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How to ace your matric exams

The Department of Basic Education has released the Grade 12 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination timetable; this means that exams are around the corner. Exam season can be an incredibly stressful time for all learners, especially with the weight of expectation in these economically challenging times. How are learners supposed to cope?

According to Dr Bernadette Aineamani, Director at Pearson South Africa, many learners feel overwhelmed by the amount of information they are required to retain.

“This problem is particularly where a lot of material is covered, learners may not know where to start, and endless amounts of content available simply doesn’t mean that information gets adequately retained or remembered when needed,” says Dr Aineamani,

Dr Aineamani recommends ten ways in which learners can tackle their exams with confidence:

Be at your exam venue at least 30 minutes before your exam starts.
Stay calm and do not panic. Approach every question in a calm way, take deep breaths when you feel overwhelmed.
Read the instructions and entire question paper before starting the examination.
Read each question carefully to ensure that you understand how to best answer the question.
Write neatly.
Adhere to the mark allocation of each question. Refrain from giving too much or too little information.
Show your workings and calculations in brackets if required.
Do not use correction fluid or tippex.
Do not leave questions out – even if a question looks unfamiliar, at least try to provide some answers.
Remember you are competing with yourself. Do not start panicking when another learner completes the question paper before you do.

“I also encourage learners to take time off to rest and recuperate when needed. It is vital that mental health is looked after because stress and pressure are in abundance while calm and focus are the key to examination success,” advises Dr Aineamani.

Improve students' note-taking skills

Many students find making notes a troublesome act. With proper study notes, studying and passing exams becomes much easier, and with good results. Note taking forces you to pay attention and aids your concentration in class (or while reading a textbook). According to research on learning, actively engaging with the topic by listening and then summarising what you hear helps you understand and remember the information later. Most importantly, it makes learning more enjoyable.

Why is it important to write study notes?

Here are 5 tips you can use to help your students take and use their notes more effectively and efficiently.

1. Outline your lesson

Try to organise your lesson both orally and visually. Write your lesson outline on the board and use your outline to highlight topic shifts during the lesson. Studies show that students typically record what the teacher has written so practice caution when using the board or other visuals. You can also use signaling phrases and transition statements like “this is important,” “remember,” “these differ in three important ways,” “the second point is,” or “next…”. This will help students to organise their content when writing notes and will make it easier for them to find something when they are revising their work.

2. Train students to take notes better notes

Provide students with feedback on their notes. Hand out your version of the lesson’s notes after class on occasion so that students can compare their notes to yours. When you meet with students who are struggling with your subject, ask them to bring their notes with them. Poor notes (or no notes!) could be the root of many of their issues. Many teachers also advise troubled students to re-copy their notes in order to organise them, fill in gaps with text, and identify points that are not completely understood and require additional study.

3. Inform students about what they should record

Should they keep track of examples, sample problems, and class discussions? What about example explanations and problem solutions? Is it necessary to keep track of names, dates, and research citations? The answers to such questions vary depending on the course. You can assist students by providing explicit instructions about what to include in class notes, at least in the first few classes.

4. Encourage students to think

Pause every now and then and ask them to paraphrase what they’ve written in their notes — to rewrite definitions or retell examples. Encourage them to speak in their own words. Suggest that they explain their notes to a nearby student. To encourage students to elaborate and extend their notes (and their understanding), have them write the following sentence endings: “Another example of this might be…”; “The last time I saw a problem like this was…”; “I remember discussing this issue with…”; “This information might explain why…” Such prompts encourage students to make connections between new and old material, which is another step toward understanding and retention.

5. Make time in class for note-taking activities

Remember that you’re using note-taking to encourage students to think more deeply about what is been taught in the classroom. Many students benefit from taking and reviewing notes. You can demonstrate your interest in helping students “learn how to learn” by expressing the importance of taking notes in class. Provide students with note taking time when discussing an important topic. You may also increase the likelihood that your students will remember what you teach them.

