Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic
Please note that this cookbook refers to Glow Meet using Marratech. Glow Meet is now delivered over Adobe Connect which offers enhanced functionality. To find out more about Glow Meet using Adobe Connect click here. The principles around the benefits of Glow Meet are the same regardless of the technology used for Glow Meet.
Overview
Primary 5 in St Mary’s Primary School in Bannockburn were recently learning about the Scottish Wars of Independence. Their class teacher, Bernadette Cassidy, was keen to find innovative ways to engage the children and really make the learning come alive for them. Luckily, help was at hand in the form of the fictitious Mr Browne from the ‘Scottish Tourist Board’!
Context
Bernadette Cassidy had already provided a wide range of interesting and stimulating learning activities for her Primary 5 class as part of their topic of The Scottish Wars of Independence, but still felt she wanted to engage the children further . She then came up with the idea of sending a letter to the class from a fictitious Head of the Scottish tourist board, Mr Browne.
Bernadette explains this in her own words:
“Our P5 topic last term was the Scottish Wars of Independence. Since the P5 classroom is in a new build section of the school, there are a few restrictions on the things that are put up on the classroom walls etc, so it would have been impossible to transform the classroom into a medieval castle, as I have done in the past for ‘Connecting the Learning’ Topics.
So, I sent the children a letter from ‘ Mr Browne’ of the ‘Scottish Tourist Board’ asking them to help with developing tourism brochures, leaflets, guides and maps for the Stirling area. The class then became more of an ‘office’ for tourism. The children received the letter half way through the topic; they were very excited and became hooked on the idea of who Mr Browne was (this mystery person had them very intrigued). There was some correspondence between the class and ‘Mr Browne’ by letter and he ‘visited’ our classroom one afternoon at the end of last term and left a note in our visitors book.
As part of the topic the children created a film advertisement and a brochure with a Digital Artist on tourism in Stirling. We visited the Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle on a class trip, we built a small medieval castle from large pieces of cardboard in our classroom, we made poster presentations and displays on Medieval Life, Feudalism, Medieval Jewellery and Armour and Heraldry. The class also created a Timeline wall with lots of information about the Wars of Independence. During our Open Afternoon, they hosted a cafe to raise funds for SCIAF and they did a table quiz with parents as well as presenting all of their work and showing the advertisement.
P5's Tourist Brochure
The role of Mr Browne in all of this was to give them a focus on the tourism side of how to learn about the Wars of Independence, as a foreigner or local tourist to Stirling. He asked them to help advertise the area by creating posters, leaflets and presentations about it, on behalf of the ‘Scottish Tourist Board’. The children were so fascinated by Mr Browne that I thought having a Glow Meet would be a great way of giving them a chance to talk to him whilst still keeping it all a bit mysterious and exciting. They still believe that they were asked by the Scottish Tourist Board to do this work!!
Bernadette talks about this in the following video:
Bernadette Cassidy: Why we used Glow Meet (0:56)
Glow Meet with ‘Mr Browne’
Bernadette arranged for someone to play the part of Mr Browne, and agreed a time for the Glow Meet to take place. Mr Browne was actually in ‘Riverside’, home to the Stirling ICT team, and bore a remarkable resemblance to the husband of one of the team members!
P5's Tourist Brochure
The room he was in had been decorated to look like it might be a tourist office, as it had posters and leaflets on the wall behind him. The leaflet produced by the children was on display there, adding authenticity to the set.
‘Mr Browne’ had been briefed on the work that the pupils had done and questions thought up by the pupils had been sent to him ahead of time, so that he had time to prepare his answers!
Mr Browne uploaded images to the whiteboard in the Glow Meet room, which he used during the Meet to ask pupils about aspects of the Scottish Wars of Independence.
The pupils did a lot of research and preparation for the Glow Meet, and during the event, they took turns in coming to the web cam to ask their questions. They also took part, in two groups, in a quiz set by Mr Browne.
The Glow Meet session was recorded, and the pupils were able to watch this back later, which really thrilled them.
For the Open Afternoon, the classroom was transformed into a ‘Tourist Office’ which was split into different areas. In one area was a model of a Medaeval Castle built by the pupils; in another was a lego model of the Wallace Monument that they had made; in the middle of the room was a suitcase, filled with the clothing and other items that the pupils felt should be packed by visitors planning to visit the Stilring area. The pupils acted as Tour Guides for the afternoon and were able to share lots of information about Wallace and Bruce with the visitors who included parents/guardians and family as well as pupils from other classes. There was also a café selling homemade Scottish shortbread in the Tourist Centre, as the pupils all felt that this was an essential element of any good tourist experience!
