For the last two weeks our Star Name has been Caileigh. As we pieced together the letters of her name we realized it was much longer than some of the other names we have studied. 8 letters long in fact! Someone wondered: "Could there even be a name with 10 letters?" So we worked as a group to think of long names that we knew. We discovered that Cinderella is 10 letters long! Even longer than Caileigh!
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Some children then became interested in created their own menus using the blank and lined paper available in their play area. Special menu papers were then presented as a provocation and soon all the children were interested in creating menus. We worked hard to sound out the food items we wanted to add to our menus and some of us even discovered the books in the class library as resources we could use to find menu ideas and correct spelling! At this point, all children have created a menu with different food items and restaurant names. Some menus are for kids and some menus are for adults. Some children even added prices to their menus!
This week we have been revisiting one of our favourite poems and songs 'Five Little Ducks' as we study and sort the letters F, D, and H. Since the beginning of the school year, Kindergarten 1.2 has been participating in 'Discovery Time'. These sessions, which happen several times each week, allow us time to pursue independent projects and activities based around our personal interests. This experience supports us in taking control of our own learning and develops our skills in reflection, self-awareness and assessment. We learn how to initiate projects and make decisions (as well as take suggestions) on how to extend them. Some of the projects that we initiated between August and October, included:
Though many of our Discovery Time projects are initiated independently, we have opportunities to connect with other children by sharing our work during class meetings. We also view photographs and videos of our processes and listening to what has been documented by Ms. Alison in her notes.
We currently have some time between our planned units of inquiry so for the last two weeks we have been using this space to support a full-time inquiry. We've been busy cooking, baking, selling food in the shop, and creating a restaurant complete with table settings and menus. New ideas are emerging every day and it is always very exciting to see how our play is evolving and extending as we work as a group! Some of the things we are learning authentically through this inquiry:
For the last two weeks our Star Name has been Isaiah. He has two letters in his name which we haven't explored yet as a class: S and H. We practiced the sounds and actions for the letters and formed them in different ways, including with stones. We also practiced forming Isaiah's special letter I with our bodies like we saw in the Sesame Street podcast for the letter I. For the last two weeks our Star Name has been Maanya. None of the letters in her name were new to us so this gave us a chance to review the letter-sound connections and actions and make connections between Maanya's name and our own names.
Maanya's special first letter is 'M', which also connected to our Gingerbread Man poem letter hunt and sort for the letters 'M' and 'R'. For the last two weeks our Star Name has been Dillon. We learned the letters that make up his name, studying their shapes and sounds. When we watched the Sesame Street podcast for the letter D we were very excited by one the clips where a girl made a capital D with her body. Many of us connected this to the yoga poses we have been practicing during our body breaks so we wanted to try it! For the two weeks before our mid-semester holiday our Star Name was Aarna. As usual we practiced making the sounds of her name as well as forming the letters in different ways.
There are many ways of making meaning and representing thinking, and oral language is one of them. Through our Philosophy for Children sessions, children gain confidence and skills in expressing themselves through oral language, also developing their capacities as respectful listeners. After creating watercolour portraits of our families last week, we sat in a circle to discuss the following question: Why do you think families are important? As with all of our philosophy sessions, we lit a candle in the middle of our circle to help us concentrate and be peaceful. |
About Us
We are a group of Kindergarten 1 students at an IB World School in Singapore. Our teacher is Miss Alison. Follow us on our blog and Twitter to see how much we're learning and growing! More Blogs to Follow at ISS:Archives
June 2015
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