Designing a poster to encourage people to move to our village

Objectives

Learning Intentions:

• Open a file from the work folder
• Type in text using the keyboard
• Type in text using the keyboard
• Select or highlight text
• Copy, cut and paste text
• Change font type, size and colour
• Insert punctuation into our work
• Spell check work
• Replace and insert an image
• To use ICT to organise, reorganise and analyse ideas and information.
• To edit text and use a variety of presentation techniques.

Activity Description
This activity was introduced to the whole class in the computer area. The session was intended to be the integrated task for Unit 4a but also linked closely to the class Geography unit. This was the final session in a series of short focussed tasks linked to Unit 4a. One hour was allowed for the session.

During the introduction the previous learning intentions were revised. The activity was then introduced by discussing ways of encouraging people to come and live in our village. A template poster was displayed in Talking First Word and children asked to comment on how this could be edited to make it more suitable for the intended audience.

A discussion followed on what we would need to remember when designing a poster; e.g. relevance of images, size and colour of font, importance of error free text, need to keep the poster to one page of paper.

Template Screen

Pupils then worked in pairs whilst the teacher and ICT teaching assistant talked with children about their decisions and gave help where needed. The session concluded with a plenary where each pupil shared their poster with the class. Each talked about some of the skills they had used, explained why they had made certain decisions about the design of the poster and gave ideas on how they might improve their posters.

Commentary

Below Average - Sharon (Level 2+)

Teacher's annotation...
During the activity Sharon chose to let her partner dominate. She could explain how to select and change font type. During the plenary she was pleased with her poster but could not offer ways in which to improve her work.

The work shows attainment at Level 2+. The pupil has been able to use simple features of a word processor e.g. spell check, insert to add images, select and change font type. She has shown some awareness of audience by selecting an appropriate image. It is not a level 3 because the pupil was unable to explain the choice of fonts and had only changed part of the text to a new font. The colour of font also remained the same (black). The text also contains a mistake (extra full stop.) The pupil was unable to suggest how she might improve their work.

Average - Simon (Level 3+)

Teacher's annotation...
Simon worked confidently throughout this activity. He was able to explain to his partner what he would like to do. During the plenary he could explain his choice of images and how he would have surrounded the house with trees to show Sellindge was in the countryside if he had more time.

The work shows aspects of a high Level 3 because the pupil has been able to use more advanced features of a word processor to match his work to the audience. Simon was able to insert two images that relate to the text e.g. "Sellindge is a good place to live it is in the country side". He chose to illustrate with a picture of a house and a tree. He could explain this choice and intended, had there had been time, to surround the house with trees. The work is mostly accurate (apart from a missing full stop) and shows an awareness of audience. The work does not show Level 4 attainment because the child did not select images from various sources (a restriction imposed by the activity rather than the child's skill).

To make further progress, the pupil could be asked to create a new poster (without a template) to encourage people to move to Ashford. The task should provide opportunities to use images or text from various sources as well as clip art.

Above Average - Polly (Level 3++)

Teacher's annotation...
Polly worked confidently throughout this task. She was able to use all the skills covered this term and could explain what she was doing to her partner. During the plenary she explained her choice of font type: "It is bold and friendly looking." She thought carefully about the layout and wanted to move the title down to link to the other text. She kept the ellipses in the sentences because of the way she perceived the text would be read by the audience.

The work shows aspects of a high level 3 because the pupil has chosen and used the appropriate advanced features of a word processor e.g. cut and paste to move the title. She has demonstrated techniques which increase her efficiency in matching her work to the audience.

Polly could explain her choice of font type and colour. She could justify her choice of picture. She explained that if she were to edit her poster she would make all the fonts the same so that it would be clearer for people to read. As with the previous example, an extension activity might have been to ask the pupil to create a new poster (without a template) to encourage people to move to a different location e.g. Ashford. The extension task should provide opportunities to use images or text from various sources.