Planning for Literacy in Jump Start

I am wanting to build a lot more literacy specific activities into my course / lesson planning. It has become apparent this year that this is where a major failing is within the course so I want to address this right from the start. With this in mind, my planning for the Jump Start at the end of this year for the Year 10 going into NCEA Level 1 has included very specific activities to hopefully help the students analyse and understand the information they are going to be collecting about the work of a chosen architect.

I started my planning on a Google Doc where I could see the overview of what I was trying to do.
Then I transferred all of the resources and planning onto the class site that I am making especially for this class next year. All of this planning in under the Literacy drop down.
I am hoping to build further activities here so that this type of work becomes the normal way we work and hopefully improves the students subject specific literacy skills over time. In this way, we can move the achievement up to merit and excellence.

Term 4 - Jump Start

4 Class OnAir Lessons - Focus on Literacy and Vocabulary

Topic	Activity	Link to work
Film Poster Analysis	Students work in pairs to analyse movie posters with 10 design related words. They then find the definitions of these words. Present this work on the classroom walls for them to refer to easily.	Movie Posters
Reading Exercise	Students read the example description of the Chrysler Building and highlight the SOLO related words in yellow, green and blue. They then take the words that they do not know and add them to a shared Answer Garden.	Chrysler Building
Difficult words from previous exercise	Students to work in pairs and choose 2 words from the answer garden (previous activity) Use Dictionary.com to find the meanings - the exercise will be about reading the different meanings available on Dictionary.com and making an informed decision about what they are going decide is the one they need to use. Put findings on a shared area and decide as a class if the decisions are correct / make sense.	Difficult Word Choice
Design Word / Vocab illustration	Take short list of some basic design words / vocab and find illustrations / images that will help explain what they mean. Make a display on the classroom wall of these word illustrations to refer to.

Lesson Preparation using the New Google Sites

I have made a start on my planning for Jump Start and next year, so I decided to bite the bullet and use the new Google Sites to do it.

I have decided to do a seperate site for each Year group then link them all together using a hub page site.
The one I have been working on the most to start with is the NCEA Level 1 site as this will be needed for Jump Start in week 5.

I have only got one project on here at the moment, the Architect Poster project, and areas for skills and literacy. If you look at this as i write this post, there are gaps as it definitely a work in progress.
Link to site

There are drop downs under each label, so lot of information is included on the site.
Under the home page is the Level 1 calendar and the standards that are on offer over the year.

Under the project tab, there are all the activities listed that the students have to complete for that project. Each activity has it's own page.

Under the skills tab, there are some skills that will be needed for this project. This will be added to over the year as the skills that they need increase.

Under the Literacy tab at the moment, are the activities that we are going to do over the Jump Start period of time at the end of the year. This area will be added to as well as the students need more literacy skills over the course.

Please take a look and any feedback on layout, design or content will be greatly appreciated.

Building up the design analysis in stages.

My seniors (Year 11, 12 and 13) Design and Visual Communication students are at the point where they need to do written analysis of their own design work.
This is always the difficult part for us so I have made it the focus for my Manaiakalani Class OnAir work this term.
So far, we have done exercises together on the class Google Plus Communities of common products that they are familiar with - Link to lesson post here.
Our next step was to take photographs of the design development work that the class has been working on and put that up into the community and analyse each other's work. There is no lesson link to this at the time of writing as I am still putting it together for Class OnAir. I have been working with students using the Google Plus Communities since doing my year with the Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher programme in 2014, where I focussed on blended learning. The students told me then that it was easier to analyse someone else's' work than their own.
This week, we are working on step three of this process where I am going to put up a product at the start of each lesson and we are going to verbally analyse it all together.
We had out first go at this today. I put up a simple product, a shape sorter, and we all sat round the front talking about the design decisions that has been made for that product. I wanted them to talk about it together so that the pressure of writing sentences about it was taken off them and they could concentrate on the analysis.
After the session, which was very short, 10 minutes maximum, they got back to their individual design development work. I wrote up what they said onto a shared Google Drawing and put it into the class communities for them to look back on if they needed to. My plan is to do this at the start of each lesson for the next couple of weeks so they get used analysing and hopefully increasing the depth of the analysis each time we do it.
I coloured their replies on the drawing in relation to the SOLO taxonomy posters we have in every class room at school.
I then spent the session talking to the students on an individual basis, helping them with their analysis work on their design by asking them questions that they had to answer themselves.

