What Independent Learning Activities Can Most of Your Children Do?
In the future we will be judged not on what we have done in the class (e.g. content covered), but by the outcomes of our teaching; what children know or can do.
If you are to really help children achieve, then while you are helping targeted individuals the others must be able to work with minimum supervision. Helping children develop independent learning skills should be a major outcome of your programme (not merely controlling them).
What independent activities can your children do - or be helped to achieve:
Make your own list.
- To work for some time without your presence. Try them out (limit time at first).
- Read quietly to themselves - have the necessary strategies to read independently.
- Listen to stories/music on the Listening Post.
- Work from blackboard or texts with minimal help as an individual or in small groups.
- Have the skills to play or work in groups on a suitable task, e.g. in developmental/a maths activity. To know how to behave.
- Have discussion skills to discuss issues, e.g. take turns, give each other a fair hearing, take turns being a chairperson, responding to another's point of view without a teacher. Such skills need modelling or teaching.
- Draft out rough ideas about a language situation or activity. Knowing how to focus on the main idea. To make changes to the draft. To proofread. To be aware of the process of writing. This has to be demonstrated,. modelled.
- To know how to attempt a word they can't spell - to know how to learn a word they almost know. To be confident in attempting approximation or temporary spellings.
- To respond to a language experience with sensitivity - to know how to focus, to write how they feel, to redraft. This needs demonstrating, modelling.
- To lay out a page with margins for borders, to be able to plan where to put a heading, to copy in best handwriting a corrected draft as a best copy (on a single sheet, a booklet page, in an exercise book) - once again this needs teaching, modelling, demonstrating.
- To write neatly. To be able to write or copy draft work, or work from blackboard.
- To know the skills of drawing. To look carefully to see line, shape, texture, patterns etc (and to use these words). To draw slowly looking frequently so that these drawings are detailed, elaborated.
- To know that it is important to take ones time to achieve work of quality - to learn to persevere - to know that some tasks take real effort and hard work.
- Knows how to go about gathering information for a study from books - research skills. These need to be taught, modelled, demonstrated.
- Can work alone/or in small group outside and stay 'on task'
- Know how to plan a piece of art - to focus on the main thing, draw it large, to add details (patterns/lines) and how to use any media introduced, e.g. paint or coloured pencils.
- To realise that they are responsible for their own learning - know they can ask for help - that the teacher is there to help.
There are lots more skills. Each task has its own which need to be taught before children can work independently.
|