Senior+School+Ideas

A Possible Scenario
"A new government has come into power in New Zealand. After three weeks in power, the Prime Minister makes a special announcement to the Nation. She states that from tomorrow the law which says that all kids have to go to school will be abolished." - Embellish this into a story line... Use What Why Who How etc as starters to generate /stimulate class ideas/questions.

As a model you could add in some of your own.... e.g.
 * What Will Happen In Our Community?
 * How Will It Affect Me?
 * How will NZ Appear to other countries?

Research Task Possibilites:
These could also be used as an immersion activity, a hook! followed by


 * "Now You Know It, How Can We Use What You Know To Make A Difference For Our Own... **
 * - The Law: Who, What, Why, When, .... Was It Introduced?
 * - Why Do We Come To School? Is it because we have to?
 * - What kind of learner am I? How Do We Learn? Do we all learn the same way?
 * - How do I want ot be treated in class? This helps to set up the "Norms"
 * - What Do I want to learn at school? What are my goals for this term, for the year, for my time at Owhata?
 * - What If Schools Had No Rules?
 * - What Rules Should Schools Have? How can we find out what other schools/ classes have etc.
 * - What Rules Should Our Own Class Have?
 * - What Makes Our School Great?

Could also be used within **Buzz Groups ** - ||=  ** DEFINITION ** ||=  ** WHEN USED ** ||=  ** PREPARATION/PROCEDURE ** ||=  ** LIMITATION ** ||
 * =  ** METHOD **
 * ** Buzz Groups ** || Allows for total participation by group members through small clusters of participants, followed by discussion of the entire group || As a technique to get participation from every individual in the group. Highly adaptable to other group methods. || Prepare one of two questions on the subject to give each group. Divide the members into small clusters of four to six. A leader is chosen to record and report pertinent ideas discussed. || Thought must be given as to the purpose and organization of group. ||

The 5 Why's:
The **5 Whys** is a question-asking method used to explore the cause/effect relationships underlying a particular problem. Ultimately, the goal of applying the 5 Whys method is to determine a [|root cause] of a practice or problem. Involves two people sitting knee to knee. One is the questioner, the other the answerer. The Q asks Why.... The A replies. The Q then relates the next Why question to the answer given e.g.
 * - Q - Why do you go to to school?
 * - A - Because I have to
 * - Q - Why do you think you have to?
 * - A - Because my mum says I need to go to learn stuff
 * - Q - Why do you think thats important? ....



How does this affect me?
Do your children know about this? Should it be kept a secret from them?
 * Scavenger Hunt Who can find which page the Vision, Values, Key Competencies etc. are on?
 * What more can can you find out from it in 5 minutes?
 * How could this relate to you?
 * Is this document about you?
 * What questions do we have now? - How, Why, What? When ....



 You have just become Principal for the Day. What would you do?
Research task: Interview .... - What Does His Day Include?

Take on the role of that person. What do they do? What do they wished they could have done? What do they wished they had done while they were at school? Follow the inquiry process e.g. Deciding (6 steps incl Brainstorm our intitial thoughts, key questions etc) - Find Out - Communicate (Drama would be a good media) - Evaluate. Perhoas theycould be Principal for the day, Secretary, Teacher etc What Tasks would they plan? - Come up wih a group activity etc. Secretary - prepare a class newsletter re school rules etc
 * Who else helps us at our school? **