[Lesley Ann]

Living Graphs

This particular activity helps pupils to develop their empathy skills, enables them to see topics from the human perspective. Living Graphs can be slotted into your Scheme of Work (SoW) at anytime – prior knowledge is not needed for this activity, but it is advised to give pupils some context. Living Graphs enhances pupils’ understanding of topics from the human perspective. This activity can be accessed by all abilities.

Living graphs can be used in many different ways. They can be used to develop empathy to show topics from an emotional perspective. Another way to use the graph is for the pupils to draw conclusions on changes overtime. I shall give an example of the former and discuss the latter briefly at the end.

Resources: Statements, graph paper, ruler, pencil, colours.

Key Stage 4 GCSE lesson on the German resentment to the Treaty of Versailles. I used this successfully in OFSTED.

Activity:
1. Set the context – the German resentment of the Treaty of Versailles. Give the pupils the key question: Why was Germany bitter?
2. Give pupils a sheet of graph paper and a sheet with numbered statements on. Refer to the 17 statements below. (I ask pupils to write the statements out)
3. Empathy: The pupils are told that they are German and have been told the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (they have already compared British and German sources showing the reactions to the Treaty in the starter)….Ask the whole class to come up with a list of human emotions that the Germans will be feeling (Refer to the emotions list below)
4. On OHT I show pupils a graph. The X axis is numbered 1 to 16. The Y axis is for the emotions. Pupils make a copy of the graph. They must choose 5 or 6 emotions from the list, they write the emotions on the Y axis – I ask the pupils to build up the emotional tension from the first to the last emotion… e.g. I chose Accepted, Bitterness, Humiliated, Resentment, Revenge...
When choosing emotions it is important that you let the pupils take ownership, let them decide. At first you may need to give an example, or perhaps the first and last emotion and they fill in the rest on the graph.
5. The pupils are asked to decide where they will plot each statement on the graph…they must remember they are giving the German reactions to the Treaty – let them know that you might want them to justify why in the plenary/discussion.
6. Pupils then create a Bar Graph or Line Graph – they may colour or shade. Ask them to write the key question for the title of the graph.
7. In pairs ask the pupils to compare and justify their graphs – discussion.
8. In the plenary ask pupils to justify where and why they plotted their statements.
9. In this particular lesson I asked the pupils if they felt the Germans were justified in their resentment. I gave pupils a question: Was the Treaty of Versailles too harsh on the Germans? I presented the pupils with a straight line, at the top: too harsh, at the bottom: too lenient. I asked pupils to plot where they felt the answer was. I then produced the Treaty of Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918) (German treatment of Russia), told the pupils that the German economic problems were partly self-inflicted and that the Kaiser intended the defeated countries to pay reparations had they won the war. I then asked the pupils if they wished to reconsider where they plotted their mark on the line, and if so why? This then launched a discussion on the German reaction to the Treaty.

Quote

Why was Germany bitter?
Statements:
1. The Germans had no say in the peace talks.
2. Most Germans did not believe Germany started the war.
3. Most Germans believed that they had not lost the war.
4. Reparations.  Germany must pay the damages.
5. The Government that had replaced the Kaiser had surrendered and agreed to an armistice.
6. The Government who signed the treaty had betrayed Germany.  (‘November Criminals’)
7. 10% of land taken away.
8. 12.5% of population taken away.
9. All colonies taken away.
10. 50% of Iron and steel industry taken away.
11. 16% of coalfields taken away.
12. War Guilt Clause:  Forced Germany to accept responsibility for the starting the war.
13. Army reduced to 100,000 men.
14. Not allowed to have an air force.
15. Navy could have only 6 battleships.
16. Rhineland demilitarised (no German troops allowed in area that bordered France).


German Emotions
· Angry
· Sad
· Accepted
· Humiliated
· Resented
· Want revenge!
· Hated
· Bitterness
· Mad
· Betrayed

Living Graphs work well; pupils are interested and motivated. I have used Living Graphs from the emotional perspective in both History and RE. You could use Living Graphs with a story attached…I recently did one from the point of view of the Kaiser…Why did the Kaiser abdicate?

Other ways to use Living Graphs:
Another way to approach Living Graphs is to give pupils statements and ask them to decide if it is positive or negative e.g. Did children get a rough deal in the 19th Century? Give the pupils a range of statements about the life of children in the 19th Century. They plot on a graph positive or negative – they then answer the key question.

