My eyes lit up the other day as it came to the fruit and vegie section of a supermarket catalogue (yes, I can be a bit odd like that). The local Woolworths Supermarket had a full page spread on pears in one of their "Fresh Food Update" segments. It showed different varieties of pear, photos of each, decription of each and the times when they are in season. A full colour page of information for nothing!! And all I had to do was grab a couple of extra catalogues at my local supermarket when I was in.
So simple and yet so much to teach with. Foods come in different varieties even when they are the "same thing". Different varieties can have different shapes, different colours, different textures and so on. Fruit also has a "season" and the seasons vary between the varieties. The different varieties also cost different amounts depending on whether they are in season and the like.
These pages are great for planning lessons around because there is so much you can do with something like this. You could make informational text questions and activities for the students. You could complete a graph on when varieties are in season, or a survey of which pears students eat. There is room to complete a decriptive piece using adjectives, art with use of colour, shapes and different drawing mediums can be used. The list is endless and it cost me nothing for the base resource, it just turned up in my letterbox! It's even in colour!!
The thing I love about these kinds of classroom activities (apart from free resources of course) is that they offer life lessons to go along with their school work. While they learn about writing, spelling, the seasons and the like, they also learn a skill that's practical in nature. Not all pears are the same, in season fruit is less expensive than out of season fruit and the like.
On top of this, when the students visit the local supermarket or fruit market with their parents, it will give them a new perspective on what they see. Many of them will reflect back on the lesson when seeing mounds of fruit and vegetables trigger memories of the lesson. They will also become inquisitive because, although they can see the pears that they learnt about, they also see apples, bananas, beans, peas and carrots which they didn't. Their minds branch out like little trees, with new branches sprouting as they naturally wonder whether these things have a season like Pears do, whether they come in different varieties like pairs do, do they come in different shapes and sizes like pears do.
It's using Life Lessons to encourage student reflection and further exploration of the world they live in.
Not only life lessons can be used in this way. I am very particular of using elements of play in my lessons for the same reasons. A classroom craft activity or lesson that has elements that will be incorporated into everyday play provide the same memory trigger for student reflection.
Why don't you have a go at thinking outside the box and see what you come up with that would trigger Student Reflection in their everyday lives!
Mel
No comments:
Post a Comment