New Unit! Express Yourself

 Central Idea:

We express ourselves in many ways and this helps us connect with one another

Lines of Inquiry:

How language, music, and visual arts help us express ourselves and build connections with others
Sharing ideas and being good listeners helps build understanding
Taking time to reflect helps us practice slowing downs that we can make 

connections with what we hear and see

The children are full of ideas and they're all to happy to tell us about them, but is talking the only way to share an idea? The children identified some other ways ideas can be expressed . . . 

paint it

draw it in the sand

do a performance

build it

Today we practiced this by choosing an idea and using building materials to express it. Michael and Tyreese chose railroad tracks "because you build them" but in the end didn't have an idea in mind, they just enjoyed building. Chloe chose Lego but couldn't decide on an idea she wanted to work on. 

Here are pictures of the other children's ideas . . . 

I went on a ferry to the Sunshine Coast and saw many animals

I made a beaver house

I'm building an animal castle

A house for all the people and dinosaur

Water Wonders: Letting People Know

The children have taken a keen interest in the salmon's life cycle and habitat. They've learned about the importance of maintaining our streams and creeks for the salmon to return and spawn. Yesterday I observed Ryleigh during play time making signs for the river model, they were signs warning of the danger of pollution in the water.

Yesterday we explored what we can do to help salmon and their habitat and the children thought it would be a good idea to make signs as a way to share their knowledge. Today we used a fish stencil to paint on the ground beside a storm drain to remind people that the storm drain leads to creeks and streams where fish live so it's important to not dump chemicals or harmful liquids down them.

 


They used the inside of the stencil to trace a salmon and used water colours to paint it. Using a tracer is no easy task for a beginner and the children needed a variety of support. It was tricky to get the pencil to follow along the edge of the tracer!

Water Wonders: Help Save the Salmon

 

"The World That Jack Built" by Ruth Brown provoked the children to think about what could have happened to forest and stream in Jack's world that changed it from green and beautiful to dark and dying.  At the end of the story they discovered that a factory had been dumping waste and chemicals into the stream and they recognized that salmon would never be able to survive in the polluted stream.

What Can You Do To Save Salmon?
Sometimes children feel they aren't able to impact their world but after reviewing the actions that can help save salmon they felt these were all things they could do - they can help save salmon! Later, Sofia shared her knowledge about using natural cleaners instead of chemical cleaners with the other children at her lunch table.

Natural Cleaners vs Chemical Cleaners
Together we made a cleaner that is natural and safe for the environment. We mixed vinegar and water and used the solution to clean the windows!