Reddam Early Learning School Newsletter Vol 22 Issue 17

Indigenous Perspectives Leader’s Message

By Grace Nolan

“National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.” (https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/) In each classroom, from the 27th of May to the 3rd of June we stopped, listened and learnt from our Indigenous communities, as though truthfully reconciliation should be continuous learning and relearning throughout the year. This year’s theme - ‘Be Brave. Make Change’ was a beautiful extension from 2021’s theme - ‘More than a word: Reconciliation takes action’, for this year we celebrated the achievements of our First Nation’s Peoples in multiple facets in our wider and national communities.

An exciting step forward towards reconciliation was the promise to approve the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’ which encourages First Nations’ Peoples a voice and an opinion in government in regards to Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander affairs. Furthermore, the permanent addition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag in Parliament for news coverage is a starting point for recognising and representing our Indigenous communities, culture and heritage. 20 actions for reconciliation can be found here.

With modern and contemporary views of our First Nations People, this Reconciliation Week we focused on the achievements and celebrations of our Indigenous Peoples. Reading stories such as Our Home, Our Heartbeat by Adam Briggs that feature the modern achievements of our young and old First Nations’ Peoples, the children were able to share in their joy, see their achievements and as a result, break down stereotypes and biases. Listening to music by Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu during rest time provides realistic and non-tokenistic views and interpretations of First Nations Peoples.

At our school, teachers and children alike have been on a journey of reconciliation, with classes teaching explicitly the history of our First Nations Peoples through stories, Acknowledgement of Country, through discussions regarding specific symbols, songs and dances. Our children have been learning about the rich culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by embedding it in our educational program and intentional learning experiences.

As a school, we have been developing our Reconciliation Action Plan for a number of years. This document provides steps and actions that we as a school and community can take to make steps towards reconciliation. If you would like to get involved with our school’s reconciliation journey, please email Grace (grace.nolan@reddamels.com.au) to join our Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group.

Pictured above: 1R Indigenous provocation table

Stage 1R

By Heather Gaskell

“If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.” (Roald Dahl) This week as part of our literacy provocation our focus books were The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson. The story of The Gruffalo is based on a Chinese folk tale of a fox that borrows the terror of a tiger. Donaldson was unable to think of rhymes for ‘tiger’ so instead she invented a word that rhymes with ‘know’. The story is about a mouse who very cleverly creates an imaginary creature to scare off animals which wish to eat him. The surprise at the end was that the Gruffalo really did exist. Julia Donaldson enables the children to create an image of this mythical creature throughout the story. It is a funny, brightly coloured and interactive book.

Following on from the ideas in these books, we presented the children with various sensory activities to inspire our little ones to create their own characters. One of such activities was manipulating brown playdough with dry pasta and sticks so they could create their own version of a Gruffalo. They strengthened their small muscles by pulling, forming and squeezing the playdough as well as stimulating their sense of touch. We also provided the children with two sensory trays which presented the river and the forest inspired by the book. The Winter tray was set up with water, some water animals, jars and funnel.

And in the Forest tray there were leaves and natural materials along with finger puppets from the story.

Our beautiful little ones engaged in the sensory play by feeling and observing the water. They poked their fingers in it and poured it through the tunnel into another jar. They observed how it changed and the cause & effect of the different tools on the water. The Forest tray evoked imagination as the children played with the characters - making the animal character sounds and chatting together. Then, as an inspiration for the story of The Gruffalo’s Child, there was a sensory tray of snow made from flour and vegetable oil. This was accompanied by silver leaves and other natural materials. This all encouraged the development of motor skills and stimulated their touch when the children dipped their hands in the play, also presenting a visual version of the story to help the children better understand the books.

The art experience for the week was to use one of the characters, the snake, to create their own masterpiece. The children were provided with a piece of yarn which represented the snake, the yarn was dipped into red and yellow paints. The children were then encouraged to hold one end of the yarn and drag it across their paper. Therefore leaving a trail (footprint, if snakes had feet) across the page. The children enjoyed watching the effect and loved seeing the patterns they created on their paper.

Wishing all our families a wonderful weekend, Heather, Doris, May, Connie, Vianne and Peach

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Stage 1R: The Gruffalo Advennture

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Stage 1R: Snake String Art

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Stage 1E

By Charity Acera

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” (Gloria Steinem)

Giving importance to this inspirational quote, imagination is a way of making dreams into reality.

