How can we ‘tell’ our stories?

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We have noticed the children’s interest in telling stories in different areas around the classroom. We have seen them use manipulatives to retell familiar stories or use their imagination to create and extend stories.

We decided to invite the children to think about all the different ways they can ‘tell’ their stories.

How might we use a range of tools, materials and technology to capture and share our stories with others?

As we discussed the different ideas, we noted them down on chart paper.

We can…

  • Junsu “we can use note paper (Post-it notes).”
  • Sea “make a story with paper notes.”
  • Dahyun “we can draw and write on paper.”
  • Sea “use memory to draw and write books.”
  • Isabella “we can build our story with blocks and then share.”
  • Riccardo “we can use stop-motion and tell Lego story. In pk1 B I did it with Jacob.”
  • Suzy “we can use leaves from the garden to tell the story, I used glue to tape them on.”
  • Evan “use wood to make story and then paint it.”
  • Sea “use YouTube to make video.”
  • Dahyun “make story with LEGO and draw the story.”
  • Isabella “use clay to make something and then tell a story.”
  • Suzy “and then paint the clay.”
  • Sea “take a bus to the zoo and take a video.”
  • Jacob “and you can draw a picture.”
  • Suzy “you can take a picture (photographs).”
  • Dahyun “you can use paper cuttings.”

We referred to some of the stories that children have created. We shared Mohammed’s drawing of his first experiences in China, where he talks about his experiences using writing and drawing.

The children were inspired after watching Lego animation stories created by previous K2 students.

We wonder how the storytellers might use some of these ideas to create, write and share their stories during ‘Story Workshop’ time.

Just Right Books

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We gathered to talk about choosing and reading appropriate texts that are ‘a good fit’. When independent reading texts are too difficult, readers are often unable to recall important information from the text, which can also impact their understanding or comprehension.

We talked about how people make choices about the books they read. Readers read for pleasure, or to learn more about something that they are interested in.

But, how do we know that a book is just right for us?

The children were introduced to one strategy using the ‘five finger rule’.

We also referred back to our previous discussion about the different ways we can read books:

  • reading the pictures
  • reading the words
  • retelling the story

Next, the readers chose three books for their book box and found a quiet bubble space to read independently.

Where do we keep the sand toys?

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Ms. Jenny shared some photographs of one section of the EY playground, which has been closed off temporarily due to maintenance work. As we shared the photographs, the children discussed what they noticed. They were curious to find out how the maintenance staff would fix the ‘hole in the ground’ next to the sand pit.

One of the problems that children continued to focus on was that the walkway to the shelf where they store the sand play toys had been cordoned off.

They wondered where they might keep the sand play equipment after playtime. The children were thoughtful, explaining what might happen to the toys if they weren’t put away safely.

  • Euno, “These are the lines to tell you that going inside is dangerous. I saw a child go inside and then he go out and that’s dangerous.”
  • Isabella “There is a hole inside that needs to be fixed.”
  • Evan, “People are fixing the hole.”
  • Jacob “The hole is dangerous because if you slip inside you will be sucked in deeper and deeper and cannot come out anymore. (In mandarin)”
  • Isabella, “I see there is some water inside.”
  • Riccardo, “Can we lift the strings and go through in?”
  • Suzy “No.”
  • Isabella “We can stand outside of the lines and watch people fixing it.”
  • Suzy “But if we cannot go inside, how can we tidy up the toys?”
  • Euno “We cannot go inside but our tidy up shelf is inside, then we cannot put our toys back to the shelf inside.”
  • Evan “We should not throw the toys in.”
  • Sea “We cannot leave all the tools on the playground, they will look like trash.”
  • Riccardo “We can use the old tidy up area (shed).”
  • Suzy “Maybe we can give the toys to the fixing people and ask them to help put it on the shelf.”
  • Dahyun “We can make a new one (to be the tidy up shelf).”

The children thought hard to find a solution to the problem. After considering and discussing many different ideas, Mohammed said, “In the garden”.

We were curious about what he meant and decided to invite him to share the safe space he was thinking about. Mohammad went outside with Ms. Sophia to take photographs of the spaces he was referring to. He presented his ideas to the class, pointing to the different spaces we can keep the toys, till the shelf is accessible. Mohammad’s solution was to store the toys under the worktables near the garden.

They could also be hidden in the sand so they will be protected.

When Mohammad was done Junsu turned to Mohammad and gave him a thumbs up and said, “Good job Mohammad!”. The children agreed that this was a good idea!

The children’s conversation highlights their natural curiosity about the environment, and how they use their senses to understand how things work around them. It further highlights their enthusiasm to explore possibilities and be solution driven.

Writing Workshop – Plan, Write and Share

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We took some time to reflect on our ‘Writing Workshop’. We watched a video of the children’s engagement during this time to help them reflect on what they do as ‘writers’. 

What good writers do…

  • Dahyun “Sound out letters and say the letters.”
  • Isabella “Draw and colour.”
  • Junsu “Write the words.”
  • Sea “Think of ideas to draw.”
  • Suzy “Focus on the writing, looking carefully. We need to think of what we need to draw.”
  • Euno “Write the words and read it, because we read it, we don’t know what we are writing. If we don’t read, we cannot say the words (talk about) and what we are drawing and writing.”
  • Dahyun “Try to think about the letters.”
  • Sea “We think, we use memory. We cannot draw and write if you don’t use memory.”
  • Suzy “Use pointers like arrows.”
  • Evan “Use labels to show things.”

The writers thought about their next steps, making choices about the piece of writing they wanted to continue working on and making a ‘plan’ for writing. They could focus on drawing to add more details or writing words to match their illustrations. 

As they moved to their favourite writing spaces, we noticed how they used many of the different writing strategies and behaviours they had shared in their list of ‘what good writers do’.

During ‘time for sharing’, we highlighted two pieces of writing to share with the class. The writers were encouraged to talk about what they did as ‘writers’.

This is an opportunity for the children to learn from each other, grow their craft and learn different techniques and strategies that make their writing interesting to their readers.

As we move forward, the children will revisit their work to either continue their writing or create new pieces of work during the ‘Writing Workshop’ time.

Retelling the story of ‘Floof’!

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The children were excited to talk about and share the story of their favourite picture book ‘Floof’ by Heidi McKinnon.

We began by talking about the different characters included in this picture book. We used chart paper to document the ideas and the events they recalled from the story.

  • Jacob “A dog, his ears are black.”
  • Ricardo “Mouse.”
  • Evan “9 mouse”
  • Dahyun “Floof has friends, the mouse.”
  • Junsu “9 mouse.”

Next, we discussed the setting, or the places where the story takes place. The children connected these places with the different objects and events.

  • Isabella “Kitchen, there was a pizza.”
  • Dahyun “There was some toilet paper.”
  • Jacob “He was watching TV.”
  • Evan “There was a computer, he broke the computer.”
  • Dahyun “The guitar, he broke the guitar.”
  • Junsu “Coffee.”
  • Isabella “A tennis ball.”

We used blue Post-it notes to draw and talk about the events in the story.

  • Dahyun “Floof is in the house, he is eating a pizza.”
  • Jacob “He was working then he is using computer and put the coffee to the computer. “
  • Dahyun “Then the computer was broken, then he broke the guitar.”
  • Jacob “He just lying down on the pot, then he broke the plant.”
  • Isabella “He sleeping on the books.”
  • Evan “He played with the toilet paper.”
  • Suzy “The dog is sleeping and he took the ball.
  • Jacob “The dog is yellow and his ears are black.”
  • Suzy “The dog was doing this.” (putting out her tongue to show)
  • Adalyn “The dog was sleeping when Floof took his ball and Floof broke the window.”
  • Isabella “The mice were in the kitchen and were eating pizza.”
  • Evan “He was playing with the strings and it was broken (on the curtain).”
  • Evan “It was a nice busy day from the end of the story.”
  • Jacob “That is a messy day.”
  • Dahyun “Then the story is finished.”

We placed the events in the story in sequence based on the children’s recollection of this story.

Finally, we were ready to read the story. As we turned each page, we checked back to our Post-it notes. We began to see that changes needed to be made for the story to be retold in sequence.

We used pink Post-it notes to include events that were not included in the original retail.

The children’s storytelling shows how the children were actively engaged in the process of retelling the story of ‘Floof’.  They included the key details, characters and settings, and answered questions related to the picture book.

The Trolley Project: Final Steps

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The Trolley Project: Sourcing the Missing Parts

The trolley assembly team had been working on their project for a few weeks. Having lost some parts, they were trying to figure out their next steps. They had decided to reach out to different people in the community to ask for their help. The children checked their lists to see if all the missing parts were recorded on their papers. They found that they still needed to add one more piece of data, the missing back rings on the wheel. Then, they measured the part of the wheel that was going to be connected to the rings.

  • Evan “You should start it from ‘0’ like when we measure the milk.”
  • Jacob “It is 2.5 cm.”

Now that they had a list of all the missing parts, they decided that they were ready to ask members of the community for help and more information. They made a list of the people they were going to visit.

  • Adalyn “We are most familiar with Ms. Jo, so let’s start to ask her first.”
  • Isabella and Adalyn, “We once went to Mr. Arek’s room and we didn’t see these stuff in his room, so maybe he doesn’t have them.”
  • Isabella “We can go ask Mr. Matt next then.”
  • Adalyn “We can ask facility people the after. Finally, if none of those people have the missing parts, we can go ask the people who helped us purchase the trolley to buy a new set.”
  • Jacob “Ms. Jo, we are assembling a two-levels tall trolley, and some of the parts were missing, so we wonder if you can help us find some same ones in your room?”
  • Jo “Sure but what are they?”

Evan showed Ms. Jo his clipboard and pointed at the stuff on it, “We need some screws which is 8 cm long and some nuts.”

  • Isabella “We need some hooks too.”

Ms. Jo led the team to her tool board and checked but she didn’t have any of the parts that we needed.

  • Isabella “It is fine, we can go ask other people.”

When the facility staff member came in the afternoon, the team showed him the parts that got lost and what they were looking for. Unfortunately, he told them that they do have some screws and nuts, but they don’t have the same ones that we need.

Adalyn “We need to go ask Ms. Cherry if she can help us buy another set of the small pieces now.”

The team began to plan their visit to see Ms. Cherry.

  • Sophia “What would we need to say to her?”

  • Evan “The trolley pieces are missing. We need the screws, nuts, black rings and hooks.”
  • Sophia “What other information do we want from Ms. Cherry?”
  • Jacob “We are missing some parts of the trolley, can you ask the people who sell the trolley to sell the little pieces to us?”
  • Adalyn “I think she will say yes because I used to buy things online, some of the small parts were missing and I can ask the shopkeeper to only order those certain parts.” (in Mandarin)
  • Sophia “Any other questions we want to ask if she says yes?
  • Adalyn “Who do we need to ask for the permission when we need to order something?”
  • Jacob “Should we ask Ms. Jacqui if she can give us some money to buy it? Do we need to send a message to Ms. Jacqui and ask her?”

Children wrote down their questions before heading over to see Ms. Cherry.

The children went over to the main building to meet Ms. Cherry. They explained the problem to her, showing her their drawings and documentation to help her understand which pieces were needed to complete the trolley.

When the team returned, they recorded the information that Ms. Cherry shared about the process of ordering things for the class.

  • Evan “We need to fill an E-Form.”
  • Adalyn “We need to fill the money of the things that we need.”
  • Isabella “We need to first ask the permission from Ms. Jacqui. We ask her in the system.”
  • Adalyn “We choose Ms.Cherry in the system so the form can be sent to her.”
  • Isabella “We choose Primary school to find Ms Jacqui.”
  • Adalyn “We need to type the title of the things we need to order.”
  • Isabella “We need to write the number of things in the system.”
  • Adalyn “We need to click save.”
  • Evan “You need to write your name in the system as well.”
  • Jacob “We need to put our classroom in it so when it is arrived people know where to deliver it. We can check the list after we click save. If there’s any mistakes, we need to correct them.”
  • Adalyn “We check the list and send out.”

The team were excited to learn that a box had arrived in the post.

