INTRODUCTION

DigiSmart Comprehension: Protest & Power has been developed to:

• help build children and young people’s reading comprehension, their capacity to make sense of language and acquire a richer, deeper understanding of the written word;
• to support and expand their knowledge and understanding of a theme that plays a recurring role across history, to encourage curiosity and enquiry and, last but not least, to develop active thinking skills.

Its six topics — Magna Carta, the Levellers, Peterloo, Votes for Women, Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion — are visually presented with distinctive design looks for each to highlight their different historical environments, and to provide variety and appeal. We want students to feel that they are entering different periods and moments in time, a kind of time travel through and across the topic pages.

The chosen events and periods in history were (and are) full of incident and complexity. Topic pages are long and have been broken up into more readily readable chunks by the plentiful use of headings and sub-headings. We have also maximised visual content wherever possible, to support the narratives and add impact. More information about rationale and method is provided below.

We hope that teachers and adults supporting children’s education in classrooms, community learning venues such as libraries and museums, and also those engaged in remote learning tuition, will enjoy using this resource and find it beneficial.

TWO ROUTES

1. The MATRIX is a structured multiple choice Q&A system with three levels of challenge.

Working across the MATRIX structure involves chronological momentum, allowing students to travel over many centuries and progress across all six topics, from the 13th Century to the present.

In total there are 18 units in the Matrix, 6 in each of the three levels.

The purpose of Level 1 is introductory, to help students become familiar with some key basics about each of the subjects. Levels 2 and 3 progress in challenge. The progression of the levels can be summed up by the terms FIND (Level 1), EXPLORE (Level 2) and ORBIT (Level 3).

There are generally 15 questions for each of the topics at Level 1, with one exception when there are 20. There are always 20 questions at Level 2. At these two levels, questions are always served up in the same sequence. Sequences are designed to build and reinforce knowledge and understanding of the historical period and context, in tandem with developing greater comprehension of language and expression.

At Level 3 there are 20 questions in each unit — this time, questions are delivered in variable sequences and, with repeated attempts for interest and/or to improve scores, several different questions will appear. Children have to orbit around a topic more venturesomely and nimbly. Foundations for this will have been laid in Levels 1 and 2. It will be up to teachers and others in learning support roles to consider if, or when, Level 3 can be attempted. Some Level 3 questions are easier than others, to aid unpredictability and to provide encouraging footholds.

This app contains an in-depth Q&A resource. There are over 350 questions and over 1,300 feedback tabs. A feedback tab appears for every answer chosen. These variously provide affirmation, encouragement, helpful clues and extra information for the learner.

There is choice as to how to tackle the MATRIX. Students can work across all six topics at Level 1, completing six units. Taking this route they will always encounter content and accompanying questions that reinforce and help to secure the fundamental reading skill of scanning for information, together with developing the skill of making sense of text and negotiating the world of ‘meanings’. Alternatively, it may suit some students to progress to Level 2 within the same topic, maintaining their focus and enjoying extra stretch.

There is no requirement to complete all 18 units. Schools may have a specific curriculum focus and can use the relevant units in this resource. On the other hand, there is an opportunity to discover connections between the topics and to explore a developing theme across time.

2. An alternative approach is to access the content via the TOPICS route.

This route provides the option for students to read all six topics as resources detached from the Q&A format. The six pages of content are available as separate, free-standing resources. Schools and students wishing to focus on specific topics therefore have free rein.

In the TOPICS section there is the option to enter the MATRIX flexibly and start answering the questions — for example, entering at Peterloo (third topic) in 1819 rather than Magna Carta (first topic) in 1215.

DIGISMART READING

DigiSmart Comprehension: Protest & Power can also be used as an extension for children who have worked through the reading programme contained in the DigiSmart Reading Skills app. By doing this, DigiSmart children will have practised and honed their skimming and scanning skills, and become familiar and confident with identifying and using keywords to find the information they need to answer questions. These three skills are fundamental building blocks to better reading and will equip less confident or reluctant readers to deal with more challenging content.

The questions in Level 1 of the MATRIX are designed to be accessible to DigiSmart children as an extension of the reading skills they have already acquired, moving them supportively into higher level reading skills. Those familiar with DigiSmart Reading Skills will recognise the same Q&A format, levels of progression and scoring system. There is continuity but also variation and new features. Once children have achieved success at Level 1, there are incentives and many engaging aspects to motivate them to keep going and tackle more.

PAGE ANCHORS IN SUPPORT

We have used a page anchoring technique to support students working through questions in each unit. Each topic is packed full of information. Our purpose in setting anchors is, in the majority of cases, to place each user in the relevant area of a topic page, for two main reasons.

Firstly, we want to keep children highly motivated so that they read a question, understand what it is asking, and then face the challenge of choosing or working out the correct answer from a screenful of text that is relevantly placed. There are a few instances where children will need to scroll down to locate the passage or area of text where an answer can be found. This occasional variation will encourage them to be nimble and resourceful.

Secondly, another important aspect in the use of anchors is to give students, through the movements they create during question sequences, a sense of time travelling through and around each of the historical narratives, and to build confidence and familiarity with the subject matter.

For historical story-telling we want children to benefit as much as possible from visual imagery and sometimes this has influenced where anchors are set, to keep up the pace of movement and bring variety. Several of the questions asked can be answered by students studying the images appearing in the anchored segment of the screen.

SCORES AND AWARDS

Children get rewarded for their achievements. As always, we want them to be as motivated and affirmed as possible. Children need to get a score of at least 80% to move from one unit to the next. Scores are recorded for each user and there are certificates at the end of each unit. We have also incorporated ‘cascading’ End of Level Awards for students successfully completing a Level across all topics — each one with its own special signature cascade!

CLUES AND CONTEXTS

Comprehension entails a range of reading skills such as scanning of course, but also taking stock of (i.e. thinking about, as in, thinking skills) language in the surrounding context which will provide clues of one kind or another. These ‘clues’ include expressing something in a slightly different way to how the question is asked, or there being a phrase or sentence nearby that is relevant to answering the question. Terms such as inference and deduction relate to the surrounding context of information. Educated guessing, common sense and engaging the brain (thinking and working something out) play a role too!

WORD POWER

In terms of the framing of questions, there is some usage of synonyms to encourage children to understand different words for similar meanings (expand vocabulary knowledge). In some instances, words in questions are deliberately used in a different tense or part of speech to the form that appears on the topic page. Children have to think. They have to try to relate different forms to the same word (expand knowledge of grammar, how grammar works, expand vocabulary). Children have to do more than scan in many of the questions, but it is also the case that scanning well will enable them to tackle many of the questions.

IN CONCLUSION

• As with all DigiSmart apps, for safeguarding reasons and to keep the focus on learning this resource contains no live links or advertisements. We welcome feedback and use it to inform future updates of this app.
• The Quick Guide menu page shows an ‘at a glance’ summary of contents and features.
• The patron of DigiSmart, Dame Sheila Hancock, has been actively involved in DigiSmart Comprehension: Protest & Power since its inception and remains thoroughly engaged.
• This resource is dedicated to Jill Tulloch, inspiring teacher of History and English. The Dedication page in the menu is for her.