones inanother.

As the poem is quite long, each group could work on a different part of thepoem, each contributing to the overall display.

Encouragement: Discuss how important encouragement is when you are tryingto achieve a goal. Ask them to think of a time when they were ready to give up orwere feeling down, and someone encouraged them. Share with the group – whatdid they do/say?

Learning to make graphs: Reproduce the story Learning to make graphs fromthe resource sheets (see page 30), or a similar one, and have pupils work in pairsto highlight what they might consider helpful comments or actions in green, andunhelpful in red. What else could people have done to help, or what could theperson in the story have done to help him or herself?


I can tell you how I keep going even when the task is difficult or boring.

I know when to keep trying and when to try something else.

I can understand that some thoughts help me reach my goal and some area barrier.

I can recognise when I find learning difficult and persevere when I need to.

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Learning opportunities: planning to meet a goal

Make a school/class ‘Book of records’. Explain to the pupils that they are going toset themselves a goal – to set a personal best record. The record is forthemselves, no one else, and so they are not competing against each other. Theycan work in pairs or small groups but each should have an individual ‘personalbest’ to achieve.

Give them some time to decide on the goal that they would like to achieve in a setnumber of days.

Ask the them to make a plan each. The plan will include: what the goal will be; thename of a ‘buddy’.

Include in the plan answers to the following: What help will you need? When willyou practise/make the attempt? How will your buddy help?

Ask pupils to focus in their pairs on taking it in turns to discuss and list theobstacles that they might encounter. These might include:

• not being able to practise when you had planned to

• becoming bored

• not being able to do it

• your friends or others laughing at you

• people putting you down

• becoming frustrated and giving up (being impulsive and not using the thinkingpart of your brain)

• something more interesting happening.

Ask them to plan how they will overcome these obstacles.

The pupils then attempt their personal record/goal. When they have done this, askthem to prepare a report for the ‘Book of records’. This should include thefollowing:

• Did you keep to your plan? If not, why not?

• What helped you – in particular what did your buddy do that helped you?

• How did you feel if you achieved your goal?

• What got in the way if you did not achieve your goal? Had you planned for thisobstacle?

• Did your plan for overcoming the obstacle work?

• What can you do if you did not achieve your goal?

• How could the plan be improved?



I know how others can help me to achieve my goals and how I can helpothers.

In my class I have apupil who has onlyone arm. She cameup to me after thelesson and spoketo me about herarm for the firsttime. She said shewanted to be adancer and thatbeing disabledwasn’t going to getin the way.

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Ongoing activities

Use language that will encourage pupils to ‘go for it’ and be prepared to takerisks as learners.

Questions for reflection and enquiry

• What should you do if by achieving your goal you stop your friend fromachieving his or hers?

• Is winning important?

• Can working on a goal be fun?

Review

• What have you learned about setting goals?

• What helps you to achieve a goal?

• How will it change how you do things in the future?

• These are the things we said we would learn to do in our work on this theme …. Do you think you can do those things now?

Use:

The language of success

Signal confidence to the children in their ability to succeed with phrasessuch as ‘I know you can …’

The language of hope

Create an ethos where it is acceptable for children to say ‘I’ll try but Ineed some help …’ rather than ‘I cannot do it …’. Support this byusing phrases such as ‘You can do it …’ and ‘What helps you do it?’.

The language of possibility

Learners may express limits to their achievements with phrases such as‘I’m no good at …’ and ‘I always get … wrong’. Support a climate ofgreater possibility by the language you use in response, such as ‘Yes,you did get it a bit mixed up but let’s see which bit is causing youproblems’.

(from Hughes, M. and Vass, A., Strategies for closing the learning gap(Network Educational Press, 2001))

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My learning map

Try to include the following things.

• Best way to learn (e.g. by looking at pictures and diagrams, by doing, by watchingsomeone else do something, by following instructions, in a group, by myself).

• Favourite type of learning (e.g. how I am clever, my interests, what I like doing – likemaths or writing).

• Conditions (noisy/busy place, with music, quiet place, etc.).

• The kind of help that works best for me (feeling OK about making mistakes, askingquestions, checking with a friend, etc.).

My learning map

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Barriers to learning game challenge

Don’t forget …

to think about how you work together, as well as what you end up with.

Remember to …

plan your time well. Make sure that everyone is doing something sensible towards

the challenge. Have someone to check on the progress everyone is making.

Think about …

what you can do if things go wrong.

Your game should include:

• something you can see

• clear instructions

• some way of helping you overcome the barriers to learning.

You have 35 minutes to make your game.

When you have finished, play your game and rate how well you have done. Then swap games with another group so that they can rate your game.

You can create your game in whatever way you like, but it must remind the playersthat:

• we all have barriers in our learning

• if we try hard we can usually overcome them

• sometimes we will need a little extra help.

Dealing with the things that stop us learning is important. We all need to bereminded how to do this. Your challenge is to create a game that will help usovercome our barriers to learning.

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The Race

‘Quit! Give up! You’re beaten!’

They shout at me and plead.‘There’s just too much against you now;This time you can’t succeed!’And as I start to hang my headIn front of failure’s face,My downward fall is broken byThe memory of a race.And hope refills my weakened willAs I recall that scene;For just the thought of that short raceRejuvenates my being.