It is the beginning of something beautiful and purposeful. Imagination influences everything we do, think about and create. Reading and storytelling are the best ways to promote imagination to the babies. It is through these vibrant illustrations and exciting stories that our children spark imagination, create new ideas and make meaning to the world around them. Thus, this week’s focus was all about the Imaginary World of Julia Donaldson, an English writer, popularly known for her rhyming stories for the children.

The week’s literary learning experiences were enjoyed by the children and adults alike. The humour and the rhyming in the stories of Donaldson not only brought us joy but also imparted values of family, empathy and friendship as we read One Ted Falls Out of Bed, Monkey Puzzle, Stickman, Superworm and The Gruffalo. Significantly, the repetition in the stories encourages word recognition and phonological awareness which are best for the children's early literacy development.

To extend on this learning, we put out a sensory learning experience for them to explore their sense of touch, we provoked the children to practise their empathy in freeing Stickman frozen in the big block of ice. To make it more fun, an investigative activity was done by the group. They were invited to have different minibeasts such as bees, slugs, snails, beetles, butterflies and toads.

The fascinated and terrified expressions on their faces were so evident during the activity. We had sticks, stones, flowers, little logs and all sorts of beautiful natural materials to engage with the environment and our friends. We also involved the children to play pretend with miniature toy animals influenced from the book Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson. We observed them looking closely at it and investigating each animal’s features .

1E children were invited to express this knowledge and ideas through creative experiences. They were encouraged to create their own process art using natural sticks and acrylic paint.

We look forward to promoting a sense of being throughout this term as we continue to explore our imaginations through the Playing Superheroes next week. Get your favourite Superhero costumes ready.

A warm and restful weekend to everyone, Charity, Fatima, May and Melissa

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Stage 1E: Travelling to the World of Julia Donalson

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Stage 1E: Stick Paiting and Outdoor Fun

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Stage 2R

By Sara Haddadi

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” (Ryunosuke Satoro) This week we delved deeper into ocean life and had the opportunity to teach the children more about its beauty. All children have an innate curiosity about the world that makes them avid learners. A child who has compassion for the ocean is more likely to grow into a conscientious adult who is more aware of their actions and how they affect the world.

Throughout the week, the children engaged with sensory water trays filled with an array of ocean creatures. They also benefited from various ocean-themed sensory experiences, including playdough, shaving foam and kinetic sand, which provided tactile exploration of the ocean habitats Sensory play develops nerve connections in the brain's pathways, which lead to the child's ability to complete more complex learning tasks. Moreover, 2R explored the vibrant underwater ecosystem with the coral reef sensory trays. They had opportunities for free exploration while allowing their imagination to guide their learning experience.

We love all the vibrant colours of coral reefs that seamlessly blend together and create a gorgeous ecosystem. Inspired by coral reefs, the art of the week involved 2R creating coral reef scenes using sponges and paint. A fantastic science experiment introduced sharks' buoyancy to the children. The teachers explained that buoyancy is the ability to float in water or other fluids.

Sharks need to work hard to remain buoyant without having a swim bladder. Two full bottles, one filled with water and one with oil, were used in this experiment. The bottle of oil represented the shark floating at the water's surface. This is because oil is less dense than water. During this experiment, the children observed that sharks have large oily livers inside their bodies, which enables them to be buoyant in the water and not sink to the bottom of the seafloor.

By understanding how everything is connected in the ocean and how we interact with it as humans, the children have started to learn that caring for and protecting the sea will ensure it remains a beautiful place – not just for the fish to swim in, but for all life on Earth.

Have a pleasant long weekend, everyone!

Sara, Vivian, Lizzie, Chloe, Connie, Vianne, Jaycel, Rowel and Margaret

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Stage 2R: Exploring the Deep Blue Sea

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Stage 2R: Ocean Sponge Stamping Art

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Stage 2E

By Mia Doan “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” (Lao Tzu)

To strengthen a strong sense of belonging into a widening world, in Week 5, our 2E children set their first step in polar regions: treeless tundra, glaciers, a permanent or semi-permanent layer of ice. Through scientific pioneering around the North and South poles, we gradually built connections with living things in faraway lands. Our friends are emphatically worried for penguins, polar bears and other polar animals, who are on the edge of dangers from melted ice and climate changes. Isla posed an interesting question, “Is the ice melting slowly?” Every week, we strive to include and focus on the use of natural resources, to emphasis love for other living things, and environmentally and sustainable practices in daily life. From this, our children will genuinely understand the impact of human activity on Earth and this will intentionally empower them to protect nature and contribute to a sustainable future.

