GETTING

STARTED

BGPS Classroom Activity

This example (a typical Primary school science lesson) demonstrates how Knowledge Building can be incorporated into classroom discussions:

1. The teacher identifies a big question, "Can electricity last forever?"
And 2 sub-questions, "What are the sources of energy to produce electricity?"
"What are the factors and conditions that affect the sources of energy?"

This video considers different organisational strategies for teaching science in the primary classroom. These include managing whole class introductions and practical investigations as well as different types of group work. Advantages and disadvantages of each organisation are presented. Viewers are encouraged to think about how to choose the most appropriate strategy.

2. The teacher then provides a summary of what is going to be done in the lesson, including:
-Getting students to come up with a group idea/theory (Generating Ideas)
-Getting groups to present their ideas, students will then note down ideas from other groups, and the class will try to draw connections between ideas (Connecting Ideas)
-Getting students to come up with improved group theories (Improving Ideas)

Now if this sounds interesting to you, please take a look at what the class does next:
a. Generating Ideas