Central Idea: 

Our world is made up of different places.

Lines of Inquiry:

• places in our community

• how communities connect to different places

• our responsibilities in different places

Key Concepts: responsibility, function, connection

Related Concepts: community, belonging, environment

 

Story #1

What might this be a picture of?

Amber explained, “It is beautiful.” Lawrence agreed.

“BUT What is it?”

The students began to share their thinking…we used post-it notes to help us record the information.

 

The teachers noticed that the students were looking at each shape/space independently, and making connections with their prior knowledge to help them understand what the different shapes and symbols on the page might be. Their comments show how they actively connect with everyday objects (clock, ruler, elevator, ‘parking’ sign) and their experiences (shape of a swimming pool, journey on a plane) to help them better understand new information.

How do we function in our environment? We wonder…

SLO’s

• make statements that reflect their understandings
• find where things are located in the classroom/school
• interpret and analyse visuals and multimedia to gain understanding
• listen to others

 

Story #2

Pasta!

Nicolas was creating a book at the writing table. He included a recipe on one page. He said, “This is a recipe of pasta.”

Nicolas had drawn pasta and sauce, and a bowl of pasta.

• Teacher “But how do we make pasta? What do we need?”

Ruby and Nicolas discussed their ideas further. They decided that they needed pasta, and sauce. We wondered where we need to go to get pasta and sauce. Nicolas suggested we go over to the supermarket.

• Teacher “Where is it? How will we get there?”

Nicolas suggested we use a map. “I can show you the way!” He drew a map to explain how we get there.

• Teacher “How will we buy what we need?”

Nicolas explained, “We need a credit card or Alipay! We need some money and coins.” But he didn’t have money or a credit card. He suggested we use dollars. Ruby said we should use ‘Renminbi’ instead. Nicolas agreed. He included it on his plan, “We need to get it from the bank, we put money in and the money comes out (ATM).

Alejandra joined the conversation. “We need a bowl.”

Teacher “What else do we need to remember?” Alejandra suggested we take a bag to the supermarket. Nicolas included a picture of a bag on his book.

What else do we need? Nicolas suggested that we also get some ‘Salt’!

We shared the ideas we had so far with the class.

Michelle explained that we needed ‘forks’ to eat the pasta.

Alejandra “We need an oven.”

Freida “Mummy cooks pasta at Opa’s house.”

How will we get to the supermarket? Nicolas suggested we go over to Suguo, across from the school. He drew a map to show us the way. Ruby and Nicolas included labels to help us find our way. He drew McDonalds and a bridge. He included arrows and provided oral instructions.

Who can help us with the shopping? We decided to ask Ms. Angie!  

Watch this space to see how our learning unfolds… 

 

Story #3

The Spaces and Places Around Us 

The students were presented with an image.

They shared their thinking with the group.

The students had their own map of the campus. We went around the school to take photographs of the different spaces and then compared them with our map.

Our conversations focused on the following questions:

• What are the different places in our community? (Form)

• Why do we go to these spaces? (Connection)

• What do we do in these spaces? (Function)

• What must we remember in these spaces? (What are our responsibilities in these spaces?)

The Swimming Pool

• Amber “我觉得要听老师的才可以游。” “We should listen to teachers.”
• Nicolas “We play safe and don’t hit. Listen to the teachers.”
• Charlotte “Swimming at the pool.”
• Ethan “很快地跑，碰到水就会滑倒。” “If we ran fast we will fall down.”

• Ruby “Swimming safe. When we play safe, we have to swim, not go under the water in the small pool.”
• Poli “I, Felix play.”
• Felix “I think this is small pool.”

The Pond

• Amber “栏杆扶好才不会掉下去。” “We should hold the fence, otherwise we will fall into the water.”

The Library

• Ruby “Reading space. Read books. We have to read books. You can choose any book you want, Froggy, Piggy, Gerald. We have to be quiet because children have to borrow books.”
• Lawrence “Quiet. Not quiet teacher say ‘sh!’”
• Alejandra “No eating here, then ant is coming to eat. Be quiet.
• Sarah “No running. We can walk.”
• Freida “No shouting. You can only do quiet reading.”
• Jasmine “Reading books. Quiet. Everybody reading 1,2 books.”