They opened it up to find the missing pieces that they needed to assemble the trolley.

 

Presenting the Trolley

The team presented the trolley to the class.

  • Adalyn “We are making the trolley to put the water bottle and the snack.”
  • Evan “And lunch.”
  • Isabella “When we are pressing the screws they were very hard.”
  • Adalyn “So we used the tool.”
  • Jacob “And the nuts is difficult to tighten up.”

  • Evan “We used the tools because we need to because it’s so hard to tighten them up.”
  • Teacher “Did you sometimes disagree with someone else.”
  • Isabella “We figured it out. We tried it out and then one worked. We listened to each other. We tired the idea of the person who said it the first.”
  • Evan “I think I took some months (to finish the trolley) because the pieces is gone.”
  • Jacob “We need to ask some people and they said no.”
  • Adalyn “And then we buy it.”
  • Isabella “It’s not money to get it. It was free. Because it was just a little.”
  • Teacher “How will we look after the trolley?”
  • Suzy “Maybe we can ask PreK-K1 because they also have a trolley.
  • Isabella “I can also ask PreKK1B.”

 

Reflecting on Learning…

The team took many months to put the trolley together. They had to overcome obstacles and collaborate to achieve their final goal, ‘to assemble the water bottle trolley’. Reflection is an important part of learning, therefore we paused to encourage the team to think about the skills they have learned, the knowledge they have acquired and attitudes they have developed as a result of their learning. They made a list of ideas they wanted to share with their friends.

  • We tried everyone’s ideas to find out what works best.
  • We needed to help each other put the screws and nails because you need strong muscles to fix them.
  • We listened to each other so that we could know everybody’s ideas.
  • We took turns to talk so we can hear those ideas.

  • We had to be mindful, that means we are listening and looking at other people.
  • We had fun.
  • The best part was completing the trolley because we can use it.

The children wanted to ask PreK-K1 how they look after the trolley. Isabella and Suzy volunteered to speak to them. They came back with suggestions on where to place the trolley and how to use it carefully.

Through their inquiry, the team have developed a better understanding of the different ‘systems’ in place at the school to help the community maintain the school facilities and equipment. These authentic experiences have helped the team explore how ‘interconnected’ we are as we collaborate and work to ensure the community within the school has what it needs to support teaching and learning.

By using their ‘senses’ to explore the world around them, the team had opportunities to pursue their ideas based on their curiosities, documenting their thinking through a variety of mediums.

The team had opportunities to explore mathematical concepts about ‘measurement’ and ‘number’.

They developed their literacy skills as they took notes at interviews, documented their thinking, created plans and noted reflections using illustrations, words and sentences. Presenting ideas and updates to the class encouraged the team to see themselves as problem-solvers, risk-takers and communicators.

– Jacob’s statement, “You turn right to tighten the screws and left to untight (loosen the screws).” Shows how the team developed their skills and knowledge about tools (wrenches and Allen keys) for making and design.

The Field Trip Updates

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How many cartons of milk do we need to give everyone a cup of chocolate milk?

After working with a group of mathematicians to calculate how many cups of milk there were in one carton of milk, Adalyn took the initiative to work out how many cartons of milk we needed all together to make chocolate milk for both K2 classes. She illustrated the problem and the process, using pictures, words, numbers and symbols to show her problem-solving strategies. 

Adalyn explained her process to the class, suggesting that 6 cartons of milk would be enough for the 28 children, four teachers, Ms. Hannah and Mr. Patrick. She also suggested that we bring the two remaining cups back for Ms. Dora and Ms. Jacqui.

 

How many seats are there on one school bus?

Ciel counted the number of seats on the school bus…


Ciel “I counted the bus seats because then we can go to the field trip. Then we can know how many children and teachers can go in the bus. We will need 2 buses because if one bus has 28 seats but teachers go too, so there won’t be seats for the teachers so we need one more bus. Then the K2A teachers go in the K2A bus and the K2B teachers to in the K2B bus.”

We updated our trip planner, including more information, checking off tasks that we have completed and adding more steps where appropriate.

When children have AGENCY they:

  • can apply their understanding of concepts through their experiences, projects and play.​
  • are actively involved in discussion, questioning and by being self-directed in their learning.

The Survey

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We referred to our plan for the trip to the Skyways Kitchen to plan our next steps. The children were eager to invite K2B to join us on the trip to the kitchen. The team created a survey to find out how many children and teachers would like to join K2A on the trip.

Suzy “We can ask them, ‘Do you want to come to the Skyways kitchen to make the PTA but the cupcakes?’” The team wrote their question and possible responses. Then, they went off to K2B to speak to their friends.

Dahyun “I am finding the letter and big letter and I write that. Because then I know letters. Because I sound it out and find the letter, and it helped.”  

Euno “I write the question. I used the alphabet chart to find the letters. I see the alphabet chart and I can write the word.

I sound the letter. It was a little bit hard but then I sound and write and see the alphabet chart and write.”

Euno “I asked ‘Do you want to go to the cafeteria for making the PTA cupcake? And they said ‘yes’. I tell him sign your name on the paper on the ‘YES’.”

Dahyun “Because he want to go to Skyways kitchen and make cupcakes so they say it in the paper. Everybody said yes.”

The surveyors presented the data to the rest of the class explaining their process and what they learned as a result of their research.

Suzy “We are going to K2B and ask them and then I write the names. Everyone wants to go!”

While presenting the information, the class noticed that one child did not want to join the field trip. We wanted to make sure that the team had surveyed all the children. Therefore, we decided to check the responses against the K2B class list. As the names were called we realised that two of the children had not responded to the survey.

The researchers went back to collect the data they needed.

The class was pleased with the results both teachers and 13 of the 14 children wanted to join the field trip.

Having collected the information they need, they are ready for their next step, deciding on the date and booking the school buses for the trip.

How much is a Watermelon?

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Jacob was inspired by our challenge project, particularly the part about making ice pops with watermelon juice. He decided to visit a supermarket to learn more about watermelons. On his return, he shared what he had uncovered.

Jacob used the question starters to help him present his learning to the class.

  • Jacob “Me and my mum is going to the supermarket because we want to look the watermelon is how many money. And how big and how small. I go to Hippo to look how heavy and small. I went yesterday. I take a photo because then we know how heavy. It was 59 RMB.”

Jacob’s presentation made us wonder how many watermelons we might need to make the ice pops. We wanted to make sure we had enough for the project, but we also didn’t want to waste any food. 

  • Suzy “Maybe we can first get one watermelon and then we can test it because then if we didn’t know how many too much or too short.”
  • Evan “We need to ask Ms. Jacqui about the money for the watermelon.”
  • Jacob “We need to listen to other people and look.”
  • Suzy “Say it nice and loud because then other people cannot hear.”
  • Sea “I don’t know if Ms. Jacqui gives the money.”
  • Isabella “We need to tell Ms. Jacqui how many money we need.”
  • Dahyun “We can find the market.”
  • Euno “We don’t tell any people then we don’t have money so we cannot buy the watermelon.”

 

Can we have some money?

A group of children volunteered to take the project plan to Ms. Jacqui to ask her about the money they needed for the project. The children explained that they would need 60 RMB to purchase one watermelon to test the ice pops. Ms. Jacqui was excited to hear all about their plans and invited the children to think about the different steps they needed to take to plan a safe field trip across the road.   

They needed permission slips, money to purchase the watermelon and teachers to accompany them on the trip.   

 

Do we have enough ice-pop moulds?

Teacher “What about the moulds for the ice pops do we have enough for everyone?”

Isabella recalled using the ice pop moulds when she was in K1 and decided to reach out to Ms. Hannah to see if she could find them in the Early Years kitchen. Mohammed and Adalyn wanted to help Isabella with the task.

The team looked in all the cupboards to look for the ice pop moulds but couldn’t find them. After a lot of searching, they found two sets of 6 ice pop moulds in the Early Years pantry.  

The children decided that they needed 16 moulds for the children and the teachers in K2A. But they only had 12! They used what they knew about numbers and calculations to help them solve the problem.

They decided that they need to buy 6 more moulds to have enough for everyone in K2A.

A Map to the Skyways Kitchen

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What is a map?

When Patrick came in to talk to the children about their field trip to the Skyways kitchen, Riccardo and Evan asked him if he had a map to help us get to the kitchen. Patrick did not have a map but provided the children with directions on how to get to the location. We referred to the information and realised that we would need to create our own map using the information.  

We began by asking the children what they knew about maps.

  • Dahyun “A map is if we don’t know a place we can see the map.”
  • Sea “We don’t have a map, we take a map in the school.”
  • Riccardo “You can use a map to find treasure.”
  • Evan “You can use a map to drive the car.”
  • Adalyn “You can use a map to find somewhere.”
  • Isabella “You can use a map to find some place you don’t know.”
  • Suzy “You can use a map to find a place to drive.”
  • Euno “When you want to go to a market but you don’t know where is the supermarket, you see the map.”
  • Jacob “When you don’t know how to go home, then you can use a map to go home.”
  • Sea “We don’t have a map, we can see a map in a handphone.”
  • Dahyun “We cannot go to NIS we can see a map.”
  • George “If you want to go somewhere you can go with a map.” (in Mandarin)
  • Evan “You can walk with a map in the phone.”
  • Riccardo “In some maps, some things are in the right place and some things are not.”
  • Ciel “If you don’t have a map you can talk to another people.”
  • Sea “We don’t have a map in the phone we can put it in the car screen.”
  • Euno “You don’t have a map on the phone you see the iPad map.”
  • Ciel “If you don’t have a map you can make one.”
  • Euno “Mum’s handphone has a map, so my mum has a map.”

What does a map need to have?

  • Ciel “You need a paper, and markers. It has a house, schools.”
  • Sea “Supermarkets, hospitals, fire stations.”
  • Suzy “A car on the road.”

A team of children signed up to create a map to help us with our trip.

The cartographers documented the information using everyday language to describe directions, plotting locations, traffic symbols, and signs along the roadway.

They discussed the ‘purpose‘ of crosswalks and traffic lights and how they keep people safe.

  • Suzy “If we have traffic lights, other cars can go first, then the people will go, and then the traffic light will go green. When the traffic light is green the cars can go. The people have to stop because then they will go under the car’s wheel, that is super dangerous.”
  • Ciel “People need a crosswalk because people need to walk to the street. When you are on the crosswalk you need to look left and right because the car can hit you. When the walking man traffic light turns to green then you can walk. When it is red you can’t go. I go with my sister on the crosswalk. We have elevated roads because we can see the nature.”

The children’s conversations share their understanding of the ‘function’ of signs and symbols and safety equipment and how they communicate meaningful information to road users.

 

What is 1 Metre?

The cartographers paused to think about some of the information Patrick shared with the directions to the Skyways kitchen. The instructions read ‘go 200 metres’. 

Teacher “What is 200 metres?”

  • Isabella “We only heard centimetres before.”

Teacher “What is a centimetre?”

  • Isabella “The ruler.”
  • Sea “Only have numbers up to 30 centimetres.”
  • Evan “I think 1 metre is 100 centimetres.”
  • Ciel “I think 1 metre is 9 centimetres.”
  • Jacob “I think 5 centimetres is 1 metre.”
  • Evan “I think 200 centimetres is 1 metre.”
  • Ciel “I think 10 centimetres is 1 metre.”

We noticed that the children’s estimates ranged from 5 to 200 centimetres.

Therefore, we decided to provide them with a comparison example.

  • Shemo “I am about one and a half metres tall. How many centimetres might that be?”

As they looked carefully at the height of the teacher, Isabella recalled measuring height using a long ruler in the classroom.

  • Isabella “Mr. Seth has bigger rulers!”

Isabella brought back a ruler that was 50 centimetres long. The children looked at the number and realised that it wasn’t tall enough to measure the teacher. Isabella went and brought back a longer ruler that was 100 centimetres long.

They placed the ruler close to the teacher, but she was taller than the ruler. They placed the 50cm ruler above the 100cm ruler, the teacher was still taller than the ruler. Finally, they placed a 30-centimetre ruler above the other rulers and added the numbers together.