References

Blogs, L. F., n.d. Learn From Blogs. [Online]
Available at: https://learnfromblogs.com/why-study-notes-are-so-important
[Accessed 06 08 2022].

Dartmouth, U., 2020. UMASS Dartmouth. [Online]
Available at: https://www.umassd.edu/dss/resources/students/classroom-strategies/why-take-notes/#:~:text=Note%20taking%20forces%20you%20to,and%20remember%20the%20information%20later.
[Accessed 06 August 2022].

NEBRASKA–LINCOLN, U. o., n.d. OFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES. [Online]
Available at: https://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/professional-development/teaching-development/teaching-resources/notetaking
[Accessed 06 08 2022].

Pearson South Africa launches an initiative to upskill emerging academic authors

Pearson South Africa has launched a project to identify and upskill subject matter experts, from Grade R to 12, who are interested in becoming academic authors. Candidates that meet the selection criteria will be invited to attend a free online workshop that will outline the publishing process and provide them with the knowledge and tools to write educational content for the curriculum.

Pearson is dedicated to creating positive social impact, from our products and strategies to the way we engage with our millions of learners, partners, and communities around the world.

“We continually work with educators and learners to improve our products and services, ensuring they have the most positive impact on learning. In this way, we’re able to deliver better education to more people,” says Dr Benadette Aineamani, Director of Product & Service at Pearson South Africa.

“We create content in all 11 official languages and have a footprint in all 9 provinces. Our unique insight and local expertise come from our long history of working closely with the Department of Education, teachers, learners, researchers, authors and thought leaders”.

In the pilot phase of the Pearson Author Development Training Initiative, 32 foundation phase teachers, specialising in English, Afrikaans, Life Skills, Mathematics and Home Language, attended three workshops, spanning over three weeks.

The training was delivered by Cheryl Gleeson Baird, an experienced author, as well as Content Developers and Managing Editors from Pearson who shared their vast knowledge, experience and expertise. At the end of each session, participants were given an assessment task.

Participants found the training workshops extremely engaging and interactive. “I’m really appreciative of how detailed and informative the sessions have been, especially for sharing the back-end processes,” declared an attendee who participated in the workshop.

Even established authors found the workshop refreshing as one participant provided positive feedback, “having Cheryl, who is an actual author, authenticated the rest of the session as it talked to the ‘real stuff’ – I found this useful even as an experienced author”.

The key focus areas covered in the training will help emerging authors understand the book production process, how to interpret the curriculum, write for the syllabus and correct language level, align different components for complete content, recognise multilingual aspects in content creation and understand digital pedagogy. Participants will also gain more practical experience in understanding how to write artwork briefs, text and photo permissions, avoid plagiarism, and mark up corrections in Adobe Pro.

Pearson was pleased that the initial workshops were successful in providing emerging authors with practical experience to enhance their skills. “The book production processing section was very useful in organically explaining the importance of time management and adhering to deadlines and the domino effect of late submissions,” mentioned a participant.

Pearson South Africa will be launching phase 2 of their Author Development Training Initiative in July, with workshops scheduled for the second week of July, during the school holidays.

All educators and subject matter experts who would like to learn more and are interested in participating in the Pearson Author Development Training, are encouraged to complete the application form at the below link.

Applicants will need to upload their CV and an example of material that they have created for their classroom, such as an activity, a detailed lesson plan or worksheet.

Pearson Author Development Workshop

The workshops will take place on the following days. All three workshops are compulsory to attend.

Tuesday, 12 July 2022: 13:00 to 16:00

Wednesday, 13 July 2022: 13:00 to 16:00

Thursday, 14 July 2022: 13:00 to 16:00

Pearson Author Development Training Application Form

APPLICATIONS HAVE NOW CLOSED.

