Learning & Teaching
Guided Practice and Independent Practice
Last week at a Professional Development Day, the focus was on the two different practices that teachers use. They are Guided Practice and Independent Practice.
Guided Practice
Guided practice is when teachers provide multiple opportunities for students to practice, whilst support is gradually removed as the students developed greater independence.
Guided practice means making sure students get details right and practicing doing things right. Once students obtain understanding and fluency they are able to work independently.
Before moving on to independent practice, students are required to show a correct understanding 80% of the time.
During guided practice a teacher will :
- Ask a large number of questions
- Guide students in practicing the new material
- Check for understanding
- Provide feedback
- Correct errors
- Reteach when necessary
- Provide a large number of successful repetitions Rosenshire and Stevens (1986)
Independent Practice
Once students have developed understanding, teachers ask students to complete tasks themselves while the teacher monitors and provided feedback.
Independent practice is the stage where the students work on their own to rehearse, apply and consolidate what has been explicitly taught and guided.
The process is about building fluency and automaticity. Jamie Clark educational
Deliberate repetition and consolidation help students embed knowledge into their long-term memory.
Regular Practice supports accurate and automatic retrieval of learning. Tom Sheerington
Independent learning helps maximise learning because it
- Builds Fluency
- Reinforces Understanding
- Frees Working Memory
- Prevents error- learning
- Promotes independence
- Sustains progress
Mathletics
Congratulations to Layla Radford 1/2KD, who has received the Student of the Week award for Mathletics. Layla has worked hard throughout the year with her Mathletics and is a worthy recipient. Well done, Layla!
Science Fair
In Term 2, some students from Parkdale Secondary School and their teacher, Mrs Mullins, visited the Yr 5/6s and invited them to enter their annual Science Fair Competition. Students were allowed to enter in teams or individually and had some time at school to work on their submissions across Term 2. Primary and Secondary schools from all over the area participated. The entries were judged by Parkdale Secondary staff and students. On Thursday 20th August, we were invited to attend the Science Fair to see the results. Congratulations to the following students on their incredible results, and thank you to Parkdale Secondary for including us in such a great opportunity!
Primary Scientific Art, Photography and Models
🏆 1st Place - Tristan O: Magnetic Train
🥉 3rd Place - Rocco C, Valerie D and Sienna P: How Do Bees Make Honey?
Honourable Mention
Scout K, Poppy G, Joaquin O and Alex A: Extinct Animals
Blair B, Oliver B, Kasch D and Xavier S: Tornadoes
Primary Scientific Experiments
Honourable Mention
Abbey Mc: Plant Investigation
Summer DC and Lily H: Chemical Reactions
Primary Science Writing
Honourable Mention
Kaitlin N: Nebulae