The pupils’ research, preparation and participation in the Glow Meet itself allowed Bernadette to incorporate a range of Literacy and English experiences and outcomes into the topic work:
LIT 2-09a When listening and talking with others for different purposes, I can:
- share information, experiences and opinions
- explain processes and ideas
- identify issues raised and summarise main points or findings
- clarify points by asking questions or by asking others to say more.
LIT 2-10a / LIT 3-10a I am developing confidence when engaging with others within and beyond my place of learning. I can communicate in a clear, expressive way and I am learning to select and organise resources independently.
LIT 2-15a 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.
LIT 1-20a/LIT 2-20a I enjoy creating texts of my choice and I regularly select subject, purpose, format and resources to suit the needs of my audience.
LIT 2-23a Throughout the writing process, I can check that my writing makes sense and meets its purpose.
LIT 2-24a I consider the impact that layout and presentation will have and can combine lettering, graphics and other features to engage my reader.
LIT 2-25a I can use my notes and other types of writing to help me understand information and ideas, explore problems, make decisions, generate and develop ideas or create new text. I recognise the need to acknowledge my sources and can do this appropriately.
LIT 2-26a By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience.
ENG 2-27a I am learning to use language and style in a way which engages and/or influences my reader.
LIT 2-28a I can convey information, describe events, explain processes or combine ideas in different ways
They also, of course, covered many Social Studies Experiences and Outcomes, including:
SOC 2-01a I can use primary and secondary sources selectively to research events in the past.
SOC 2-02a I can interpret historical evidence from a range of periods to help to build a picture of Scotland’s heritage and my sense of chronology.
SOC 2-03a I can investigate a Scottish historical theme to discover how past events or the actions of individuals or groups have shaped Scottish society.
SOC 2-06a I can discuss why people and events from a particular time in the past were important, placing them within a historical sequence.
Using Glow and in particular Glow Meet, helped pupils engage with a range of Technologies experiences and outcomes too:
TCH 1-04a / TCH 2-04a I explore and experiment with the features and functions of computer technology and I can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts.
TCH 1-08a / TCH 2-08a 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.
Many other experiences and outcomes from other curricular areas, such as Expressive Arts, were also covered throughout all of the topic work, making this a truly integrated learning experience for the pupils.
The entire Glow Meet with Mr Browne lasted for around 45 minutes. Let’s take a look now at excerpts from this.
Excerpts from P5’s Glow Meet with Mr Browne
Excerpt 1: A question from Emma (3:29)
Excerpt 2: A question from Martin (3:08)
Excerpt 3: A quiz from Mr Browne (7:45)
Excerpt 4: Pupils reciting Scots wha hae (1:54)
Bernadette tells us what the pupils got out of this event:
Bernadette Cassidy: What the pupils got out of it (2:10)
Ingredients
What did Bernadette Cassidy need to do to hold the Glow Meet with ‘Mr Browne’?
- Have a Glow Group
- Add the Glow Meet Web Part to the Group
- Have a web cam, microphone and speakers
We’ve already seen excerpts from the Glow Meet in the video above, so how could you replicate this? Watch the following ‘how to’ videos to learn how to set up and use Glow Meet within your own Glow Group:
How to set up a Glow Meet in a Glow Group (5:36)
How to join and take part in a Glow Meet (3:38)
How to use the video, audio and chat facility within a Glow Meet meeting room (6:19)
How to use the shared whiteboard in a Glow Meet meeting room (8:25)
How to record a Glow Meet (2:09)
How to play back a previously recorded Glow Meet (3:22)
Impact
Perhaps the main impact that holding the Glow Meet had, was the enthusiasm and excitement that it created amongst the pupils in the class. They became thoroughly engaged with the research they did, knowing that it would be looked at by the ‘Tourist Board’, and being able to talk to Mr Browne himself made it even more of an important task for them and gave them a real purpose for their learning. The topic became much more than simply learning about events from history.
Bernadette talks about the impact she feels it had:
Bernadette Cassidy: Impact (2:01)
Find out how Bernadette evaluated elements of this topic using a Glow Survey in the ‘Using a Glow Survey to evaluate ‘Connecting the Learning’ shared homework tasks’ cookbook
May 21, 2010 - 12:46 pm
The children were very motivated by the Glow Meet and had prepared their questions well to ensure they were openened questions. As you can see, many outcomes were covered in this project.