Through reading and imaginative walking to the Arctic and Antarctic lands, our lovely children wondered and posed questions related to the natural adaptations of polar animals. Besides reading narrative books to build up imagination and empathy towards characters in the stories, a range of informative texts contributed to our 2E children’s oral language development, scientific inquiry and logical thinking skills. They started to inform and contribute their knowledge during large group discussions, initiate conversations with teachers and friends about what they knew and learnt.

- Miss Mia: "Where do Penguins live?"

- Jasper: "In the ice" - Aaron: "In a very cold place" - Clara: "In the cold" - Mia: “What do they eat?”

- Aaron Z: "They eat fish."

- Miss Mia: “How do penguins move?”

- Clara: "Waddle" - Miss Mia: "Can penguins swim or fly?”

- Dylan: "They cannot fly but swim" - Jasper: "No fly"

On the provocation table, our young scientists manipulated the white snow and observed the different physical characteristics of Arctic animals hidden under snow. The polar small world with soft feel-alike snow was the second most favourite activity of the week. Our little polar explorers imaginatively created a narrative story between a mommy polar bear with her baby hiding underneath the snow.

The Penguin slide was one of the most favourite activities. This playful experience spontaneously created a learning experience in which the children compare penguin sizes and recognise different penguin species.

Also, they made predictions and observed which Penguins slid down faster depending on their size and weight. 2E children adored sweeping and filling in snow-people with desiccated coconut, shaving foam, styrofoam or salt. Every friend spent a long time on this activity and strengthened their imagination, fine-motor skills and hand-eyes coordination skills.

Interestingly, making edible coconut snowballs was the favourite activity of the week. We poured coconut condensed milk and sprinkled fine desiccated coconut which looks like snow and tastes delicious.

Wishing you a lovely weekend, Mia, Tracey, Xanthe and, Vianne, Chloe and Shandie

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Stage 2E: All the way to Arctic

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Stage 2E: Heading to Antarctica

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Stage 3R

By Grace Nolan

“By allowing children freedom in construction play it also makes them think independently and make decisions based on what they are learning.” (Newby) As our provocation evolved, the children extended upon engineering by now exploring construction. Construction envelopes many different aspects of learning such as creativity, problem -solving, fine motor skills, cooperative play and hand eye-coordination. Posing questions each Morning Meeting that invited creative thinking saw many different ideas and opinions regarding construction. Questions such as “If you had all the Lego in the world, what would you build?” The children’s answers were unique and thoughtful.

Being mindful of our sustainable practices in our classroom, this week we used many different recycled materials to incorporate in our play and construction. Using hygienic cardboard rolls and cartons as well as bottle caps and wooden rounds to create challenges for the children to solve.

The response to these challenges demonstrated the children's persistence, creative problem solving and teamwork. Using props, visuals and an imaginative scenario for the children to work together to solve saw giant bridges, houses, castles and boats.

As part of appreciating art, this week we focused on Monet’s Water Lilies as inspiration. The children used watercolour as a base on their paper, using blues, greens and purples to create a movement of the water. The children were then provided with tissue paper and crepe paper to collage lily pads, reeds and lotus flowers. The result was astonishing as the children interpreted the artwork in their own way.

In our small groups, we extended upon the children’s natural curiosity and motivation to build using different materials, mediums and problem solving. Creating a pendulum ‘wrecking ball’ posed the challenge of distance and height as the children worked with paper cups and cardboard rolls to build towers to then knock down. The children had to co-construct together on how far away their tower needed to be for the wrecking ball to reach, or work out how many cups were too many to be knocked over. This experience offered mathematical thinking and concepts.

Another experience provided children with a cork board, shapes, a wooden hammer and real tacks. The children watched as the teachers modelled how to appropriately use them and explained the safety guidelines while participating in this experience. The children showed focus, caution, creativity and thoughtfulness as they created wooden scenes using the nail and hammer cork set. The children were also seen peer modelling as they explained to their friends the rules of the experience.

Next week we dive into the world of Art & Science!