The Eating Space

• Sarah “Eat time quiet.”
• Charlotte “吃饭时声音小一点。” “When we are eating, our voice should be lower.”
• Lawrence “我们不能大叫，小声一点。” “We can’t shout, we should be quiet.”
• Alejandra “We line up quiet. No playing with the snack.“
• Freida “No running and no shouting.”

Performing Arts Center (PAC)

• Amber “我们昨天看了白板。” “Yesterday we watched the whiteboard.”
• Sarah “要安静，不可以乱跑。” “Be quiet and don’t run around.”
• Ethan “安静看表演。” “Watching the performance quietly.”
• Alejandra “Ballet and hip hop. 看别人表演，自己上台表演，别人鼓掌。” “Watch performance. When I perform, other people applaud.”
• Ruby “Going to watch shows. Because we see everything what’s in the whole school! We get out but until the fire alarm stops.”
• Nicolas “They do some dancing like ballet and dragon dance.”
• Freida “You have to climb the stairs and sit.”
• Charlotte “就是小声一点。” “Quiet.”

Teacher “Why do we come here?”

• Poli “지도에 있어서 보려고” “To see the place on the map.”
• Jooeon “공연하려고” “To perform.”
• Poli “무대에 올라가서 하려고” “To get on the stage.”
• Jooeon “왜 의자를 뒤에 놨어요? 의자가 쉬고 있나봐” “Why do they put chairs on the back? Maybe because it’s their break time?”
• Poli “불이 많이 있어요, 춤추려고” “There are many lights, it’s for dancing.”

Teacher “What should we do if we heard the fire alarm in the PAC?”

• Poli “휴지로 입을 막아야해” “You have to cover the mouth with the tissue.”
• Jooeon “불을 끄고 수건으로 입을 막아야해” “We need to put out a fire and cover the mouth with a towel.”
• Jiwoo “도망가!” “Run away!”

Spider Web/ Playground

• Alejandra “No hitting in the spider web. I am climbing so up. We go with friends. I close my eyes and jump, I will have to go to the nurse.”
• Frieda “You will climb on it and swing.”
• Felix “I think the spider web is like Spiderman. We can climb it.”
• Ruby “Shout loud and don’t fall off. See where you are going. To do some shouting fun.”
• Nicolas “If you are climbing up and wriggling then you might fall off. Move like a robot. If you are up you need to hold tight.”
• Sarah “可以爬” “We can climb.”
• Amber “摔下来可以去医院看一看。” “If we fall down we could go to hospital.”
• Charlotte “不会掉下来，要慢慢爬下来。” “We won’t fall off if we climb slowly.”
• Ethan “不能爬太高，松手就会掉下来。” “We can’t climb too high. Otherwise we will fall down.”
• Amber “爬得太高掉下来会受伤。” “If we climb too high, we will fall high, we will fall down and be hurt.”

Teacher “What can we do at the Spider web?”

• Poli“꼭대기까지 올라가는 거에요” “It’s for climbing to the top.”
• Jiwoo “제일 위에까지 올라갈 수 있어요” “I can climb up to the top.”
• Jooeon “나도 올라갈 수 있어요” “Me too, I can climb up.”

Teacher “How can we play safely?”

• Poli “밧줄을 꽉 잡아야해,떨어질 수도 있어요” “Grip the rope tight because we might fall down.”
• Jiwoo ”어린 아이들은 조심해야해요” “little kids need to be careful.”
• Poli “왜냐면 잘 모르니까” “Because they don’t know well.”
• Jooeon “양말을 신어야해요” “You need to wear a socks.”

Soccer Pitch

• Sarah “在操场上可以踢足球。” “We can play football in the playground.”
• Ethan “我们可以踢球，也可以打篮球。” “We can play football and basketball in the playground.”
• Michelle “我们要去医院包扎。” “We should go to hospital and dress up a wound.”
• Jasmine “我们在操场上踢球和表演。都可以。我们每个人都鼓掌。” ”We can play football and watch performance in the playground. Everyone should applaud.”
• Freida “We can play.”