Alternatively use Living Graphs to show an indication of changes over time, e.g. population, unemployment, income. Give the pupils a completed graph and a list of statements. Ask the pupils to match the statements to the graph.

[Lesley Ann]

The Thinking Skills area has been launched on the DFES Standards Site

The Thinking Skills area provides a searchable database of thinking skills resources for use in the primary classroom or as part of CPD. It also includes case study examples as well as background information on how improving pupils' thinking and reasoning skills are thought to contribute to raised standards.

The Thinking Skills website can be found at:

www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/thinkingskills/

[Rachel Juckes]

Lesley Ann, on Jul 22 2003, 01:09 AM, said:

TABOO

This is an ideal activity for:
· Revision at the end of the topic of work- pupils will probably need to use their prior knowledge. 
· Diagnostic Assessment.

Taboo helps pupils
· to revise more effectively,
· increases understanding of topics by sophistically describing key concepts,
· develops thinking and discussion. 
·            identifies important topic level concepts or vocabulary. 

I would just like to say that I tried Taboo today with my year 10 pupils. We've reached the end of the topic and it's exams next week. I only used 10 cards for each group, but it still worked. IN fact it still worked excellently!

Had team names too to add to the fun. Some very strange ones (and one that sounded like the type of caller you would get at Mo's Bar in the Simpsons..... !!)

And the best thing??? The one who said at the end "That's one of the best lesson we've done!" Partly said so that I would hear, but mainly just said as a comment.

Oh yes. Taboo is excellent! Love it, and shall use it lots again. Thank you LA!!!!

Rachel.

[DAJ Belshaw]

Tried Taboo with Year 10 today after reading this thread yesterday. It went OK, but not amazingly. Spectacularly uninventive team names, cries of 'I don't understand what to do' (after about 5,000 explanations) and rampant cheating were the hallmarks of the lesson.

Suggestions for next time?

Doug

[Lesley Ann]

Leading in Learning: developing thinking skills at Key Stage 3

The Leading in Learning programme has been developed as part of the Key Stage 3 Strategy’s support for whole-school improvement. It is a systematic, research-based programme, focused on improving pupils' thinking skills in curriculum subjects.

Have a read of:Exemplification in history

[MrsB]

I was just about to post about the leading in Learning - I am one of three teachers about to pilot the scheme in my school and have just got back from some training. We are starting with Information Processing - classification

so if anyone else is involved in this i'd be interested to hear about it

[Dom_Giles]

Lesley Ann, on Jul 20 2003, 02:53 AM, said:

You are ready to write your Thinking Skills lesson plan:

There are a number of thinking approaches in the UK of which the best known are CASE (Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education), CAME (Cognitive Acceleration through Mathematics Education), Thinking Through the Humanities, Somerset Thinking Skills, and Philosophy for/with Children.

I have been doing a fair amount of reading on this recently. Espcially with regards to provision for Giftd and talented students. One book (I forget by whom but it was called "Too gifted by half") suggested that the Philosophy for Children programme (P4C) was the way to go. I would love to find out more about this, I've checked out a few sites but was wondering if anyone had any experience of this in school?

I haven't heard of Thinking Through the Humanities but will look into this.

[DaveStacey]

Dom_Giles, on Dec 21 2005, 02:26 PM, said:

I have been doing a fair amount of reading on this recently. Espcially with regards to provision for Giftd and talented students. One book (I forget by whom but it was called "Too gifted by half") suggested that the Philosophy for Children programme (P4C) was the way to go. I would love to find out more about this, I've checked out a few sites but was wondering if anyone had any experience of this in school?

I haven't heard of Thinking Through the Humanities but will look into this.

Have you seen the Teachers TV prog about P4C? The info and a link to the show is here and it's actually being shown again tomorrow at 7.30am

[Dom_Giles]

Thanks for that. Just watched it online. Very useful.

This post has been edited by Dom_Giles: 25 December 2005 - 12:24 PM

[Lesley Ann]

Bias & Interpretation through the TRUE story of the Three Little Pigs


Questioning skills: Middle to Higher Order Thinking Skills


I've done this for years but thought I'd share it here. It came from a Philosophy for Children course I attended.
Building on from Bias and Interpretation in Year 7......I approach BIAS and INTERPRETATION in a different way in Year 8 and adding the extra skills of getting students to write really good questions.