Grace, Carina, Margaret and Shandie

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Stage 3R: Working on Construction Sites

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Stage 3R: STEAM Learning Experiences

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Stage 3E

By Indi Dalsanto

“Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?” (David Attenbourough) This term, Stage 3E will be focusing on the world around them with our term provocation of Connecting to Our World. This week, the children extended upon their learning of the animal world by focusing on animals that soar the skies and lands all round us - Birds.

Last week, as we investigated minibeasts in the outdoor environment, our little friends expressed growing interest in the kookaburras that occasionally visit Reddam. The children questioned where the Kookaburra sleeps and where they fly off to. In order to extend on the children’s interests in this topic, the 3E teachers' learning experiences aimed to reflect on a variety of different birds including Kookaburras, Emu’s, Cockatoo and magpies. Birds are a group of warm blooded vertebrates that have wings, feathers and lay eggs. Although similar in nature, all birds have very unique appearances and characteristics. For example some birds can fly and some can’t such as our national bird ‘Emu’. There are more than 10,000 bird species that have been identified around the world. Australia is home to up to 850 species of birds, 45% of which are only found and are native to Australia.

Our table experiences throughout the week invited the children to explore minibeasts through sensory, STEM, creative and literacy focused experiences. Firstly for our sensory experiences the children created bird feeders using bird seed, measuring cups, cardboard and honey. This experience encourages children to invite and explore birds in the local area, and teaches them how to care for living things.

For our creative experience, the children created their own unique bird using a collaging technique with coloured paper and buttons. The children were required to carefully cut and glue pieces of coloured paper onto a cardboard bird. The end result was sensational and the children were very pleased with their finished masterpieces.

For our STEM experience this week we observed and investigated the day to day life of Remy the Cockatiel. This experience encouraged children to learn more about living things, how to take care of birds and prompted discussions about the Cockatiel.

For our literacy focused experiences the children re-created a felt puzzle using de-constructed felt pieces. To support and guide children an image of the originally constructed bird was provided. This experience was a great way for children to develop spatial perception, shape recognition and problem-solving skills.

Lastly, Our morning meetings focused on learning about significant birds including Remy the Cockatiel, Kookaburra, Emu, Cockatoo and Magpies. The children engaged in discussions about where these types of birds live, what they eat and shared other interesting characteristics. Our teacher further challenged children’s understanding about birds through questioning and showcasing illustrations of each bird.

Next week, we will be looking at Mammals and Marsupials Including the Kangaroo, Platypus and Wombat.

Have a great weekend, Natalie, Indi, Kai and Connie

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Stage 3E: Bird Sensory Experiences

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Stage 3E: Creative Experiences

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Stage 4R

By Veronika Roth

“When the people came they called the land Terra Nullius, they said it was nobody’s land. But it was somebody's land.” (Excerpt from Somebody’s land by Adam Goodes & Ellie Liang) A new week marks the beginning of a new learning provocation and this week was a busy one, as we’ve been learning about two topics: our weekly provocation explored The Respiratory System and we acknowledged Reconciliation Week.

The table provocations invited the children to explore both provocation themes in a number of ways. Reconciliation Week activities included Indigenous art-inspired mark-making in a sand tray, orange 'outback' slime resembling the colour of Country and Indigenous symbols at the literacy table. The main supportive literacy this week was a lovely, age-appropriate book by Adam Goodes and Ellie Liang titled Somebody's Land and it explained the reason for reconciliation through the history of the colonisation of Australia. The focus in the book was on the Aboriginal people living in Country when European settlers arrived and claimed the land as nobody's land.

However, it was somebody's land, the First Nations People have been living here for thousands of years. An informative book titled Art, history and place by Christine Nicholls furthered our knowledge of First Nations People and explained the long history of Aboriginal arts. These two books inspired us to go on a nature walk in our garden and collect rocks to make our own ochre paint. We had such a joy exploring nature. The rocks were crushed and mixed with water to make ochre paint.

The Respiratory System activities invited the children to make their own lungs using a paper bag and straw. The children assembled these with sticky tape and drew airways on the bag. It was such an explorative activity to see how air enters the bag with a big blow and soon after how it releases. This was such fun!

We have become familiar with the parts of the respiratory system and learned how the air travels from the nose into the trachea, bronchial tubes, bronchioles, and finally the alveoli where the carbon dioxide from the body is exchanged with the oxygen from the fresh air we breathe in. We also learned how our lungs help change our breathing when we run or exercise very fast, and why we need to avoid smoke and polluted air to help our lungs work easier. After reading the book, we practiced mindful breathing together. The children learned to calm their minds by taking slow, deep breaths and feeling how their lungs move with the air.

