Day 8: The Power of Create

Today made me think about how I can give my students more chances to use what they have learnt rather than just read a text and answer questions. I realised that “create” can give students a real purpose for their learning and allow them to show their understanding in different ways. Next week I will make my create activities more closely linked to the texts we are reading. For example, after reading about a character, students could create a diary entry, comic, video or poster from that character’s point of view. I also want to give students more choice in how they show their learning, such as choosing between a Google Drawing, slideshow, video or written piece. I will also build in more opportunities for students to work together and support each other. This could include pair or group projects where they share ideas and strengths, linking to tuakana-teina. Another change I want to make is to give students a real purpose for their creations. Instead of simply asking them to make a poster, I could ask them to create something that teaches another class what they have learnt. This makes the task more meaningful. I also want to make some of my reading units longer so students have time to really develop an idea and create something meaningful. For example, after reading several texts around a topic, students could use information from all the texts to create a presentation, poster, digital book, a short film or other product that shows what they have learnt Overall, I want to move away from “read it, answer it and move on” and give students more opportunities to read, learn, create and share.