In the training, you can expect to learn:

Book production process
How to interpret the curriculum
Writing to the syllabus and language level
Aligning different components for complete content
Multilingual aspects in content creation and Intertextuality
How to write artwork briefs, text and photo permissions, plagiarism
How to mark up in Adobe Pro
Digital Pedagogy
Digital show and tell

Vuma: an educator's story of how to instill a love of reading and lay a strong literacy foundation

In 2018, Ms. Karen Eybers, a teacher at Bronville Primary School, began teaching Afrikaans Home Language using Vuma, a reading instruction programme developed by Pearson. Through the use of Vuma, she found that there was an increase in her learners’ engagement and motivation in reading. She also believed her learners showed a higher level of understanding when using Vuma. Further, the varied reading strategies made teaching the different aspects of Afrikaans Home Language much easier to implement.

Ms. Eybers’ main goal was to adopt a reading instruction programme that made her learners excited about reading. She wanted to instill that love of reading early on in hopes that it would carry through the rest of their academic experiences.

Challenges faced

The Grade 1 learners were previously in a combined class with the Grade 2 learners when Ms. Eybers arrived in February, 2018.
Some of the learners were younger than the traditional age for Grade 1 and there was no Grade R facility available at the school at that time.
Many of the learners come from challenging socio-economic backgrounds with social issues and many of the learners are reliant on the school’s feeding scheme for their basic needs.
Literacy levels are a challenge in the Eastern Cape so addressing reading was a key challenge.

“I wouldn’t be using this if I thought it wasn’t good and it wasn’t something that the kids enjoyed. At least I can achieve the goals that I have set out to achieve by using it. Definitely.” — Ms. Eybers

Implementation

Ms. Eybers wasn’t initially intending on changing her approach to teaching reading but when she was introduced to Vuma, she thought she would try it. She felt that the previous series she used was outdated and she wanted to do something to make the learners excited about reading.

Ms. Eybers believes that creating a solid literacy foundation is key to further academic success. Implementing Vuma, while adding in her own creative activities and resources, has helped to lay that foundation.

Vuma was easy to use
Ms. Eybers didn’t receive formal training in using Vuma and found the programme easy to use with the valuable guidance from the lesson plans and teacher’s guide.

Vuma supports the use of reading strategies
Vuma is used to implement the different reading strategies prescribed by CAPS with a particular focus on Shared Reading and Group Guided Reading.

“Because it’s one thing to flash the words, read sentences, read the book. It feels like you have got to do more. That is what makes it more exciting for the children too and for yourself… You have more satisfaction. You can just see this is working, this is nice, this works.” — Ms. Eybers

Vuma supports the development of language skills
Ms. Eybers used Vuma alongside the workbooks from the department of education for teaching the different aspects of Afrikaans Home Language in the following ways.

Sentence building – there are opportunities for sentence building activities after learners have finished reading a book. Ms. Eybers gives them text copied out on strips of paper and learners would need to piece the story back together. This also helps to build their punctuation skills.
Vocabulary development – extended vocabulary is developed through using pictures in the Vuma books. The teacher created her own flashcards indicating items in the picture and learners would stick them onto the pages in the Big Book.
Shared writing – Ms. Eybers has developed songs about the various Vuma characters. In the lesson observed, learners reminded Ms. Eybers that they didn’t have a song about Nina, one of the Vuma characters. This allowed Ms. Eybers to move into a shared writing activity with the class. They composed a song together and sang it as a class. Ms. Eybers thought the Vuma characters and stories help to inspire this creativity in the class.

Vuma lays a solid foundation for reading
Ms. Eybers reflected on how important the early years are for laying a solid literacy foundation and believes that if they can implement Vuma across the foundation phase, it will help them to achieve this objective. She believes that the Grade 2 teacher next year will have an easier time when her Grade 1 learners arrive because they will be familiar with the series.

“They get excited about the story… You saw now like writing this verse of this song. They get involved.” — Ms. Eybers

Findings
Ms. Eybers’ main goal for adopting Vuma was to inspire a love for reading. When asked to rate her level of agreement with the statement that Vuma supports learner engagement, on a scale of 0 – 10, Ms. Eybers rated it a 10 which is ‘strongly agree’.