  • Ciel “I think Ms. Shemo is about 160 centimetres tall.
  • Sea “Because 100 and 50 and 10 is 160!”

Through this discussion, the children concluded that the 100-centimetre ruler was one metre. Now, they wondered how to show 200 meters on the map. After some thought…

  • Isabella “We can just write 200 meters on the paper!”

The children’s conversations and problem-solving show their developing understanding of standard units of measurement and how they are used in everyday life experiences.

Once the cartographers complete their map, they will present it to the rest of the class for feedback. We wonder how feedback and reflections will lead to improving the final map of the directions from NIS to the Skyways kitchen.

 

The Final Map

The map was presented to the class for feedback. The children decided to colour in the map to make it look ‘beautiful’.

They also suggested that including names (labels) will be helpful.  The children gathered around the map to include the different elements discussed.

They used what they knew about letters and sounds to write the labels.  We noticed the children helping each other when words were too hard to spell.

Finally, Ciel included a title for the map.

Planning the Ice Pop Challenge

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We revisited the 3-Minutes Challenge Project, where the children had suggested creating a range of activities based on an inquiry into ‘time’. They were excited to plan their ice pop challenge and gathered to think about the steps they would need to follow to complete the task and have the challenge.

As the children shared their ideas, we documented the details on large chart paper using illustrations, words and symbols to communicate information.  

The children were excited to make watermelon ice pops. They tapped into previous experiences of planning a field trip, explaining how forms needed to be filled in and permission sought to go ahead with the field trip.

They will have to find out how many ice pops need to be made. This would include calculating how many they need to make in total for the children in K2A and 5A buddies.

The children suggested asking Ms. Dora or Ms. Hannah how much the watermelon may cost. This would help them estimate and make a request for money from the school for the project. Next, a team would need to complete an order form and take it to Ms. Jackie.

  • Riccardo “We need to go and ask Ms. Jackie and say, ‘Please can you give us some money to buy watermelon because we need to make ice pops’.
  • Suzy “You need to just walk across the road to the Hippo Supermarket.”

The children suggested that we ask Mr. Dora and Ms. Hannah if they could help us visit the supermarket.

The children explained the steps we needed to follow such as preparing the watermelon, blending the watermelon to make the juice and finally freezing the molds of juice to make the ice pops.

We wonder how the children will gather and organise the information to help them plan and prepare for the challenge.

The Chocolate Milk Project: Calculating Volume

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The children are deeply engaged in their inquiry, solving problems and organising themselves to help plan the field trip to the Skyways kitchen. One of the suggestions they had was to make chocolate milk at the Skyways kitchen. We decided that this would be a good opportunity for the children to solve a real-life problem using their understanding of number and calculations. 

How many milk cartons do we need to make chocolate milk for all the children and teachers in K2?

We began by estimating how much milk they thought they would need.

  • Evan “I think 2 boxes of milk because we can drink with 2 classes, because one class can drink one milk.”
  • Adalyn “We don’t know how much one box of milk has.”
  • Ciel “I think it has 20 or 25.”
  • Jacob “I think 25 meters. We can measure it. With a ruler.”

Estimating how many cups of milk are in one carton.

The mathematicians drew to share their ideas, the estimates ranged from 10-20 cups in each milk carton.

We noticed that the children were referring to the ‘units’ (millilitres) of measurement when talking about volume. Riccardo had also suggested using a measuring cup with numbers on the side to measure the milk. Their explanations and suggestions communicated their working theory that, ‘we can use a ruler and measuring tools to measure accurately’.  Having noticed this interest in using standard units, we decided to draw their attention to the 1L displayed on the milk carton.

But how much is a litre (1L)?    

As the children are familiar with the use of the Base 10 system to represent numbers and number relationships, we used the blocks to draw a parallel to the ‘volume’ discussing the value of one, ten, one hundred and one thousand.

The mathematicians concluded that the milk carton had 1000ml, or one litre (L) or 2 of the 500ml jugs of milk.

We decided to check if Jacob’s estimate that a cup of milk was of 25ml was correct. We poured out one cup of milk from the carton and used the measuring jug to measure it. We learned that there was 150ml of milk in one cup. We used Base10 blocks to show the number.

How would we know how many cups of milk were in each milk carton?

The mathematicians used words, images and numbers to make their thinking visible. As they documented their ideas, we noticed that they were calculating the quantity in millilitres and cups. Therefore, we continued to use the Base-10 blocks to help them calculate, solve and explain their math problem.

We noticed that each child processed the problem and documented their strategies differently. They shared and listened to each other’s strategies and thinking and helped each other with the calculations.

Together, they learned that a carton of milk had about 6 cups of milk.

The team presented their process and learning to the class.

  • Ciel “We measured what milk is inside.”
  • Evan “We measured about 100 of milk.”
  • Jacob “One box has equals 6 cups of milk. Because we already measured it. One cup has 150 %.”
  • Evan “2 cups have 300 ml.”
  • Adalyn “4 have 600ml because 300+300=600”
  • Evan “6 cups have 900 because we think it.
  • Adalyn “Because 600+300=900ml and 100 left over.”
  • Evan “Yes, because 900+100=1000.”

We look forward to our next steps as we plan our trip to the Skyways kitchen. 

Writing How-To Books

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‘How-To’ Writing is one of our favourite writing units in kindergarten as the children love getting to be the expert as they teach others. Following on from our previous writing mini lesson, which focused on creating a piece of collaborative text that provides information on ‘how to give a cat a bath’, we created a list of all the things that the children would like to teach others. We began by brainstorming all the things we know how to do.

We collected all the ideas the children shared on a chart paper to create a collection of ideas they can refer to when they make their how-to texts.

Some of their ideas were how to:

  • make cookies
  • brush your teeth
  • dress up
  • eat independently
  • conduct an experiment
  • read a book
  • put on your shoes
  • pack a bag
  • play with the cat
  • grow a plant
  • take a photograph
  • make a video
  • make pizza
  • draw a picture
  • make ice cream
  • catch a cat
  • take a bath
  • make a pie

We noticed that the children had many different interesting ideas about the things they can teach others. After revisiting the collaborative text, we referred to our list of key features of how to books.

The writers were excited to create their how-to texts. They began by drawing and labelling a list of things they would need to complete the tasks. Next, they will tell what to do in sequential steps.

We look forward to sharing these texts with others to help them learn how to complete different tasks successfully.  

‘How-To’ Books

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The children have been exploring how to create instructions as part of their ongoing investigations linked to classroom projects. We decided to read a mentor text to help the children think more deeply about the importance of a list of materials and the sequence of detailed steps when telling others how to complete a task.

We read the story ‘How to Give Your Cat a Bath: in Five Easy Steps by Nicola Winstanley, illustrated by John Martz. In this hilarious and clever “how-to,” a little girl tries to follow a series of steps to bathe her unwilling cat. Although the task seemed simple, the cat makes it challenging to follow the steps. As the steps keep changing, the cat keeps escaping and the mess keeps escalating.

We decided to create our own instructions on ‘how to give a cat a bath’.

We documented the children’s ideas on large chart paper, including illustrations, labels, numbered steps and details. Each suggestion was discussed to ensure the details made sense to a reader.

 

We look forward to seeing how the children apply their learning in new contexts, through their independent and group project work.

A plan to make Chocolate Milk!

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We decided to revisit our first ideas about the wasted milk. The children recalled Mr. Patrick’s suggestion to make chocolate milk when they visit the kitchen.

  • Adalyn “We can use the milk to make chocolate milk.”
  • Riccardo “But we don’t know how to.”
  • Suzy “I know, Mr. Patrick knows. We can ask him.”
  • Jacob “K2A and K2B are going to drink the chocolate milk.”
  • Riccardo “We need chocolate to make the chocolate milk but we don’t have it. Maybe we can go to the cafe to buy some chocolate.”
  • Jacob “We can buy the chocolate from the cafeteria where we get lunch.”
  • Suzy “We can go to buy the chocolate from the chocolate shop.”
  • Jacob “We can collect milk from K2A, K2B and K1 when we have lunch in the kitchen. We can ask them for the milk that is not used.” 

Teacher “How much milk do we need?”

  • Jacob “We can measure the milk with a ruler.”
  • Riccardo “We can measure it with the ruler plate, the plate with numbers.”

The children’s conversation revealed their understanding that we use tools to measure accurately. They suggested using a measuring cup to find out how much milk we need to collect for both classes to have a cup of chocolate milk.

Planning a Field Trip

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During Atelier time, the children revisited the PTA cupcake project. They were excited to tell George why they had decided to visit the Skyways bakery and make the birthday cupcakes as it was his first day back in K2A.

Inviting K2B

The children had suggested inviting the children and teachers in K2B to join the field trip. However, the K2B class didn’t know many details about the project. The children decided it would be a good idea to provide more information to determine if they wanted to join the field trip to the kitchen.

What would we need to tell them about the trip?

  • Why do we want to go on a field trip
  • Where we were going
  • What we hope to do and how we will do it
  • Who will go on the field trip
  • What we will do once we get there
  • Jacob explained why we were going to the kitchen.
  • Mohammad reminded everyone that we were going to make a “Cake” in the kitchen. He wondered if he could make a cake shaped like a “car”!
  • Adalyn “We want to make some cupcakes.”
  • Riccardo “For people who didn’t have PTA cupcakes.”

  • Suzy, Mohammad and Jacob quickly recalled Patrick’s suggestion about making chocolate milk with the leftover milk that we collected after lunch.
  • Jacob wondered if we could get to the kitchen in our vehicles.
  • Ciel wondered if we could make people.
  • Junsu wondered if we could make a vehicle to take us there.

The children documented their ideas about making the cakes, thinking about all the ingredients they needed to make the cupcakes.

Next, the children will prepare to interview the children in K2B to share their plans and ask them if they would like to join the field trip.

We decided to revisit our plan to make the cupcakes.

The children referred to the plans they had created when they were in the Atelier. They discussed the ideas they had documented in their notebooks.

  • Dahyun “We need milk, eggs, flour, butter, chocolate, salt, water, cherries, sprinkles…”
  • Suzy “We need to go there by school bus.”
  • Adalyn “We need the lunch card.”
  • Jacob “We need the lunch card so people know who we are.”

This led to a deeper conversation about the concept of safety. Jacob suggested that we book 2 school buses. Susy explained why when she said,

  • Suzy “One for K2A and one for K2B.”
  • Jacob “We can go count how many seats are there in one bus.”
  • “We have 26 children in K2” explained Ceil, calculating the total number of children in both kindergarten classes.
  • Evan “We need a map. We need our water bottle.”
  • Jacob “Backpacks.”
  • Dahyun “We need the big oven. And we need our books.”

We documented all the children’s ideas and suggestions for their next steps. It was clear that many different aspects needed to be considered and planned before we went on the trip to the kitchen. They would need to:

  • calculate the quantity of milk they would need to take with them
  • gather the required data, and then organise and book the school buses
  • Create the map to make sure we know how to get to the location safely
  • and consider all the different items we would need to take with us to make sure we have a safe and fun learning experience.

Interviewing Patrick from the Skyways Bakery

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The children invited Patrick from the Skyways Bakery to come in as they wanted to learn more about the kitchen.

Isabella “We want to go to the Skyways.”

Suzy “We want to make cupcakes.”

Patrick began by talking to the children about the bakery, how it is organised and the different departments that are involved in the function of the bakery. He was in charge of creating new products and making sure that the quality of the products remained the same.

  • Riccardo “How much is one cupcake?”
  • Euno “Is the cupcake 5 or 10?”

Patrick said he was not 100% sure so he would send the exact price for each cupcake when he returned to the bakery.

  • Evan “How to make cupcake and ice cream.”

Patrick talked to the children about the difference between a cupcake and a muffin.

  • a muffin could be considered a breakfast item and a cupcake is usually not
  • a cupcake usually has a topping and a muffin typically doesn’t
  • a cupcake is softer than a muffin. This is mainly due to the use of sugar and the different quantities of ingredients such as flour and eggs.

The children were excited to learn that they make bread, cakes, ice cream and chocolate treats in the kitchen. He invited the children to come to the bakery kitchen to learn how they make these items.  

