The children are excited about managing their own belongings and routines, “just like grown-ups!”. It will be easier for the children to look after their belongings if they are clearly labeled. This weekend the children should practice packing and unpacking their bags by themselves, several times, so that they know exactly what they have in their bags, where to find everything and how to fit it all in. (Sleeping bags can be particularly tricky.) This will help the children feel a sense of control and independence and will ease anxiety.

We talked about how everything has to fit in one overnight bag and the importance of “packing light”. While we have discouraged the children from bringing big suitcases (for space and storage reasons), it is important that the bag is big enough for children to fit  ALL their belongings inside easily.

Sleepover unplugged

I proposed that the sleepover be ‘unplugged’, with no electronic devices, after much debate the children have agreed.

Writing a list of things to pack for the sleepover

Koinobori inquiry by Yuri Airs

The children applied their sketching skills from art, carefully recording details of Koinobori for their own design. The children noted the Koinobori fluttering in the wind and pondered the question, What material is this made of? This was a direct link to our Unit of Inquiry about how we manipulate materials to suit our purposes.

Drawing our Koinobori on PhotoPeach

The children came back to class and wanted to share ideas of  how to make their own Koinobori. The children had lengthy discussions about the appropriate materials for their Koinobori. They pondered which adhesives would be needed to connect pieces.They estimated lengths of fabric, paper and plastic.  Some children used rulers to measure the length of their fish. They used words such as, longer, shorter, fatter and small to describe their designs. This shows the practical application of our measurement unit in maths.

Making Koinobori on PhotoPeach

The children made their Koinobori on a particularly gusty day and were able to test and modify their designs.

Good things

1. We can bring nerf guns and our toys.
2. We can use torches at night and play outside.
3. We can read books.
4. It will be a good time for us.
5. We can play any games we want.
6. We can sleep late until 5 o’clock
7. We will have happy dreams.

Bad things

1. I won’t be able to see my mum and dad.
2. I sleep-walk, I will bump my head.
3. There might be scary birds, bats, dreams and ghosts.
4. I won’t be able to sleep with my mum and dad.

Questions that arose from this discussion.

1. Can I have my special shawl from India?
2. Can I have my Mario and iPad?
3. How many books and toys can I bring?
4. Do we need a sleeping bag?
5. What food will we have?
6. What about allergies?

We made a table  to show whether people wanted to have a sleepover at school.

YES

ZP   RJ   NB   FC   SP   AA   AM   EK   OD     SI   AT

MAYBE

SR

NO

HG   JH

As we discussed the sleepover some children changed their minds about attending. They talked with parents and  other children offered support. Cindy had been away for our initial discussion and the other children came around her and smiled warmly saying,”OK, right? You do the sleepover.” Allen had a sleepover at Oskar’s. It was the first time to has slept away from his mum and dad. He told us about his experiences and gave advice to children who have never done this before.

Updated chart

YES

ZP   RJ   NB   FC   SP   AA   AM   EK   OD     SI   AT  SR

MAYBE

HG   Ci

NO

JH

The children’s major concern was not having access to their electronic toys. They are debating whether they should have them for the sleepover. The children will be planning this event and problem-solving any issues. The first thing they wanted to resolve was what food they would eat. I am curious to learn what food they will choose and they they propose to buy and cook it.

We were ready for a new author of the month, but who would it be? Hana suggested Lauren Child. She told us Lauren Child has a collection of stories about Charlie and Lola who are funny characters. Hana, Naoimh and Feng went off to the library to find Lauren Child books. We also have a collection in Kindergarten.

The children were instantly captivated by the illustrations, drawing comparisons with Ezra Jack Keats and Louis Ehlert. They commented on the marrying of drawing with photographs. Children wondered how the illustrator had created this effect. Several children thought the illustrations were collages and referred to their experiences in art class.

Lauren Child does lots of interesting things with text, I am wondering how long it is before the children start to comment ton this.

For all the designers in KP, Lauren Child was asked to take her ideas from book illustrations and turn them into fabric. I thought you would be interested in the design process. It reminded me of our unit of inquiry about communicating our ideas in many ways.

Ok everyone let’s get moving!

Blog post by 2Q

The Grade 2′s will learn the dance and will then teach it to the Grade 1′s and KG.  This is another example of how our taught curriculum combines with children’s passions and interests, creating authentic learning and sharing experiences across the school.