Vuma made teaching easier
As a comprehensive reading programme, Vuma has all the different resources needed to help make the teaching of reading easier. Ms. Eybers referred to the following features of Vuma as making her teaching easier:

The pre-reading questions at the front of the book.
The new words list in the books help you to focus on the vocabulary you need to teach.
The learners’ interest in the stories sparks questions.

Learners related well to the characters
The learners have responded very well to the characters. Ms. Eybers thought that it was because of how true-to-life the characters are that makes learners connect with them.

“I think it is because they are so true-to-life... These children can easily associate with them… That to me was part of the fascinating part of this… the way they took to these characters.” — Ms. Eybers

Enhancing resources to build on the love for the characters
Ms. Eybers has created resources in her class which strengthen the love of the characters. She has created figures of the characters which are attached to sticks and these characters appear from behind red theatrical curtains on a hollowed out television.

Ms. Eybers also uses these figures for oral lessons with the learners, where they role play what has happened in the story, using the figures on sticks to facilitate this.

She finds this approach helps her learners build confidence in speaking in front of the class because they are speaking through the characters rather than about themselves, which creates a ‘safer’ distance.

Ms. Eybers has also written songs about the Vuma characters and learners sing these songs together.

Vuma enables cross-curricular integration
The Vuma characters live in familiar surroundings to South African learners: a shack, a small house, a farm and a block of flats. Talking about their surroundings and having pets as characters integrates themes from Life Skills Grade 1 into teaching.

“So, to me, it was just a nicer way, easier way, fun, exciting way and that was my goal. Because I thought to myself I must somehow make these children enjoy reading. Because I’ll tell you a lot of them go to the library to watch TV not to read.” — Ms. Eybers

Vuma helps to take learners from the known to the unknown, expanding their context
In the observed lesson, learners engaged with a story where a Vuma character is overseas in a cold place and thinking of, and missing, the familiar South African environment. Ms. Eybers said that in the previous lesson, she had shown the learners a video of a plane and snow to help them become familiar with the concepts, that this journey from the known to the unknown needs this kind of scaffolding for learners to meaningfully relate. She finds that supplementing Vuma with these varied resources adds interest and excitement.

Vuma seems to support visual literacy
Ms. Eybers pointed out how reading is about more than just the words. As a class, they discuss the pictures. In the lesson observed, one of the learners, without prompting from the teacher, pointed out footprints in the snow where someone had been walking. Ms. Eybers said that the learners tend to notice great detail in the pictures, for example, one of the characters had a hole in their shoe and the learners commented on this. The teacher said she hadn’t noticed this detail but the learners did.

“They said the toe is sticking out. The hole is there. Who would see that? They picked it up!... They really study these pictures.” — Ms. Eybers— Ms. Eybers

Vuma is supporting learners in their reading
It’s still in the early stages of implementation of Vuma at Bronville Primary School, but Ms. Eybers is noticing a positive influence of Vuma on learners’ reading ability. She thought that
after the June-July holidays, learners would have forgotten some of what they had learned in terms of reading. However, she noticed that this was not the case and that they were able to read many words and write their own sentences. In addition, Ms. Eybers believes learners responses to the pre- and post-reading questions reveal that many of them are reading with understanding.

Conclusion
Implementing Vuma has helped Ms. Eybers achieve her goal of finding a program that engaged and motivated her learners to read.

Having the series in her classroom is making Ms. Eybers’ life as a teacher easier in terms of
implementing the different reading strategies and teaching different aspects of Afrikaans Home Language.

In addition, as seen by the teacher’s report, the learners are showing understanding when answering the pre- and post-reading questions and learners appear to be reading with better understanding.

Ms. Eybers has continued using Vuma and the intention is to expand its use at the school beyond Grades R and 1 to include all grades in the Foundation Phase in 2019.

Donwload Full Report

Coding & Robotics for Foundation Phase

Whilst it might seem far fetched to consider teaching a child how to code or operate a robot, the benefits of coding and robotics far exceeds the obvious.

