Using Blogs to... Elicit Prior Knowledge & Make Connections

Activity blogs by Teacher Participants...

1. Linear Law [2007: Mak Wai Han, Juying Secondary]
2. What does Decimal mean to me? [2007: Theresa Heng, Henry Park Primary]
3. What is so magic about Magic Squares? [2007: Theresa Heng, Henry Park Primary]
4. What is Your Bedtime? [2008: Loh Sheau Mei, Henry Park Primary]
5. What does Percentage mean to you? [2008: Chia Hui Siang, First Toa Payoh Primary]

Examples from ETD Workshops

1. What does Decimal mean to me?
2. What does Speed mean to me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How blogs can help to make connections to experiences/prior knowledge...

• In the "Linear Law" activity, pupils were prompted what they would think or associate with the new topic that they are going to learn.
• Useful linking words were surfaced - Graphs, Logarithm. Linear Equations, Quadratic Equations... which the teacher can tap on these familiar terms when introduce the new knowledge to them.
• Through the experiences shared by pupils, teacher can relate the topic to what they are familiar with. The collected sharing also helps them to link existing and new knowledge, hence helping them to make connections among the ideas/concepts (across topics/subjects)

• In the "Percentage" activity, pupils shared what they associate with "%" , for example, Discount and Money. Through this simple exercise, pupils are able to relate what they learn with its application in everyday life, hence making learning more meaningful.