SLO’s

• Name places in their environment
• Explore a map and find their location on it
• Understand that rules are necessary and demonstrate the ability to apply existing rules and routines to work and play with others
• Know the social norms of behaviour and dress in the classroom and at home
• Respect social norms different from their own even if they can’t accept them
• Communicate own views about people, places and their immediate environment in different mediums
• Listen to others

 

Story #4

Journeys and Maps

We have been looking at maps and  floor plans, and talking about spaces and places. We read a simple picture book that included different drawings of maps and floor plans. Some of the students were inspired and wanted to create their own maps. As they drew symbols and pictures on their sketch paper, they talked to each other about their plans. They all had a different story, a place to go and an experience to share through their maps. Their eyes glistened with excitement as they shared their narratives. It was clear that students rely upon personal experiences as a stimulus for ‘writing’.

Here are a few examples:

Nicolas created a treasure map that includes roads, houses, bridges, nature and arrows to show direction.

Amber’s map is about her journey to the dentist. She includes images of teeth with cavities and explains why we need to go to the dentist. It is clear that Amber relied upon personal experiences as a stimulus for ‘writing’.

Ruby’s treasure map takes you on a journey to find different coloured jewels. You have to travel along the road to hunt for the treasure.

Jasmine has created a map of China. Her journey takes her to multiple locations. She is travelling with her sister and has to follow a path to get to her destination.

Lawrence created a map that shows a journey between countries.

SLO’s

• tell their own stories using illustrations and words
• use everyday language to describe position, direction and movement of self and objects in relation to others

 

Story #5

The Supermarket

Why do we need supermarkets?

What happens at a supermarket?

The classroom ‘house’ was turned into a ‘shop’ space. The students quickly gathered into the space. They began to choose the items they wanted to purchase.

They took their items to the check-out counter. The cashier opened the till and the shopper paid for the items in her basket. One student took a RMB 10 note and swiped it along the groove at the till (used to swipe a credit/debit card). It was clear that the students have observed this action at the supermarkets.

One student was looking for money to pay for the items in his basket. Nicolas quickly suggested that he can also pay through ‘Alipay’. Alejandra quickly made a sign. She pasted it on the side of the checkout counter.

The Purchasing Team went on a field trip to ‘Suguo’ to get the items needed to make pasta. We have been planning this inquiry for a few days, and we were excited to go out to the supermarket. We were interested to learn more about ‘how’ the supermarkets ‘work’.

https://twitter.com/NISPreKK1/status/1055589394092982272

SOL’s

• explore how numbers can be used in many ways for different purposes in the real world
• understand that money is used to buy and sell things
• understand that different things have different monetary values
• know that Yuan is the currency of China

 

Story #6

The Places Around NIS

The PreK-K1 classes went on a field trip across from the school. They noticed the different places around them, and discussed the purpose of the space and their responsibilities in these spaces.

Where are you going today?

• Ethan “超市。” “Supermarket.”
• Charlotte “麦当劳” “McDonald.”
• Jasmine and Michelle“地铁” “Metro.”
• Jasmine “Everyone has an ID card to go out.” 

Train Station

(In Korean)

• Poli “Metro Station! Take a train to everywhere.”
• Seoyeon “Many people go together to other place. We need a card.”
• Jiwoo “In the subway, we have some policeman. They will catch the stealer.”
• Chaeyoon “You need line up.”
• Hajun “Sit on the chair.”

Poli, Seoyeon, Jiwoo, Chaeyoon, Hajun agreed we can’t eat food in the train, we need to be quiet, and no dancing, no singing and no running.

Why do we have trains?

• Jasmine “So we can go to different places. Playground.”
• Michelle “我们不能在地铁里玩玩具。” “No toys play in Metro Station.”
• Sarah Z “带我们去别的地方。” “Take us to go somewhere.”
• Michelle “在地铁里要安静。” “Quiet in the train.”
• Jasmine “No phone paly in the train. The Metro can take us to school.
• Alejandra “It’s a train station.”
• Nicholas “It’s a train station we can go to other places in the train. We can go to temple or go to eat something.”
• Lawrence “We can go around china in in the train.”(in Chinese)

How does this place help communities?

