Using a Glow Group for Novel Study at Glencairn Primary P6

Overview

Robyn Moonie P6 Teacher at Glencairn Primary

Robyn Moonie teaches P6 in Glencairn Primary in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. She is a Glow Mentor for North Lanarkshire and began to use Glow with her previous P7 class last year. With her current class, P6, she has been using Glow since last August and has found it a purposeful way to extend learning in a new context. She wanted to use Glow to allow the pupils to be able to share and extend their learning on their novel study projects. She decided to use several pages of the class Glow Group to enable this to take place. She was keen that this method would allow classes within the school to be able to share and store evidence of their work but that also this would allow a mechanism to enhance learning across schools. She was also very clear that the approach for the way she had structured the novel study pages would promote far more self-directed learning from the pupils. This will be the second of 4 Cookbooks looking at Robyn’s P6 Glow Group. Other Cookbooks will look at using Glow to set out Learning Intentions and Curriculum for Excellence Outcomes; using Glow for celebrating Responsibilities and Achievements and Using Glow to enhance teaching and Learning of Maths in the classroom.

You will find the other Cookbooks here:

Using Glow for Responsibilities and Achievements in Glencairn Primary School

Using web parts to share Learning Intentions and CfE Outcomes in P6 Glencairn Primary

Maths is Fun at Glencairn Primary School

In this cookbook, we will find out:
• What the Glencairn Primary P6 Glow Group looks like
• How a range of web parts have been used
• How to replicate it
• What the impact was

Context

Glencairn Primary school has a role of approximately 180 pupils, not including the role from the attached nursery school. Robyn received training as a Glow Mentor in Phase 2 of North Lanarkshire’s rollout in May 2009. She started with her P7 and Glow in the summer term of 2009 with joining some transition Glow Meets but since the start of the new term in August 2009 she has embedded Glow throughout the curriculum rather than it appearing as a one-off lesson for the pupils. She introduced them to Glow with some specific tasks in the group 2/3 times per week and it has grown from there. Home Access has been enabled for the pupils in March of this year and P6 are trialling this for the rest of the school.

Glencairn P6 Glow Site

Home Access has been sourced for the pupils by making sure they can access Glow if not at their own home then at friends/grandparents or other relatives. Robyn feels that Glow is helping with partnership with parents, where previously jotters went home to help with this and might not always have made it back into school, all information and progress can be shared through the class Glow Group. P6 are also acting as Glow Buddies in the school and introducing it to pupils in other classes to get them logged on to Glow, all of the pupils from P3 upwards have logged into Glow. Robyn is also involved in training all the staff in the school and has set up all of the Glow Groups on the school site. Other teachers are being influenced by the success of Robyn’s class in using Glow and as a policy within the school, all staff have access to the group. Robyn’s P6 group is also linked to from North Lanarkshire’s Glow Showcase Group with membership set for all staff in North Lanarkshire. Glow Development Officers, Scott Clark and Eileen Mallaghan regularly use Robyn’s Group for supporting staff across from the authority in developing their use of Glow.

In this cookbook, we will look at how Robyn set up the various Novel Study pages in her group using Discussion web parts, Picture Libraries and Surveys amongst others.

Ingredients

P6 Novel Study web parts

The Novel Study pages are visually stimulating within the Group. They include web parts such as Discussion Boards used to expand thoughts and opinions and develop communication and a Picture Gallery which by its very visual nature is more accessible for pupils with reading difficulties.

Although there are 4 Novel Study pages in the Glow Group, we have chosen the first, “Why the Whales Came” for illustration purposes within this Glow Group. What did Robyn need to do to give pupils access to be able to extend their learning in new contexts on the Novel Study pages in the class Glow Group?

• A Class Glow Group for P6
• Set pupils with membership allowing Contributor access to the group
• Create a new pages in the Glow Group for the Novel Study elements
• Image web parts for the group studying the novel and the book cover
• Separate Text Editor web parts for Learning Intentions, CfE Outcomes and instructions for activities
• A Document Library for the pupils to upload work into
• Various custom list web parts for self assessment
• A custom list web part to record favourite part of the book
• A Survey for their Thoughts and Opinions
• A Discussion Board for Peer Assessment
• 2 Picture Galleries for showcasing work with self assessment

CfE Outcomes for Novel Study

Links to Curriculum for Excellence
I can make notes, organise them under suitable headings and use them to understand information, develop my thinking, explore problems and create new texts, using my own words as appropriate.
*Responsibility of all
LIT 2-15a
To show my understanding, I can respond to literal, inferential and evaluative questions and other close reading tasks and can create different kinds of questions of my own.
ENG 2-17a
I can:

ENG 2-19a

• Through developing my knowledge of context clues, punctuation, grammar and layout, I can read unfamiliar texts with increasing fluency, understanding and expression.

ENG 2-12a

• I can persuade, argue, explore issues or express an opinion using relevant supporting detail and/or evidence.

• *Responsibility of all

LIT 2-29a

• As I extend and enhance my knowledge of features of various types of software, including those which help find, organise, manage and access information, I can apply what I learn in different situations.

TCH 2-03a

• I am developing my knowledge and use of safe and acceptable conduct as I use different technologies to interact and share experiences, ideas and information with others.

TCH 2-08a

Recipe

The first video below shows the various Novel Study pages of the class Glow group and the uses made of a range of web parts. The videos that then follow show how some of these elements can be recreated. Details are:

The Novel Study Pages

How to add 2 image web parts from the gallery

How to add Text Editor web parts for Learning Intentions and CfE Outcomes and instructions for a task

How to create and add a Thoughts and Opinions Survey

How to change a survey view

How to create and add a Document Library

How to add a Picture Library to record a task and give detail

How to create and add new Discussion web parts for peer and self assessment

Impact

Robyn feels that although the children are motivated to do their reading they prefer to record their work for this in a different format than just in their jotters. She feels that the way Glow allows them to present their learning gives them a pride in the ownership of their learning. It promotes independent learning and allows them to direct their own learning and actively participate in the learning in their group. When they first started using Glow for novel study Robyn felt that the discussion boards used for getting pupils’ first impressions and setting targets and challenges and research tasks were very important. But as they continued she found that the most valuable use of the web parts was in allowing for peer and self assessment. Robyn feels the pupils were able to use this information in acting upon future tasks.

Emily, Caity and Michael

She also recognises that it suits perhaps more reluctant learners, those who wouldn’t be keen to take part in class discussion giving their opinions, to fully participate using the web parts available. For example they are much more keen to take part in peer and self assessment using the discussion boards and surveys provided by Robyn in the Novel Study pages. She also feels that the pupils are aware that their work on the novel study can be accessed by other pupils, teachers from across the school and parents. This encourages them to be more reflective and evaluate more deeply what they are working on as they have a real audience, “I feel that they try harder on Glow because they know that other people are watching and looking at what they are doing.”

Robyn Moonie speaks about the Novel Study pages

Michael, Emily and Caity speak about the Novel Study pages

Head Teacher, Lorna Galbraith speaks about P6 using Glow at Glencairn

North Lanarkshire Glow Development Officers Eileen and Scott speak about Robyn’s Group

The P6 Glow Group at Glencairn as a whole
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Visit the other Glow Cookbooks on Glencairn Primary School:

Using Glow for Responsibilities and Achievements in Glencairn Primary School

Using web parts to share Learning Intentions and CfE Outcomes in P6 Glencairn Primary

Maths is Fun at Glencairn Primary School

Using a Glow Group for Novel Study at Glencairn Primary P64.5510