Here are their replies today :-



Here is the SOLO Poster information that it corresponds to :-

Describe it to me....

With my NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 Design and Visual Communication classes today, we were doing some exercises to prepare them for design analysis of their own work. This is always a weak point in our work so I am continuously trying to find ways to structure this to make it easier for the students to understand.
I had prepared a Google Drawing with a SOLO taxonomy structured layout of a series of questions. Link here
I decided that this was a little too much to start off with, so we were working today on a question at a time on images of products that they were familiar with. We were also doing this all together in the class Google Plus Communities so they could see what each other was writing about the products and get ideas if they were stuck. Link to the Level 2 Community here.
What I found interesting today, was where the students got stuck with the work.  They were having issues with the describing of the products that I put up for them. They had to describe things like the shape, the texture, the colour etc. This was not the area that I expected them to get stuck on.
I have had a chat with other teachers about this, in the Social Studies and English departments, and have realised that the problem is a lack of vocabulary that the students are using on a regular basis. This is really holding them back when it comes to the simple part of design analysis where they have to describe the product. This is even before they get to the higher order thinking of analysis where they have to think about why design decisions have been made and what effect these decisions have had.

To help them with this in the future, I have started putting together a list of sites that are loaded with describing words for any particular focus. I am going to share this document with the students so they can browse through the sites and be exposed to the words that are on there. I am going to make them look through themselves to find appropriate words for the things they are trying to describe.
Link to document here

Links to Describing Words

Shape

Words used to describe the shape of objects

List of Descriptive Words and Adjectives for Shapes & Patterns

Geometrical shapes

Texture

400 Words to Describe Texture

Descriptive Words for Texture

Adjectives to Describe Texture

Size

List of Adjectives to Describe Size

Synonyms for size

Form

3D OBJECTS (PRISMS, CYLINDERS, CONES, SPHERES)

Colour

General words used to describe colours

Words used to describe specific colours

Over 1000 Ways to Describe Colors

Student Voice - End of Term 2

As it is the end of term 2, it is a good time to get some student voice so there is time to act on any problems before the start of term 3.
I have been reading  "Making Thinking Visible : How to Promote Engagement, Understanding and Independence for All Learners" - Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church and Karin Morrison. Link here to Kindle edition

There is a lot of discussion in the book about letting the students ask the questions rather than answering them.

"when students ask authentic questions, we know they are focussed on the learning and not just the completion of assignments"


"asking authentic questions - that is, questions to which the teacher does not already know the answer or to which there are not predetermined answers - is extremely powerful in creating a classroom culture that feels intellectually engaging"

I have not finished reading this book yet but this part about getting the students to be in charge of the questions is a really interesting one and something that I want to look into further next term as part of expanding the students level of thinking.

As a starting point for this, I thought it would be fun to flip the way I got feedback from the students this term. I have decided to get them to ask the questions.  Seeing as we have not done it this way before, I have not expected a huge amount from them and only want 3 questions based on the following things :-

• Think of one question you can ask about the projects that you have been doing so far this year.
• Think of one question you can ask about how the information is given to you about what you have to do when you come in the classroom.
• Think of one question you can ask about the atmosphere in the classroom.

These were the instructions at the top of the form....

Hello.... On this form I want you to read the focus and then think of one question that you want to ask about each of the three sections. I will not be giving you boxes to tick for this as I want you to really think of a question. Please think hard and try not to leave blank or put "i don't know".... thank you.

Here are some of the things they came up with ...

• Think of one question you can ask about the projects that you have been doing so far this year.