• Alejandra “People go together. Meet people on the train.” (in Chinese)
• Nicholas “If we go by train there is people going everywhere.”
• Lawrence “People go to buy things on the train.”(in Chinese)

What are our responsibilities?

• Alejandra “You cannot run and shout.” (in Chinese)
• Nicholas “You cannot eat in the train.’
• Lawrence “Can’t smoke, can’t hit and push people.” (in Chinese)
• Ruby “Because we want to go somewhere so far away.”
• Freida “We wait for the train to come. It might come so we have to wait.”
• Amber “It stopping, walking, go inside.”
• Ruby “Everyone wants to come on.”
• Frieda “And off.”
• Ruby “Quiet on the train. No playing on the phone.”
• Jasmine “We are going everywhere.”
• Ruby “Going anywhere. Anywhere else you like.”

The Mall

 Along the way, we noticed that there were different signs to tell people about the different shops that had stores at the mall.

Ruby noticed that the tower on the right was taller than the tower on the left.

McDonald’s

(In Korean)

• Poli “We need to tidy up when we finish. Metro station is higher. Metro is really fast.”
• Seoyeon “Playground. We go get something to eat. We pay cash. We can play in the playground. That building is higher and really scary.”
• Jiwoo “Be careful when you open the door.”
• Chaeyoon “We can play in the playground.”

Poli, Seoyeon, Jiwoo, Chaeyoon, Hajun “东方天郡。”

What’s the building?

• Jasmine “McDonald’s.”
• Ruby “It’s across the street of school.”
• Jasmine “We go to McDonald’s to have fun. To eat. To eat chips.”

(in Chinese)

• Alejandra “It’s a place to eat. to eat ice cream and hamburgers.”
• Amber “We eat burgers here and many people come to eat, but have to wait.”
• Lawrence “There are toys here. We can play. And also can eat burgers and chocolate ice cream.”
• Alejandra “People can eat here and buy things.”
• Amber “People come to play here and eat, you hurt your back if you fall.”
• Lawrence “There is many things to eat. You cannot eat other people’s food.”
• Alejandra “You cannot smoke. It’s bad for people.”
• Amber “You can’t spit here. No throwing things inside.”
• Lawrence “No pushing no shouting and no throwing food on the table, and putting trash.”

• Ruby “A place where you eat food. It is next to school. I had a Halloween party there.”
• Freida “Have animals there [referring to the gifts].
• Nicolas “Because we want to see things. All the mums and dads, because when it is Friday, it is a special day. We can eat lollypops!”
• Freida “Chicken McNuggets!”

Suguo

(in Korean)

• Poli “Carrot.”
• Jiwoo “Supermarket. We can buy things here. Yogurt, pizza, sugar.”
• Seoyeon “We should pay the cash. Chocolate, cabbage, orange juice. Suguo here. McDonald is not here.”
• Hajun “Chocolate.”

Poli, Seoyeon, Jiwoo, Chaeyoon, Hajun agreed no running, walking slowly in the supermarket.

Where is Suguo?

• Jasmine “Over there.”

Have you been there?

• Jasmine “Yes, me and my sister.”

What do you buy in the market?

• Jasmine “We put things in the trolleys. We don’t need to carry them.”

What things do you buy?

• Jasmine “We buy food, we go supermarket.”

(in Chinese)

• Alejandra “It’s a place we buy things. Lots of candy.”
• Amber “You can buy a telephone here to call. But you cannot steal things here. You can use the card here.”
• Lawrence “There is many things you can buy.”
• Alejandra “They can buy lot of things. We buy candy.”
• Amber “People come to buy things but they have to wait, we buy bread.”
• Lawrence “You can get free things. you don’t need to pay. Mom pays for things.”
• Alejandra “You can’t take other people’s things only your things.”
• Amber “You can’t spit here. No throwing things inside.”
• Lawrence “You cannot steal and cannot hit.”