  • Dahyun “How to make milk?
  • Sea and Dahyun “Do we need milk for the cupcakes?”

Patrick explained that sometimes they do but also make cupcakes without milk. They often use milk powder instead of liquid milk. 

  • Dahyun “How do you make cupcakes and ice cream?”
  • Riccardo “How to make cupcake? I don’t know how to make the cupcake. We need to go to your bakery to learn how to make the cupcake.”
  • Junsu “Can we learn how to make ice cream?”

Patrick invited the class to visit the kitchen in the city to observe the process! The children cheered with excitement. He said we could come at 9:00am when his staff are working to watch the process. The kitchen is about 9 kilometers away, about a 20-minute drive from NIS.  

  • Suzy “Can we go to the cupcake room to learn how to make cupcake? What do we need to bring with us?”
  • Jacob “I want to help to make cupcakes. Can we do that?”

Patrick “You might have to bring a stool because our tables are all for adults, so to be able to do something with the equipment at the table you will need one.”

He explained that there is a section for hot items like bread and baked goods, and another for cold items like ice creams, cakes and desserts. The ovens and equipment might be very big so we have to think about staying safe. 

  • Evan “Do you have a map to help us get there?”
  • Jacob “How do we get there?”
  • Patrick “From the school gate…”

Patrick provided detailed directions. We wonder how the children might document this information to help them reach the bakery.

  • Sea, Dahyun and Euno “We want to make cupcake, do we need milk?”
  • Ciel “Can we use K2A milk to make cupcakes?”

Patrick “You bring the milk, we heat it up and we can add chocolate to make chocolate milk.”

We look forward to the children’s next steps in planning their trip!

Student Presentation on the Recycling Center in Nanjing

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Two years ago, Patrick was in K2A. During this time, he was interested in learning about waste and recycling and made a presentation to his class after conducting his research. Patrick is now in grade 2. He recently visited a waste recycling center in Nanjing in response to a unit of study in class and was excited to return to K2 to share what he had learned during his visit.

Oliver, who was in K2A the previous year, had created a poster about waste disposal while learning about recycling. Patrick referred to Oliver’s poster, explaining which items could be disposed of in the different coloured recycling bins. The children have noticed some of these bins around the school campus and were eager to learn more about their function in recycling.

Patrick shared many different photographs of the recycling center, providing explanations on the Process of transporting and sorting materials such as paper, food and plastic waste. He was excited to talk about how long it takes for materials such as paper, fabric and plastic to decompose.

The next day, we revisited Patrick’s presentation.

  • Suzy “It is the machine.”

  • Riccardo “He said it is so stinky.”
  • Suzy “They take long to disappear.”
  • Jacob “In soil. They will disappear in the soil. How many years it takes to disappear.”

  • Suzy “Cardboard is harder than paper so it has the different number. It takes longer to disappear than paper.”
  • Suzy “This is for the trees.”
  • Isabella “This is from the food garbage. Its good for the plants.”
  • Riccardo “So they can grow up big like the trees.”
  • Jacob “I put the new soil in the new plants in the NIS garden, before K2. Ms. Hannah let me help she, I was putting new soil because then the trees will be grown up.”
  • Evan “The things get grabbed and it takes it away.”
  • Isabella “It can carry the weight of two elephants.”

  • Ciel “This is wood. This is to make something new. Maybe wooden chairs.”

  • Jacob “Wooden tables. Some people can make wood chairs and wood tables and something else with wood.”
  • Riccardo “And have glass waste.”
  • Junsu “This is cans. This is waste cans.”

  • Jacob “It will make it into new bottles. Someone will use the fire to make it like disappear, then you can make the new bottle.”
  • Suzy “They are recycling it.”
  • Mohammad “This garbage. This is bad. Water bottle in garbage.”
  • Suzy “Patrick wanted the NIS to be not so stinky. Too many trash. The children are making the trash because they have a lot of trash in their hands from the paper and bottles.”
  • Jacob “And some cans. And wood and cans.”
  • Suzy “He wants us not to make so many trash.”

Ms. Shemo showed the children her snack bag. It was made of plastic.

  • Suzy “Because you have the plastic bag which is going to be the trash.”
  • Jacob “Even the tissue.”
  • Suzy “Ms. Shemo will throw the plastic bag in the bin and then it’s going to be stinky. It is going to take 30 years to disappear.”
  • Jacob “If you don’t want to eat the bread, then it will be in the trash too.”
  • Riccardo “You can buy a snack box to carry it to school.”
  • Jacob “You can wash it then”

Ms. Hannah “Do you notice any trash waste around you at home?”

  • Riccardo “I don’t have trash at home.”
  • Hannah “How do you have no trash? What do you do?
  • Riccardo “Its only a little bit because we don’t use so much. Because my mum throws the trash in the other places.”
  • Euno “I only have a little bit trash at home because so many trash is waste food. Korean trash is different but here we can find other trash altogether. In Korea trash is not wasted.”

We wonder about the action the children will take in response to Patrick’s presentation on the importance of recycling.

Waste: Leftover Milk

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We have been exploring the concept of ‘waste’ in many different situations around the classroom. We have been thinking about and taking action to solve some of the problems we have noticed with food and paper waste. We decided to gather the children to discuss yet another issue to do with food waste during lunchtime.   

We began by trying to identify the problem.

  • Suzy “Some of the people don’t like the milk.”
  • Euno “People wasting the milk. Because we drink one box of milk. We cannot drink the other box of milk.”

The children agreed that the leftover milk was going to waste. We began to look for ways we could solve this problem.

What are the things we can do?

  • Suzy “We can drink the leftover milk during the snack time.”

We discussed this idea further and invited the children to think of possible solutions to the problem.

  • Riccardo “We can use the milk to make something.”
  • Isabella “We don’t have cups for the milk during snack time.”
  • Evan “We can make cups.”
  • Suzy “I made a cup during Olivia’s birthday.”
  • Isabella “Bring the colour cups from the EY kitchen.”
  • Suzy “We should ask the kitchen Ayi if we can use the cups. The Ayis who cook the lunch.”
  • Jacob saw possibilities with reusing some of the empty milk cartons when he explained, “We can use the empty box to make something.”
  • Suzy added, “Maybe we can use the box for making paper.”
  • Riccardo “Ask other classes if they have plastic cups for us to use.”
  • Evan “We can ask the big kitchen for some cups.”
  • Dahyun “Go and ask other classes do they have some cups.” She suggested asking a Grade 3 class!
  • Riccardo “Maybe grade two?”
  • Euno “Maybe K1? When I was in K1, we have cups, white cups.”
  • Riccardo “We can buy some cups.”

What if we don’t like the milk?

  • Adalyn “We can try.”
  • Suzy “We can drink a little bit, if you think you don’t like it you can try it again.”
  • Riccardo “If you don’t like the milk, you shouldn’t pour the milk in your cup.”
  • Isabella “If you don’t like milk you can drink water.”
  • Suzy “You can drink juice, I see a K2B kid drinks the juice.”
  • Evan “I think it comes from the big kitchen. If you want the juice, you can tell the Ayi of the kitchen.

Ricardo provided another suggestion…

  • Riccardo “Use the milk to make something!”
  • Ciel “Maybe we can make some chocolate milk.”
  • Isabella “Hot cocoa.”
  • Evan “Hot chocolate.”
  • Euno “Strawberry milk.”
  • Junsu “Banana milk.”
  • Dahyun “Lemon milk.”
  • We could hear the children’s excitement about flavoured milk.
  • Evan “Yoghurt.”
  • Jacob “We can make some chocolate yogurt.”
  • Isabella “Ice-cream.”
  • Evan “We can put vanilla in.”
  • Suzy “We can put some strawberry jam.”
  • Ciel “My sister can make ice cream with yoghurt. She put yoghurt in the fridge and she can make ice cream with the yoghurt. She puts some fruit when she makes the ice cream.”
  • Jacob has not forgotten his solution to the waste problem saying…“We can use the milk boxes to make some funny things.”

As we listened to the children’s creative ideas and solutions, we noticed their developing understanding of the choices we can make to reduce waste. We look forward to exploring some of these suggestions, to create an action plan for their next steps.

How many cupcakes do we need to make?

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A team were tasked with calculating how many cupcakes they needed to make for the NIS community that did not receive the birthday cupcakes.

The children went back to the list to see how they could solve the problem. Paper, pens and manipulatives were available as resources.

  • Jacob “We are going to the PTA where they make the cupcake so we will have a trip.”
  • Ciel “If you lose the PTA cupcake, you will tell the teachers and the teachers will help you find it.”
  • Isabella “We are putting the numbers together to figure out how many all together.”

  • Suzy “We are writing the people who didn’t have the PTA cupcakes. We will give them a cupcake.”

  • Evan “We used the counting blocks to see how to count the numbers because it’s too hard for us.”

  • Isabella “We need to have the same number. Maybe we need to agree with each other then we can say the same number.”
  • Suzy “We can talk to each other then we can have the same number.”

Further to the children’s suggestion, we decided to use the virtual Base 10 blocks to discuss and solve the problem together. The children helped colour and count the different addends to find the total.

The cupcake problem helped the children explore the different strategies we can use to solve number problems. Making their thinking visible through their drawings helped them communicate their ideas with each other.

Additionally, the children explored the relationship between their drawings and manipulatives and their function in solving mathematical problems.

Which one does not belong? Bicycles

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Which one does not belong? Why?

The children were encouraged to look carefully at the four different quadrants with bicycles. They had to decide if A, B, C or D did not belong and explain why. A group of children focused on the positioning of the different bicycles explaining that some were parked in the shape of an X and others in rectangles. Ciel noticed that some bicycles were smaller than others. Isabella and Suzy decided to count the number of bicycles to decide which section did not belong. We moved to count the number of wheels in each section. Then we counted how many purple or yellow bikes each section had.

The children use their knowledge of doubling to find the total, explaining that 4 + 4 was 8, 5 + 5 was 10, 8 + 8 was 16 and 10 + 10 was 20.

The ‘which one but doesn’t belong’ activities help the children look carefully at the clues provided to make decisions. It encourages them to think about what they know about numbers, patterns, shapes and data, and to explore connections to make decisions. These mathematical conversations help the children estimate, notice and analyse information to develop their mathematical identities. 

Celebrating Everyone in the Community

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The Birthday Cupcake team met with Ms. Hannah to plan their next steps. One of the first steps was to find out how many people at NIS don’t get the PTA cupcakes. 

Ms. Hannah showed the children the list of the outside contracted workers at NIS, which was shared by the Human Resources department at NIS> Collectively, there are 18 security guards, 17 cleaners,  9 gardeners,  8 Homecaught workers, and 14 Aden workers at NIS.

These members do not receive a Birthday cupcake from the NIS PTA, as they are outsourced contracted staff. However, they get different types of birthday celebrations. The children thought it would be great for them also to get the PTA cupcakes and wondered how they could make this happen.  

  • Isabella “Where did PTA order the birthday? Maybe We can go to the place where the PTA orders and make the birthday cupcakes?”
  • Suzy “Maybe we can learn how they make the PTA cupcakes?”
  • Adalyn “I like to learn how to make the PTA cupcakes.”
  • Isabella “We can make cupcakes for our families.”
  • Evan “We can give cupcakes to those at NIS who don’t get the PTA cupcakes.”
  • Jacob “We need the map.”
  • Isabella “We need to find out where this bakery is. We will need a car, and if everyone goes, we will need a school bus.”
  • Suzy “Can we do it during Atelier time? Maybe we can ask everyone if they want to go at the end of the Atelier time.”
  • Adalyn “We will need transportation because we are all going. We can’t just go there.”

The team wondered who they could ask.

  • Suzy “We can ask the school bus driver. Maybe he will know.

They wondered how much money they needed for a cupcake.

  • Isabella “Maybe we can ask Ms. Rebacca about the cupcake cost?”
  • Jacob “We can then use the calculator to figure out how much in total.”
  • Isabelle “School bag and student ID card.”