Will these techniques I've learnt help me in Year 12 VIS?
Will these shelter projects be useful for future reference?

These answers interest me a lot as they show that the students are thinking about the future and if what I getting them to do is going to be of any use. I need to to try and build into the planning overall, some kind of 3 year course flow so they can see where the skills take them from Level 1 through to Level 3 and then onto courses and jobs to do with design. I know I like to know the point of what it is that I am expected to do so it is the same for the students.

Is art deco reaching the high standard of where i want it to be
Have I done enough
Am I still on track?
I don't necessarily have to know how my speaker works right? like, the wires and stuff.

These questions make it clear that they are worrying about what they are dong and if it is enough or correct. I need to make more reference of the standard breakdowns (example here)

• Think of one question you can ask about how the information is given to you about what you have to do when you come in the classroom.

Is art deco still achieving at the high point?
Why online?
Sometimes I need extra help when i don't fully understand the task we are given
more fun drawing stuff?
Is there other ways to give us information without using google plus?
can we see visual instructions?

It is interesting that they want their instructions in different and visual ways. This appeals to me and will definitely look into doing this more.  I am wondering if the question about "why online?" has come from a student who has come from outside of our cluster of schools as we have been working this way for quite a number of years now and they are used to getting their instructions and information that way.

• Think of one question you can ask about the atmosphere in the classroom.

Is the atmosphere still going or going to stop
Why are the year 12's so loud?
The Atmosphere is fine and fun but productive working space
what do you mean by atmosphere?
Do you like the atmosphere? If not, what can we do to improve it.
why are there more boys than girls?

The boy / girl ratio in the class is often something I wonder about.  My class always seems to have more boys in it than girls.

I am happy that they think they can still work while having fun.

I do worry about the Year 11 students in with the Year 12 and how it is affecting their work rate, and it is interesting that has come up with the "why are the year 12's so loud?" question. 

This has been an interesting way to get feedback as I have more of an insight into how the students are thinking. It was our first time trying this, so I am aware that some of the feedback is not questions or is not very in depth, but I think it is an interesting start and I will definitely be building more of this student questioning into the lessons.

Design Development Analysis

Design development is always a sticking point in the design process for us. We always have difficulties with the whole idea of experimenting with different things and changing small parts of the a design to see the effect it has on the whole thing. "But I want to do that design".. is a typical response that I get from students.
Even harder than that though, is the whole analysis part of developing a design. The students have to produce written analysis of their design developments that show the thinking that was happening while they were drawing the developments. This is the part that gets them into the merit and excellence areas of achievement, so it is important that I continue to try and structure this process and support them in any way that I can.

I have been working on a Google Drawing template that is structured around the SOLO Taxonomy levels, so that the student thinking about their design work can be supported in increasing in depth over a series of questions. I have also split the questions in to 4 areas, properties, materials, how it will be used and client requirements. I have been careful to include these elements as it was one of the things that was brought up in external moderation - including all the necessary product design requirements.

Also, I don't really care if they do the analysis on the Google Drawing template. They can make a table on a doc or write notes directly into their sketchbooks next to the design development drawings. As long as they use the structure and support here, how they do it is not the important thing.

This will be put into effect at the start of next term.


Link here to the Google Drawing template

School wide Unit Plan

Yesterday, during teacher only day, we were given an introduction to the new school wide unit plan.
Part of this introduction was why we were doing it :-

Aim of the Unit Plan

To create a unit plan that is consistent across all departments at Tamaki College

Purpose of the Unit Plan

• Clarity of information
• Quality teaching and learning
• Teaching and learning information is visible and explicit
• Links all of the Tamaki College initiatives into teaching and learning programs

We focussed on the first part of the plan today with the target being the unit that will be taught in term 4 as part of the Jump Start course for the Year 10 students who are starting NCEA Level 1.
Here is the blank template for the unit plan

The unit I concentrated on completing is AS91069 - Promote an organised body of design work to an audience using visual communication techniques.
This is the first thing we do at NCEA Level 1 and I have planned 8 weeks for this project (it is worth 4 credits so needs approx 40 hours of time, so I have allotted 48 lessons - 50 mins x 48 lessons = 40 hours). We get 4 weeks doing the Jump Start course so this is half the time planned for this standard. This means we get to finish it off when we start back in the new year and 4 credits will go in for the students really early on in Term 1.