Next week, we will experiment how blood flows in our body.

Kind regards, Veronika, Rebecca, Rowel and Yollanda

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Stage 4R: Exploring the Indigenous Cultural Perspectives

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Stage 4R: Investigating the Respiratory System

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Stage 4E

By Lauren Hall

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” (Robert Swan) This week the teachers were incredibly proud of how the children demonstrated such enthusiasm for caring about our planet. By incorporating sustainable practices into the children’s early years education, it allows them to make conscious decisions, show concern for our environments, and sparks their motivation to action sustainable projects both in the classroom and at home. The children ARE our future and our best advocates for preserving our planet for years to come.

Our provocation continued with the children’s interest in marine life, investigating how to protect sea creatures and keep their habitats clean. Whenever our class discusses the harmful effects plastic has on our planet, the children always remember that sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and ingest them. We explored this problem in detail and discovered that when turtles swallow plastic bags they experience ‘Floating Syndrome’, preventing them from diving underwater, which leads to breathing problems, starvation and even death. We also learnt that plastic straws are a huge contributor to our ocean pollution and can get lodged in turtles’ nostrils. Most plastics aren’t biodegradable, will break down into harmful microplastics, and be eaten by sea creatures. However, there are many ways we can reduce, reuse and recycle the plastic in our lives, as we learnt from the story book A Planet Full of Plastic by Neal Layton.

To further investigate how we can prevent such tragedies occurring, we read a helpful information book called I Can Save the Ocean by Alison Inches. We learnt that many types of plastics, chemicals and motor oil end up in our oceans, usually via our drains. Our next story was called Meet the Oceans

by Caryl Hart, which helped us locate and identify each ocean around the world. We sadly discovered that there is a floating garbage patch in nearly every major ocean. We also learnt that the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, is at risk of coral bleaching as a result of global warming. When the water temperature rises the coral begins to lose its colour and eventually dies. This threatens the natural ecosystem where many creatures depend on coral and plants for food.

During our learning sessions the children engaged with many ocean-themed experiences. Bamboo toothbrushes were provided to clean seals and penguins that had been exposed to oil spills, turtle habitats were constructed out of sand, stones and shells, and play dough was used to shape and mould into marine environments. Ocean puzzles, and sea shells were also available, as well as our recycling station where rubbish was sorted into each coloured bin to avoid it ending up in the sea. At the art station, the children were invited to illustrate their own sea turtles with markers and pastels, and experimented with a paint scraping technique to create a collage of jellyfish.

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Stage 4E

By Lauren Hall

Sustainable practices to incorporate into our daily lives: − Dispose your rubbish into the correct recycling bins. The red bin is where any rubbish that CAN’T be recycled, goes. But unfortunately, these items will end up in landfill. The yellow bin is for glass and plastic bottles, hard plastics, and aluminium cans. The blue bin is for paper and cardboard products (that don’t have food on them.) The green bin is for plant and gardening cuttings. − Did you know that you can recycle soft plastics? This is any plastic packaging that you can scrunch in your hands such as biscuit, pasta and bread packaging, as well as plastic wrap and single-use plastic bags. Simply save up your soft plastics in an eco-friendly garbage bag for the whole month, and then drop it off at a recycle bin at your local Coles and Woolworths. − Fruit and vegetable scraps often get thrown into the red bin. Why not create a composting station or a worm farm in your garden? The mulch and worm wee will make your plants thrive! − Take-away coffee cups can be recycled at any 7-Eleven store, but why not buy a reusable coffee cup instead? − Say no to plastic straws! Choose paper, bamboo or metal straws instead. − Plastic toothbrushes can’t be recycled because they are made of several different plastics.

Bamboo toothbrushes work just as well and don’t harm the planet. − Use eco-friendly soaps that are free from micro-beads and harmful chemicals. − Sweep your driveways rather than use a hose, as this clogs up the gutters and storm drains with debris, which eventually ends up in the ocean. − Choose toys that are made from natural materials such as wood and recycled materials. − Donate your pre-loved belongings to local charity shops, including furniture, clothes, toys and books. − Share your knowledge and understanding of sustainable practices with your family and friends so we can all contribute to keeping our planet green!

Next week we will continue to explore our oceans, learning about the animals that inhabit the North and South Poles. We will also investigate the effects that global warming and climate change have on our polar caps.

