As we explore further into who is connected to us, and how we are the same and different, we read different books about Mums this week. One of the books we read was Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson. It’s about a little monkey looking for his mum, and a butterfly trying to help him. The butterfly keeps bringing the monkey to the wrong mothers because he doesn't know that the monkey and his mum look the same. After all, the butterfly and his babies, caterpillars, don't look the same! This provoked a conversation into whether mums really do look like their babies or not. To support this provocation, we had a Skype interview with my mum to look at the similarities and differences between us. The children were very excited to ask questions and especially to see the different animals in her house. A few questions they asked really stood out to me for a couple different reasons. These were: ‘'What do you love?’ Which I thought was very thoughtful and reflective on what we discuss during class. And also: ‘'Why is your head so big?’ To which I wish I could explain how a projector works better! To end the week the children looked at pictures of their mums in their family books. They created self portraits of themselves and their mums, discussing the similarities and differences along the way. See if you can spot you & your little one below! Finally, the children also began to share their Family Books. It has been wonderful to hear about the families and experiences of the children. They have really enjoyed reading each others’ books. The children have been incredibly proud to stand up and present to the class. They also had the chance to share their books with their buddies in Grade 2. The G2s were very excited to hear all about the K1s' lives.
0 Comments
This week we continued to investigate further into who is in our families and how they are related to us. We read Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeny to find out how our immediate family was connected to us, and how our families look the same and different to others. From this we created family trees for our immediate families. However, before we could create a family tree, we went outside and explored what trees look like using our keen sense of observation. The children were surprised to notice how many different trees we have just within walking distance from our classroom. Each one of the trees they painted were unique to what they wanted their family tree to look like, just like how each of their families are unique as well. I love how creative and enthusiastic they were to take charge of their own learning. The children spent some time creating digital portraits of their family and describing their work. They were very excited to share these videos with their mummies and daddies, so please click the buttons below to download your child’s digital family portrait.
We have started to think about our families in our Unit of Inquiry. We talked about who is in our family and how we are connected to them. The children have also shown an inquiry of their own, they have been inquiring into birthdays and asking all about them. Therefore, we have explored birthdays this week as well. To develop these natural inquiries, I have decided to enhance the dramatic play area with a table setting, and next week with birthday party themed items. However, to make this personal to the children I had the children decorate their own table cloth for the dramatic play area. I gave the children coloured ice cubes and allowed them to explore using different tools and techniques. The children were full of observations, discussing changing matters and using some mathematical language. Have a look at some of what the children were saying below: 'Mine is teeny weeny’ 'It’s getting smaller’ ‘'It’s getting flatter’ ‘'It’s so cold’ ‘'Yours is melting’ ‘'Look, it’s so tiny’ Our outdoor area is an extension of our classroom, providing further opportunities to apply what we have been learning indoors, extend investigations further and provide different sensory opportunities. We took our learning outside to develop gross motor skills and spatial awareness. We listened to the story ‘'Jonathan and his Mommy’, where the two characters describe all the ways they walk outside. Here are some pictures of the children taking: zigzag steps, big steps, little baby steps, hopping steps, running steps, ballet steps, and crisscross steps. The children even make up some steps of their own! Using the environment as a third teacher helps children to develop their social skills by working cooperatively, develop their communication skills by listening to each other and sharing their own ideas, and to develop literacy and numeracy skills independently. Of course the list goes on and on as benefits of learning in different and carefully planned environments is endless! Take a look at the children working on some of the skills mentioned above.
This week, we have explored our likes and dislikes as we inquire further into Who We Are. We read the story 'I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato' by Lauren Child and recognised that Lola is a risk-taker when she tries all the food that she thought she didn't like. The children explored lots of different fruit and vegetables and became risk-takers themselves! Some children were surprised that they actually liked the food that they thought they would not! Others were still not impressed but were proud of themselves for giving it a try. They recorded the food that they liked or disliked on a table. The final food they tried was chocolate. Unsurprisingly, that was the favourite! The K1s had a berry good time when the G2s joined us for another experience! The classes used their cooperation skills as they worked together to make yummy healthy Frozen Fruit Yoghurt Bars. The following day after the bars had fully frozen, the buddy classes ate their snack together. They discussed how healthy eating can be tasty and how proud of themselves they were to have cooked such a yummy treat. A representative from each grade shared the fruits of their labour with other teachers and staff. What caring children we have! I'm sure you already saw the video of the K1s being measured... Sometimes when they ask why I'm taking a photo/video, I tell them it's to show mummies and daddies all the fun things you do! It was very exciting when they asked me to video a specific activity to show you. It really made me realise that they were truly enjoying the activity and wanted to share that experience with you. Here are some behind the scene photos, as you might say, of the K1s using different items to measure before the video was taken.
I posed the inquiry "What can we use to measure?" The children used a variety of tools to measure their heights before one of the K1s asked 'Can we video us measuring to show our parents?' Of course the answer was yes! The K1s voted on which tool they wanted to use for the video and decided on Legos. Please enjoy the short clip below! |
AuthorWe are a class of 4 and 5 year olds at an international school in Singapore! We learn by playing, inquiring and having fun. Our teacher is Ms Bustamante, and this is our learning journey! Archives
June 2019
Categories |