Discussion: What staff observed from the evidence about learning (how much and how well).
Numeracy
I have experimented with everyday items as units of measure to investigate and compare sizes and
amounts in my environment, sharing my findings with others.
Expressive Art
Working on my own and with others, I use my curiosity and imagination to solve design problems.
Staff: Adult A and Adult B discussing the activities that were planned for children. These are
observations / extracts from conversations with children and are not necessarily presented in a
sequential way.
The children gained a better understanding of the various aspects of measurement and used
their imagination to solve design problems. The activities provided were interesting which
facilitated children’s engagement in learning. They had good concentration and cooperation
and a high level of experimentation.
Making Hats
Adult B asked the children to select the best type of paper for their hat; she wanted them to think
about what they needed to start. She had hoped they would select card (range of flimsy paper/thick
card available) but they were more interested in exploring the range of materials, (glitter, ribbon,
feathers, etc.) which were available to decorate their hats; they needed the adult prompt to answer the
question. Learner 1 then picked up a piece of paper without saying anything, this prompted
Learner 2 who then said “we could use the cardboard
Learner 2 was measuring paper for her hat. When asked “How are we going to measure our head?”
she says “We’ll just put a bit of round string around your head then some round string around your
hat to see if it’s the right size”. She is gesturing at the same time and appeared able to transfer the
learning about measuring from the previous activity where she was measuring the stage /plotting
with string.
When talking about whether heads are the same size - she says “no” and when asked “Does your
head have a length and breadth?” she says “no” showing that she has gained an understanding of 3D
shapes. When she used the ribbon she decided that the first piece she picked up would not fit her
head – it was too short. When she saw the very long ribbon, she knew right away that it was too long,
demonstrating that she can visually estimate.
Learner 2 is able to problem solve and uses logical reasoning to explain the process of making the
hat to fit her head. She picks up a rectangular piece of cardboard and puts it around her head. Adult B
asks her how she will get it to stay on her head (gives her thinking time). At first she shrugs her
shoulders then says “a hole” and makes a circle with her finger. Adult B says “Will we try cutting a
hole in it then?” Learner 2 says “no” and ‘thinks’. She says “cos it would fall right down here”
(demonstrates) and then says “cos your head would be sticking right out”. Adult B says it needs to
be the right size to stay on your head. How will we do that? Learner 2 takes a ribbon and places it
on her card in a circular shape (getting the idea of the circumference of her head). Adult B draws
attention to the shape and says “That’s how round your head is, how will we measure that on a bit of
paper?” Learner 2 says “just use the ribbon or a pencil”.
Adult B deliberately asks a ‘what’s wrong’ type of question to prompt Learner 2 as she is joining
paper to make the length for her hat. Adult B is using a piece of ribbon to measure the paper and
asks for her help saying “what’s wrong with that? Learner 2 says “that bits too long for the paper.”
Adult B asks “How can we fix that?” Learner 2 says “stick some more black on” (pointing to the
black paper ). Adult B asks her to demonstrate and she joins the two bits of paper together and starts
to measure with the ribbon.
Learner 2 says “stick the glue on there”. She joins the paper and now has a long piece of paper.
Learner 2 puts the ribbon down again but on the middle of the paper. Adult B has to help her to
take the ribbon to the edge. Adult B says “How will we get it that size?” Learner 2 explains, “if we
cutted it, it will fit my head” (holding the ribbon). Again she has worked out what she needs to do to
solve the problem and how to measure it. Learner 3, who appears not to be listening, says, in
answer to Adult B’s question to Learner 2, “you cut the paper”, offering his solution.
Learner 2 decides to use a round tin to draw the circle for her head because she wants to make a
different hat. She takes the ribbon that is the right size for her head and puts it around the tin to
measure the shape so she can cut out the circle. She tries it on her head for size and it fits. This
shows how she is able to work out solutions to design problems. Adult B asked her what she had to
do next. Learner 2 says “I better do the top, I’m good at cutting” “we need a bit for the top it’s a
circle shape, I can draw round the tin again and cut it out for the top bit.” Learner 2 was able to
recall what she had learned (self–assessment) and transfer it to this new activity. When she had
completed her hat she looked at herself in the mirror and says “it looks nice ‘yee… ha’. She was
confident now that she had completed her task.
Learner 3 has shown that he has a good imagination for example, when he discovered the paper
fasteners (when selecting materials for his hat), he commented that he did not know what they were
and then he made a guess, he said “maybe you could keep your secrets in it”. Adult B pauses to let
him think but Learner 2 steps in and said “no it’s a pin!” Adult B was giving him the time to think
creatively and to value what he said, but Learner 2 was keen to give him the right information.