Here is the plan that I put together for this standard. The time during Jump Start should take us to the thumbnail sketching, ready to learn some Illustrator and Photoshop skills when they come back in the new year so they can do their design developments.

Section One

Unit Plan Overview
Introduction:	The students will be designing a presentation poster to promote the work of an architect.
Topic/Context/Genre:	Designing a poster
Achievement Objectives:	Level 6 - Outcome Development and Evaluation Critically analyse their own and other’s outcomes to inform the development of ideas for feasible outcomes. Undertake ongoing experimentation and functional modelling. Use the information gained to select, justify and develop a final outcome.
Key Competencies:	Thinking - using appropriate research skills and showing understanding of design elements Using language, symbols and texts - showing understanding of layout techniques to give a visual effect Managing self - keeping up to date and finishing work on time. Using research to back up and support own work. Relating to others - giving feedback to others about their design work that is helpful, supportive and meaningful Participating and contributing - sharing work in the community for others to see and learn from
Level: 1	Class: DVC Level 1 (Year 11)	Timeframe: 8 weeks  (4 weeks of jumpstart)
Standard Number: AS91069	Internal or External: Internal	Credit Value:       4                  ( Lit:  4  )
Standard Title:	Promote an organised body of design work to an audience using visual communication techniques.
Internal/External moderation:	Form F from 2015 External Moderation Blog post re external moderation report

