Grade 1 students at Ecole Our Lady of The Rosary School had the opportunity to be teachers for the day on April 21.
“We looked at where the Kindergarten and Grade 1 curriculums overlapped and realized that they both learn about their five senses,” Grade 1 Teacher Amanda Kinsella said. “We asked our Grade 1s how they could teach Kindergartners about their senses. We learned about the senses and then they went and made their own Chrome Book project using Google Slides. They worked with partners to produce these presentations and today they will be presenting them to the Kindergartners, in order to help them learn about their senses. They get to be kid teachers and present what they learned.
The project is designed to add accountability to learning, meaning that the Grade 1s needed to be confident enough in their own skills to be able to present it to their younger peers.
“It makes it a lot more meaningful to them and all are kids were engaged and excited to present to the Kindergarten classes,” Kinsella said. “Lots of them have a better memory of what they learned because they knew that they were going to have to teach someone else. It gives them accountability and they took ownership of their learning.”
Kinsella was pleasantly surprised with the Google presentations her students came up with for the project.
“I was very surprised with how much the students took on that teaching role,” she said. “I was watching them practising how to present - they were getting down low and trying to make it relate to the Kindergarten students. I was surprised to see how outgoing some of my more shy kiddos were. They were really ready to present.”
Not only did the students learn about their senses, the project also allowed them to learn about mentorship and team building.
“They are learning the importance of being leaders and sharing their learning with others,” Kinsella said. “We are really focused on working together and collaborating together. The kids working together and sharing the Chrome Books really works on team building. That was great for them as well.”
Kinsella added that she is “excited for them and I am really proud of all their hard work.”
todd.vaughan@sylvanlakenews.com