As we move into our second line of inquiry, ways to become happy and healthy, we are beginning to consider the concept of balance. As we work on developing an understanding of what it means to live a balanced life we may, among other things, look at trying to ensure we are balanced in what we eat, that we make safe and healthy choices, and also consider the need to reflect on balance in the type of activities we choose to take part in. When it is our daily 'quiet time' for example (when the children take a short nap) we often talk about how just as it is important that we exercise our bodies and brains, it is also important that we take time to rest and to let our bodies and our brains relax. This week we began by considering the importance of making time not only for high-energy activities, but also the need to include quieter, more reflective moments in our lives. We started inside the classroom by taking three deep breaths to help our brains and bodies feel calm and ready for the day. We looked out of the window and talked about what we could see. We noticed the beautiful flowers in our classroom, and everybody shared their favourite colour of flower. We then took the children outside to sit under the trees as we did last week. We looked up into the branches of the trees, and all around us to really try to notice what we could see. The children pointed out grass, leaves, trees, and birds. Each child was then given a clipboard with paper, and access to plenty of different coloured crayons. We spent about 30 minutes outdoors, with the children drawing either what they could see around them, or simply drawing whatever they felt inspired to do. It was a very calm and reflective session. Whenever possible, we will continue to intersperse more active sessions with more tranquil, or relaxed ones.
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During this Unit of Inquiry, one of the concepts we are focusing on is the idea of belonging. This has been ideal as we learn what it means to be a community, and as we develop an understanding of how we want our own community to be. This has also meant working on the ideas of sharing, turn taking, and inclusiveness. This week, we read Dino Duckling, by Alison Murray. Differences are celebrated in this lovely picture book. Dino Duckling is worried that he doesn't quite fit in with his family. His duckling brothers and sisters look very different from him. Mama Duck is adamant however; "Scales or feathers, big or small, we're a family and there's room for us all." We made connections between Dino Duckling's family and our class community. We noticed that we don't all look the same, and yet we all belong to the same special group; our class. To reinforce the idea of belonging and also of inclusion, we played a game outside using hoops. As long as there was music, the children were encouraged to keep moving about on the grass. When the music stopped however, they were asked to quickly find a hoop, and step inside. At first it was easy as there were enough hoops for each person. As time went on however, we began to remove hoops one by one. Now the children had to share hoops in order to ensure they were each standing inside one. They were encouraged to help each other, so that everyone was included. By the end of the game, there was only one hoop left, and all the children needed to work together to squeeze inside. We followed up the group game, with a challenge that required children to work in partnership with one other person in order to succeed. In pairs each child was given one wooden spoon or spatula. The object of the game was to move five pompoms from the floor into a basket, using only one spoon each, and no hands. This involved a lot of concentration, several attempts and lots of giggling. We have noticed that the last few weeks of focusing on sharing, turn taking, being caring and developing a sense of belonging are paying off. We are beginning to see the children resolving minor disagreements over toys on their own, and also beginning to work together, rather than simply playing alongside each other. The children in the photograph below chose to work together to play a colour game, taking turns, and ensuring fair play as a group, without the need for adult help. Today we celebrated Peace Day at school. This year's Peace Day is dedicated as Climate Action for Peace. As you will be aware, last week we found out how paper comes from trees. We talked about how trees are important in providing food for us and other animals, and also discussed the fact that many animals use trees as a habitat. Accordingly, we pledged to reduce our use of paper towels, in an effort to reduce the number of trees that need to be cut down. Using a special technique:
Today we were invited to share our pledge with the wider TIS community. We first took the opportunity to go outside and lie down under the trees, listen to some peaceful music, read peace-related books and to appreciate the lovely trees. We were able to reflect on how special, and important trees are. We then met up with Grade 11 students. The children shared their pledge to use fewer paper towels with the older students. Each student was then given a white cloth 'flag' with their pledge written on and, with help from their Grade 11 'buddy', they attached it to a rope, which was then strung up between the trees as a visual reminder. Next, each buddy group was given an origami dove, symbolizing peace, (kindly made by the Grade 9 students for us all), which they then hung from trees in the park. We will continue to reinforce the idea of creating a more peaceful and safe world for animals and people by trying to reduce the amount of paper we use, specifically paper-towels. This week we worked on creating some essential agreements for our class. As this is the first time the children have done something of this nature it needed some guidance and preparation. We spent one day looking at a variety of stock pictures of children engaged in different types of behaviours. For example, in