How many feet tall are you?

In Room 8 this term, along with practicing general number knowledge, we have been spent time learning to measure.  We began by comparing things and using the language of measurement, such as shorter, taller, bigger, smaller, longer.  Now that the children have an understanding of these different measuring words we introduced measuring using a unit.  Standard units such as centimetres, mili-litres, grams etc will be introduced to the children when they are older, but this week we made footprints so that the children could measure height using the non-standard unit of 'feet'.


Measuring Iliyas in 'feet'.  He is 7 feet tall.

Adrienne was also 7 feet tall.

And so was Damian!






















Cecilia was 8 feet tall.

The children noticed that Lyrissa was 'taller' than 6 feet but 'shorter' than 7 feet.  Kori decided that Lyrissa was 'six and a half feet'.

Kori was 7 and a half feet.

Zere-Adam was 6 feet tall, Deevon was 6 1/2 feet tall, Danielle was 6 1/2 feet tall, Ayla was 7 feet tall and Ashleigh was 6 feet tall.

Our Mail Boxes

The teachers noticed that a few of the children were interested in mail and letterboxes and had taken an old cardboard box and called it their mailbox.  They took some feathers from the craft supplies and put them into their mailbox and said that they were "letters for Miss Aspeling".

We decided that we would like to pick up on this interest and try to extend it to include writing.  First we read the picture book, The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.  This led to some discussion about sending and receiving mail, mailboxes, postboxes, the mailman and the post office.  Next we looked at some non-fiction books about sending mail, which gave the children an understanding of what happens to a letter after you put it in the post box.

We invited the children to make their own mailboxes from recycled cardboard boxes.  Once the mailboxes were dry, the children put their photo on their mailbox and chose a number for their mailbox.  We have been practicing identifying numbers greater than 10, so sending mail has provided an opportunity for extra practice with this.

    

 Ms Chan had recently received a postcard from a friend so she brought it to school to show to the Room 8 children.  We looked at the different features of a postcard, including a picture on the front, a stamp, a post mark, the fact that it needed to have the person's name and address and also a message.

During some of our writing sessions we have been writing post cards to other members of the class.  This has provided a meaningful context for the children to write, especially in helping them to learn to write in the style of a message.

 

The experience has also been valuable in helping to strengthen relationships within the class, through the joy of giving or receiving a message.  Some children have been independently choosing to write to others during their own time, which is great to see!

 

Making pesto

For many reasons, creating food is a rich learning experience for children.  It involves working together, exploring the senses, oral language, measurement (mathematics), the social act of eating together,  and more . . .

Last week in Room 8, we made basil pesto together.  The strong and unique smell of the fresh basil, parmesan cheese and the garlic provoked lots of oral language from the children.  It was pleasing to see how well they worked together to make the pesto, being able to taking turns and accepting not being able to have a turn at every job.  Being able to work together cooperatively and seeing things from each other's perspective has been a major focus in Room 8 this term, so it is wonderful to see that the children have been able to develop these abilities.  The children were also fascinated and very satisfied in seeing the transformation of the raw ingredients into the pesto.

Sport with Sammy

Today Room 8 were fortunate to have sport with Coach Sammy.  The children participated in a range of drills, practicing different skills and having lots of fun!

Jumping . . . 

 Skipping

 Throwing and catching

 Passing above and below . . . 

 Passing from side to side . . .

Establishing our learning community

In Room 8, one of our main areas of focus has been on helping the children to see themselves as part of a group.  We want the children to be aware of each other's needs and feelings and take these into consideration alongside their own needs and feelings, in their choices and actions.

We have tried to create a tone and environment that invites the children to see each other in new ways, to collaborate, and to deepen friendships.  Classroom experiences and resources are carefully planned and thought out in an attempt to help the children build upon their skills in working together, sharing with each other and being considerate towards all members of the group.

In our second week together as a class, we made playdough together.  The initial purpose for the experience was to provide an experience through which we could draw upon maths (measurement), reading (of the recipe) and later writing, when the children to went away and recorded their ideas about making playdough.  However, from the experience, the teacher noted that the children had great difficulty sharing this task, and were very much concerned with getting their own turn.  Many of the children struggled with having to wait for a turn to stir the playdough, which led to yelling, crying and even kicking . . . 

The following week, we made grapefruit juice together.  This time, the children made a plan for how to organise the turn-taking before we began making the juice.  Kori nominated himself to be the first child to juice a grapefruit as and the rest if the children agreed that this was acceptable.  Some children felt that we should go around the table taking turns, while others felt that whoever had the last turn should choose the next person.  After a brief discussion the children agreed that whoever had the last turn would choose the next person to have a turn.  Having ownership of the 'rules' seemed to have a huge impact and the children were able to patiently wait for their turn without complaint.  

In the day to day running of the classroom, we try to promote sharing in many ways, for example, having a tray of crayons with only one of each colour of per table, so that the children have the chance to develop patience in waiting for someone else to finish with the colour they want, and also for the children using the crayon to be considerate of others who are waiting.  We try to give the children the opportunity to establish rules and systems for sharing resources as well as having opportunities to learn to resolve their differences independently by standing back and giving the children time to do so, and offering input when the children ask for it or are having difficulty reaching a resolution.

 

We will continue to look for new ways to help the children to see themselves as part of a group, considering each other's needs and feeling, and develop strategies for working together and resolving their differences.

Go Away Big Green Monster!

This week, our first week together as a class group, we introduced the children to the picture book, Go Away Big Green Monster! Written and illustrated by Ed Emberley.

The children very much enjoyed this book, with squeals of delight as each part of the monster is added in the first half of the book, and then taken away again in the second half of the book.  The children wanted to hear the book again and again throughout the week.

A group of children chose to read Go Away Big Green Monster! together one morning during free exploration.  This was a great opportunity for the children to practice role-play reading, using their oral language skills as well as their knowledge about reading and stories to take turns of 'reading' the book to each other.  It was also a great opportunity for the children to develop social skills through taking turns with the book.

Later in the week, some of the children were using the playdough.  The teacher invited them to make monsters using playdough.  Again, the children's keen interest in monsters was a valuable context for the them to express themselves creatively and through speaking, while modeling with playdough.  As the children worked, they animatedly described their monsters in detail . . .

Valentino:

"I've made the hair and this is the sharp teeth . . .  It's the biggest, huge monster . . . It's the hugest . . . Wow, look at this!  My one is big, sharp feet . . . Those are called tentacles."

Illyas:

"Scraggly hair! . . .  The teeth is sharp, they eyes are big and there's scraggly hair! . . . And the mouth is biiiiiiiiiig!"

John:

"Look at my monster's eyes!  I'm using the pencil to make lots of eyes!"

  

Samuela:

"Look, mine has a big mouth!  It's got fire inside (his mouth) because it like to eat something hot.  Look!"

  

The children showed a similar delight when they were introduced to the character Scarface Claw in the story, Hairy Maclary Scattercat, by Lynley Dodd.  In response to the excitement and creative energy generated around scary things, we will continue to explore scary things in weeks to come.

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