The children presented their proposals to the rest of the K2A. They had some questions to solve before the field trip to the Skyways Bakery:

  • Can we visit the Skyways Bakery? Who can we ask?
  • Where do you get the map to the Skyways Bakery, where they make the PTA cupcakes?
  • How many cupcakes do we need to order?
  • Can we also make cupcakes for our families as well?
  • How much is the cupcake?
  • How much money do we need to pay for all the cupcakes

The PTA Birthday cupcakes project invites the children to explore a range of different concepts through the process of research. Their inquiry has focused on the concepts of ‘inclusion’ and ‘community’, as the children have been learning about the people in their community to look for authentic ways to connect with them. As they dive deeper into this project, they will need to apply a range of skills to answer the questions and wonderings they have noted, plan their field trip and organise a special treat for those who do not receive one for their birthday. They will need to find more information about the location of the bakery, and explore maps signs and symbols to make decisions about the journey. They will need to contact relevant members of the community to organise the transportation and plan the field trip. They will need to contact the bakery to find out important information about the visit and plan for the necessary items and the money that would be required for the trip. We look forward to observing how the children apply their knowledge and skills to take responsibility for the preparation and organization of the field trip.

Presenting to the NIS Staff

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The Cupcake Team and Ms. Hannah shared their presentation and poster with the children in K2A to seek feedback before presenting to the NIS faculty team during the ‘Monday Briefing’ in the Staff Room. Overall, the children thought they presented well because:

  • the voice was loud and clear
  • they took turns to share
  • everyone knew what to say!

The team worked together to prepare for their presentation to the NIS staff. They gathered all the items they needed for the display in the staff room.

  • Where should we keep the poster in the staff room?
  • Where should we stand when we present to the teachers so they can see all of us and the poster?

They made the decisions together. They presented the poster and the information to the teachers.

We wonder what their next steps would be!

Designing the Bike Park Signs

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We revisited the bike park project to discuss our next steps. The children were invited to create new signage for the bike park.

A team of volunteers sketched their first ideas on paper. We noticed that some of the children wanted to include drawings, and some of them were keen to use words.

These ideas will be presented to the class to gather feedback.

The Trolley Project – Measuring Accurately

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The team reviewed the information they had gathered about the missing components to decide their next steps. Isabella volunteered to help with the process.  

They decided that an important first step was to measure the missing parts accurately, to order the correct items. The team used what they knew about measurements and measuring tools to begin their work.     

  • Jacob “You should measure it from the top.”

  • Adalyn “But I think it is better to only measure the stick part.” (She thought she should start with 1cm.)
  • Jacob “The length of the screw is a bit longer than 3 and a half.”

The team sought Ms. Sophia to discuss the function of the hash marks on the ruler, exploring the connection between millimetres and centimetres. They found that each small space was 0.1cm, and the measurement was 3.6 centimetres.

Evan placed marks on the picture and drew an arrow to the number, to show the purchasing officers which part of the screw they were measuring.

He wrote the unit cms beside it, which lets others know what the number means. Everyone decided to follow Evan’s method to avoid any confusion.

Jacob decided that he wanted to measure the diameter of the nut and placed the ruler on the head of the nut to find the measurement.

Evan and Jacob measured the length of the hook, it was 4.5 cms.

Adalyn thought it was necessary to also measure the width of the hook, “It is 0.9 cm wide!”

  • Jacob “We don’t have the black rings to use as a example because they are all missing. But I can draw a picture of them instead.”
  • Adalyn “But it is not the exact thing. It’s just your picture of the thing, and there must be some differences between your drawing and the thing we want. We can take a photo of the wheels to show people, because the rings are for the wheels.”
  • Isabella “And we should measure the wheels as well.”
  • Adalyn “It is 7 cm.”
  • Jacob “No, it is 8 cm.”
  • Adalyn “If you measure it from 0, it is 7 cm, and if you measure it from 1, it is 8 cm.”

After we took a break from the project, Adalyn and Isabella decided to work together to find out how many millimetres there are in 1 cm using a ruler to count all the small lines between the 2 numbers.

  • Isabella “It is too hard for me to count the small lines because they are too small.”
  • Adalyn “We need a magnify glass to help us look more clearly.”

They worked as a team to figure out that there are 9 lines between 2 numbers on the ruler, and if they add the two long lines right under the two numbers, there are 11 lines.

Isabella “So how many millimetres are there in 1 cm? 9 or 11?

Rules for Sorting

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We have noticed the children categorising everyday objects around the campfire as they play and construct with different objects and materials. We decided to present the Mathematicians with an opportunity to sort, categorise and organise a collection of objects to help them explore how objects can be organised in different ways.

To help them think about this further, we referred to prior documentation from the ‘waste’ project, when the children sorted the different foods into groups and discussed their rules for the sort.

The children noticed that:

  • Isabella “Pictures tell what it is.”
  • Adalyn “Words at the bottom tell everybody what is that picture.”
  • Riccardo “There are numbers because you can tell how high the people like more food.”
  • Evan “How many food there are.”

The children worked in teams to sort out the different collections. We discussed the skills they would need to use to complete the team challenge.

One team was given a collection of loose parts. As they observed the contents of the basket, they decided to sort it by shape. The team were invited to think about other ways to sort the objects. 

Next, they decided to sort the objects by colour. They noticed that the coloured objects also had different shapes and put them into new categories sorted by shape and colour.

The team were reminded about the graph they had made previously, to help them think about how they might organise the information they had gathered. They moved the objects to a new piece of paper, placing the objects in lines.

The team were given feedback on the placement of the objects, encouraging them to consider where the objects were placed in relation to the numbers they had written on the left side of the paper.

Finally, the teams included labels at the bottom of the chart paper to help others know the different categories. Together they decided that the title for the chart would be ‘Shape Tower Chart’.

A second team were given a bucket of loose parts. The team spent a lot of time discussing all the different objects in the bucket, talking about the shapes and colours, and deciding how they might want to sort the objects.

At first, they decided to sort them into two categories beads and buttons. After some negotiations, they decided to categorise them by colour instead.

Having sorted all the different colours out, they transferred this information onto a new piece of chart paper. They were encouraged to refer to the ‘favourite Foods’ graph they had made previously, to help them notice other information that should be included on a graph.

They began to include labels and numbers on the graph and helped each other out with the spelling of the labels. 

They finally repositioned all the different objects to create an organised representation of data and labelled their graph ‘Colour Shape Graph’.  

A third team was given a mixture of cutlery.  The team shared and explained their ideas to each other and then came up with three ways of categorising the collection of cutlery: by colour, size and function.

It took a long time for them to decide on the rule for the sort.  They voted to sort by colour but decided to try out all three ways to see which one works best.

Finally, they agreed on sorting the cutlery by their function as this was ‘the best’. They sorted them into 5 categories, spoons, forks, knives, chopsticks, special spoon (for getting things like ice-cream, salt, or sugar). They were encouraged to refer to the ‘favourite Foods’ graph they had made previously, to help them notice other information that should be included on a graph. They realised that organising the objects vertically rather than horizontally helped create a better graph. They included labels and numbers on the graph and helped each other out with the spelling of the labels. 

They used Google Translate to find the word ‘tableware’. They finally repositioned all the different objects to create an organised representation of data and labelled their graph ‘Tableware Graph’.

Learning Outcomes:

  • collect data
  • sort and label real objects into more than 2 sets by more than one common attribute
  • record data on simple tables
  • present information using pictographs where one picture equals 1
  • explain data using simple comparative language

Story Arc

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We have been reading and creating stories during ‘Reading and Writing Workshop’ times. We have been using loose parts and our play spaces to create and share stories. 

BUT…what makes a good story?

To explore this idea further, we read the story ‘A Cat and a Dog’, by Claire Masurel. In this story, a cat and a dog live in the same house, but they are not friends.They fight all the time, about everything. Then disaster strikes. Dog’s beloved ball bounces up into a tree and is stuck. Cat’s precious stuffed mouse falls into the pond. Dog can’t climb. Cat can’t swim.

 

The Story Arc

Next, we used a Story Arc to identify and retell the important elements of the story. We documented these ideas and created a class chart that we can refer to when creating our own stories. Together we identified the:

  • Characters(who is in the story)
  • Setting(where the story takes place)
  • Events
    • Beginning
    • Problem
    • Solution
    • End

The children were invited to create their own stories, to include a beginning, middle and end. They will continue to use what they know about letters and sounds to share their stories with others.

The Language of Paper

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Isabella was curious about the recycled paper in the classroom. She wanted to see if the paper could be reused. Isabella wondered if the marks, drawings, and lines would disappear if she soaked the paper in water. She decided to test her theories by finding a large glass bottle to place the paper in water and observing what happened over a few days. 

She made a sign to inform others about her paper experiment and documented her observations over time.

Isabella noticed that the water began to change colour and the texture of the paper changed from dry to wet to ‘mushy’. Finally, she placed the pieces of paper on a drying rack and presented her findings to the class.

The children were inspired by Isabella’s experiment and decided to make their own paper. We began by creating a plan, documenting all the steps that might be essential in the process.

As we drew and wrote what we heard the children say. We included images and labels to help us express our ideas clearly. The children volunteered to lead different parts of the process, beginning with informing others of their plan for paper-making and collecting recycled paper from the community.

Maps

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We have noticed the children creating different settings for storytelling with blocks and loose parts. Their designs included specific spaces that met the needs of the animals and characters in their stories.  

Having noticed this developing interest in layout, we decided to introduce the children to a picture book that introduces the children to the idea of ‘maps’. In this story, Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len cunningly plan to steal the farmer’s cow.

The colourful pictures by Lydia Monks and the story plot by Julia Donaldson take the children on a journey with the farm animals and two robbers armed with a map.  

Archie “This is a map because the ladybird catch the bad guys, they are going to come and they want to see if there is a treasure and they got trapped. And they got under and tried to climb up because it was so deep and dark. And then the bad guys got out and he go into the swimming pool and they got out and locked the door and they got trapped.”

 What can we learn from a map?

  • Isabella “Where to go.”
  • Suzy “If we remember and it’s fun we can go there again.”
  • Jacob “Then you can find the treasure. If you have a map, if you have a treasure then every day you can find the treasure.”
  • Isabella “If you are lost, you can use to walk the right way.”

  • Riccardo “You don’t know how to go to some hiding spot, then use the treasure map.”
  • Jacob “If you find treasure, if you still have the map and it didn’t break you keep it every day. You can every day find treasure. Just pirates can find treasure.”
  • Suzy “Pirates always have maps.”
  • Archie “I looked for treasure in India. I didn’t have a map. We made the map, Elmo and me.”
  • Isabella “If you have a map. You don’t step off the booby trap. It means a hole. If you step on something, then there will be holes.”
  • Junsu “You can find it on the map. You can find everything on the map” (in Korean)

  • Sea “My grandpa’s car have a map. On the phone because grandpa don’t have a map then he will go to the wrong place. Mummy has a map on the phone. Mum see the phone, and then come.”
  • Ethan “You can see where it is on the map. There is a house on the map. There is a map at home.”
  • Euno “You can also find the car you want on the map.”

  • Dahyun “You can find everything on the map and find what you want. My mummy has a map on the computer phone. She don’t know where going then, then she looks at the map.”

We invited the children to think about the different ways they can let others know about the different spaces and objects in their play spaces. They decided that they could draw and add labels to their creations. We look forward to observing how the children take these ideas into their play spaces.

We wonder how they will use what they know about messages, symbols and words to share information about their play.

The Foods We Like to Eat

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Our discussions about ‘food waste’ led to the children sharing all the foods they like to eat from their school lunch menu. They drew pictures of the different foods and included labels to share their ideas.

Then, we gathered to sort and organise the information we had collected.

We began to sort and group the different foods. The children discussed the data that emerged through this process. Rice, hot dogs and pizza were some of the children’s favourite foods.

How can we tell how many people like each type of food?

  • Suzy “We can write numbers!”

 

The children included numbers on one side of the graph.

How can we tell which foods are in one column?

  • Riccardo “We can write the words.”

We decided to add the names as Riccardo suggested.

The children discussed the idea of a title, to let people know what the graph was about. They agreed that it was ‘What K2A Like to Eat’.