one picture two children were seen fighting over a toy and in another, two children were pictured sharing toys. We asked the children to look at each picture and decide if they thought it represented a good choice, or a 'not good' choice. They then sorted the pictures into two corresponding groups. They enjoyed signaling with a thumbs up or thumbs down if they felt each choice was a good one or not. After sorting we talked about how we want our class to be one in which everybody feels happy and safe. We asked the children whether, given this aim for our class, we wanted to be the kind of group with the behaviours seen in the 'not good choice' set of pictures, or if we wanted to opt for behaviours as seen in the 'good choices' set. Naturally, everyone decided they would prefer that we make good choices. The next day we reminded the children of the way they had sorted the pictures, before asking them to come up with some suggestions for agreements we could follow in school. Following a discussion, we came up with five agreements. We made posters using photos of children modelling each essential agreement. These posters are now on display in our room. The five agreements can be seen below (captions are displayed at the bottom of each). It would be very helpful if you could take some time to discuss our agreements with your son or daughter in your home language. Saving TreesSaturday, 21st September, is designated as United Nations' International Day of Peace. Next Friday at TIS we will be finding ways to both celebrate and carefully consider this important day. This year's theme is 'Climate Action for Peace' and, with the aim of creating an achievable goal, we decided to focus our attention on reducing the amount of paper-towel usage in our building. We wanted to begin the conversation in advance of the actual day, and with this in mind the teachers chose to hold an assembly for the PS1 and PS2 classes focusing on the theme of reducing our use of paper towels. We first looked at a picture of the earth from space. Some of the children were able to identify it as 'the world' and knew enough to be able to say that 'people live there'. When I wondered aloud what the green parts might be, several children explained that it was 'grass, trees and plants'. As a visual provocation we had asked Ms Hulkar to save the paper towels used for drying hands in our building for two days. We tipped the paper out onto the floor, so that everyone was able to see the huge number we had used. There were gasps from several of the children when they saw the big pile. The provocation appeared to be working! We asked if anyone had any idea where paper towels come from. One or two students were able to explain that paper comes from trees. We showed the children a short animated video which demonstrated how trees are cut down and taken to a factory, where they are chopped into tiny pieces before water is added along with bleach and resulting in paper pulp. The children saw how the water is then squeezed out of the pulp by rollers, and the paper is dried and cut into pieces. In the final slide below, the children can be seen looking at a photograph of a recent delivery of paper towels to school. Some of the children were keen to explain to the others that we need trees to breathe (we didn't go into the details of this!) and that we, as well as other animals, eat the fruit that grows from some trees, and also that many animals use trees as their home. In other words, trees are important to us, and we need to try to reduce the need to cut them down. I then demonstrated how to use only one paper towel to dry hands, instead of two or three with this simple technique (seen here in a Ted Talk).
The children had a great time helping to count as I shook my hands twelve times. We tried it several times over just to be sure we had the hang of it, and tried to remember the routine with this slogan; Shake, Fold, Dry! After assembly, the children had the opportunity to each practice the new routine as they washed their hands before snack. We will continue to work on practicing until it becomes second nature to us all. It would be fantastic if you could not only talk about this at home, but also put it into practice when you find yourselves using paper towels when you are out and about. It is also, fortuitously, an excellent way for the children to practice counting in order from one to twelve for an authentic purpose! See the children in action below! We are fortunate at TIS to have a beautiful campus, filled with grass, plants and trees. Best of all we have lots of space for the children to be able to move about in and explore. We feel that time spent outside is extremely important in helping children develop. While outdoors, not only do they have the chance to interact with nature (sticks, leaves, chestnuts and stones are treasures for a young child, as many of us remember from our own childhoods) and breathe fresh air, but they also have the opportunity to develop many skills. In the photos below you will see children strengthening muscles and developing motor skills as they dig, swing, ride tricycles, run and carry large objects. They also develop social skills as they take turns, both in conversation and in using resources. Imaginations are stretched and vocabulary is developed as a scooter becomes a bus or car, and a pile of sand becomes a cake or soup. At both the sand pit and the water table, children develop a sense of capacity, as they fill and empty containers. As Autumn approaches, we look forward to exploring our campus a little more, and will take 'trips' to collect chestnuts, acorns and beautiful leaves. When Winter arrives, we might be lucky enough to get to play in the snow, making snowmen and snow 'angels'. Then in Spring, we get to watch in awe as the leaves begin once again to grow on trees, and blossoms appear. Soon enough, it is Summer again, and the children enjoy being barefoot in the sand, and playing with water again. |
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