I downloaded this activity this morning and used it this afternoon! It worked really well to capture the attention of my rather passive lower set Yr10. The post-it note activity, identifying level of concern, worked very well. I only had one colour available but I found that worked better because there was no obvious difference between the groups. This itself triggered a conversation within the class, as one pair questioned another as to why they weren’t concerned. As the post-it notes went up they split easily in to two separate groups. I was then able to question the students with the most extreme responses in both directions to get them to explain their responses. One student commented that they could have been reading different stories! At this point I explained that they were the same story but in different papers.
As always you need to run a lesson through in order to stop the pitfalls. I printed the ‘newspaper’ articles in colour on thin card thinking I could reuse them, which I will be able to do. However I wish I had done them as consumables because it would have been really helpful for the students to use highlighters on their own copies to identify words or phrases new to them. I was surprised to find that some of them didn’t know the word ‘ancient’. Overall an enjoyable lesson and I will definitely use it again.

I downloaded this activity this morning and used it this afternoon! It worked really well to capture the attention of my rather passive lower set Yr10. The post-it note activity, identifying level of concern, worked very well. I only had one colour available but I found that worked better because there was no obvious difference between the groups. This itself triggered a conversation within the class, as one pair questioned another as to why they weren’t concerned. As the post-it notes went up they split easily in to two separate groups. I was then able to question the students with the most extreme responses in both directions to get them to explain their responses. One student commented that they could have been reading different stories! At this point I explained that they were the same story but in different papers.
As always you need to run a lesson through in order to stop the pitfalls. I printed the ‘newspaper’ articles in colour on thin card thinking I could reuse them, which I will be able to do. However I wish I had done them as consumables because it would have been really helpful for the students to use highlighters on their own copies to identify words or phrases new to them. I was surprised to find that some of them didn’t know the word ‘ancient’. Overall an enjoyable lesson and I will definitely use it again.

I downloaded this activity this morning and used it this afternoon! It worked really well to capture the attention of my rather passive lower set Yr10. The post-it note activity, identifying level of concern, worked very well. I only had one colour available but I found that worked better because there was no obvious difference between the groups. This itself triggered a conversation within the class, as one pair questioned another as to why they weren't concerned. As the post-it notes went up they split easily in to two separate groups. I was then able to question the students with the most extreme responses in both directions to get them to explain their responses. One student commented that they could have been reading different stories! At this point I explained that they were the same story but in different papers.
As always you need to run a lesson through in order to stop the pitfalls. I printed the 'newspaper' articles in colour on thin card thinking I could reuse them, which I will be able to do. However I wish I had done them as consumables because it would have been really helpful for the students to use highlighters on their own copies to identify words or phrases new to them. I was surprised to find that some of them didn't know the word 'ancient'.
When I do this lesson again, I will take more time to go through the checklist sheet with them first. My students didn't know the term 'peer-reviewed journal'. As soon as I explained to them that 'peer-review' was like us doing peer assessment in class, they understood straight away.
I wish I had spotted the weblinks (above this box) before the lesson because I may well have used the video clip. I only found them as I scrolled down the paper to write this! I realise that this is my fault for being in such a hurry, but aren't we always! Overall an enjoyable lesson and I will definitely use it again.