Here is a different technique to get students to use Middle to Higher order thinking skills in your lessons.

Starter: I ask the students to discuss the story of the 3 Little Pigs. What can they recall from the story? What happens in the story? Who is the bad guy? Whose point of view is the story told from? Whose side have they not heard?

I then pull out my own copy of 'The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs' by A Wolf. (author Jon Scieszka)
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

In my BEST story telling voice I tell the story:
Did the story of the three little pigs ever seem slightly biased to you? All that huffing and puffing--could one wolf really be so unequivocally evil? Finally, we get to hear the rest of the story, straight from the wolf's mouth. As Alexander T. Wolf explains it, the whole Big Bad Wolf thing was just a big misunderstanding. Al Wolf was minding his own business, making his granny a cake, when he realized he was out of a key ingredient. He innocently went from house to house (one made of straw, one of sticks and one of bricks) asking to borrow a cup of sugar. Could he help it if he had a bad cold, causing him to sneeze gigantic, gale-force sneezes? Could he help it if pigs these days use shabby construction materials? And after the pigs had been ever-so-accidentally killed, well, who can blame him for having a snack?

Year 8 lap this story up!!!!!


Anyway this story shows clearly that there are always two sides to every story and that the facts alone are often insufficient. Written by the winners, the story is obviously going to be biased in their favour. But when written by the loser - will it be truth? It's certainly very different (apart from being hilarious).


Pupil work: I then get the students to discuss in pairs/small groups (armed with post it notes) and think of 5 questions they have on this story:
You then ask the students to decide which are their top 3 questions. If they could ask the wolf any question what would it be? So they rank, priortise their best 3 questions.
You then ask each group to give their BEST question. You write/type them on the board/IWB. (they have a selection to choose from if another group steals their idea)

Once you have 1 good question from each pair or group (you can end up with 10 to 15 questions on the board) You get lots of really good questions from Y8:

• Why has the Wolf waited until now to tell his side of the story?
  
• Did the Wolf really have a cold?
  
• What medical proof supports the wolf having a bad cold?
  
• Why did the wolf not go and buy some sugar?
  
• Why did the Wolf have to eat the pigs?
  
• Who runs the prisons, justice system, press? (answer is pigs)
  
• Why is a Wolf living next door to pigs?
  
• What is the truth?
  
• How do we know who is telling the truth?
  
• The Wolf is in prison, what has he got to loose telling his story now?
  
• Does the Wolf really have a grandmother?
  
• How did he know the Pigs died when the houses collapsed?
  
• Did the Wolf not think to go for help when the houses collapsed?
  
• Why did he eat the two little pigs?
  
• Will we ever know the REAL truth?
  
• Whose side do you believe?
  
• What does the Pigs relatives have to say about the Wolf's version of events?

Now get the class to save the best 3 questions. They must priortise which questions are really good and discard the rest by deleting them. The students however must justify why they should save or delete a question.

Plenary/Review:

• Explain what an interpretation is
  
• Explain what bias means
  
• When there is two sides to a story, how can historians ever we know the real truth?
  
• "Written by the winners, the story is obviously going to be biased in their favour. But when written by the loser - will it be truth?" Discuss this statement.
  
• What makes a good question?

The very next Y8 lesson we look at the Gunpowder Plot. I give them a few statements:
In groups (armed with post it notes) they must come up with NEW questions they have about the traditional story of the Gunpowder Plot....we then discuss and priortise the best questions.........we discuss the bias and the interpretation element....building on from the Three Little Pigs.

• The government controlled all the gunpowder.
  
• All the gunpowder supplies were kept in the Tower of London.
  
• The Government records for the gunpowder supplies in 1604 went missing!
  
• The plotters rented the cellar from a man who was a King’s official (and a friend of the King’s minister Robert Cecil).
  
• No witnesses were called at the trial of Guy Fawkes. Robert Cecil did not show anyone else the original confession. New confessions were copied out for the trial,
  
• A disguised messenger delivered the letter was to Lord Mounteagles’ London home on 26th October 1605.
  
