Brooding Foundation Curriculum Coursework and Research Journal
Section 1
I have chosen to do an active question for kids in the Foundation Stage the intent of the question is to happen out about the street furniture in their local country.
I have adapted this question from a suggested activity in Knowledge and Understanding of the World by Sally Gray page 61. Grey suggests get downing by inquiring the kids to think what you mean by street furniture.
“A good get downing point sets the head and imaginativeness racing.” De Boo ( 2004 ) pg17
This quotation mark from De Boo sets out what I and Gray would be seeking to make by inquiring the kids what they think street furniture is. At first their heads will be rushing with images of dining tabular arraies and couch on the paving, this gets the children’s involvement and wonder fluxing so they may remember a park bench is a place. I would so widen that to other things such as street visible radiations and mail boxes.
Where Gray stops at depicting the intent of each thing the kids observe on a walk I would allow the kids observe them in the street, pull them and take images. Once back in the schoolroom I would inquire the kids what they think each thing is for, I would besides pull out what the benefits of these things are and what it might be like to populate without them so the kids are believing about the consequence these objects have on our lives. Role-play could widen the experience of this.
Section 2
The QCA unit I have chosen to discourse is ; Where in the World is Barnaby Bear? This is for Key Stage One kids and is designed to assist the kids become familiar with a location chosen by the instructor it can be any vicinity. T o stay with my earlier subject I will utilize the vicinity of the school. This unit successfully supports the National Curriculum with respects to ‘Geographical Enquiry and Skills’ the unit requires the kids to inquire geographical inquiries such as the suggested ‘What is like to populate in this topographic point? ’ The National Curriculum ( 1999 ) pg110.
This is in relation to what installations there are available in the country and what consequence the conditions conditions have on the people and their activities. There is really existent chance for kids to look at maps and to make their ain, a simple illustration would be to map out their ain journey to school or Barnaby Bear’s journey utilizing photographic grounds the instructor had antecedently prepared. Within this topic the children’s cognition and apprehension of their vicinity would be greatly enhanced giving them the chance to depict what the topographic point is like for illustration street furniture they see on their manner to school and depict the places of these. This would take to right puting them on a map. The kids are pass oning their findings in different ways by address and by image.
Section 3
“Although inventive instruction takes kids on journeys of considerable distance, fieldwork remains at the bosom of geography.” Nicholson ( 1993 ) pg 17.
Nicholson continues to state that direct observation has to be the foundations of good geographical instruction. Even though this statement was made in 1993 it is still overriding today. Children’s memory is enhanced by gratifying, memorable experiences and their acquisition is enhanced by personal probe and finds. This is my experience, when taking kids out into the streets environing the school to roll up litter, although they walked the same streets daily they had ne’er earlier paid attending to the sum of litter. Now they were disgusted by it and enthused to happen out the effects of the litter and ways to forestall the job.
“In 2003 the Field Studies Council and several spouse administrations commissioned a reappraisal of research into out-of-door acquisition. Margaret E Marker and David Cooper independently assessed the Review and produced a papers entitled Remarks On: A Review Of Research On Outdoor Learning.” www.geography.org.uk/resources/fieldwork In this appraisal Marker and Cooper were concerned to happen the reappraisal neglecting to accurately portray the benefits of fieldwork which in their position are positive effects on the children’s “attitudes, belief, values and self perception” and “fitness and socialisation” These benefits fit accurately with my experience detailed earlier where the kids collected litter. Having established that outdoor acquisition is valuable the hazards of it have to be carefully considered and planned for. This means careful planning of journey, path and activities so taking the trip without kids to properly finish a hazard appraisal. Adult child ratios have to be adhered to and each grownup taking the trip should be to the full briefed with the programs, possible hazards and how they are to be avoided. Each grownup should so be allocated a group of kids who they can concentrate their attending on.
Section 4
The cyberspace is a valuable tool for happening out about a distant vicinity it enables the kids to accurately compare and contrast the vicinity with their ain. This is carry throughing the demand of the National Curriculum ‘Breadth of Study’ which states Key Stage One kids should analyze “a vicinity either in the United Kingdom or overseas that has physical or human characteristics that contrast with those in the vicinity of the school.” The National Curriculum ( 19999 ) pg111.
Search engines can be used to happen sites that provide information on local installations. www.bbc.co.uk/weather is a simple topographic point to happen out the conditions prognosis for any vicinity in the UK, a really effectual manner to compare the conditions in the chosen vicinities. Another BBC page www.bbc.co.uk/webcams/ukcams.shtm is highly utile at supplying up to day of the month images of legion vicinities within the UK. This provides dependable ocular stimulation for the kids to analyze. Email is besides a utile tool through the cyberspace as it provides the kids with immediate chance to match with kids in a school in the contrasting vicinity to happen out from local people what it like to populate at that place. The cyberspace is enabling kids to build their ain geographical question every bit good as behavior it.
Bibliography
De Boo, M ( erectile dysfunction ) ( 2004 )Early Old ages HandbookThe Curriculum Partnership
DfEE ( 1999 ) The National Curriculum QCA
Gray, S ( 2003 )Knowledge and Understanding of the WorldScholastic Ltd
Nicholson, H.N. ( 1993 )Inspirations for GeographyScholastic Publications Ltd
www.bbc.co.uk 04.02.2006
www.geography.org.uk/resources/fieldwork 04.02.2006