 

  • How do the rest of the children in the Early Years feel about their options for school lunch?
  • Do they also like the same foods?

We wonder what choices the children might make because of their data collection.

How will they use the information to guide their next steps to reduce food waste? 

Story Workshop

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Play

The children have continued to work on their stories during ‘Story Workshop’ time. During this dedicated literacy session, the children are invited to play in their preferred spaces, independently or collaboratively, to create stories with the different materials and toys available around the campfire.

Some of the children’s favourite spaces for storytelling are the block play areas and the light table with small world toys or loose parts. We have also noticed the children’s interest in writing stories about the different paper crafts they have created. Some have even chosen to create stories around the classroom library reading space.

This dedicated time allows the children to build their stories, discuss their ideas with their friends and make choices about the stories they want to share. Time for discussion allows the children to think deeply about the characters, settings and plots in the story. 

Draw and Write

After having time to play with the materials, the children move to document their ideas using drawings, labels, words and sentences.

They are invited to use the Word Wall, alphabet charts and any other tools they need to help them with their writing. They are encouraged to say the words out loud, listen to the sounds in the word and then write all the sounds they hear as they say the word. They practice this strategy by imagining themselves holding the word in their hands, stretching the word out like a rubber band to say the word as they listen to the sounds.

 

Share

After dedicated time for writing, the children gather to share some of their work. The teachers highlight what they have noticed the children doing with their writing and drawing, using these as opportunities to present new ideas, techniques and strategies to the children.

Sharing and presenting to the class encourages the children to celebrate what they can already do.

As we work on our stories during ‘Story Workshop’ time, we will continue to explore the different ways we can tell and share our stories with others.  

Food Waste – Choices and Responsibility

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We have been discussing the concept of waste, thinking critically about the choices we can make to reduce food waste. A photograph of the food waste in K2 during lunchtime led to many discussions about choices and our responsibility to reduce waste.

The children wondered how much food waste we had at lunchtime. We decided to collect the leftovers from the lunch boxes to find out.

How do we know how much food there is in the box?

We decided to read a book about measurement to help the children think about the tools we use to measure ingredients and food.Having seen the images in the book, we decided to weigh the leftover food. Mr. Arek told us there were scales in the cafeteria for this purpose. A team went over to the cafeteria to see if they could weigh the box of leftovers.

They learned that the box was 1111 grams. When we returned to the classroom the children used a scale Mr. Seth had in his classroom to see if it recorded a similar weight. They also tried weighing the box of food using a bathroom scale.

Children were unsure about the number that was recorded on all the different scales. On day one we had 1110g of food waste. We decided to use manipulatives and virtual tools to talk about big numbers.

Reflecting on the waste we had collected, the children decided to make an effort to reduce the waste by:

  • eating more food from their lunch box
  • trying to eat different foods they don’t normally try
  • Remind their friends to eat more and talk less

On the second day, we weighed the leftovers to see if there was a difference. This time the scale recorded the weight of 534 grams.   

Was the food waste more or less than on day one?

We used the base 10 blocks to see what these two numbers looked like. We talked about regrouping the hundreds to make a 1000 when showing the number 1110 grams. We used the words more and less to describe the two lots of manipulatives.

Having seen that the second day’s waste was less than the first, we decided to explore some other ideas to reduce food waste. We discussed the different foods that were offered as options in the children’s school lunch box.

Which of these foods were their favourite which ones did they dislike eating and why?

The children drew and wrote to share all their favourite school lunch options.  

We wonder how we might organise the data that we collect about the school lunch.

  • What does the data tell us about the food the children prefer to eat?
  • How might we use this information to improve some of the choices we have for school lunch?

Where are the cupcakes?

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  • Isabella “We saw the table and on the table there was no cupcakes.”
  • Adalyn “We went to the teacher’s room to look at the cupcakes.”
  • Evan “We say we give it to Ms. Lei, she is so happy”.
  • Sea “Me go to Ms. Lei to give her the cupcake. She was so happy and said, ‘Thank You’ to Isabella.”
  • Jacob “Some teachers forgot their cupcake because we go to the teacher’s room so we looked and so we know some teachers don’t have the cupcakes.”
  • Suzy “We saw the teacher’s name, we gave the cupcake to Ms. Lei.”

Ms. Shemo “How did we know that the cupcakes were there?”

  • Evan “We know Ms. Lei forgot her cupcake because we did the tick on the paper.”
  • Suzy “On the way we met students and teachers and they told us it is in the teacher’s room. We know that Ms. Lei forgot the cupcakes because we saw the name and we give Ms. Lei the cupcake.”
  • Evan “Before we take the cupcake we needed to have a check on her name to let people know we took Ms. Lei’s cupcake.”
  • Isabella “We have the message to tell everybody to so they know if they forgot the cupcake, it will be in the teacher’s room.”

Ms. Shemo “How are you going to share that message?”

  • Isabella “We’re gonna put it out.”
  • Jacob “We do the poster to tell the teachers and children who forget to take the cupcake that the cupcakes are in the teacher’s room. We have a big board to make the poster.”

We wonder what information the children will include in their poster to share this important message with the school community, to help them find their birthday cupcakes if they have forgotten to pick them up after break time.

The Grade 5 Three-minute Challenge

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The Grade 5 students were excited to hear about our three-minute challenges and decided to plan challenges for their K2 buddies.

We joined Grade 5 outside the courtyard to play some of the games they had planned for us. The children in K2 rotated around the different stations, attempting to win points and some stickers as they completed the challenges. 

The children reflected on the day’s events, sharing their highlights.

  • Suzy “We played a lot of games.”
  • Archie “We played tag. I like the tag game the most. Octopus tag with grade 5 buddies in 3 minutes challenge.”
  • Junsoo “We played ball game, and I like it the most.”
  • Riccardo “I like the ball game, because it’s challenging but I did a great job and I didn’t be tagged by the ball.”
  • Isabella “For the hot potato game, when the person counted down to 1, and someone was holding the ball, then he will be out of the game.”
  • Euno “I like the octopus game. Octopus game me run to the end and buddy catch people. They didn’t catch us. Then, I don’t know who wins.”
  • Ethan “I like the hot potato game because it is so fun.”
  • Adalyn “I like the octopus tag and I also like the one that has patterns on the ground and you need to follow the patterns to pop the bubbles. And the beanbag game is also interesting.”

  • Isabella “I like the pattern game the most because you can race your buddies and it’s easy for me.”
  • Suzy “I also like the pattern game because I like the bubbles. The bubbles were on the ground. You stand on it and it pops.”
  • Ethan “I like the tiptoes walking part and it was so much fun.”
  • Evan “The hot potato game looks fun because I like the ball game.”
  • Suzy “I did the pattern game in 3 minutes.”
  • Isabella “I also did the pattern game, the hot potato and the red light green light and I also played octopus tag and throwing the sand bag in 3 minutes. It was easy for me. It was a long time.”

  • Suzy “It was a short time, I did it in 3 minutes.”
  • Sea “I like the octopus game because they don’t tag me. I ran fast.”
  • Dahyun “I like the tag game because it was fun. I won 3 times. We got a sticker.”

We wonder how this experience will help them plan for the challenges they want to set for their Grade 5 buddies.

The Used Pens…Continued

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The Grade 4 students returned with the used pens and tools to show their K2 friends how to reuse the coloured markers. They set up their station and shared the process.

Archie “They said they’re gonna put the ink in and then they’re gonna cut it and then put that in and they can give it back to us. If the pen is not working then put it in the box. Then, they can fix it. It will take so long. And then they are gonna put the pencils in the water and then when they’re done that they they can give it back to us. If a pencil can not work or crayon then we don’t want to waste it. We don’t know what to do if the pencil or crayon is not OK. We don’t know what to do and then can we call them and ask them what to do with the crayons as well.”

 

Suzy “They take the pen and then fill it up with water, because then they will work again.”

Riccardo “We want to use the pen to do something, Grade 4 buddies want to do something with the pen and they talk with us and then they go and bring a if they are not good we put in the basket. Then, they have water and then put it in. Some is easy to take off and some is not easy.”

Archie talked about recycling pieces of used crayons and leftover coloured pencils. We wonder if the children might explore this further.

Solving the Waste Problem

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We have been talking about waste and recycling.

Jacob shared what he had learned about sorting and recycling and Archie shared photographs of food waste at home.

Isabella and Ethan had decided to repurpose the boxes they had at home. Isabella used the boxes to make a home for the cats in her compound to keep them warm during the winter. Ethan used his boxes to store objects.

The children recalled seeing similar waste bins around the school. A small group walked around the campus looking for and documenting the different locations the bins were at.

These conversations helped us think more about what ‘WE’ might want to do about the things we waste at school. 

Paper and Card Waste:

  • Suzy “You can write small letters on the small paper.”
  • Shemo “If we don’t want to use this paper again and don’t want to throw it into the bin, then what can we do?”
  • Archie “Maybe we can make a recycle box for putting this kind of paper in.”
  • Riccardo “We can make new paper with it.”
  • Archie “We can erase it and cut it then you can draw on it. We can make paper from the leaves. People cut the tree and workers make the paper, they can use a machine to put the tree in.”
  • Isabella “Is the tree inside soft or hard?”
  • Archie “It’s hard so you put water to make it soft.”
  • Isabella “You can put the paper in the water so the mark will go, then we can reuse it.”

Snack Fruit and Vegetable Waste:

  • Riccardo “We can give the waste fruit to the worms outside, there are many more worms outside.”

Lunch Food Waste:

  • Jacob “You don’t put the leftover lunch food into the trash, give it to Rosy, Ms. Hannah’s dog!”

(We asked the children to consider other possible solutions to the problem.)

Wastewater:

  • Isabella “After the water go down the sink and drain, maybe some people can collect the water so we can reuse the water again.”

Next Steps:

Our brainstorm highlighted many different ways we can take action to solve some of the issues we found with waste.

  • Riccardo “I have a shop and they can come and buy my toys and I get money.”
  • Archie “When I was in India my mum said I have too many toys and I gave some away.”
  • Euno “I eat all of my rice. When there is too much my mum throw in the bin.”
  • Riccardo “Or you can keep it and then eat it later.”
  • Shemo “What can we do with the fruits and vegetables we remain at school?”

Ms. Shemo “What can we do with the fruits and vegetables we remain at school?

The children decided to take the fruit and vegetable snacks to Ms. Hannah to ask her for some advice.

Over the next few days, the children will work in small groups to explore some of their theories about paper and seek more information about wastewater and composting at school.

Waste? Recycle?

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Story #1 – Why should we use Recycled Paper?

While planning our paper airplane challenge, Evan suggested that we use drawing paper to make the planes. Isabella said recycled paper would be a better choice. However, we noticed we did not have much recycled paper in the classroom. We decided to go towards the Grade 5 classes to see if they had a stack of recycled paper. On the way, Jacob and Evan met Ms. Jacqui and told her about their problem. They asked her if she knew where to find recycled paper. Ms. Jacqui was excited to tell them that she had some in her office. Jacob and Evan followed her to collect the paper.

  • Jacob “Recycled paper is better because we can fold. Cardboard is too hard we can’t fold it, it will break.”
  • Isabella “Clean paper, if you draw on it you can say that’s not my drawing, don’t put it away you can use the other side it is clean.”
  • Evan “Recycled means everybody don’t want the paper. White paper is for drawing.” 

 

Story #2 – Used Pens

Three students from Grade 4 visited us with an important message. As part of their inquiry into systems and organisation, they are looking for ways to reuse colouring markers at NIS. They presented their idea to the children and asked for their support.

  • Riccardo “Do you have pens that cannot draw with, the ink is gone?”
  • Isabella “When they make a new ink, they will pour it in the old pens and it can be used again.”
  • Jacob “Not just throw in the trash because that will just be trash. Then, there will be not many pens. There will be only 1 pen!”
  • Archie “If you throw it in the garbage then it will get dirty and disgusting. That means it’s stinky. One time I put something in the garbage and I smelled it and it’s disgusting.”
  • Isabella “If you throw it in the rubbish bin, they were a lot of time in there then it will be disgusting.”
  • Jusnu “This box is no pens.”

