As Fletcher-Campbell (1992) notes, it is a waste of valuable resources if the Classroom Assistant remains with a pupil needlessly, it also serves to highlight the difference between the pupil and his or her peers. Gravelle (1996) suggests that focused support for children with English as a second language should also be provided in order to give children the opportunity to use their heritage language within the classroom Cummins Student Number 03920910 1984) agrees that unless a child is fluent in the mother tongue, he or she will find it difficult to acquire second language acquisition.
Experience in multiracial schools (mills and Mills 1993) confirms the view that second language learning is aided by genuine contexts and the application of language skills to real-life problems. Equally important is support for the class teacher Fletcher-Campbell (1992) goes on to say that there can be few teachers who, during the course of an average week, do not long for an extra pair of hands. The presence of parents in classrooms has been a reality in many schools since the Plowden Report (DES 1967).
More recently, an HMI survey (DES1991) recognised that in all but two of the 32 primary schools visited, parents supported pupils in the classrooms
Part Two I selected a play activity which was aimed at extending children’s mathematical skills and providing opportunity for a multitude of cross curricular activities developing basic skills such as counting, measurement and an understanding of fractions and shapes. My aim for this activity was to show the children that mathematics is all around them in their everyday world, not just in the maths lesson, as I am aware that they need to connect mathematics with the real world in order to make sense of it.
Firstly I chose 3 children, Joshua, Victoria and Abdus and used a simple bucket balance to compare weights of apples. (Programme of Study: KS2 Mathematics Ma3 Shape, space and measures). I encouraged them to estimate which was the heaviest bucket and why. This allowed the
Student Number 03920910 children to discuss their observations and decide how they had come to their decision. We then went on to peel two of the apples and the group collected the strips of peel. I asked Joshua to pick 3 strips and try and put them in order of length from the shortest to the longest. He found this difficult, as the strips he had chosen were not sufficiently different in length for him to order. I adapted the situation in order to make it more manageable for him by changing two of the strips for two that were more of a contrast in length. This ‘scaffolding’ strategy enabled Joshua to complete the task independently, therefore giving him a sense of achievement.
I then asked Victoria and Abdus to try and sort a bag of apples according to size and/or colour to try and reinforce their understanding of setting and also develop their discriminatory skills. They managed this easily and we talked about which was the biggest set and which was the smallest. This caused some confusion as Victoria said the smallest set was the set with the smallest apples while Abdus argued that the smallest set was the set with the least amount of apples.
“The key skill of working with others includes the ability to contribute to small group and whole class discussion and to work with others to meet a challenge” (National Curriculum – Handbook for Primary Teachers 1999 p21) We talked about the shape of the apple and I asked them if they were able to compare the shape with anything else in the classroom. Abdus pointed to the globe and I praised him and reminded him that they were both spherical in shape. I asked Sapphire to join the group and I put two apples on the table. I asked the group if they could tell me how I could share two apples equally
Student Number 03920910 between the four of them. Sapphire quickly told me that we needed to cut them up, so I asked how many pieces we would need. She knew we needed four but was unsure how we would go about getting four equal pieces. Joshua said we needed to cut each apple into two. I explained that this would be cutting the apple in half. This I did and counted them out, one for you and one for you and so on. I then put the apple together again to reinforce the idea of equal quantities. “To recognise a fraction of something, you need a concept of the whole something”. (P Liebeck 2001 p152). We discussed the possibility of sharing just one of the apples between the four of them and I asked if anyone could tell me if this was possible.
Sapphire quickly shouted that we needed to cut the halves into 2 pieces. We did this and I explained that because we now had 4 equal pieces from one apple they were called quarters. (Programme of Study: KS2 Mathematics. Ma2 Number – Fractions percentages and ratio) This activity helped the children to use mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems (National Numeracy Strategy Framework for Teaching Mathematics) Mathematical difficulties are identified through a variety of procedures.
The main ones being assessment, observation and feedback. Information regarding the child’s performance can be gathered in several ways, for example, weekly tests, homework and classroom samples. Student Number 03920910 In our classroom we use the colour coded marking system. Work is marked for understanding, presentation and effort. If all three areas are met then the piece of work shows 3 green circles. If a child is almost there in a certain area he/she may get 2 green but an orange for understanding. If a child has not understood the work set then a pink circle is shown for understanding.
This method of marking clearly identifies those pupils who are struggling in a specific area. I recently taught a culturally diverse, mixed ability year 3 class, taking away 11, 21, 31 extending it to take away 9,19,29. I asked the class to sit on the carpet for the introduction of the lesson and drew their attention to the number square on the board. I explained that to take away 11, we needed to jump back ten and one more, I asked some children to come up individually and show how to do 25 take away 11 and 45 take away 11. I targeted my questions at specific individuals and asked the lower ability children to start by taking away 10 to begin with. This gave them an opportunity to come up to the front and ‘have a go’ We then went on to talk about doing the same sums using a number line and I told the less able children that they could use a number line or a 100 square when completing their worksheets.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
