Project Based Learning and skillful thinking strategies

In this Project that is dedicated to Living Beings, we have implemented several thinking tools and strategies for learning, among others:

Sequence Chain

This detail-oriented graphic organiser helps students strengthen writing skills by identifying important story elements (key characters, setting, and chain of events) and write the important events sequentially. We have implemented this graphic organiser to develop two animal’s life sequences:

·         The Life cycle of an Animal. Depict a life cycle as a process: the series of changes in the life of an animal. 6º grade

·         Food Change. The sequence of who eats whom in a biological community. Beginning with plant-life, and ending with animal life. Primary 4th and 6th grade.

Parts-Whole Relationships

This strategy engages students in exploring the relationships between the parts and the whole of objects, stories, societies, ideas, etc. Students examine how parts contribute to the whole and how each part functions. They learn that objects can be easily taken apart and put back together again, while other objects cannot be taken apart and reassembled without damaging them. Removing one or more parts will usually change how the object functions. Primary4th grade

Open Compare and contrast

This strategy takes students beyond a simple list of similarities and differences.

It requires students to find similarities and differences and then to:

·         • Categorise them

·         • Assess their significance

·         • Look for patterns among them

·         • Interpret, evaluate, and draw conclusions

Students select their own factors to consider. As a result, class-wide sharing

results in many factors being considered and discussed.

The completed graphic organiser can be used as a planner for writing. Primary 3er grade

The Interactive performance of “Gulliver” English Theatre

The Interactive performance of  “Gulliver” was acted out last Thursday on Youth Centre (Casa de la Joventut). Both teachers and students fully enjoyed the play about the exciting adventures captured in the wonderful book by Jonathan Swift entitled “Gulliver’s Travels”.

As it is customary, “el Departament de Joventud de l’Ajuntament de la Pobla Llarga” Youth Department of Pobla Llarga organises theatre sessions for schools. The play is prepared in advance in class with didactic material, with audios of the songs, structures and expressions more frequently used, specific vocabulary of the work, physical activity and theatre scenes. We put language into context. All this with an approach based on communication, which aims to encourage students, involving them in dialogues, conversations, songs, etc., and other forms of communication.

After the performance, the students interviewed the actors asking about the play, how they prepare it, how many performances they do, their experiences on the stage, etc.