There are three areas which I am passionate about promoting in Primary Schools: outdoor learning for all years, physical activity as an integral part of life and learning, and interdisciplinary learning. I believe that when learning is linked across the curriculum in a real-world context, it makes sense to learners.
There are three areas which I am passionate about promoting in Primary Schools: outdoor learning for all years, physical activity as an integral part of life and learning, and interdisciplinary learning. I believe that when learning is linked across the curriculum in a real-world context, it makes sense to learners.
The Pedometer Project is a whole class project suitable for Primary 4 to Primary 7 classes (7 to 12 years old). It is recommended that a whole term is taken over this project in order to reinforce the skills learnt. This pack includes worksheets, teacher sheets and display sheets for the Pedometer Project and the additional, linked Energy and Activity lesson.
The aim of the project is to teach numeracy skills whilst promoting physical activity. Through daily practise, pupils will practice numeracy skills including:
* Understanding four and five digit numbers
* Adding four and five digit numbers
* Rounding numbers up and down
* Understanding measurement and converting between meters and kilometres
* Adding data to tables and charts
Each day the children wear pedometers throughout the school day, and each day they complete a table to record how many steps they have taken. They then work through steps to calculate the distance they have travelled over the week. Each day, they move their marker along a wall chart to mark their distance travelled. The project is highly motivating for children as the context is real for them. They will want to be able to read the number of steps they have taken each day and to complete the table to move their figure along the chart. They will want to understand their progress and that of their peers. The element of competition with a race to see who can take the most steps in a week, is also highly motivating for pupils.
The additional lesson, Energy and Activity, looks at the energy contained in different foods. Children use their pedometers to take the number of steps which would use the number of calories contained in each food. This leads to a discussion of when you might need a high or low energy snack.
In addition to developing the childrens’ numeracy skills, the pedometer project encourages children to think about their physical activity levels and the ways in which they could boost their physical activity.
Resources Included:
* Detailed notes for teachers for the Pedometer Project, with Scottish Curriculum For Excellence links.
* Detailed notes for teachers for the linked Energy and Activity lesson, with Scottish Curriculum For
Excellence links.
* Two display sheets.
* Five teacher sheets.
* Five worksheets.
Additional Resources Required:
* A class set of pedometers.
* A wall chart – instructions are provided for making this.
This is the full set of resources which make up the Starter For Ten project.
Starter For Ten is a whole term, cross-curricular project for upper primary classes. A series of lessons provide the class with the knowledge and skills they need to start their own businesses in small groups. Groups are loaned £10 to start their business with the businesses running for four weeks after around six weeks learning and preparation.
Starter For Ten provides a highly motivating, real world context for learning with pupils taking full responsibility for their businesses. The pupils are also responsible for making key decisions including what to spend any profit on and whether to act as philanthropists and opt to donate a proportion of their income to charity.
The full project covers a number of curriculum areas: literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing, religious and moral education, social studies and technologies. All lessons are fully linked to the Scottish Curriculum For Excellence.
Each of the fourteen lessons includes a lesson plan, a PowerPoint presentation and any worksheets or other resources required. Lesson plans include learning objectives, suggestions for differentiation, a starter activity, a main lesson, a plenary activity, suggestions for further development, opportunities for display, and relevant second level Curriculum For Excellence experiences and outcomes.
Writing a School Travel Plan is the foundation of real, lasting change to the school run at your school. It is also the start of a revolution in physical and mental health in the whole school community. When children and their carers walk, scoot or cycle to school they are establishing active travel habits which will help to keep them healthy throughout their lives. When traffic is reduced, active travel also provides opportunities for relaxed interaction, fostering positive relationships throughout the school community.
When done well, the process of creating a School Travel Plan also provides a wealth of opportunities for interdisciplinary learning in a ‘real world’ c ontext. Learning becomes meaningful to pupils across the school and those pupils are highly motivated by seeing the change that they themselves are bringing about. The only way to create a School Travel Plan which works is to involve pupils in the full process of creating and implementing such a plan. Without this, it is simply another document to gather dust.
The School Travel Plan pack provides all the information and resources your school needs to create an excellent School Travel Plan and transform your school community.
