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Updated: Apr 2000

Dinosaurs Phase of Development: Early Childhood When I started to prepare this activity, I found the Overarching Learning Outcomes from the Curriculum Framework (pp.18-19) particularly helpful. The most relevant for this activity were: Curriculum Framework Overarching Learning Outcomes 1. Students use language to understand, develop and communicate ideas and information and to interact with others. 7. Students understand and appreciate the physical, biological and technological world and have the knowledge and skills and values to make decisions in relation to it. 10. Children participate in creative activity of their own and understand and engage with the artistic, cultural and intellectual work of others. 12. Students are self-motivated and confident in their approach to learning and are able to work individually and collaboratively. 13. Children recognise that everyone has the right to feel valued and be safe, and, in this regard, understand their rights and obligations and behave responsibly. I then referred to the Outcomes and Standards Frameworks for the Viewing Strand of English. Strands in Society & Environment and The Arts were also relevant. The following matrix describes the key learning area outcomes that I spotlighted. It should be recognised that many other outcomes, from these and other learning areas, can also be achieved during the course of the activity. Learning Area Outcomes Curriculum Framework Strand Statements Outcomes & Standards Framework English Viewing Students view a wide range of visual texts with purpose, understanding and critical awareness.   Conventions Substrand: Students interpret the conventions of visual texts with understanding and critical awareness. Processes and Strategies Substrand: Students select from a repertoire of processes and strategies when viewing by reflecting on their understanding of the way visual language works. Listening: Students listen with purpose, understanding and critical awareness in a wide range of situations. Speaking: Students speak with purpose and effect in a wide range of contexts. Speaking and Listening: Students speak and listen with purpose, understanding and critical awareness in a wide range of contexts. Reading: Students read a wide range of texts with purpose, understanding and critical awareness. Society & Environment Investigation, Communication & Participation: Students investigate the way people interact with each other and with their environments in order to make informed decisions and implement relevant social action. The Arts Arts Skills and Processes: Students use the skills, techniques, technologies and processes of The Arts. The Arts Using Arts Skills, Techniques, Technologies and Processes: Students use the skills, techniques, technologies and processes of The Arts. Brief Description     Context The Project     Background     Relevant Criteria Learning Experiences Lesson 1     Lesson 2     Lesson 3 Assessment Reflection Resources Brief Description This was a very brief activity in which I focused on a strand which I had not previously looked at with children: the Viewing Strand of the English learning area. As I state in the Reflection Section, it is a self-contained activity that could lead in several different directions. The children explored the concepts of close up and long shot by viewing a series of objects through a frame. They then applied their understandings to their study of dinosaurs. Context Author: Meg Lewis, Camboon Primary School The School: Camboon Primary School is a medium-sized primary school in a strongly multicultural area of suburban Perth. Class: 25 Year 1s, mainly working at Level 1 in all relevant strands and substrands of the learning areas. Learning Technologies: The library has a computer lab adjoining, containing 15 networked computers. Each classroom also has one computer that is part of the school network. The school is currently developing an intranet so that children can publish work and access databases from their classrooms. The school also owns a scanner, colour printers and digital camera. Teacher: Meg Lewis I am in the library 0.7 and Deputy Principal 0.3. My experience with learning technologies started in 1992, when we automated the library. I now feel I am learning about learning technologies as I go, along with the children-it's just a matter of jumping in and not being afraid of making a mistake. The Project Project Duration: 40 minutes to 1 hour per week for 3 weeks Background to the Project My starting point for this series of lessons was the English Viewing Strand, which I wanted to investigate as part of an Action Research project. The children were working on the theme of Dinosaurs in their classroom work, so I decided to base my exploration of the English Viewing Strand on this theme. The classroom teacher was focusing on books and video texts about dinosaurs and asking the children which type of text gives us more information. The children had already decided that videos gave them more information on this topic because they were able to see the dinosaurs move. Relevant Criteria Most of the children were working within Level 1 in all learning areas and I aimed to help them to move towards Level 2. I planned the activity by focusing on particular Level 1 and Level 2 Student Outcome Statements within the four learning areas and the pointers that suggest progress towards their achievement. Where necessary, I wrote my own criteria at Levels 1-2 in the relevant learning areas. In this way I explored whether I could help the children to progress within Level 1 and towards Level 2 outcomes. Learning Areas Strand & Substrand Statements Relevant Student Outcome Statements Criteria Based on these SOS (* indicates those I have created for this program) English, Viewing Strand, Conventions Substrand V2.3 The student recognises and interprets some conventions of visual texts. V2.4 The student uses basic strategies for interpreting visual texts and maintaining continuity of understanding. 