The expectations materials contain plenty of examples of children’s work, which will provide many excellent teaching ideas. As a way of disseminating good practice, this method is at least as efficient and is certainly much more concise than pages of “how to do it” explanation. Among my favourite lessons here are: Head-dresses
for Year 2 in art
Children study hats and headgear in Renaissance paintings and in modern life, and then make their own from a range of materials.
Designing and Making a Money Wallet
for Year 6 DT
This is carefully explained with children’s drawing and classroom photographs.
Minibeasts
for Year 2 Music
Children use instruments and sounds to describe the journey of a minibeast through a garden. The booklet shows a lovely graphic score which is made up of pictures of jolly bugs and spiders.
Everyday Devices
for Year 2 IT
Children look at devices which can be controlled by signals or commands, such as a TV remote control. This is a good example of how you can teach good IT without always having to use the computer.
Near and Far
for Year 2 Geography
Children look at photographs of different places, some nearby, such as the local park, some far off, such as a village in India. They then draw a page of their own pictures starting in the corner with “me”, and working outwards through “near” and “quite near” to “very far away”.
What did Guy Fawkes really look like?
for Year 2 History
Children look at pictures of Guy Fawkes, then discuss them and draw their own pictures. By doing this, they are helped to understand the various ways by which the past can be depicted.