• The 26th October 1605 was the only night Lord Mounteagle stayed at his London home.
  
• Lord Mounteagle told the King about the letter on 27th October. Yet the government took no action until 4th November.

[Nick Lowry]

I love this thread. I have just delivered a whole school INSET on this and I found that the biggest reaction from all the ideas was '8-way thinking'. This seemed not only to work in our department but other faculties took this on and have fed back to me about this. The article can be found on www.independentthinking.co.uk if you go to the articles section you can find a template and an article about how to use it. Powerful stuff. I used it as an accelerated learnig piece into the First World War.

Nick

[Lesley Ann]

Nick Lowry, on Mar 7 2007, 10:30 AM, said:

'8-way thinking'. The article can be found on www.independentthinking.co.uk if you go to the articles section you can find a template and an article about how to use it. Powerful stuff. I used it as an accelerated learning piece into the First World War.
Nick

Thank you for this link Nick!

8 Way Thinking is brilliant! It fits nicely for Whole-School Teaching & Learning.

In a nutshell: 8 way Thinking uses the Multiple Intelligence theory to develop thinking, questioning and independent learning. Ian Gilbert has taken Howard Gardner's 8 Multiple Intelligences as the basis and simplified into 8 Ways Thinking in the mould of De Bono's six 'Thinking Hats'.

By combining thinking skills, Philosophy for Children practices and MI theory, Ian uses the eight Multiple Intelligences:

1. Logical/Mathematical
2. Verbal/Linguistic
3. Interpersonal
4. Intrapersonal
5. Naturalistic
6. Body/Physical
7. Musical
8. Visual/Spatial

And simplifies them into:
1. Numbers
2. Words
3. People
4. Feelings
5. Nature
6. Actions
7. Sounds
8. Sights

He uses an octagon template. Using a topic to investigate work around the octagon asking questions to begin with. So, for example, if your topic was, say, 'Evacuation in the Second World War'...So questions you might ask:
1. How many children were evacuated during the Second World War?
2. Imagine a discussion between a mother and child, the child is told they are going to be sent away.
3. Who decided that evauation should take place? Why?
4. What sort of emotions would the evacuations experience?
5. What damage did the bombing do to the environment?
6. How were the children transported?
7. What sounds would the children hear during the Blitz?
8. How was evacuation portrayed by the Government?

By working through this process you immediately begin to think more deeply and look more closely at particular topics, whatever the subject may be.


Have a read of the articles that Nick has suggested....it might just blow you away!

[Tony Fox]

Lesley Ann, on Mar 7 2007, 05:32 PM, said:

And simplifies them into:
1. Numbers
2. Words
3. People
4. Feelings
5. Nature
6. Actions
7. Sounds
8. Sights

He uses an octagon template. Using a topic to investigate work around the octagon asking questions to begin with. So, for example, if your topic was, say, 'Evacuation in the Second World War'...So questions you might ask:
1. How many children were evacuated during the Second World War?
2. Imagine a discussion between a mother and child, the child is told they are going to be sent away.
3. Who decided that evauation should take place? Why?
4. What sort of emotions would the evacuations experience?
5. What damage did the bombing do to the environment?
6. How were the children transported?
7. What sounds would the children hear during the Blitz?
8. How was evacuation portrayed by the Government?

By working through this process you immediately begin to think more deeply and look more closely at particular topics, whatever the subject may be.


Have a read of the articles that Nick has suggested....it might just blow you away!

I like this, similar to the lotus diagrams I use for video's, please find a sheet you may like to use in class

Attached File(s)

•  octagon.doc (47K)
  Number of downloads: 121

[Dom_Giles]

I too think this thread is fantastic.

I've been struggling to introduce thinking skills into my lessons and have started a P4C club (we call it "Think Club" although they hate the name). This 8 way thinking looks brilliant. Thanks

[piercey]

I really like the octagonal chart. I do an activity sometimes with my students that I call a sensory figure. For example, last week we were learning about monastic life. The students were then asked to create a sensory figure of a monk. On one page in their notebook, the drew a monk and then labelled his senses. What would he see in and around the monastery? What might he hear? Smell? Where would his feet take him? You get the idea. I also do this for Lady Shikibu, and an African tribal leader.
This activity forces the students to put themselves in someone else's place, and really think about what life was like historically.