1. The student distinguishes between a close-up, medium and long shot, and can demonstrate this by finding examples of each from books and videos (V2.3). 2. The student uses appropriate strategies (e.g. adjusts sense of colour, texture and shape) to make sense of what is being seen close up and from a distance (V2.4*). 3. The student interprets the impact of particular camera shots (e.g. a close up and a long shot of a dinosaur) (V2.4) Speaking & Listening Strand, Use of Texts Substrand SL1.1a The student uses expressions of routine social interaction correctly; recounts and discusses personal experiences; and conveys key information or ideas on a familiar topic. SL2.1 The student explains familiar procedures, describes or recounts events in logical sequence and sustains conversations on a familiar topic. 4. The student reports briefly to a group on personal knowledge about a topic (SL1.1). 5. The student presents information on a known topic to a group or the class with some attention to adequacy and relevance of information (SL2.1). Reading Strand, Contextual Understanding Substrand R2.2 The student understands that print texts are constructed by people and represent real and imaginary experience. 6. The student discusses with the teacher the way illustrations in a book help to anchor meaning (R2.2). S&E, Investigation, Communication and Participation Strand, Planning Investigations Substrand ICP 2.1 The student identifies, given a focus question, some of the factors to be considered in a familiar social/environmental context. 7. The student takes part in simple brainstorming activities to identify key concepts and associated language for the topic (ICP2.1). 8. The student uses keywords and subjects in a library search to identify resources (ICP2.1*). The Arts, Using Arts Skills, Techniques, Technologies and Processes Strand STP1 The student experiments with the use of simple arts languages, skills, processes and appropriate technologies to develop arts works and activities in informal settings. STP2 The student identifies and uses a range of arts languages, skills, simple arts processes and appropriate technologies to make and communicate arts works and to engage in arts activities with others. 9. The student experiments with various methods to graphically represent complete dinosaurs and close-up versions of parts of dinosaurs (STP1*). 10. The student draws long-shot versions of complete dinosaurs and close-up versions of the body parts and markings on dinosaurs (STP2*). Please Note: Numbering of Criteria It is important to recognise that the numbers assigned to the above criteria are not taken from the Outcomes and Standards Framework documents and do not in any way represent a priority. They have been inserted in this document merely for ease of reference to the Learning Experiences section below. Learning Experiences Lesson One I initiated discussion among the children by getting them to brainstorm all they knew about dinosaurs. Since they had begun to study them in their classroom they had a great deal to say in this session. Assessment I monitored the children's progress on Criteria 7, 4 and 5 (S&E - Investigation, Communication and Participation Strand; English - Speaking and Listening Strand) We then discussed the different ways we can view objects-from close, medium distance and far off. We made cardboard frames and looked through these to focus on a vast range of things both close and far away: in the library we looked at each other, the books, the carpet, the wooden tops on desks, and so on; then we moved into the playground and looked at trees, leaves, grass, cars and the bitumen courtyard, among other things. We focused particularly on textures and on how they are different in close-up and long shots. Some of the children were initially confused about these two concepts but by the end of the lesson, all of them were able to apply appropriate strategies for making sense of what they saw through the frames, understood the differences between the two types of shot, and were able to demonstrate examples of each in the library and in the playground. Assessment I monitored the children's progress on Criteria 1, 2 and 3 (English-Viewing Strand) Lesson 2 We viewed the video Dinosaur and freeze-framed on close-up and long shots and discussed the differences between the two. All the children were able to distinguish between the two when we freeze-framed, and to discuss the different effects. Most of them, however, found the shots difficult to identify while the video was running at normal speed. Assessment I monitored the children's progress