VISUALISER

Year group:- Year 1. Age - 5-6 years old.

Lesson:- Science – “Sorting and using materials” - QCA Unit 1C. Cross curriculum links to
“Labelling and classifying” - QCA ICT Unit 1D
Aims –

• To understand that every material has many properties, which can be recognised using
our senses and described using appropriate vocabulary. - QCA Unit 1C.
• To use words e.g. hard, shiny, and rough to describe materials and objects. - QCA Unit
1C.
• To understand that objects can be described using key words. - QCA ICT Unit 1D.

Prior Learning:- The children had first-hand experience of feeling the objects and then
these and other objects were sorted into sets of hard, soft, rough, smooth and shiny
objects. In the next lesson, objects from the previous lesson were put in a feely bag and the
children were asked to identify the object based on the answer to their questions. E.g. Is it
soft? Is it bendy?

How the Visualiser was used:- Prior to the session, objects were put on the Visualiser and a
still photograph of them was scanned into a Smart Notebook file. The lesson itself was to
record key words that could be used to describe these objects. During the session I wrote
the key words on the whiteboard using the pens, which I later replaced with computer text
for use in a subsequent lesson.
The benefits of the Visualiser:- The Visualiser enabled use of objects that the children
were familiar with from previous lessons. The facility to easily take a still photograph of an
object and use it in a Smart Notebook file is particularly useful. When previously teaching
this unit I have held the objects up and recorded the key words on the Whiteboard. Where
objects were particularly small this meant that some of the class had an obscured view.
However, using the Visualiser in conjunction with a Smart Notebook file enabled all to have a
clear view of the object and I was able to record key words directly onto an image of it. An
additional benefit was that it is simplicity itself to switch between the Notebook file and a
live image on the Visualiser. This enables one to zoom in on a smaller object to take a closer
look at the texture. As mentioned I have previously taught this unit to Year 1 and felt that
the children were more focused during this lesson than on previous occasions. The children
were keen to participate in discussion about the objects. I have a number of children in my
class for whom English is their second language or who have speech and language difficulties.
These children require visual resources to support their learning and using the Visualizer has
enabled me to easily produce appropriate resources to model the activity they will be asked
to complete during a subsequent lesson. Whilst you can use the Visualiser without a
Whiteboard, its use with a Whiteboard and software such as Smart Notebook adds an extra
dimension and flexibility to lessons.

Next steps:- The children will work in pairs, select an object and paste a photograph of it
into their books, annotating it with key words to describe the object. The Smart Notebook
file will be used as a model for children’s own written work.

Report produced by

Margot Spear

Heathbrook Primary School

January 09