In pairs, students alternate generating oral responses.

  1. Teacher poses a problem to which there are many possible responses or answers.
  2. Teacher may give some think time.
  3. Teacher sets the amount of time that students will have.
  4. In pairs, students take turns sharing responses or solutions.

Adapted from Kagan, Spencer & Kagan, Miguel.Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing, 2009.

Our Rules for discussion....

  • Always listen carefully to what other people are saying.
  • Think before speaking.
  • Always try to be positive.
  • Only one person speaks at a time
  • Raise your hand to be recognized if you want to say something
  • No interruption when someone is speaking
  • When you disagree with someone, make sure that you make a difference between criticizing someone's idea and the person themselves
  • No laughing when a person is saying something (unless they are making a joke)
  • Encourage everyone to participate
  • Always use “I” statements – don’t generalise.
  • Take other people’s points of view seriously – remember that they may find it difficult to accept the things that are obvious to you.
  • Remember your body language and manners (don’t get angry).
  • Use open –ended questions.

R / Respect – Our world is a diverse world. To communicate and grow we must respect one another’s beliefs, values, attitudes and faiths.
E / Education – Good learning creates understanding, overcomes prejudice and opens the gates of dialogue. We are here to teach and to learn, not to convince or convert.
S / Safety – A safe environment allows everyone to share with confidence. Help create one around you and watch everyone flourish.
P / Perspective – Long journeys start with small steps and eyes lifted to the horizon.
E / Empathy – When we try to see the world through other people’s eyes, we open our own.
C / Celebration – We’re all different and that makes us special – so let’s bring our differences to the party!
T / Trust – Through building relationships with people around the world, we learn to trust one another that our beliefs and values will be accepted.

The Principles of Face to Faith

Working through the materials you will find many references to this technique for self and peer assessment. This is a very simple technique that can be used with a variety of strategies to enable students to reflect upon their own individual performance, and that of their classmates.

Acronym / Stands for… / What does that mean?
WWW / What went well? / Students have to identify those areas of the activity that were a success – this can either be in terms of outcome, or of the skills that they demonstrated in order to reach it.
EBI / Even better if? / Students have to identify what they would need to do better – it is important that these are expressed positively – it is about looking forward!

It is a good ideato encourage students to write 2 or 3 bullet points for each one – so a short plenary session might produce something like:

You can see that the two EBIs are really criticisms of some individuals – but they are expressed in a positive and anonymous way. When you are starting to use this technique it might be a good idea to have some examples of WWW/EBI statements for students to emulate, but you will find that they are quick to get the hang of this simple reflective technique.

After a single activity

You can do a quick WWW/EBI analysis – give students a set period of time (30 seconds for example) to write one point for each (either about themselves individually, their group, or the whole class, as appropriate). You can then share these by getting students to put them in the middle of the table, pick another at random, and then call on random students to read the ideas that they have in front of them.

As a plenary at the end of a lesson

Must / Do something quick as above – just one or two points, and share with a partner using either Rally Robin or Timed Pair share.
Should / Come up with and write down three points for each, then share with a partner / group; call on random students for feedback,
Could / Write down their three points. Share with a partner using Kagan structure. Then carefully managed feedback;
  • Get students to vote on the best comment on their table.
  • Students mix around the room, sharing their comments.
Give students the opportunity to re-draft their points once they have talked to others.

As reflection at the end of the module

Use the WWW/EBI sheets to manage students’ reflection on the whole module, as part of a larger reflection. They should be able to produce WWW/EBI points for both themselves as individuals, and the whole group.

Start by giving them the opportunity to identify what they have done (either through discussion, or a card sort, or similar activity).

Then encourage them to work individually to do a WWW/EBI analysis, before moving onto work together as groups to produce cooperative work, upon which they can then base targets for future work.

Offensive or OK?

Rights Respecting Sentence Starters…

Thank you for your opinion…

I agree with your point about…

I can see that…

A strength in that argument is…

I like that idea because…

Are you saying that...

Another way of looking at it is…

In our religion we believe…

I’m not convinced that…

What makes you have the opinion that…

What beliefs underpin…

A weakness in that argument is…

I don’t think that would work because…

Remember that smiles and being polite cost nothing and go a long way!

Origami Hat Instructions

For an origami pirate hat you will need:

  • One largish piece of paper
  • Sticky tape may be useful
  • Black felt pen

Method:

Step 1. Fold the piece of paper in half, so you have a rectangular piece of paper with the long folded edge at the top.

Step 2. Fold in the corners as in the diagram so the edges meet to form two triangles

Step 3. Fold up the bottom edge of the paper so it meets the bottom edge of the two triangles.

Step 4. Fold up the bottom edge again, with the fold line running along the bottom edge of the triangles.

Notes: You may find it helpful to use a little tape to keep it together


Video Conference Presentation.

You can choose any media to present your information. The main priority is WHAT you are communicating. So read the brief before you decide HOW best to present.

The Brief:

In your presentation you need to show what it is like to be a student at

your school and a member of your local community.

It needs to communicate clearly:

  • Why your school is special – think about the ethos or atmosphere. What opportunities does it give you?
  • Things that are special for you; this might include
  • Special Places / People / Times of Year / Meals
  • The sorts of things that you like to do outside school.
  • Things that your community celebrates
  • How important is religion or faith in your community or society?
  • Do many people take part in religious activities (if so what?)
  • Are there many religious buildings?

This will be presented in the first VC. Aim for it to be 5 – 10 minutes in length.

Things that you can include:

Role play, Story board, Interviews, Collage, Poems, Songs, Rap, Documentary, Spoken presentation, Pictures. Or combine them all into a simple video using Photostory 3 / Microsoft Movie Maker – even a Powerpoint presentation.

Face to Faith