Tuesday 11 October 2011

TARSIA AND TWITTER



Those who know me know just how important Twitter is in my teaching life. The MFL Twitterati are always on hand to share advice and resources, and last night was no exception.
This year, our department is trying to use more 'real' resources and trying to encourage higher order thinking and more active learning. We all, pupils and staff alike, are enjoying it immensely but the preparation required is intense. I tweeted to ask if anyone had any kind of 'thinking skills' activity for KS4 jobs and @zaragozalass kindly obliged with an activity she had made using the maths software Formulator Tarsia
We started the lesson by recalling as many jobs as possible in Spanish. I then split the class into groups of 3 or 4 and gave them the sheets and scissors. They merrily cut the mini triangles out before settling quickly to the task at hand ie building a large triangle where touching sides linked information eg 'I like science and animals' linked to 'I want to be a vet'
I was amazed with how engaged the pupils were with this task, and how focused they remained, even when other groups had finished. This is definitely one idea I will be repeating.
NB you can download Marie's worksheets here entitled 'El mundo de trabajo'triangle puzzle.

1 comment:

Angela Gallagher-Brett said...

Hi Amanda

I'm interested (from a research perspective) in the work you are doing to develop higher order thinking skills & would like to hear more about it.