As part of my year 9 SOSE class students are required to study biomes (special environments on the planet). We have looked at coastal systems and river systems, are currently studying rainforests and will then move onto deserts.
Students watch ’Rainforests: Beneath the Canopy’ available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HfeBP3vaEI and answer the questions Rainforest Video Comp Questions.
This activity worked really well for my low literacy, low engagement students. The video is engaging and interesting. It covers lots of topics really quickly. I stopped the video at several points to allow students to RallyCoach each other through the worksheet answers, and to prompt students on what they are looking for in the next section of video. Students automatically began making predictions about what the answer or words might be, therefore increasing their interest and engagement.
I could have simply used the SOSE Alive 1 textbook to teach about rainforests, but my students with little experience of anything but desert landscapes, would not have been able to comprehend how unique and special rainforests are by simply reading and viewing a limited range of textbook pictures. Also, the low literacy of some students, means that they react by switching off or resisting a lot of reading work. I have previously modified the textbook pages for these students, but felt it was important to pre-empt any readingwork with this to ensure they were interested in the content and had an idea of key words.