Nina Marni amazing little learners and their lovely Families . Welcome to our Blog for term 3 /week 9
Learning Intention 1:
To challenge children’s construction skills by providing loose parts and STEM experiences.
Why
- STEM education in early childhood allows children to begin to learn and retain a knowledge base that they can build on as they get older.
- Loose Parts play encourages children to make, create, problem solve and hypothesize. Loose parts have no instructions and no predetermined rules.
- The concept of ‘loose parts’ supports children to become critical thinkers as they use these open- ended materials to plan their work and create whatever they want to without an adult telling them what should be done. It helps children to be imaginative.
- Loose parts give children the freedom to arrange and rearrange, essentially using the parts to create their own rules and designs, which allows the focus of the experience to be on the process rather than the product. Fine motor skills are developed and strengthened when children grasp and pick up small objects.
Learning Intention 1 will be a repeat this fortnight and an extension with Learning Intention 2 due to children’s continuing interests
ILP’s: All children
Loose parts , recycled materials and man made constructive materials are resources which promote and enhance children’s building creativity and imagination. Requirements of planning drawing , cutting stacking and balance testing are some of many learning skills which children learn to master through the process of building and construction.
Learning Intention: 2
To encourage children’s expression of ideas through collaborative arts-making experiences in Visual Arts.
Possibilities & Provocations:
- provide resources that encourage experimentation with mark making: different tools such as crayon, paintbrushes, chalk, fine-tip pens, pencils, textas and various surfaces such as paper, corrugated cardboard, foil, concrete, tiles (C)
- collaborative canvas painting (O)
- support children to work vertically as well as horizontally, for example on the tabletop easel, paper hanging on the fence outside, painting with water on the brick wall (C)
- offer inviting visual art provocations, with natural materials such as flowers and fruit, or photographs, to stimulate mark making (E)
- place paper and mark making materials on the ground, for engagement in the prone position (laying on the tummy) (E)
- painting with leaves, herbs and collage with natural materials
- finger painting using perspex screen ( also connects to learning intention regarding children’s social development, when a child is positioned on each side)
- outdoor water ‘painting’
- Stone work outside in dirt
- Stick wrapping with fabric strips/lace/wool
- ILP’s All Children
Providing children with opportunities of understanding and purpose in their learning is a vital component to developing their constructive skills. Mark making and drawing can be a vital tool for children to build this understanding of how to hold a pen , pencil or a paint brush. These fine motor skills can be promotional material towards helping children develop composition and transcription.
Constructive building has been linked in throughout this fortnight with mark making and visual arts.
Learning Intention 3
Book making
Literacy Intentions (our hopes for their learning)
- Children will develop a joyful connection to picture books.
Weekly focus
- Starting from scratch, what is a book? What is the purpose? Who reads books? Who writes books? What do they look like? Teachers will use information gained about prior knowledge to decide next steps.
Mentor texts
- Explore a range of Mo Williams (Pigeon books) during morning/ Afternoon group times (Term 3)
- discussions and questioning to follow.
- Educators to find moments to read to small groups of children and using these moments as an opportunity for self-regulation and grounding
ILP’s: All children
Book making provides children with opportunity where children see themselves as writers. Children are able to think big and mark make their own writing through drawings and verbal communication. Children are also able to develop their critical thinking create texts and communicate their ideas. Reading to children helps develop their visual literacy and are seen as role playing with their peers.
Our community visits around the Holy Family catholic School has been very consistent throughout this week where children have been given the preference of choice of a learning station. Visits to the MUDLA, log park, veggie patch and the playground have been some of many which took key preference.
Self serving of meals within our in house dining experience has been proven to work wonders with the children as they have become the independent and capable learners they are through a variety of learning processes. Nutritional values and trying out different types of food have made children experience and value a sense of taste, smell and touch.
Some specs of gold with a bit of dance and movement to share for this week
Hope you all have a relaxing and wonderful weekend.