SO GET DANCING AT HOME, YOU CAN JOIN IN ON SPORTS DAY!

Further Information

This song was adapted by Beyonce to support Michelle Obama’s campaign to stop childhood obesity. Here is a link about the campaign CLICK HERE

The kindergarten children prepared the room, Ruby told her mum she needed to come early to get the room ready. Aiden, Hana and Aiden  helped set up the room. They decided we needed lots of boxes and space for the glue guns.

Grade 10 visit April on PhotoPeach

Note the the quiet hum of conversation and the high level of engagement.

Last week we were able to watch the ELC assembly. The children had written and produced their own play. This was a joyful celebration of ELC as storytellers. The children broke into spontaneous applause and sighed when the production ended. We heard the children say, “Again… again, do it again. It was so good.” “Why is it finished? It’s too short.” The kindergarten children, who were in ELC, revisited their experiences of producing a play and shared their memories.

Naoimh: I was a princess, good.

Ray: I was the bead dragon and I slipped with my bag to get the Easter eggs. I became a good dragon with Jacob. After the play there was a line to have picnic and danced.

Aiden: I was the wizard and I turned Ray into the good dragon.

Julie: The play we watched was short.

Han: It was a long way to get there.

We returned to the same space, the auditorium, to view the Grade 12 IB diploma students art exhibition. This gave the children an opportunity to compare two exhibitions, as they had been to the elementary art exhibition in the tea house. The children immediatly noted the difference in the space from the ELC. They also noted differences in the style of art at the IB exhibition, “Wooo… so much, look… come and look at this,” were phrases we heard.

Visiting the IB art exhibition. on PhotoPeach

Hana: There were a lot of art. The drawing were big.

Jiwon: Is pretty, it looks like a treasure.

Naoimh: I like the flower where the light was shining on it.

Feng: The sakura black and white because the lights are in the box and it’s cool.

Julie: I liked the little squares outside they were white and inside they were crystals.

Aiden: I liked cat with two tails, it was cool.

Cindy: Purple flower.

Eren: Painting (translated by Shoma)

Alex: I liked the lamp where like they draw on it, because the lamp lighted up it looked like a real thing.

Zach: Because I like it

Sofie: I like the black crystals on the white, cause it has black crystals.

Shoma: Blue, because beautiful.

Ray: I liked the bones of the bull because they were not real.

Oskar: You couldn’t do anything there.

Allen: It was not fun because I can not play and shout.

Suwon: Heart, the pink because that pink heart is so funny.

Aiden brought in a big bag of one yen coins for the school one yen drive. The children wanted to know,

• Why was he doing this?
• What was the money for?
• Why was he giving away his money?

Aiden said the money came from his mum and it was to help people. The children thought this must mean poor people. They explained that poor people don’t have food. They surmised that this meant they couldn’t go to restaurants which needed money. Other children decided to give some one yen coins and others said they didn’t want to share their money. One of the high school students came told us the money was to build wells.

How much money did we have and how could we count it accurately?

This video is a celebration of learning. We have spent many hours as a class discussing how to count large amounts. Each child proposed strategies, tested and evaluated their idea. Many frustrations were faced and ideas challenged. We pondered the notion of counting,

• Why do we count?
• Why do we need to be accurate?
• Which idea works best, why?

This four minute video shows the children counting all the one yen coins, it has been edited from thirty five minutes of footage. The video aims to capture the essence of learning within the class. I have tried to create a story, each transition in the video shows the next development in the ‘plot’,  as children share their deepening mathematical thinking.

You will note the following in the video,

• Counting 1 to 10 accurately, matching object to a word.
• Self-regulating, checking and counting for accuracy.
• Counting in mother tongue and transferring to English.
• Calculating amounts needed to make 1o.
• Problem-solving ways to make 10.
• Developing the language of large numbers ‘ty’ words, 10, 20, 30
• Working with others to negotiate the sharing of money.
• Forming groups to share expertise and check for accuracy.

In case you were wondering… we had 678 yen when we  finished counting.

I started off reading one of my favourite Robert Munsch books, “The paper bag princess”. Some children said they had heard it in ELC and Alex said he had seen a movie of the book.

I wonder which Robert Munsch book will be the children’s favourite at the end of the month?