Last session I wanted to apply a bit more focus so would only set one, very open, question. First, to set the mood, I asked them to tell the group anything they knew about Vikings. They knew more and were more keen to tell it than last week so that was encouraging. We covered topics from travelling the world to living in wood houses. Next we discussed how to use the internet to find information. Here began an argument about Wikipedia entirely in Finnish so I have no idea what happened but I think it ended in favour of the site. I also highlighted the uses of YouTube in information searching.
I set the question "How did the Vikings live?". Gave them some ideas about food, housing, clothes and sent them on their way. Again as we began there were arguments about who had the computer, who was where first etc. etc... but it ended quickly with one group going to a different room to work. With regards to the work I noticed that they spent most of their time on one website; finding a good site then reading the lot. I'm not sure if this is good or bad but as you will find out it doesn't have a negative effect. I am still not happy with the way they record their findings. Today I did see some pictures and something resembling a lay out but everything is very unorganised. I will have to do something about it next session. It is not that I need everything to be neat and tidy but I suspect they are reading and learning a lot more than they actually write down. Writing is a very good method for the internalisation of information and also acts as a memory booster. This became evident when I asked a question in the feedback session about what the Vikings wore and one of the girls tried to answer, couldn't remember what she knew, only that she knew it, looked on the sheet but hadn't written it down.
The only way I can find out what the children have actually found out is during the feedback sessions at the end. This is often in Finnish so I require the teacher to translate but some children do speak in English. On the topic of "How did the Vikings live?" we had many answers. We talked about the Viking travels to america, and some interesting research into Vikings having children with the Native Americans. We touched on the topic of slavery and mentioned a bit about what they ate and wore but two very comments came up about what the Vikings were like which I was really hoping the children would find. First: "the Vikings were very hygienic people". Right back at the very start it was suggested that they were horrid, dirty barbarians but the same child who said that produced the aforementioned statement. Second: "Killing and raiding were only minor parts of Viking culture. Most of the Vikings made their living through farming, making things and trade". This again is a very important point as it corrects some very widespread misconceptions.
I set the question "How did the Vikings live?". Gave them some ideas about food, housing, clothes and sent them on their way. Again as we began there were arguments about who had the computer, who was where first etc. etc... but it ended quickly with one group going to a different room to work. With regards to the work I noticed that they spent most of their time on one website; finding a good site then reading the lot. I'm not sure if this is good or bad but as you will find out it doesn't have a negative effect. I am still not happy with the way they record their findings. Today I did see some pictures and something resembling a lay out but everything is very unorganised. I will have to do something about it next session. It is not that I need everything to be neat and tidy but I suspect they are reading and learning a lot more than they actually write down. Writing is a very good method for the internalisation of information and also acts as a memory booster. This became evident when I asked a question in the feedback session about what the Vikings wore and one of the girls tried to answer, couldn't remember what she knew, only that she knew it, looked on the sheet but hadn't written it down.
The only way I can find out what the children have actually found out is during the feedback sessions at the end. This is often in Finnish so I require the teacher to translate but some children do speak in English. On the topic of "How did the Vikings live?" we had many answers. We talked about the Viking travels to america, and some interesting research into Vikings having children with the Native Americans. We touched on the topic of slavery and mentioned a bit about what they ate and wore but two very comments came up about what the Vikings were like which I was really hoping the children would find. First: "the Vikings were very hygienic people". Right back at the very start it was suggested that they were horrid, dirty barbarians but the same child who said that produced the aforementioned statement. Second: "Killing and raiding were only minor parts of Viking culture. Most of the Vikings made their living through farming, making things and trade". This again is a very important point as it corrects some very widespread misconceptions.
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