On the subject of #English and #Technology
..Reading widely and often increases pupils’ vocabulary because they encounter words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech.
Children (in years 5 & 6) should..
- understand what they read by:
- checking that the book makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and exploring the meaning of words in context
- asking questions to improve their understanding
- drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence
- predicting what might happen from details stated and implied
- summarising the main ideas drawn from more than 1 paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas
- identifying how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning
The National Curriculum in England – English Programmes of Study – updated July 2014
Now Pixie Van Dimple and me were having a chat.. I said that Pixie was becoming quite ‘ubiquitous‘! Which is of course meant as a good thing as Pixie has the power to help lots of children through technology!
Pixie was confused and not at all sure what I was meaning! Showing initiative and picking up her phone she googled ‘ubiquitous’.
First thing that came up:
yu-bik-witus: ADJECTIVE
Can a person be ubiquitous? If you describe something or someone as ubiquitous, you mean that they seem to be everywhere. Sugar is ubiquitous in the diet. (Oh dear! that IS BAD!!!)
Synonyms: ever-present, pervasive, omnipresent, all-over
Pixie posts loads of stuff on her social media accounts about technology – the good things about it, and the bad things : the risks involved and safety. One good thing is that the internet is amazing and Pixie loves it because there is no limit to learning! And technology has become part of our every day lives – we use it for mostly everything and it is everywhere – ubiquitous! Pixie is ubiquitous because we talk about technology all the time in our posts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to educate and raise awareness! There are so many posts because technology is used for most things! See!
Just remember kids that you cannot open Facebook, Instagram or Twitter accounts until you are 13 years old and over – so I do Pixie’s posts on my social media accounts!
Have a look at Pixie’s picture which tells us what screen use is. How many devices and screens do you have? And how much time do you spend using them each day? Is there anything you do which does not require a screen? Interesting thought!
The other thing is that if we search ‘ubiquitous computing’ – we might get this
Have a read – the Java website is brilliant for finding out all about computing, and all the things we use computers for, and in what areas of our lives they are used – for example – education. health, weather, science, entertainment, sports and safety and security!
Can you write or type ! a list of all industries which use technology and Artificial Intelligence to help the businesses run efficiently and help them to grow? A clue? what about NASA ‘s space research, exploration and space travel? and cars?
Now all these computers used in all these places have a thing in common – yes! – they are connected to the internet – and all the connections and all the things connected to the internet are called the Internet of Things ! Isn’t this fun??! Particularly since we started off talking about the English curriculum! Pixie distracted me…… 🙂
Now since we are now talking about English again… let’s get the kids to read Pixie’s book and ask themselves – how does it make me feel? do I want to ask any questions? do I understand all the words? what kind of style is it written in? how was Pixie feeling in the book? what are the main messages and key themes of the book ? what was motivating Pixie to keep scrolling down?? do you think there should be time limits on screen time? should we be fearful of technology??
Sooo much to think about and DO! Remember though kids – your life OFFLINE is very important too ! Let Pixie know what your favourite offline activities are! Pixie loves skateboarding and BMX bikes – particularly since we won loads of medals in the Tokyo Olympics!
Email us ! pixie@lynn-mcallister.com
Lynn McAllister 