Enjoy your weekend!

Lauren, Priya, Xanthe and Intisar

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Stage 4E: Saving the Ocean

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Stage 4E: Creative Art Experiences

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Mandarin

By Chloe Lin

This week in Mandarin class we warmed up with our hello song and then delved into a cultural exploration of The Dragon Boat Festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Double Fifth Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon of the lunar calendar. The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is a significant holiday celebrated in China and one with the longest history. It is one of the most important Chinese festivals, the other two being the Autumn Moon Festival and Chinese New Year.

The boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival are a traditional custom to attempt to rescue the patriotic poet Chu Yuan. Chu Yuan drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 277 B.C. Chinese citizens now throw bamboo leaves filled with cooked rice into the water, therefore the fish could eat the rice rather than the hero poet. This later on turned into the custom of eating rice dumplings.

To explore The Dragon Boat festival with the children we participated in some cultural activities.

First, I painted the children’s faces with a traditional face paint named Realgar (xióng huáng).

This face paint is usually made with herbs and natural ingredients that ward off diseases and evil spirits. The symbol is the name “Wong”, the name of the king. For today’s purposes we used yellow face paint to represent the traditional look.

After the children’s faces were painted, they had a look and smell of the customary rice dumplings (zongzi) that are consumed at the time of the festival.

Finally, we all participated in our very own Dragon boat race (saì lóng zhoū). The children sat on the parachute in a line and held the edges. I played a drum and the children ‘rowed’ their dragon boat in time with the drums. As the drum beat faster, the children rowed faster, and when the drum slowed down, they slowed down their movements. Each child had a chance to be the leader of the boat, playing the drum for their fellow classmates who were in the boat.

Thanks to each class for a wonderful exploration into this very important Chinese celebration!

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Drama

By Xanthe Wills

This week in Drama it was our first lesson of our adventure with the Treasure Map. I began the day by telling the children that I had found something at my Grandma’s house. I gave them 3 clues: it’s old, it’s made of paper, and we follow it. No-one could guess it, so I pulled out the treasure map from my bag.

When I showed them the map, the children helped me to point out some key features on the map: the mountains, the castle, the key, and, of course, X marks the spot. I asked everyone “Do you want to come with me to explore the map?” The answer was yes, so we had to pack a bag.

The children compiled a bag full of yummy treats, hats, sun cream, jackets, tents, life jackets, and sleeping bags. We were ready to go! We had to sneak out of the house and past sleeping grandma to make sure we could go on our adventure. Once outside, we played a day and night game. When the children were shown pictures, they had to perform the associated action.

The sun meant to wake up and do a dance, the moon meant to fall asleep. I showed the pictures in different orders to try and trick the children. Of course they were far too clever and got the actions right every time!

Then, we had to get to the Island. How could we get there? On the map there was a picture of the boat. I asked the children to use their bodies to make a boat and to sail through the ocean.

We played a fun action game while on the boat called Captain’s Coming. The children made actions for scrubbing the decks, pulling the ropes and making a salute when I called “Captain’s Coming!” When we arrived at the Island, we put the anchor down and swam to the shore. The sand was hot and crabs kept biting our toes!

It took us a long time to get to the island, and it was getting dark. We needed to set up camp. In pairs, we made tents with our bodies. I asked the children to pretend to fall asleep. The children heard a rustling sound in a nearby tree and to a koala in the tree (puppet). The Koala had heard a cry for help coming from the lake. Who could it be? “I think someone is hurt,” said Daniel from Stage 3. We ended the lesson on this cliffhanger. We looked at the map and saw mountains, valleys, and a lake. I wonder if the scream came from there and what lives in that lake… The children were very excited to find out but it’s a surprise!

Stage 1 and I had fun singing and turning into crabs this week. Well done, Stage 1, on beginning to stand up and follow along with me! To finish, we had a visit from the koala puppet who gave us lots of cuddles.

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Happy Birthday!

A very happy birthday to our children who are celebrating their special day this week. We wish you all the best!

06/06 - Easton (3E)

06/06 - Reyaan (1E)

08/06 - Sebastien (3R)

07/06 - Jasper (2E)

10/06 - Nicholas (1E)

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Happy Birthday!

A very happy birthday to our children who are celebrating their special day this week. We wish you all the best!

11/06 - Dylan (2E)

12/06 - Aaron (2E)

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