Observing him during the activities it can appear that he is not listening because he is continually
moving but this does not seem to affect his ability to concentrate. In general he uses trial and error
strategies to work things out. “This bit’s too big. I’ll need to cut a bit off to make it the right size I
want - almost right.” (he puts corrugated paper round his head to see if it fits). Then he says, “I’m
not doing it that way, because it looks like a queen.” (He had seen a crown when they looked at hats
on the internet and he did not want to be a queen, he had a clear vision of what his hat should look
like. It was to be an ‘Oliver’ hat (referring to the musical). He told Adult A that he needed to make it
brown and black, and was given the paint. Adult A asks Learner 3 if he liked his hat. He says “I
don’t know if I like it because I can’t see it, I need a mirror.” Adult A gave him a mirror and he said
“There that’s good.” (He looks at his hat in the mirror and smiles.) When he takes his hat off, the
paper clip he used to fasten it scratched his ear, he said, “I’m taking them off”. He removed the paper
clips, but had already taped it together; solving this design problem.
Learner 1. Worked hard to try to solve the problem of measuring his head. He was influenced
through the discussions with Learner 3 and Learner 2; this was reflected in his comments which
indicated that he was developing concepts, for example he was able to explain that his head “is
round and round”. He was taking on board what the others were saying, showing he was making
connections in learning. He listened well while Learner 2 and Adult A discussed the sizes of ribbon
required to measure her head. He says “Learner 2 needs lots”. Adult A shows him a very long piece
of ribbon and asks if this is the length that he needs, he says “yes” he found estimating to be
challenging. Learner 2 makes it into a circle to demonstrate and says “it’s a giant’s size.” Learner
3 says “a giant would be bigger”. Learner 1 says “a dinosaur would break this seat.” He has a good
imagination and watches the others closely; learning through observation and manipulation of
concrete materials. He needs help with certain physical tasks. He needed the adult support to measure
his hat with the ribbon and paper. He needed help to place the ribbon on the paper to use it to
measure length. The adult helped him to cut it out but he knew that he needed sellotape to stick it
together, he had watched the older children so knew that sellotape would work to make it the
required length. He then decorated his hat, selecting the materials independently. His hat was a
cylinder shape. Standing it up, he tries to put glue on it but has difficulty putting the glitter on, he did
not understand that this was quite awkward as the glue slid off, but he was given time to experiment.
Learner 3 intervenes and lays it down to make it easier for him (he had probably remembered that
when he was decorating his own shaker he had solved the same problem). At the end he tries his hat
on and says “if I make it even higher it will touch the ceiling”. He is clearly happy with himself and
shows an awareness of height.
Weighing Items for Shakers
The children were asked about the type of materials that would make a nice sound. Learner 1 says
“maybe we could use sponges”. Adult A, valuing his idea suggests they try it but Learner 3 interrupts
and says “it’s too light”. Adult A encourages Learner 1 to continue. When no sound is heard, Learner
3 says “see” in a confident voice, as if to say he knew it! This provided another opportunity for him to
predict and to share his knowledge.
The children had the opportunity to use the balancing scales to compare different weights and make
the scales balance. Learner 2 shows that she understands heavy/light. She says “no it means that,
that side is heavier than them” she goes on to suggest that “maybe we could use these wooden
blocks” to make it balance with the stones. She puts wooden blocks in and she shakes her head.
Learner 3 points to a tub of small stones to prompt Learner 2 who lifts them and puts them into the
lighter side, it goes down, she says “that ones gone down.” Both children said “that one is the
heaviest.” When asked “how can we make it balance?” Learner 2 says “get something just a wee bit
heavy,” it was clear to see that she was trying to work it out. None of the children thought about
taking something out to make it balance. Each child holds the container (scales) and says “it’s the
same”. Actually holding each container enables them to confirm which one was heavier / lighter or
the same.
Learner 3 put 3 big stones in the scale; he did not understand that he had to put things in the scale
gradually to make it balance. However, Learner 2 appeared to ‘know’, she says “just get something
a wee bit heavier”. Adult A eventually had to tell them to put one thing in at a time, this allowed
them to observe and compare the weight so that they could move on to the next part of the activity.
Adult A explained that to balance the scales, something had to be put in or taken out.
Learner 1 could not differentiate between heavy / light, but when using the balance scales, there
was an indication that he had an awareness of the fact that the cotton wool was going to be lighter
than the stones (this is probably related to previous experience of cotton wool) but could not explain
it. However, he had the opportunity to weigh the various materials to go in his bottle to make his
musical shaker..
