Planning for Discovery T

Activities:

Key competency focus:

Managing self completing task

Try to achieve a balance of activities that will cater for all

interests, needs and abilities.
b Some might be related to the curriculum learning area.
b Some might be routine activities that occur in some form
every week.
b Some might be physical activities.
Look back at the things you have done in class.
Look forward to the things you will be doing next.
The ideas below show a range of possibilities that could be
explored.
Native tree garden
Students could:
Weed and tidy
Identify and label plants
Photograph plants for an
identification chart
Collect seeds to grow
Sort and compare leaf
shapes /sizes
Weigh seeds
Work out height of trees
Find ways to monitor
growth
Observe insects living in
the garden

A
S

Skipping
Skipping from the Chatterbox series
(Pearson Longman) is a useful book.
Long and short ropes
Skipping rhymes
Skipping in pairs
Recording number of forward /
backward skips on a white board
Challenge to see how many different
variations of skipping class members
can master.
Timing
Races

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P
M

Drama / role play

Providing a box of things
for drama often sets the
scene and stimulates ideas.
The students can improvise
or make extra things they
need - eg. cardboard mobile
phones, taxi signs, bus
stops, big boxes for cars.
Students often need help to
clarify ideas and get a clear
sequence of events.
Sometimes videoing the
story captures the moment
better than having the
student wait till the end of
the session to perform it.

Curriculum learning area:

Science Living World Native trees

Activities

* Work in native tree garden.

Observational drawing of cabbage tree or
leaves
Leaf prints use to make something
(picture frame, animal??)

E
L

Forest & animals jigsaw

Play dough

LEGO village set

Large blocks

Drama / role play

(Packet of seeds, gardening gloves,
long stick, bucket)
Skipping

* some adult guidance required

Student sharing

Voluntary reporting back on activities

Student reflection - Organisation
In pairs discuss, report back on partners
learning.

Teacher reflection

Most students had completed things but

watch Leo and Jayden next week who
tended to float.
Looking at worms could be fun check for a
text for next weeks reading groups.
Great ideas for measuring. Challenge the
students over the next week to think of

ry Time

Date:

Introducing these to the students:

To think about what you do when
things dont at first work out.

i s c ov e ry

Ti

m e

Introducing the key competency

Which specific aspect of the key competency do your students need
to be developing? This is a time to make these goals explicit.
Introduction to the students might go something like this

Ive noticed that sometimes when things get tough or dont at first
work, some people quickly give up. Today our goal is to have another
plan or idea when things dont work.

Meeting individual needs

ESOL
Vocabulary for leaf shapes sort and
label

Introducing the curriculum learning area

Extension
Extend technical skills to print photos.

Link to other things that are happening in the class, school,

community or global context. Capture student interests.

Explore methods for working out

heights of trees.

Read Koros Medicine by Melanie Drewery (Huia Publishers) to the

class the day before.

Skipping support group of students

identified as having difficulty.

P
M

During the session

A
S

E
L

The teacher moves around groups interacting, questioning and

encouraging. Standing back and observing is also vital.
During the session teachers might be asking:

Equipment needed

Gardening gear
Digital camera
Large tape measures,
metre rulers
Skipping ropes
Drama items

What do you plan to do next?

How will you make that bit work?
What else can you try?
Which is the hard bit?
Can you ask someone to help you?
How will you know when youve finished?

Student reflection / possible focus question

Use a variety of organisational structures here and link the
discussion back to the focus introduced at the start of the session.
Possible focus question

- link back to key competencies

Today in DT I had trouble with

I had to

ways to measure the big Norfolk Pine.

Drama needed a bit more teacher input
at the start lots of improvising of plot
during performance.
Good to see Lucy persist and master
skipping skills.

During the reflection students might be saying:

I couldnt get my drawing right. The leaves were bigger than the
trunk, but then I used my pencil as a measure.
If you didnt hold the paper still, the leaf rubbing was a mess.
We kept changing the ending of our play. We had to listen and not
be bossy so we could sort it out.

Teacher reflection:
Note successes, ideas, things to try next week.
Record observations you have made that are relevant to individual
students or groups.
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