A children’s race – young boys, young men – How I remember well.Excitement, sure! But also fear;It wasn’t hard to tell.They all lined up so full of hopeEach thought to win that race.Or tie for first, or if not that,At least take second place.And fathers watched from off the sideEach cheering for his son.And each boy hoped to show his dadThat he would be the one.The whistle blew and off they went!Young hearts and hopes afire.To win and be the hero thereWas each young boy’s desire.

And one boy in particularWhose dad was in the crowdWas running near the lead and thought:‘My dad will be so proud!’But as he speeded down the fieldAcross a shallow dip,The little boy who thought to winLost his step and slipped.Trying hard to catch himselfHis hands flew out to brace,And mid the laughter of the crowdHe fell flat on his face.So down he fell and with him hope– He couldn’t win it now – Embarrassed, sad, he only wishedTo disappear somehow.

But as he fell his dad stood upAnd showed his anxious face,Which to the boy so clearly said:‘Get up and win the race!’He quickly rose, no damage done– Behind a bit, that’s all – And ran with all his mind and mightTo make up for his fall.So anxious to restore himself– To catch up and to win – His mind went faster than his legs;He slipped and fell again!He wished then he had quit beforeWith only one disgrace.‘I’m hopeless as a runner now;I shouldn’t try to race!’But in the laughing crowd he searchedAnd found his father’s face;That steady look which said again:‘Get up and win the race!’

So he jumped up to try again– Ten yards behind the last – ‘If I’m to gain those yards,’ he thought,‘I’ve got to move real fast.’Exerting everything he hadHe gained eight or ten,But trying so hard to catch the leadHe slipped and fell again!Defeat! He lay there silently– A tear dropped from his eye – ‘There’s no sense running anymore;Three strikes: I’m out! Why try?’The will to rise has disappeared;All hope had fled away;So far behind, so error-prone:A loser all the way.‘I’ve lost, so what’s the use?’ he thought‘I’ll live with my disgrace.’But then he thought about his dadWho soon he’d have to face.‘Get up,’ an echo sounded low.‘Get up and take your place;You were not meant for failure here.Get up and win the race.’

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‘With borrowed will get up,’ it said,‘You haven’t lost at all.For winning is no more than this:To rise each time you fall.’So up he rose to run once more,

And with a new commitHe resolved that win or loseAt least he wouldn’t quit.So far behind the others now,– The most he’d ever been – Still he gave it all he hadAnd ran as though to win.

Three times he’d fallen, stumbling;Three times he rose again:Too far behind to hope to winHe still ran to the end.They cheered the winning runnerAs he crossed the line first place.Head high, and proud, and happy;No falling, no disgrace.But when the fallen youngsterCrossed the line last place,The crowd gave him the greater cheer,For finishing the race.And even though he came in lastWith head bowed low, unproud,You would have thought he’d won the raceTo listen to the crowd.And to his dad he sadly said,‘I didn’t do too well.’‘To me, you won,’ his father said.‘You rose each time you fell.’

And when things seem dark and hardAnd difficult to face,The memory of that little boyHelps me in my race.For all of life is like that race.With ups and downs and all.And all you have to do to win,Is rise each time you fall.‘Quit! Give up, you’re beaten!’They still shout in my face.But another voice within me says‘GET UP AND WIN THE RACE!’

D. H. Groberg

Reproduced by kind permission of the author, all rights reserved.© D. H. Groberg

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Learning to make graphs

T

I’m going to tell you about what happened when I was first trying to use my

computer to make a graph. I knew exactly what I wanted to be able to do, but the

program seemed very complicated. As soon as I started the program it asked me

to put my data into a grid with different headings. But I didn’t know what all the

headings meant so I tried to guess and put my data in anyway. Of course, I didn’t

really understand what I was doing, so when I tried to make the program turn the

figures into a graph it just wouldn’t work. So in the end I got fed up and I gave up.

But I knew I couldn’t just leave it. I had to learn how to work the program

because I knew it would be really useful. I could imagine myself producing lots of

really smart and clever graphs and doing it really easily. And whenever I thought

like that I was really imagining myself just sitting down at the computer and

doing it without any effort at all. That picture of myself in my imagination really

helped me, because it made me want to be able to be like that, for real.

But I still didn’t know how to make that program work, until one day someone

else showed me a graph that she had made, and I told her about the problem I’d

had. And she then told me that she’d had exactly the same problem when she’d

first tried. And she told me to go back and have another go. She said ‘It’s really

easy, once you get the hang of it.’

She told me something else as well. She told me to look for a menu near the start

of the program which has the word ‘tutorial’ on it – and a tutorial is a kind of

lesson.

So that afternoon I started the program and tried again. I found the tutorial this

time and it was really helpful. It explained that first step which I’d found so

difficult and told me what to do next, and the next step, and so on. And within

about a half an hour I’d produced my first graph. I can’t tell you just how proud I

felt.

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This version of the Primary: Social andemotional aspects of learning materialsis based on original materials producedby the Department of Education andSkills. These materials have been adaptedand translated for use in Wales by theDepartment for Children, Education, LifelongLearning and Skills with kind permission ofthe Department of Children, Schools andFamilies.

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