Unit 1 - Initial activities

Garnering initial ideas - Teachers Notes

  • You may add to, omit or adapt these slides depending on the pupils' age, background and experience of these kind of activities. These slides can be the basis of either one or numerous lessons. You may use some of the slides as a means of presenting a specific skill, for example determining success criteria independantly, organising ideas, developing ideas, how do you teach best, etc.
  • The purpose of the slides is to lead the children to realise that they have a flawed view of countries that develop economically. Although you should accept them at the beginning of the unit of work studied, it is essential that you refer to them so that you may lead the children to understand that you should form an opinion after investigating and garnering authentic and correct information.

Initial activities - Slides 1 - 4
Slide 1 - Presenting the lesson objectives.
Slide 2 - Record the ideas of the class regarding Wales. Try to record the ideas in sections, for example landscape, location, homes etc in order to model the process of organising ideas.
Slide 3 - Repeat the process while discussing Ghana (or any country of your chioce) Note - The childrens' ideas will tend to follow stereotypes. Accept those ideas, but refer to them throughout or at the end of the unit in order to change or develop these ideas.
Slide 4- You may use this slide either before or after presenting some of the following slides (slides 5 - 8) Presenting the Success Criteria. You may determine these yourself or as a class. Use the criteria throughout the lesson and at the end as a means of retaining the task for the pupils, or as a self assessment tool or a tool to assess peers.
Main Activity - Slides 5 -9
Refer to the areas of activity from which they will garner their initial ideas, and discuss some of these areas.
5- School life
6 - Homes
7 - Villages (a) businesses (b) services
8 - Cities (a) businesses (b) services
9 - Industries
Activities
  • Groups or partners can present their ideas on the available Notebook slides.
  • The remainder of the class can record their initial ideas as partners or as small groups in the form of mind maps (SeeHow to develop ideas and assessment for learning in the classroom, Appendix 2, Welsh Assembly Government) by leading the children in organising their ideas and then developing them.

Feedback and Conclusion - Slide 10
Divide some of the initial ideas collectively. You may record some of these ideas on the slides if you wish. Keep the Notebook slides in order to use them for referral.
These ideas may provoke a discussion where the pupils will either agree or disagree with each other. Consider the types of questions that could be asked beforehand, and consider the direction the pupils might take. The questions should be mind provoking and also lead the children to question the accuracy and authenticity of their ideas.
Slide 10 - Garnering information - Discuss and record the various methods of garnering information available to us, and lead the pupils in considering the advantages and disadvantages of these methods.
Slide 12- Garnering questions - This could be useful for the conclusion.
Further/Useful Activities - Slides 11-13
Slide 11 - Discussion - Will our ideas change?In which way are our ideas likely to change?
Useful web link - Click on the button in order to be re-directed immediately. Activity - ‘Preconceptions’ - View the initial ideas of other pupils about other countries, and how those ideas are corrected by pupils from those particular countries. This connection is a useful way for the pupils to see that their ideas are not always correct and that they need to research, investigate and garner accurate and authentic information to reach their own findings.
Slide 12 - Garner questions regarding the specific areas of activity that can be used as a basis for a lesson or independant research.
Slide 13 - Use this slide to record information collected throughout the unit, or after further research. You may compare the information later with your initial ideas to disclose common mistakes.