• Ruby “To buy stuff, anything.”
• Freida “Also homework.”
• Ruby “What is homework?”
• Freida “Homework, also drawing books.”
• Nicolas “And lollypops!”
• Alejandra “And candy!”
• Ruby “You can buy iPads at the top.”

Are McDonalds and Suguo the same?

• Ruby “NO. They are not the same age. It (Suguo) is fat and big.
• Nicloas “They both have ice-cream.”
• Ruby “No. Because it has a fat and big sign.”
• Nicolas “Don’t have the steps the same. It looks like this (shows a slanting shape with his hand).
• Ruby “The school is the same as McDonalds because it is the same age. Because it got a sign. That is NIS, it’s a school.”

SLO’s

• Name places in their environment
• Explore a map and find their location on it
• Understand that rules are necessary and demonstrate the ability to apply existing rules and routines to work and play with others
• Know the social norms of behaviour and dress in the classroom and at home
• Respect social norms different from their own even if they can’t accept them
• Communicate own views about people, places and their immediate environment in different mediums
• Listen to others

 

Story #7

What would your city look like?

What does a city need to have?

What does your city look like?

The students began to draw their cities. They talked to each other about the things and places they wanted to include on their picture.

Nicolas “That is the NIS and this is the road for the hotel and this is the forest with the zebras in the forest. There is a train track and it has my home and a hotel and a pond with fish in it and you can get them for eating And there is a zebra eating grass. I go like this all the way, turn and then in the hotel.”

Alejandra “NIS magic school bus is going down. A castle, because the princess is here and he can go from his home, because the queen is here and his home is here. Go here, here to NIS (travelling down the road). Numbers for NIS (Referring to numbers on doors). Open and go into the classrooms. A car is going to NIS. Here it is going to the queen’s house but the queen is here.”

Ruby “This is a school, this is the NIS numbers. This is the house and this is the roof and this is the door and the windows and this is the path that you can go. She has to walk. That is the boy outside playing from the home. The boy is going into school and he says, “Hurry up Lola!” The boy is Charley. The car and the wheels have been pumped out. And this is the car park. You can still walk or drive or go on a train if the school is too far. And Lola is playing on the swing. The arrow says you can go in and you can go out at playtime.

Ethan “Sea grass. It’s raining, and the road. You can walk down on the road. There is a river and something scary is inside.” [In Mandarin]

Amber “Tree, house treasures in the soil. And it has some big grass and small flowers. Cars in the city. We have fire trucks. Mountains, I’m climbing the mountain and can’t find the road. There are toilets for girls and boys. I’m counting numbers. I’m making a cake at my home. Here I go to hospital to see doctor because I’m hurt.” [In Mandarin]

Jasmine “Some flowers. I see many flowers in winter. And some tress. Some apples. I see some cars too. Some beans and they will grow up. I put something on the nail with my sister.” [In Mandarin]

Lawrence “This is sun and this is cloud. It’s sunny. This one is train truck. This is train. And this is supermarket. This is NIS. And this is train station. This is my house. In the house, there is a tent and a window, and a door. This is my bread shop. This is a bug. These three are some cats eating in their home.”

Poli “This is roller coaster. House, supermarket, NIS, police station, and policeman, this is fire and here comes fire truck. Jiwoo, Poli and Poli’s mummy in the house. This is train station. This is sun.” [In Mandarin]

Jiwoo “Supermarket, Poli and Jiwoo’s house.”

[In Korean] “This is a playground, this is a parking space. The bad man come here, the policeman catches the bad man. This is NIS, this is DongFangTianJun, jiwoo and Poli live here. Many friends come to the compound and play here. Playground in the NIS. This is spider web, here is the forest with many tress. Here is the prison and a bad man and a police car.”

https://twitter.com/NISPreKK1/status/1056857287011123200

SLO’s

• Name places in their environment
• Communicate own views about people, places and their immediate environment in different mediums
• Listen to others

Having created maps, a group of students were motivated to create their own city using blocks, trains and other loose parts. They included a supermarket, a school for the teachers and the gated community they lived in. 

https://twitter.com/NISPreKK1/status/1057161607384461312

https://twitter.com/NISPreKK1/status/1057161607384461312