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.
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