Brainwaves

Challenging L5+ thinking for KS3 pupils

The Key Stage 3 Thinking Frames templates include provision in the Brainwave section for children to identify which of the KS3 Key Ideas will be most appropriate to use within their explanation.

Achieving Level 5 and above requires the application of abstract ideas in unfamiliar situations. To help children applying these ideas to justify their own explanations the CHSC devised Key Idea placemats.

Our placemats resources and ideas were recently adapted and incorporated into the "Getting More pupils to L5" teacher training unit published by the National Strategy for Science. However, our action research over the past 6 years identifies there to be only 4 curriculum structuring Key Ideas in KS3: Energy, Forces, Particles and Cells & Survival not the 5 as proposed by the Key Stage 3 National Strategy for Science. (For a full explanation see our downloadable article in the Progression in Science section of this site)

KS3 teacher encourages the use of the Levels Mountain and Key Idea Placemats resources to support and challenge a small group of Year 7 pupils.

These versions of the Key Idea placemats were developed by Mel Kirk from Court Moor School.
Click on each on to download a copy in PDF format:

As pupils gain confidence, then they can be given less guidance and should be encouraged to choose for themselves when to use the Key Ideas placemats and which one(s) would be most appropriate to use. This may well mean that some pupils might choose one of the Key Ideas that is not best suited to explain the phenomena. Again not only can this highlight to the teacher any misconceptions that their pupil(s) may have, it also gives pupils the chance to learn from their mistakes as they compare and adapt their explanations.

Many schools have found it helpful to laminate A4 copies of the placemats and give the pupils access to them at all times. Some enlarged them as well to make them into wall displays, or used them on interactive whiteboards via PowerPoint presentations.