Euno and Dahyun translated to share the plan for the used pen box.

  • Adalyn “They will collect the dry markers saved in the box so they can get the markers filled with ink again.”
  • Evan “Grade 4 will come every Thursday to collect the pens.”  
  • Sea “Not dry pens not going into the box. Only dry pens in the box.”
  • Finn “This box is for putting pens, green, purple, pens after they cannot be used anymore.” (in Mandarin)

The children were curious about the plan for the used pens and asked the students to return to share the process of refilling the pens.

 

Recycle? Waste?

Considering this developing interest in the concept of ‘recycling’ we decided to revisit two occasions where the children talked about ‘waste’.

  • Isabella “People had drawn on the paper and they don’t want the paper anymore but someone else can use it, then the paper can be recycle paper.”
  • Jacob “If no water in the pen, you can put it in the box and people will help cut it and put water in it so we can use the pen again.”
  • Archie “We can flip the paper and use the other side of it.”
  • Jacob “Broken stuff we can use them again. Some toys that broken.”
  • Ethan “My mum throw away a pen at home.”
  • Dahyun “My jacket is too small and then my mum give it away.”

We made a list of the things we throw away. We identified a few we wanted to discuss in depth.

Wasting water

  • Archie “Wasting water means pouring it out on the ground outside.”
  • Jacob “When you have water in the bathroom or kitchen, you keep the water open. If you don’t close it, that’s wasting water. Sometimes when people were not using the water and the water still open, that’s waste water.”

Wasting paper

  • Archie “My brother wasted paper by pulling it out of the book. My brother made the paper airplane and he doesn’t want it, and I used it.”
  • Jacob “Breaking drawing paper.”
  • Evan “Throwing the paper away.”
  • Riccardo “I always waste paper by cutting it.”
  • Euno “My brother throw away a paper. I talk to my brother ‘why you throw the paper?’ He said ‘paper is wet’. Then he take another paper and another paper and so many used paper.”
  • Sea “My brother’s friend used so many of my paper to draw. That is wasting paper.”

Wasting food

  • Isabella “You don’t eat the food you have and waste it. It is in the rubbish bin.”
  • Adalyn “Something you don’t want to eat is wasting. You can give another person to eat it.”
  • Evan “My brother don’t want the food and my grandpa throws it to the sink.”
  • Jacob “Something you don’t want to eat and you put it in the trash or sink, the wasps can eat it. Wasps like stinky food.”

Although the children shared many examples of waste, they believed they did not waste anything at school. We decided to gather evidence of waste throughout the day to present back to the children. 

We wonder what they notice and think about the evidence that has been collected.

How can we learn more about ‘time’?

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We have been exploring the concept of ‘time’ through our projects and inquiry. We decided to revisit the documentation we have collected to see what more we could add to our learning space to help us learn about ‘time’.

The children suggested adding the sand timers and clocks. We encouraged them to think more about the different sources that give us information. Then, we discussed the idea of including books about time.

A group of children went to the library to see if they could find any books about ‘time’. Ms. Tina introduced the children to the software installed on the library computers that help us look for books and other resource materials. Together they found the books they wanted to bring back to the class to add to our learning space.

We wonder what new information children may uncover through the books and manipulatives available in this learning space.

Nurturing Connections

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The PreK-K1 put together a display board that shared information about their identity. We were invited to add to the information that has already been shared. As the children looked at the photographs and drawings of their friends, they thought about the special moments they shared with them. We discussed why these moments were special, considering the opportunities we had to build relationships and friendships through play and interaction. We decided to share some of these experiences with the community using drawings and words.

  • Isabella “PreK-K1A and PreKK1B were drawing themselves.”
  • Suzy “We were drawing the PreK-K1A and PreKK1B, and we are saying what is the friend about.”
  • Isabella “We are saying about our friends helping us.”
  • Jacob “We are drawing something about who is our friend and what are we playing. And something other people don’t know about the friend.”
  • Evan “About the friends we play with.”
  • Isabella “About the friends helping us.”
  • Jacob “We want to draw our friends playing with us so they were happy with us. Happy because we are playing fun games.”

  • Archie “I draw a volcano splashing us because we play the floor is lava in the playground. And when we are done playing we say 1,2,3 and Jacob, Logan and me pretend to fall in the lava.”
  • Evan “I am writing about me and Jayden, we are on the car.”
  • Riccardo “I go to Logan and Archie and we sometimes play the floor is lava.”
  • Ethan “Geunsu and me water play.”
  • Junsu “I play with Ahrin. I play with water.”
  • Finn “I play with Edward and Victor. We ride the bike together” (in Mandarin)

The children’s conversations highlight the depth of their play and engagement, and how their friendship is nurtured through their common interests and care for each other.

The Bike Park Signs

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The children had decided to make changes to the Bike Park in the Early Years playground to maintain a safe and organised space. We went back to the documentation we had collected, to think about on next steps.

  • Jacob “We want the bike park to look beautiful.”
  • Shemo “What would a beautiful bike park look like?”

The children began to share their ideas. They believed the Bike Park would look beautiful if:

  • the bikes were parked next to each other in an organised way, each trike in its own bubble space with distinctive lines to demarcate each space
  • there were guardrails at the back to protect the fence
  • there were signs to show where the children were allowed to park the bikes and signs that communicated no parking zones
  • plants that were scattered across the space were cleared away
  • shovels and other toys that did not belong in the space were stored in designated spaces around the playground.

We went back to look at some of the Bike Park signs created by previous K2 students. The children noticed that the signs were no longer useful as they were wet and drawings on the signs were unclear and invisible.

The children decided that they would like to create new signs and discussed important considerations when creating new signs. They talked about the choice of materials. This seemed important as the weather outdoors had affected the previous signs.

A group of children volunteered to take on the challenge of creating new signs for the space.   

  • We wonder how the project may evolve as the children make important decisions about the materials and their properties to create messages.
  • We wonder how they will use signs, symbols, illustrations or words to communicate important information.
  • We wonder how the children will present these new ideas and messages to the Early Years community.

 Approaches to Learning:

  • Use discussion and play to generate new ideas and investigations.​
  • Understand the ways in which images and language interact to convey ideas.​
  • Make inferences and draw conclusions.​
  • Negotiate ideas and knowledge with peers and teachers.​

Planning a Challenge – Ice creams

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The children have been discussing the concept of ‘time’ while engaging in play and exploration. Often, they refer to time as being ‘long’ or ‘short’.

  • Suzy “It only took me two minutes to draw the love heart, that is a short time.”

The children were interested in creating challenges to explore the concept of ‘time’. They were excited about the three-minute challenges they had brainstormed and voted on. We gathered to discuss the different ideas collected, noting them all down on chart paper to help us create a plan for our next steps. As the children discussed these ideas, we used drawings and words to document their thinking. We had 13 challenges altogether!

How would we decide which one to explore first?

We decided to vote on the different challenges to find the most popular. Making ice creams received the highest votes (6). The children had many different ideas about the ice cream challenge. They suggested purchasing ice creams from the café, and buying ice creams at the supermarket or McDonald’s. Having heard all the ideas, the teachers decided to encourage the children to consider the practical challenges connected with some of these ideas.

  • Where would we get the money for the ice creams?
  • What about the children who have different allergies?
  • What options for flavours are there at McDonald’s

The teachers decided to stretch the children further, to encourage them to consider alternate opportunities for learning.

Does anyone know how to make ice creams?

After some thought the children tapped into their prior knowledge and experiences from previous years. Isabella and Evan recalled making ice pops at school. They explained the process of making watermelon ice pops, preparing the fruit and using moulds and popsicle sticks to make the ice creams.

The children were excited about making their own popsicles. They discussed several ideas, including the flavours they could choose. Considering the many opportunities this project may have for the children to apply their understanding of concepts through their experiences and play, the teachers agreed to support the children in preparing for the challenge if they could come up with a plan for their next steps. They would need to solve some practical obstacles to make their ice creams and carry out the challenge. They would need to decide and plan how to purchase the items, the process they needed to follow to make the ice creams and how they were going to organise the challenge.

We wonder how the children would:

  • plan and follow through to make the ice creams (process)
  • document their thinking and ideas so others can understand and follow their process (representation)
  • consider and plan for the safe use of materials, resources and tools (safety, responsibility)
  • consider how to include their friends and the community in their challenges (inclusion)
  • collaborates with students, parents and other teachers on learning (collaboration)

Patterns and Tessellations

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The children have been exploring, creating and playing with a range of coloured manipulatives in different spaces around the campfire.

We have noticed them using the colour tiles to create patterns and pictures. They have also been using triangular shapes to create growing patterns and tessellations. A tessellation is a pattern of geometric shapes that fit together perfectly on a plane without any gaps or overlaps and can repeat in all directions infinitely.

These incredible designs and patterns reflect the children’s ability to notice and follow sequences to create complex designs. We have noticed how they work together, discussing their ideas and making choices to create. We have noticed the children’s focus and attention as they spend extended periods around the invitation, creating and then documenting their final work using technology. Their choices are intentional and thought out.

The children explained that they had decided to take out the suggested templates as they wanted to create their own designs using the triangular shapes which showed their interest to make and extend using their creativity.  

We wondered how the children would represent and transfer these designs and creations in different ways. We decided to offer the children an opportunity to think about and transfer these patterns and designs into a new medium.

Fiction and Nonfiction

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The children have been talking about their favourite books and looking for these texts in the library. While browsing through the books we noticed that the children showed an interest in many different types of books. We decided to ask the children to gather several of their favourite books to bring back to class. The books were displayed in the classroom and the children often gathered around the table and flipped through the pages, talking about the pictures, stories and information that lived within the pages.

What clues from the book that tell us what types of texts they are?

We began by choosing two books, reading a few pages from each of them and inviting the children to talk about how they might be the same or different. As the children shared what they noticed we documented these ideas on chart paper. We continued to look through and sort all the books that the children had chosen at the library. 

They decided that the books about dinosaurs, mushrooms and sports:

  • Were about ‘true’ things
  • told us ‘about’ things
  • included photographs and pictures
  • shared information

The books about princesses, superheroes and animal characters:

  • were ‘imaginary’, ‘fake’, ‘not true’ or ‘didn’t really happen’.
  • They have characters and animals that can talk
  • included a story
  • had the beginning middle and end
  • had illustrations (drawings)

Two books about fairies caused a debate.

Were these stories about something real or imaginary?

Some children believed that fairies were not real, people used their imagination to tell stories about them. Several children disagreed explaining that they were real because ‘the tooth fairy visited them in the night and gave them money for their teeth when they had fallen out’. For these reasons, the class decided to place the two books in the middle, in a pile that was ‘undecided’.

Often, the children are invited to choose and borrow books from the classroom library.

We wonder how the children would use their new understandings of different types of texts to choose reading materials for different classroom spaces, provocations and projects.

Creating Safe Spaces for Play and Learning

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The children love to build with blocks and loose parts in several spaces in the classroom. These structures can often spread across spaces and can cause practical problems.

While on a check-in walk in the Early Years, the security department staff highlighted the issue of congested walking spaces. They advised us to maintain a walkway in the block play area.

As these spaces belong to all of us, we shared the problem with the children to generate solutions.

The children shared many different views and solutions to solve the problem. They finally reached an agreement to create a pathway near the block play area that was 80 centimetres wide. They used hazard tape and a measuring tape to mark out the walkway, applying what they knew about tools to measure accurately.

Learners:

  • are actively engaged in various stages of learning, including: thinking about, planning, modifying and creating
  • apply their understanding of concepts through the construction of their projects/play
  • have an active voice and stake in the classroom/community

The Table

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A few years ago, a senior student at NIS made a rather unusual table for the children in the Early Years. Since then, the table has travelled and lived in many different classrooms. The unusual design allows children to work and play in interesting ways while sitting comfortably on the floor. Although the table has been used with care, parts of the wood on the surface began to peel and break away. We decided to reach out to Mr. Matt in the Design Woodwork studio to help us solve the problem. Mr. Matt worked on the table while the older students were away discovering China.