Teaching and Learning - Link to site
Activity Sequence	Learning Intention (Students will be able to)	Learning Activity	Success Criteria (Students can/will:)	Resources	Activity Timeframe
1	To be able to choose what style of architect they like the best from a selection.	Choose an architect to focus on	Students will have looked at the selection of architects and have made a decision which one they will focus on. They will make a post on the Google Plus Community about which architect they have chosen to research.	Project on class site Chromebooks	Week 1
2	To be able to understand how to use a Google Plus community in a respectful way.	Join the class Google Plus Community	All students will have access to Google Plus and have joined the class community.	Project on class site Chromebooks	Week 1
3	To be able to use research skills to collect relevant resources online.	Collect images to do with their chosen	Have folder in their drive that is full of images of work by their chosen architect. This folder must be shared publically.	Project on class site Chromebooks	Week 1
4	To be able to use research skills to collect relevant information online and be able to cite where they got that information from.	Collect information about their chosen architect	The information collection sheet will be full of information about the architect, their life, and some of the more famous buildings that they designed. The links from the websites that were used in this information search are to be included on the sheet.	Project on class site Chromebooks	Week 1 / Week 2
5	To be able to scan read collected texts and pull out the important pieces of information.	Highlight important information about the architect from the collected information	Using the highlighting function on Google Docs, what students decide is the most important information will be highlighted on the information collection sheet.	Project on class site Chromebooks	Week 2
6	To be able to understand the key design points in the architect's work and what effect they have.	Analysis of chosen architect	A completed Google Drawing using the template provided, that shows the key design elements of the architects’ work.	Project on class site Chromebooks	Week 2
7	To be able to show their understanding of their architect in their own words.	Write up about chosen architect	A Google Doc with the information typed up that will be used on the final poster design. This will be in the student's’ own words and  will be based on all of their research to date.	Project on class site Chromebooks	Week 2
8	To understand how design elements have been used on existing poster designs to create a desired effect.	Analysis of existing poster designs	The students will post an example of a film poster in the Google Plus Community and write a brief analysis based on the structure / guidelines given.	Project on class site Chromebooks	Week 3
9	To be able to use their knowledge of design elements in creating their own layout experiments	Layout exercises	The students will use the layout template given and use this to design 3 different layouts. The students will save Image files of these layouts and post them into the class community for the whole class to see.	Project on class site Chromebooks	Week 3
10	To be able to give useful feedback to others about their design work.	Team analysis of layout exercises	Under each of the layout exercises in the class community, the students will give brief feedback to each other based on one positive comment and one constructive criticism,with reasons why they say what they do.	Project on class site Chromebooks	Week 3
11	To understand why and how to use thumbnail sketches and the different views that can be used.	Thumbnail exercises	The students will draw a sheet of thumbnail sketches based on what they see around them - this may be in the classroom or outside, depending on the weather.	Project on class site Chromebooks Sketchbooks Pencils	Week 3
12	To be able to use their thumbnail sketching skills on their own design work.	Thumbnail sketch designs for poster layouts	The students will produce a sheet or two in the sketchbooks of thumbnail sketches showing the main elements they will include in their poster design - title, image position, placing of information text. They will use simplified versions of these to show where they would go. (lines for text, boxes for images simple text for the title)	Project on class site Chromebooks Sketchbooks Pencils	Week 3 / Week 4
13	To be able to use their knowledge of design elements to analyse the layouts they have drawn in their thumbnail sketches.	Analysing thumbnail sketch layout designs	Notes will be written either into the sketchbooks or typed onto a Google Doc that analyse the thumbnail sketches. The analysis notes will follow the guidelines  given on the class site.	Project on class site Chromebooks Sketchbooks Pencils Scanner	Week 3 / Week 4
14	To be able to use their knowledge of layout and design elements to develop ideas that are influenced by the style of their architect.	Design Developments	Students will use their choice of media to produce 3 design developments. They can choose from Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Google Drawing, PicMonkey, Pixlr, Lucid Press .. or any other online design tool that they wish to use. They will use placeholder text instead of the real written information but will use the real images that they want to use. These developments do not need to be bigger than A3. They will save out their design developments as image files and load them onto the class Google Plus Communities for everyone to see.	Project on class site Chromebooks Photoshop / Illustrator	Week 4 / 5 / 6
15	To understand design elements and use this knowledge to give meaningful feedback to others about their work.	Team analysis of design developments in the class Google Plus Community	Under everyone else’s design development in the class community, the students will give feedback for each one. They will state a positive for each design and an idea for what could be improved and and the reasons why.	Project on class site Chromebooks Photoshop / Illustrator	Week 4 / 5 / 6
16	To understand the feedback of others and use this and the knowledge of design elements, layout and the style of their chosen architect to analyse their design developments.	Design Developments - written analysis	The students will write their own analysis of the design developments that they have produced. This will be on a Google Doc. They will collate together the feedback from the rest of the group and use this to write their own analysis. Use the support document / sentence starters to help them to do their write up.	Project on class site Chromebooks Photoshop / Illustrator	Week 4 / 5 / 6
17	To use design elements, layout skills and the understanding of the style of their chosen architect to produce a final design.	Final poster design	Students will produce their final poster design on media of their choice. This poster will be the full size required. It will contain all of the actual images, written information and styling that is needed on the final design. This poster will be saved out as an image file. (jpg or png)	Project on class site Chromebooks Photoshop / Illustrator	Week 7
18	To use this knowledge of design elements, layout and the style of their chosen architect to analyse their final design.	Final evaluation	Use the SOLO structured support document to write an evaluation of the final poster design.	Project on class site Chromebooks Photoshop / Illustrator	Week 7 / 8

Assessment : (Support resources:  Every Teacher's’ Guide to Assessment : NCEA Myths : NZQA Assessment and Moderation)
Prior Knowledge/Prior Assessment	Formative Assessment	Summative Assessment
Any Graphics work that they have completed during Year 9 and 10. Asstle and PAT scores from Year 10.	All work is shared in the community along the way and is seen and given feedback on by the teacher and the rest of the class.	NCEA assessment sheet