Laura has shared her reflections on using this knowledge organiser with 10s1:
Context of the lesson
We have been studying the novel ‘A Christmas Carol’ since the beginning of term and students are not only required to know the plot of the novel, but also the contextual background information of when the novel was written. It is vital that students reference the context as much as they can in their written responses, as this is something that gains them more marks in the exam.
How were the knowledge organisers used?
I first introduced the knowledge organisers when the class were about to complete a big piece of take up time. They had written an essay that required contextual information and the majority of the class had an EBI to improve their references to context. So instead of me giving them the answers to use, I directed them to the knowledge organisers which contain contextual information. I also use them when we are completing revision tasks on characters or themes. Students have them out in front of them so that they can refer to them before they ask me a question.
Have they been successful?
I feel that the knowledge organisers have been very successful with this group. They are independent learners and workers, and they enjoy the fact that they can find the information for themselves. I found them to be incredibly time freeing for me, because I wasn’t just ‘feeding’ the information to the students and answering the same question over and over again, which meant I was able to go and help the students that needed further support whilst the rest of the group were able to get on independently. After marking their work, I also noticed that the quality of their take up time has improved since using the knowledge organisers.
Learning and Teaching at Abbot Beyne 