Musical Instruments (Shakers)
When Adult B was making her own shaker with a yoghurt pot, she asks the children how she can
make a lid for her pot so that the contents don’t fall out. Learner 2 says “maybe you could get a
bigger one with a lid on it” (she means a bigger container). This demonstrates how Learner 2 can
give solutions and carry on her own work at the same time. Adult B says “I’ve already started this
one”, so Learner 3 gives her a small bit of material which is still not big enough. Learner 2 thinks
for a while and picks up the paper from the blutac packet and gives it to Adult B. Learner 3 says
“glue it and stick it on”. At the same time Learner 2 points to the rim of the pot, directing what
Adult B should do. Adult B sticks it on but it is still too big; Learner 2 says “you can cut it”
offering another solution to the problem. When Adult B started to cut the lid for her yoghurt pot,
Learner 2 estimated with her finger, directing where Adult B needed to cut. Adult B sticks it on.
Learner 2 sees that there is an extra bit and tells Adult B to “cut it off”.
Learner 1 was enjoying himself experimenting with glue, glitter etc. decorating his shaker. When
Learner 2 notices that an elastic band is caught on his scissors, this prompts her to think about the
blutac paper (that Adult B was using to cover her yoghurt pot), and she puts the band over the pot
explaining that it will hold the ‘bits’ down. Adult B makes another shaker and asks for help to attach
paper to the rim of the yoghurt pot. Learner 3 says “use sellotape” and Learner 2 acts immediately
to help her. She puts the paper over the pot and says“ I know”. She points to the rim of the yoghurt
pot and says “It will be easy peasy” and completes the task.. She had made a good estimation of the
size of paper needed to cover the pot and both children were happy to work together with Adult B to
solve her problem.
Making the Stage: Learner 2 and Learner 3 (4 years)
Learner 2 could identify long and short and by the end of the activity she could consistently identify
length and breadth. Adult A asks “if you measure how long something is” Learner 2 finishes her
sentence and says “it’s the length”. Learner 3 was able to differentiate between length and breadth
after completion of the stage.
The children realise that there are no small bricks left (while making platform for stage). Boy looks
at the bricks and says “move them over” and starts to move them around, he says “we can put this
one here.” He tries it and solved the problem very quickly. Learner 2 also understood that she
needed some smaller blocks to fit in the plotted area.
General Comments
The children were happy to share their learning for example, Learner 1 says “I’ll let the glue dry
then I’ll put things on” (talking about his shaker). Learner 3 says “See if you let the glue dry,
nothing would stick at all”. (Peer Assessment). When Learner 2 tried to explain about the rope she
had seen at the circus (when measuring the stage outside). Learner 3 realised that she was struggling
to remember the word and told her it was called a tightrope.
Adult B asked the children if they could remember what problems they solved and Learner 3 said “I
solved getting this slipping down” (referring to the vinyl on his shaker bottle). He clearly knew what
was meant by a problem but did not always have the right language to explain it.
In general the children could work well in a group. They cooperated well during the activities for
example, when they were trying to measure the stage, Learner 3 held the string at one corner and
Learner 2 rolled out the string to the end of the cardboard (length) and cut it to size. They learned
from each other and were respectful of each others views.
Learner 3 clearly needs ‘hands on’ activities – he uses trial and error to work things out. Learner 2
often visually estimates and thinks carefully making connections in learning. Learner 1 observes
learning, listens well and uses what he has learned. When Adult A showed him a very long piece of
ribbon and asked him if this was the length he needed to measure his hat he said “Yes”. He was
unable to estimate. Learner 2 made it into a circle to demonstrate and says “it’s a giants size”.
Learner 3 joins in and says “ a giant would be bigger”. Learner 1 says “ a dinosaur would break
this seat” showing that he has a good imagination and an idea about the weight / size of a dinosaur.
When he had the opportunity to review his learning he was able to draw and identify the long and
short line (worm). He had obviously learned through observation and exploration in the period after
the planned activities.
Learner 3 showed that he was developing concepts as he completed tasks. He used ‘long’
consistently but occasionally referred to short things as ‘thin’. At the end of the 3 activities in the
‘Review of Learning’ he had learned to use the word ‘short’. He is imaginative and creative. He is
confident; he said “I put a special potion in me that made me know stuff”. When asked how to make
the scales balance – he moved the scale with his hand to work out the problem although that wasn’t
the expected answer it literally solved the problem. Adult A directed him to the materials on the tray
and he then solved the problem.
Learner 2 can evaluate size; she was able to make a good estimation of the size of the paper needed
for the pot and the right amount of sellotape for her shaker. On the stage she knew she needed
smaller blocks to fit in the plotted area. When she used the ribbon – she was able to gauge that the
first bit she picked up did not fit her and when she saw the long ribbon – she knew right away that it
was too big.
Conclusion: We agreed that the learning intentions were appropriate, the children gained a
level of understanding of everyday units of measure and they used their imagination to solve
problems.