C65: Using Split-Screen Teaching to Spark Learning Goals

​Once you have a solid understanding and use of split-screen teaching, you will be prepared to turn the ownership to your learners.  Our ultimate goal with the PYP and a part of good teaching practice is developing learner independence. We can use split-screen teaching to support this process by having learners create their own goals by using the ATL sub-skills as their success criteria.

A success criteria is a set of goals we want learners to engage with that will lead toward achievement and mastery.  Some success criteria can focus on year long goals, while others can be for a unit of inquiry.  This is up to you and your learners. 

For this episode, I will focus on how to make learning goals while using the ATLs as a success criteria for a single unit.  This will be easier to do at first, then you can lengthen your goals accordingly. 

Just a reminder, the split-screen teaching model looks like this.
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​In our last episode, we used several ATL sub-skills to guide our thinking.  I will zoom into only one sub-skill to model this process and unpack it’s meaning, so learners have a clear understanding to make an informed choice.

Critical Thinking
Analyzing

1. Observe carefully in order to recognize problems.

• Show examples of how to observe carefully and how it can help us to recognize patterns and potential problems.

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• Example:  look at science safety tools and observe carefully their usage.  Decide which tool may best solve certain problems.  Look at how using the wrong tool could potentially create some problems.

2. Consider the meaning of materials.

• Examine a variety of materials and have learners identify potential connections

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• Example:  provide an inquiry bag of materials related to your unit of inquiry.  Have learners examine the materials for their properties.  Sort and categorize based on usage and possible meaning.

3. Take knowledge or ideas apart

• Take an idea and decompose it’s parts

• Example:  Choose a concept from your unit that will drive a lot of the learning and use the Make Meaning visible thinking routine.  Have learners place it in the middle of a chart paper.  Have them make meaning by writing one word each that comes to mind when thinking of that word.  Next, have them look at someone else’s word and have them write another word that would describe it.  As a group, look at the ideas and draw lines between two that have a connection.  One the line, write down the connection.  This allows learners to break down big ideas into smaller, more meaningful ideas. 

4. Use models and simulations 

• Show models and simulations to spark learner interest.

• Example:  take a water bottle and puncture two holes with a nail.  Put the nails in the holes and fill up the water bottle.  Once in front of the learners, remove a nail and see what happens.  Ask learners, why is the water not coming out of the hole?  These types of simulations spark curiosity and help to make deeper connections

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Once the learners have experienced each ATL sub-skill, ask them to ponder which one is an area of growth.  Have them choose one to focus on for the unit of inquiry.  Then, ask them to select a learner profile attribute they think will best support the learning of the ATL.  This puts the ownership on the learner, not you.
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What I like about this particular set of sub-skills is that it speaks to different intelligence types. You have ATLs that focus on ideas, materials, processes, models, and simulations.  

Here’s a student example: ​

​​A reminder, it doesn’t matter what content they learn, the ATLs and learner profile attributes can be used over again.  I plan to use these when I work with my next set of teachers.  Will  you use them with your learners?