During TASC projects, children work collaboratively in groups to research an aspect of a learning theme, to complete an investigation or to solve a problem. Everybody plays their part in the team effort and the children choose how they will present their findings, results and new knowledge to the rest of the class. Learners use their imagination, to represent, design and create, to problem solve and investigate. They learn to work independently and with confidence, to work collaboratively and above all, to have fun as they learn. The TASC wheel gives a structure to the group work.
What are the principles of using TASC?
The principles of TASC are the principles of good learning:
- We think best when we are relaxed, reflective and working with our hands. Many of us like to share our thinking but we may sometimes want to develop an idea on our own.
- Thinking is not a linear process. Expert thinkers are flexible and resilient, so you can jump from segment to segment of the TASC Wheel, miss stages out, revisit previous segments or work in a different order.
- You are allowed to think whatever you want, so you can’t be wrong. You may wish to rethink as you go, refining and adapting ideas. You may use other people’s ideas and piggy-back your own thinking onto them.
The images below show some of the TASC activities that have taken place at Dore recently.
Y6 World War Two D-Day TASC
Working in groups of 3-6, Y6 researched the facts and stories of interest about D-Day. As groups, they chose and agreed way of presenting their information to the rest of the year group. The top two photos show a ‘lost’ briefcase, with letters, diary entries and other artifacts chosen by the group to tell the story of one soldiers life around D-Day.
Y2 Hurricane -Proof Houses
TASC News:
- Y4 SpiDOREwick Chronicles
Y4 started the year by immersing ourselves into the magical world of The Spiderwick Chronicles. Through our reading, we discovered that it is possible to gain ‘The Sight’, allowing humans to see into the ‘faerie’ world. This world contains all sorts of creatures, from fairies and pixies to trolls and boggarts. Once we had gained… Read more: Y4 SpiDOREwick Chronicles - Start of our the Y5 Fantastic Voyage
Y5H Denmark and Y5P Germany have had a brilliant start to the 2023-24 academic year. Our first learning journey I called Fantastic Voyage and this is an accurate description of the children’s adventure in year 5 so far. As part of their Learning journey we have: - Year 3 Plant Life Cycle Animations
Using all the knowledge from their ‘How does your garden grow?’ Learning Journey, Year 3 worked in teams to make animations showing the life cycles of flowering plants. - Y3H Violin performance
On Thursday 13th July 2023 the Year 2s and other Year 3 class were treated to an amzing violin performance y the children of Y3H Norway. The put into practice all they had learnt with Mrs Bell, not just violin but singing and working as an ensemble. We can’t share the videos on the public… Read more: Y3H Violin performance - Outdoor Art – Mandalas
This wonderful outdoor art was created as part of the Year 3 ‘How does your garden grow?’ learning journey. We were partly inspired by the buddist monks who grind up rocks to make their mandalas over 60 hours. We just worked in TASC groups to construct art works using the natural resources from our lovely… Read more: Outdoor Art – Mandalas - Y2 Old Hay Brook
In our outdoor learning, the children used junior-hacksaws and square lashing knots to create rafts. We then used our science learning of floating and sinking to test if they would float on the brook. The children all had a wonderful time (although some rafts were damaged in the process!). Thanks to the parents who were… Read more: Y2 Old Hay Brook - Y4 Roman Road Making
To support our understanding of Roman technologies, Y4 spent an afternoon learning about how the Romans built layers up to create their famous road system. We found out about the different materials used, then went outside and had a go a creating mini ones of our own. - How to mummify a body!
There were lots of children that the teachers wanted to mummify so we acted this out!• Taking out the organs• Covering in salt• Adding jewelry• Replacing eyes• Covering in bandages and a shroud• Reading spells• Adding amulets• Taking to the tomb for the funeral After drafting the instructions in our English books, we wrote these… Read more: How to mummify a body! - Ancient Egypt Scale model
To kick off our Leaning Journey, Year 3 worked together to make a scale model of Ancient Egypt. It included: The River Nile Delta Fertile land Red Sea Mediterranean Sea Eastern and Western Deserts So many monuments! It was super lesson using history, geography, art and design skills as well as working together using the… Read more: Ancient Egypt Scale model - Y4 Flying Cars
As part of our “Y4 Go Wild!” learning journey, Y4 were inspired by the idea of creating ‘flying cars’, like in this picture. In science, we found out how to create electrical circuits, and how to represent these circuits on paper using the correct symbols. We did this using battery packs, crocodile clips and lightbulbs,… Read more: Y4 Flying Cars - FS2 Bear Hunt Den Building
In outdoor learning this week, the children recalled the story of ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’. They told it with such confidence and enjoyment! Next we went on a teddy bear hunt, but there was a problem…the bears needed dens! So off we went with our loppers to chop some branches down to layer… Read more: FS2 Bear Hunt Den Building - Y3 – Science – Climate Change
Some of the last learning Year 3 completed for their Pole to Pole topic was to understand climate change: What it is, How humans are causing it, The effects on the world’s biomes (espeically the polar region), What we can do about it. To do this, we: Used maps to understand what a geographical change… Read more: Y3 – Science – Climate Change - Y1 TASC Project
Y1 have completed their TASC projects of what they would take into Space to eat! - Pre-School Spring 1 Week 5 -10 on the sled
This week we have read the lovely story of 10 on a sled. The children loved counting all of the animals as they fell off the sled. We went in the hall and made our own sledge and snowy hills to slide down. They enjoyed moving like the different animals and practising their throwing and… Read more: Pre-School Spring 1 Week 5 -10 on the sled - Y1 Fly me to the moon
Year 1 have started their TASC project: What would an astronaut eat in space? and have painted their own Moon using different tones and colour mixing. - Y4 Science – Digestion
As part of our ‘Food for Thought’ learning journey, Y4 investigated the digestive systems of humans, cows and chickens, to understand how bodies and organs adapt to different diets. For humans, we re-enacted the journey of food from its entry into the body to its exit. We used various household objects to shwo this, including… Read more: Y4 Science – Digestion - Y4 Natural Balms
Taking inspiration from stories of some of the people of the Amazon Rainforest, Y4 created a balm useful as a remedy for insect bites and stings from plantain (the grass not the fruit), olive oil and beeswax. We boiled the oil, then added the plantain and simmered for another 10 minutes, then we strained the… Read more: Y4 Natural Balms - Y4 River Fieldwork
To tie in with our ‘Amazonian Adventure’, Y4 learned about the features of rivers, and how water flows through them. To embed the new vocabulary and test out some ideas (hypotheses) we had come up with, we visited Old Hay Brook on a Geography Field Trip. This involved lots of hands on, practical learning, but… Read more: Y4 River Fieldwork - Design and Food Technology – Ice-cream!
What better way to finish a series of Maths lesson using mass and capacity, than to use these skills to make ice-cream? The children worked brilliantly together to measure the incredients and follow the recipe to make delicious ice-cream. It was the perfect way to cool off in the hot weather! - Y3H Musical Showcase
The children of Y3H have been working hard as a team to prepare for their musical showcase. In front of families and very lucky pupils from other classes, the children showed what they could do. It was impressive stuff using thoer voices, bodies and, of course, violins, they demonstrated a keen understanding of picth, rhythm,… Read more: Y3H Musical Showcase