We were excited to hear that the table was ready for collection. A group of volunteers went to the Woodwork Studio to collect the table. They were excited to see the table, gently touching the smooth surface while smiling and nodding to show their approval of the change. Then, they had to figure out how to bring the table back to the early years safely.

Together, they lifted parts of the table so it could be moved along the corridors. Everyone was happy to see the table.

The children decided to make Mr. Matt a card to show their appreciation for fixing their favourite table.  Mr. Matt was surprised to see the children return with a card, which he placed carefully next to his daughter’s drawings. 

The design studio for the older children was a fascinating place with many interesting spaces and lots of different tools, equipment and materials. We noticed the children’s curiosity as they walked through the different spaces.

Curious fingers touched Lego cars and recycled plastic creations that lined the walls. They began to ask questions about what the older students were creating and designing.

We wonder what opportunities may lie in this space for young children.

Can you find the book you need?

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Jacob “Do you know why the new library is called The HUB? Is it because the new library is so much bigger?”

The children wondered why it is called The HUB, and who gave it that name.

At the beginning of the ‘HUB Inquiry Project’, the children shared the things they liked to do in the new space. Many of them shared the different types of books they liked to find and read in the new library, referred to as The HUB.

During the Atelier time, the children were invited to find the books they liked to read in The Hub.

As the children looked around, they were unable to see some of the books they had in mind. Ms. Hannah decided to provoke the children’s thinking by sharing a collection of mushrooms one of the Grades 3 teachers had given her to use as an invitation for observational drawing or painting. Some children decided to find some books about mushrooms.

Isabella “The old library had mushroom books. The new library (The Hub) doesn’t.”

Why?

Isabella “The old library was much smaller and the new one is much bigger. Maybe the books are on the second floor or the third floor.”  

Some of the children said it was easy to find books to read because they read whatever interests them.

Evan explained that finding a book was easy because he could see the cover.

Isabella noticed some shelves have so many books standing up and you see the side of the books and she said that makes it difficult for her to find a book from these shelves.

The side of a book is called the spine. The spine is the edge that usually faces outward on a shelf and often displays the title, author, and publisher’s logo.

After some discussions, she suggested, “Maybe we can put the same kind of books together, and maybe we can put some pictures or words on the shelves so the children know what kind of books are on these shelves when they cannot see the front covers.”

As soon as Riccardo got to the library, he found the place where the dinosaur books were, so he shared this with Ethan who wanted the dinosaur books the most.

We wondered how he found these books so easily and so fast. Was it because he noticed it during our library time before?

In a very short time, Suzy found a princess book. She felt it was easy to find the book because she just walked by this shelf and she happened to see this book.

  • Sea walked around and found a book about a cat. We wondered how she found it so fast.
  • Isabella “Jacob, I found something strange. In the old library, there were some mushroom books, but now why none of them shows up here?”  
  • Isabella “It’s getting harder to find the mushroom book now than before. There was a tray and the books that we need were all in that tray. Now, there are so many shelves and floors which makes it hard for us to know if the books we need are upstairs or not.”
  • Adalyn found a book which had mushrooms on the cover page but she she seemed to decide that it was not the book they were looking for.
  • Isabella “Ms. Winnie, where can we find some books about how to plant mushrooms? How can we find it on the book shelf?”
  • Ms. Winnie “It is a bit far away, so let’s go together and I will show you.”

Ms. Winnie found that some of the mushroom books had been borrowed by children from other grades. However, she finally helped us find one from a tall shelf. The children gathered to talk about locating the books.

We wondered if they thought it was easy or hard to find a book that they wanted.

  • Suzy and Dahyun both found it’s easy to find the books they wanted because they saw the front cover of the book. Evan felt it was hard to find a book when he only saw the spine or the back cover of the book.
  • Ethan believed it was easy to find the dinosaur books because he knew where they were.
  • Isabella explained that it was hard to find her book because it was the only mushroom book left in the library. And some other children felt it was easy to find the books they wanted because when they walked by the bookshelf, they were attracted by some books, so they just checked them out.

Having explored this new space, we wonder how the children may take action to solve some of the problems they noticed during their visit to The Hub.

Math in Our World – Shape Hunt

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Our Math Talk focused on two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes in the environment.

What do you notice?

The children began identifying the different shapes and discussing how they are classified and named according to their properties. We noticed that some shapes were not in the picture and decided to document these shapes on both sides of the image (in green).

Next, the children were introduced to an activity on Seesaw. We learned how to scan the code to log into the app on the iPad and follow the steps to complete the task.

As the children explored their environment to look for the shapes, they used the different features on the app to document their learning.

Through these experiences, they will explore the relationship between 2D shapes and 3D objects and how shapes are classified and named according to their properties.

Voting for 3 Minute Challenges!

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We have noticed the children are showing interest in the concept of ‘time’. Isabella and Adalyn have been thinking about what they can do in 3 minutes.

But how long was 3 minutes? We used an online timer to ‘feel’ the time pass by. The children sat patiently, thinking about the length of time that passed by.

We challenged them to think about the things they could do in 3 minutes. They drew to share their thinking:

  • Euno: Draw a heart, Take a photo, Talk and share 3 ideas
  • Isabella: Run 3 circles in the playground, Read 2 small books in the library, Put my socks on
  • Ethan: Go to sleep, Cooking a cookie, Eat snack
  • Archie: Go on a train to Africa, Come to school in 1 minute, Go to Japan in 5 minutes, Put my shoes on
  • Jacob: Make a paper airplane, Build a puzzle, Make a Lego car
  • Evan: Make a block tower, Eat lunch, Draw a house
  • Adalyn: Run 2 circles in the playground, Pack my backpack, Talk about a tower
  • Suzy: Eat an ice-cream, Build a tower with coloured blocks, Run 3 circles in the outside playground
  • Dahyun: Put shoes on, Draw a heart, Read 2 little bit small books
  • Sea: Read a book in the library, Wash your hands for lunch, Swim across the pool
  • Finn: Wash hands, Put on my jacket, Write my name, Put on my shoes
  • Riccardo: Write my name, Draw a clock, Eat a sausage
  • Junsu: Go a friend’s house with daddy, Read a big book in the library, Robots break the blocks

We gathered many different, interesting ideas and wondered which ones to try out. We decided to vote on each child’s ideas, using tally marks to track our data.

While discussing our next steps, we wondered if other children in the Early Years would also enjoy some of our challenges. The children believed that K2B and PreK-K1 could also do some of the challenges as they run fast and like ice cream because everyone likes ice cream!

We look forward to seeing how the children develop a plan to present these ideas to others.

PTA Birthday Cupcakes – Next Steps…

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Nest steps…

The team gathered to analyse the data they had collected through the survey. They noticed that many people received cupcakes from the NIS PTA, but a few didn’t. We made a list of all the people (or groups) who didn’t receive cupcakes. Then, the class took the information they had gathered to Ms. Hannah to plan their next steps.

 

Considering the children’s ongoing questions about the cupcakes, we suggested that the team speak to the PTA President to learn more about NIS Birthday cupcakes. The children brainstormed the specific wonderings they wanted to take to her.
  • Isabella “Why do somebody have cupcakes, but somebody doesn’t have cupcakes? How to decide on who has birthday cupcakes?” 
  • Jacob “Why does the PTA want to give cupcakes?”
  • Suzy “How did you make cupcakes?”
  • Evan “How many ingredients do you need to make cupcakes?”
  • Adalyn “Who made the birthday cupcakes? Did you make it by yourself?”
  • Sea “How many cupcakes did you need to make?” 

The PTA President came in to speak to the children about the cupcakes. The children gathered their notes to ask her the questions they had brainstormed. 

  • Isabella “Why do somebody have cupcakes, but somebody doesn’t have cupcakes?

We learned that the PTA had to think hard to plan and organise the cupcake distribution. At first, they wondered if they could deliver cupcakes every week or every month. They decided that it was better to share the cupcakes once a month with children, teachers and staff who had a birthday in that particular month.

  • Rebeca “When it is your birthday then you get a cupcake. Next week we will go to November so you need to check when it’s your month and then you remember and go to pick the cupcake.

  • How to decide on who has birthday cupcakes?” 

Rebeca “Every teacher and student receives a birthday cupcake. Not parents. All the children get the cupcake. We give to all NIS employees on the list, some of them belong to the facilities department like the bus drivers, so they receive their birthday cupcakes. The guards are not NlS employees so they don’t get a cupcake.”

Noticing that Ms. Hannah was on the list of people who didn’t get a birthday cupcake, Ms. Rebecca explained that perhaps Ms. Hannah was sick on that day or was not in school for some reason.

Rebeca “Some people don’t pick their cupcakes, and then we keep the leftovers in case they ask for them.”

  • Jacob “Why does the PTA want to give cupcakes?”

Rebeca “Do you like to get a treat when it’s your birthday? We thought that every child in the school liked to have a treat so we decided to give the children a cupcake.”

  • Suzy “How did you make cupcakes?”
  • Evan “How many ingredients do you need to make cupcakes?”

Rebeca “There are many ways to make cupcakes. You can use a recipe book. If you never made it before you can use this list of ingredients to make it. Egg, oil, milk, flour, baking powder, a tiny bit of salt. All together.

Then, you beat your eggs for 3 minutes, add oil and keep beating. If you don’t eat egg then tell us so we can make you a special cupcake. Then put the flour and baking powder and salt. And then you keep the dough for 3 hours and you put it in the oven, you make the tiny cakes and you wait for 20 minutes and that’s it. You can decorate the cupcakes as you wish. With cream, chocolate and candy.”

The children wondered if they could put gummy bears on their cake.

  • Adalyn “Who made the birthday cupcakes? Did you make it by yourself?”

Rebeca “Skyways are the ones that bake the cupcakes. They have a special place where they have a very big kitchen for professional cooks, chefs and bakers.”

Ms. Rebeca shared photographs of the kitchen. “Can you see how many things they have there? This is the place they prepare the dough. At the end of the year, we make 700-800 cupcakes. And then there are special tables where they make the dough and when they finish they need to put the cupcakes in a place where they can cool. There is an oven. There are 4 units as tall as the room. When they open the oven and take out all the cupcakes they put it in the tray. Then they decorate them.”

  • Sea “How many cupcakes did you need to make?” 

I think we make 800 or 900 cupcakes.

  • Hannah shared her wondering “If they forget to pick up their cupcake what do they do?

Rebeca “At the end of the day we send it to the teacher’s room so you can go to the teacher’s room you can pick it up.”

We learned that some people on the list did not receive a cupcake for their birthday.

We wonder how the children will use what they have learned to strengthen their relationships with the community

We look forward to hearing about their next steps…

The Bike Park – Safety and Functionality

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Over the last few years, different groups of children have worked on projects connected to bikes and trikes in the Early Years playground. We decided to share some photographs of the Bike Park to see what the children might notice about the bikes and signs in the play area.

The children quickly noticed that toys and gardening tools were not cleared away after playtime.

They noted that the bikes were blocking the walking path, and emergency exits, and that overgrown plants and bushes were making it challenging to park the bikes in the allocated spaces. Some suggestions for improvement:

  • toys need to be stored away in the correct places
  • bikes could be parked facing forward making it easier to write them away
  • store the sand toys on the sand table
  • clear the overgrown plants
  • Park the bikes along the fence
  • make new signs for the bike park

As they took a closer look at the signs that were made for the bike park, they realised that the wet and hot-dry weather had caused the signs to fade and get mouldy.

The children’s keen observations sparked conversations about the changes they could make to the bike park and play areas safer and more functional.

We decided to share documentation about the bike park from the previous years with the children, to help them understand and appreciate student-led projects that positively impacted the EY.

The children were excited to see some of the work past students had undertaken to make the play areas safer and more exciting for others.  

The children decided that they wanted to create new signs for the bike park. They wondered what materials would be most suitable for the purpose, considering the challenges with the weather and temperature outdoors.

They discussed the properties of different materials such as plastic and wood, providing interesting improvements to ensure the signs would last longer.  

We wonder what elements the children would consider as they move forward in planning, designing and creating new signs for the bike park.

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