Function Continued

The role friendships play in our lives (function)

Continuing the work the children did last week, we explored this concept a little further making new connections. 

While sorting pictures, the children discussed what friendships do in our lives and identified a role they hadn't yet thought of!

• to have someone to play with
• to help and be helped
• to love

What does it look like when you play/help/love your friend? Using the sorting pictures for inspiration, the children thought of different scenarios that reflect these ideas and we took pictures. 

Friends play dress up.

Friends show love to each other.

Friends help clean up

Oliver Jeffers book "Up and Down" is a beautiful story of how friends help each other. What child can resist making a catapult?! We stepped outside and in pairs the children played together making a catapult with a ruler and block and sent balls of play dough high in the air taking turns helping each other to retrieve the little balls! Passerby's enjoyed the squeals of laughter that filled the air!

Helping each other launch the catapult!

While outside we had an unexpected visitor: a neighbourhood cat! This prompted many questions including "Can a cat be a friend?"

Function: The role of friendships

The Role Friendships Play in Our Lives

To begin today, we explored the meaning of function - one of the key concepts in this unit. I presented a tray of items and it wasn't long for the children to connect the meaning of function to what something does. For example, the function of scissors it to cut things.

We discussed what the function of friendships could be. They recalled that one function is to have someone to play with but they couldn't think of another idea. I presented the story Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers and Julia recalled hearing a story by the same author where the friends helped each other. "Do friends help each other?"

Sharing stories of helping each other.

The children recalled memories of friends helping each other.

Julia – A week ago at Teigan’s house we were in her bedroom singing, she had a CD and we listened to the songs and danced around but then her pinky got blood and I had to go because she had to go to preschool. Later when I met up with her I asked her “How’s it going?” and she told me about her toe. I think I made helped her feel better because she knows I care.

Rocco – My mom babysat my neighbour’s kid and me too. The mom and dad had to go out and my mom helped them by taking care of the kid.

Simone – My dad has an Ipad and it has a story of Barbie Rapunzel and she helps her friend out of a hole.

Esme –  I helped Sofia find the magnet tiles and I helped her to make a castle.

Sofia V – Today in the forest we were playing Batman and Orin helped me get the bad guys.

Inspired by the long journey the penguin and the boy took in the story the children used their feet to paint a picture representing the journey.

Making footprints

Not sure about how the paint feels

The Journey

New Unit: We can be friends

Our focus on exploring the theme Who We Are will be the concept "we can be friends".

The lines of inquiry are

• the role friendships play in our lives (function)
• the giving and receiving of friendship (connection)
• the expectations of friendship (responsibility)

To begin this unit I have observed the children are aware they have friends that they like to play with. We will look closer at the function of friendship - what role do friends play in our lives?

Today we played a music game called Johnny Put Your Hand Up,  in which the children practiced some important ideas in friendship: listening and turn taking. It also provided an opportunity to label body parts. One discussion that came up allowed the children to discover that the bend of your hand is called a wrist, not an ankle, and the children found their both their ankles and wrists.

Johnny put your tummy up!

The children all identified one role of friendship - to have someone to play with. They all agreed it was important to have someone to play with. It took some thought to label the play and identify the activities they did with their friends. 

Simone - play princess, read together, build with magnet tiles, play mom and dad

Sofia V - play basketball, play Cinderella, play Sleeping Beauty

Rocco - buy trains together, play ninja, pretend to be different people, play outside

Alfie - play magnet tiles, play golf, play baseball

Roy - play with toys

Illustrating their ideas: things I like to do with my friend

Summative Week

This week wraps up our unit, Plentiful Plants! The children will be completing two activities that will showcase their understanding of the three lines of inquiry and concepts:

• Form: The features of plants in our local area
• Function: How animals/people use plants
• Responsibility: The needs of plants in our local area

In the first activity the children match the word of the plant part to the picture.

The second activity the children are creating a diorama of a forest scene. Today they painted the background and on another day they will add features they collected from the forest; leaves, twigs, pine cones etc.

They will also be given one plastic animal and one person to place in their diorama. Debbie will meet with each child individually and ask them to describe the different ways their animal and person is using the plants in their diorama, demonstrating their knowledge.

Building a nest in the forest

Line of Inquiry: How animals use plants

Yesterday the children displayed an understanding that animals use plants for food and to camouflage for protection. The idea that animals use plants for shelter wasn't as familiar to them. To explore this idea we watched a video of two eagles working together to build a nest. Then the children used their imagination to transform themselves into eaglets and we flew into the forest to build a nest.

After looking at the heights of the trees the children agreed to use their imagination again and build their nest on the ground and pretended to be high in the trees.

What will the baby birds eat? Worms was their answer but they did not want to eat worms. After a lengthy explanation of how some people do actually eat worms from Nicky we decided to use Cheerios instead since they "look like worms curled up in a circle"

After the nest was built everyone took a turn being a parent eagle feeding their hungry eaglets!

Assessments

Line of Inquiry: How animals use plants

An informal assessment was done to help understand the children's knowledge of how animals use plants. We looked at the mural they made last week and the children expressed their knowledge. It was evident that the children know that animals use plants for food and to camouflage for protection. What was missing was an understanding that animals use plants for shelter. We will explore this tomorrow.

The children cut out animals and placed them on the mural remembering the different ways animals use plants. An example of this understanding was when a child placed a brown pill bug on a brown tree and said "My little pill bug saw the raccoon and it ran to camouflage."

Cutting with scissors is an important skill and is a part of Kindergarten readiness. The children have a variety of skill and confidence. I took this opportunity for the children to practise this skill and reflect on their confidence and ability. The children assessed their skill before the activity and then  after. They were given three options:

• I am good at cutting
• Sometimes when I cut it turns out the way I want it, sometimes it doesn't
• When I cut it doesn't turn out the way I want it

All the children assessed their skill as being good at cutting, except Nicki who thought sometimes he was. The group was quiet, deep in concentration, as they cut out the animals. Rocco said, "This is harder than I thought!" After the activity the children reflected on their beginning assessment and decided if their idea changed or stayed the same. Nicki changed his idea to "I am good at cutting". Rocco and Sarah changed their thinking to "Sometimes when I cut it turns out the way I want it, sometimes it doesn't" and the rest of the children's thoughts stayed the same.

Function: How animals use plants

After a spontaneous walk this morning in the forest to pick salmon berries the children came back full of enthusiasm about the forest. We recalled the animals we saw on our walk: slugs, LOTS of them! and spiders and birds. We researched other animals live in Pacific Spirit Park and found pictures of them.

The children dramatized the different ways animals use plants; for food, shelter, protection and to raise their young. They especially enjoyed dramatizing being young animals! They used various shades of greens, browns and other forest colours to paint a forest scene. They were encouraged to include plants in the different layers of the forest and to remember all the reasons why animals need plants.

The children coloured their pictures of animals and chatted about where they're found and what they use plants for. Next group time they will practice using scissors to cut them out and add them to their forest scene.