Overview

Introduction

Context

The teacher has an electronic whiteboard and three networked computers in her classroom as well as access to a suite of 15 computers. The sessions in the ICT suite are mostly with two pupils sharing a machine with some pupils working on the computers in the classroom. The children take it in turns, ten minutes each controlling the computer whilst the other makes suggestions. The sessions are linked to their literacy sessions, they are retelling the story of the nativity, rehearsing full stops.

The ICT context is to become familiar with using a word processor and hopefully towards the end of the project; incorporating a picture. Each lesson lasts approximately forty-five minutes in total, ten to fifteen minutes exposition with whiteboard in use in their own classroom, followed by twenty to twenty-five minutes with the children using the computers in the suite and five to ten minutes plenary session.
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Medium Term Plan 

Preparatory work

Before the session the teacher saved the paragraph above, the start of the nativity story but not in sentence form, missing capital letters, full stops and making far too much use of the connective 'and', into the shared area.

To help KS1 pupils access their work in the suite the school has a picture system in place. This is very simple and works very effectively. There are three images - cut outs and laminated - which are put up on the whiteboard with blue tac. The pupils just look at it and follow the usual instructions. Once they have logged on they look to see which folder they need. The shared one is on the board, they open that, look for the read-only folder as on the board, open that then look for the Joseph and Mary files - as on the board. Within a very short time each pair of children has their work in front of them.

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Session 1 Making Sentences

• The teacher introduced in her room using an electronic whiteboard. She explained to the children that they were going to practise their word processing skills and would use their work to make a Christmas card to their parents when it was finished. This motivated the pupils really well!
• She spent some time revising the skills previously learned and questioning the pupils to test knowledge and understanding of what they needed to make a sentence.
• The children were reminded how to share the computers (ten minutes on and ten minutes off but making suggestions).
• The teacher also asked them the nativity story - testing the memory of the pupils to make sure that they would not be held up by a lack on knowledge.

After about fifteen minutes the pupils walked across to the computer suite (a group of special needs pupils, three in all, were left in the classroom to work on the three classroom computers with an LS)A. The children logged logged on started to access their work area. There were two adults circulating the room to help the pupils during this time. A few pupils had problems dragging the given file from the shared area to their own work folder to access it, many pupils knew how to do it already. The pupils found it quite challenging, all were happy to put in capital letters for names, but found taking out 'and', and putting full stops and capitals to start a new sentence quite difficult. Many pupils had to be shown how to use the enter key to start a new paragraph and back space key to counter the enter key command because some ended up pressing enter several times half way through a word and so the word was split.

Most pupils managed to improve the text that they had been given originally. Some had added another sentence, one or two had moved further forward.

Saving their Work

All pupils saved their work a new file name. They were instructed to give the work the initials of the pupil(s) working on it and 'nativity', e.g. 'tynativity'. This is so that the file would easily be tracked down the next time the work was to be opened.

During the plenary session the teacher went over a couple of examples asking pupils what was good and what needed improving. She revised several of the skills with the pupils telling her how to do things. She reminded them how carefully they had to work to make it good enough for Christmas cards.

Session 2 Adding more sentences and punctuation

Session 3 Presenting their work

 As before the session started in the classroom with the whiteboard introduction. Spelling checks were revised, several pupils were able to make use of it after the last demonstration and it made a huge difference to their work. Importing pictures was discussed. All pupils wanted to import a picture to improve their work. Anticipating that the teacher had made another set of cards to blue tac to the whiteboard to remind them of the process. She used the set of RM images that can be easily accessed from Talking First Word There are only a few Christmas pictures to choose from so it made success far more likely. She demonstrated it several times and the pupils talked about which would make a good picture and why.

The pupils went to the suite, accessed their work and finished it off. All were allowed to print this week so once the pictures were finished everyone was allowed to press print once, then they went and read. They left the computers logged on until the printing was finished and went back to them to log off later.

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 Assessment - measure against the QCA learning outcomes and NC level descriptors

The children worked very hard and were well motivated. There are still mistakes in their work, wrong words, which spell checkers cannot pick up. However a great deal was learned including using:

• shift for capital letters
• enter to make a space
• use of a spell checker
• import an image

The work was put into the middle of their Christmas cards and parents as well as pupils were delighted. The pupils' word processing skills have improved beyond expectations.