Children will learn creativity through play using digital, but they can also be the creators of their own learning. In addition to learning computational thinking, it enables learners to understand logic and develop cognitive skills in terms of logical and sequential processes. This means that they will not only be able to use logic to solve problems but also apply those skills to other subject areas and situations.

Coding encourages collaboration as your child learns to work in groups solving problems and share what they learn alongside one another. In doing so, they also develop their communication skills which enables them to better explain or share their difficulties or their victories more confidently.

Your child will also learn how to be persistent in keeping them engaged to try again. Coding enables them to complete a task by systematically training them how to navigate through complex problems.

The world of coding and robotics is not limited to encouraging learners to become astronauts, gaming experts or engineers but it does provide clear advantages to boost their confidence in the world they live in, today. Introducing new possibilities, logical reasoning creating new career paths of learning now and in the future.

We have compiled a few interactive activities to take you on a short journey of what coding looks like in the world of a young learner.

PLEASE NOTE: for an optimal experience, complete the activities on a PC.

Instructions on how to complete the activities:

Click on the interactive you want to complete.
When you want to listen to the instructions, click on the speak button on the screen.
Each time you complete a screen, click on the next button.
Each time a new screen appears, you can click on the speaker button to listen to the next set of instructions followed by the next button.
You will know that you’ve completed each task successfully when you reach the “Star”.

Decomposition Interactive Activities

Decomposition is the process is the first process in learning computational thinking skills (using coding). Learners will learn how to process complex problems or responsibilities by breaking huge tasks into smaller bits of information. This will allow them to feel less overwhelmed by tasks, and enable them to process each part and work out where they get stuck.

Activity 1: Space Puppy

Skills taught:

Developing a structured problem-solving method
Identify individual parts of a problem
Following instructions to complete a task

Activity 2: Treasure Hunt

Skills taught:

Identify and plan the steps involved in solving a problem
Using smaller steps to solve a complex problem
Recognise, identify and name two-dimensional shapes in pictures
Identify, copy, extend and create patterns

Activity 3: Ready, steady go!

Skills taught:

Breaking problems down into its different parts
Solve problems in context using concrete apparatus
Identify and match shapes
Recognise, identify and name two dimensional shapes in pictures
Deconstruct a large shape into smaller shapes

Algorithm Interactive Activities

Algorithms will teach your child how to come up with a solution, step-by-step. This is the last piece of the puzzle in learning computational thinking skills. It is also the process in which they’ll develop a clearer understanding of order. So, in the real world, they’ll need to figure out which patterns will result in the best or most successful outcome. When they’ve mastered this skill during coding lessons, they will be able to communicate clearer and more concise. In a coding application, you child will not be able to progress further during an activity and will find themselves having to repeat the activity, teaching them how to persevere and evaluate their plan using strategy. This concept also teaches them how to translate concepts into actionable steps, which can be applied to any of their areas of learning.

Activity 1: To the Park

Skills taught:

Recognise that the order in which steps are taken is important for problem solving.
Follow directions to move within a specific space.
Place steps in the correct order, to achieve a specific objective.

Activity 2: Busy Beads

Skills taught:

Identify simple patterns
Identify colours
Recognise order in which steps are taken in order to solve the problem
Identify sequence of events
Making calculations

Smart-Kids Coding & Robotics Workbook & Teacher’s Guide

9781776103942 Smart-Kids Coding & Robotics Grade 2 Workbook

The Smart-Kids Coding & Robotics workbook assists learners in understanding coding and robotics concepts. It consists of write-in worksheets that can be used by teachers to introduce the subject to young learners, or by parents who want their child to learn and practise the skills required for coding and robotics.

Workbook features:

Activities with clear instructions and answers
Cutout coding blocks for additional practice
Cutout keyboard and screen to make your own laptop
Star chart and certificate

Smart-Kids Coding & Robotics Teacher’s Guide in eBook format provides the educator with guidelines to help learners with the activities. It includes reference to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) addressed on each page in the Smart-Kids Coding & Robotic workbook and includes the answers to the activities.

Click here to purchase Smart-Kids Coding & Robotics Teacher’s Guide Grade 2.