on Criteria 1, 2 and 3 (English-Viewing Strand) We revised what the children had learned previously about using books as reference tools, and various children suggested words we might use to search for appropriate books. I encouraged them to use the library computers, with assistance, to locate books. Assessment I monitored the children's progress on Criteria 7 and 8 (S&E - Investigation, Communication and Participation Strand) Lesson 3 I showed children a range of the books we had identified in the previous lesson. For each book I followed the same steps: I had previously written sentences from each book on the whiteboard so I then read each sentence aloud with the children as we looked at the sentences on the board. I then asked them to identify close-up and long shots in the drawings that I held up. Individually and with help from me, the library officer and parents, the children looked through a range of books and identified close-up and long shots in the drawings. Assessment I monitored the children's progress on Criteria 1, 2, 3 and 6 (English - Viewing and Reading Strands) I handed out a worksheet which asked them to illustrate graphically close-up and long shot views of dinosaurs. As we walked around the groups, the library officer and I used the scales on the worksheet as an assessment tool (Difficulty completing, Moving towards success, Successfully demonstrated) to monitor students' progress. Assessment As well as the scales on the worksheet, I monitored students' progress on 1, 9 and 10 (English - Viewing Strand; The Arts - Using Arts Skills, Techniques, Technologies & Processes Strand) The children's work was displayed on the library boards, along with relevant books and videos. here to view some of the work. Assessment As I am developing my use of the Student Outcome Statements, I am exploring the value of placing outcome statements on the bottom of worksheets and assessing whether children can demonstrate progress towards achievement in these outcomes. Because I see the children for only one hour per week it is important for me to keep my assessment mechanisms simple and reliable. I have found it useful to use two separate scales: Completed with assistance / without assistance. Have difficulty demonstrating the outcome / moving towards success / successfully demonstrated the outcome. I also keep a whole-class checklist (students' names down the left column and performance on various tasks in the other columns) to give me an overview of their progress. Use of Criteria I find it very useful to create additional criteria that will indicate to me children's progress towards achievement of an outcome. I base the criteria on those found in relevant Learning Areas in the Outcomes and Standards Framework. I keep a checklist of these criteria and record the progress of 5-6 students per lesson on these criteria. Over a term I have a good sense of students' overall progress in the Learning Areas. Portfolios Year 1 children keep portfolios on each theme with their classroom teacher. Their work in the library with me contributes to these, rather than being stored in separate library portfolios. Reflection This is an introductory activity. I could have moved in several different directions from here: Further study of the Viewing Strand of English, particularly expanding into the other substrands: Use of Texts, Contextual Understanding and Processes and Strategies. Action research with this and other groups of students on the difficulty of identifying moving vs. static images More work on the use of reference books to find information A very basic introduction to point of view and reader response in the English learning area-I think the children could see some connection between close-up shots and first person narratives; and long shots and third person narratives It is interesting that the children found the books much easier to use than the video for identifying close-up and long shots, because the drawings were static. I was thus able to remind them that they had found the videos more useful than the books with their classroom teacher for collecting information about dinosaurs, and to point out that, therefore, different types of text serve different purposes. Some of the children understood this concept clearly. Next time I run this activity I will use a different video, because the language in Dinosaur was too difficult for the children. Meg Lewis Camboon Primary School Resources for this Activity Videos Dinosaur (Eyewitness Series, BBC), Dorling Kindersley, 1984. The language in this one was too difficult for the children but they could identify close-up and long shots when freeze-framed. Walking with Dinosaurs (Series shown on the ABC in 1999). This one was not available when I conducted this activity but I will use it in future. Destroy episode of Lift Off a film series produced by the Australian Children's Television Foundation. This particular episode opens with children visiting a dinosaur exhibition. It uses close ups and other shots to create a terrifying view of the power of dinosaurs. Books MILNER, A. Dinosaurs Australia : Allen&Unwin, 1995. STORRS, G. Tyrannosaurus London : Kingfisher, 1994. TAYLOR, B. The Really Deadly and Dangerous Dinosaurs London, 1994. ThEODOROU, R. When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth Hove : Wayland, 1995.