Templates templates templates...

If I want to work efficiently, produce high quality learning opportunities for my class of characters, and make conscious decisions about the cognitive level of the activities, then I need to be producing some templates that I can use in multiple ways.

Here is my first attempt. This is a template that I have customised for a particular book for one of my reading groups.

SOLO vs SAMR and How Can I Combine the Best of Both?

I have been thinking about SOLO Taxomony and how to link this with the SAMR model. One extends students' thinking into the realms of high cognitive engagement while the other aims to use the affordances of technology to give students learning opportunities they would not otherwise have.

Easy, right?

I'm going to give it a go and see. With the use of Explain Everything, there are all sorts of possibilities with the technology, however some of these are simply replications of pen and paper activities. I was finding a wonderful world of online texts, resources, links through Google docs while teaching my year fours on chrome books last year, however right now I'm feeling a little limited with how I can creatively extend the thinking of my year twos. I need some serious time set aside to play with Explain Everything, and to think about how the actives can lead to higher order thinking.

For now, I'm going to play around with some activities based on the following verbs: to describe, to sequence, to compare and contrast.