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Transcript of Simone’s Message - Reddam House an event occurs which may effect their time at school such as the...
1 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 1
Simone’s Message Dear Parents,
Our Teachers are most appreciative of all the support and assistance
you offer them on a daily basis. The partnership between parents and teachers is critical in ensuring that
we have a comprehensive understanding of the needs of your child and together we can build on each
other‟s knowledge through sharing insights and information with one another.
Hopefully by now you have accessed your child‟s Tapestry learning journey and have viewed the
observational records that the teachers collect on your child each week. Not only do these allow us to
ensure that your child is meeting all their learning outcomes it is also a lovely way to share snippets of their
day here at Reddam. Please feel free to respond by leaving a comment or message in return should you
wish. We value your contributions and appreciate any information you wish to share with us. We aim to
ensure that each child‟s journal is updated each week so if you are having any difficulty accessing your
account or do not find that a regular weekly update has been made I urge you to speak to your core
teachers so they can rectify this.
The first day information sheet that you first provided us on enrolment forms an important part of our
teachers understanding of your child. In order to fully support your child‟s learning it is valuable for us to
know them in the context of their family, culture and community. Our teachers always appreciate knowing
if an event occurs which may effect their time at school such as the arrival of a new sibling, the visit of a
grandparent, an illness they have experienced or even simple incidents such as a sleepless night or new
tooth, which may effect their day with us. Our teachers are always available via email so please do not
hesitate to send them a message and they will respond as soon as they can.
Our Reddam community is a rich support network and we hope during your time with us that you have the
opportunity to meet with many of our parents and families. This Term we are holding a Parent Cocktail
Party to welcome you all to the new school year. The dates for these events are as follows:
WELCOME COCKTAIL PARTY
STAGES 1 & 2 Thursday 155h March, 2018
STAGES 3 & 4 Tuesday 13th March, 2018
TIME 6.30pm – 8.00pm.
We do hope you can join us!
23RD FEBRUARY 2018
2ND MARCH 2018
By Mrs Simone Cooke, Principal
2 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 2
We belong as a team! Bounce and spin glow lights
This week‟s activity was about furthering the children‟s curiosity and connecting them with
technology and science. The Children experienced an interactive group activity with glow in the
dark spinners and a glow bouncy ball.
The Teachers encouraged all the children to sit within a circle on the floor around the light board.
As part of this experience the children used their sight and listening skills to learn how to how to
listen to the teacher and follow simple directions.
The Teachers dimmed the lights down in the room and then demonstrated how the glow objects
can move and change when spanned on the light board. After the teachers had demonstrated
the glow spinners we then demonstrated what to do with the bouncy ball by spinning the ball on
the light board and throwing the ball across the room. The children really loved this activity and
they all sat and watched the demonstration with interest and couldn‟t wait to be involved. It is
wonderful to see how engaged our Nest children are as learners.
All the children were also encouraged this week to use their gross motor skills and listening skills.
The children had to follow the teacher‟s instructions, which was to pick up the glow ball and
rotate the ball by spinning it and the finishing off by trying to throw the ball across the room. The
children had lots of fun and they were eager to take extra turns.
The Nest children demonstrated how well they can follow the teacher‟s instruction by listening
and watching. Also this activity helped further their understanding of how science and
technology can be beneficial and healthy within daily activities. Fabulous effort everyone!
Stage 1 - The Nests By Mrs Amanda Felton
4 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 4
Our Busy Bees
The Hatchlings once again have been very busy and have immersed themselves into the many
different activities and classes we offer throughout the week. This week we have taken part in
Clean Up Australia Day, it is a day that inspires and empowers communities to clean up, fix up
and conserve our environment. I believe that it‟s never too early to begin to understand how we
can be more conscious of our choices and take responsibility to actively make where we live a
better place. Throughout this week we have been having a group discussion how it wouldn‟t be
very nice playing outside with rubbish and what we can do to prevent this from happening. We
provided The Hatchlings to be able to first visually recognise the signs for disposing of rubbish,
Miss Hannah pointed to two different bins allowing everyone to recognise the colours and
different images, “red” is for general waste and “green” is for recycling. One at a time all of the
children picked up some rubbish and threw it away in the correct bin, they were so proud of
themselves and so were all of their teachers! It‟s so great to always continuing to develop this
understanding that can be valuable knowledge throughout the rest of their lives.
Continuing on learning more about getting to know you, this week we have been focusing on
our sense of taste. Taste is a very important sense due to its role in helping us determine the
flavours of foods and other substances. Young children are genetically programmed to have a
preference for certain tastes and a dislike for others. From the very beginning babies are
attracted to sweet flavour, they also like salty tastes, but are averse to sour and bitter. We gave
this genetically programmed preference a try this week and had our serves a little taste test
experience! It has been such a fun new thing to try and The Hatchlings have been very open
(and trusting) to trying these new flavours. In front of them they had small bowls with sugar
(sweet), cocoa (bitter), salt (salty) and lemon (sour), one after another they dipped their finger
into the small bowl then tasted it on their tongue. The most fun was the very sour lemon, some of
the children scrunched up their faces while others ate it like it was an orange with no reaction at
all!
They say it can take up to 15 tries of a food before a child becomes familiar with it and actually
likes it, so try giving your children some more lemon at home this weekend and enjoy the
experience of learning together!!
Stage 1 - Hatchlings By Miss Hannah Wallace
5 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 5
Stage 1 - Hatchlings By Miss Hannah Wallace
6 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 6
Playing With Loose Parts
“In any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are
directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it.”
Simon Nicholson
Are you familiar with the theory of loose parts?
The concept of playing with loose parts has been around since the day children started playing with sticks
and stones.
Simon Nicholson, the creator of the loose parts theory, criticized how children were often presented with
„finished‟ materials and environments that left nothing to the imagination. He thought children were
robbed of all the fun and crucial learning experiences that come from being involved in the creating
process.
At Reddam we believe that all children are creative beings and this creativity should be nurtured and
empowered. To achieve this outcome we give the children the opportunity to play with a wide variety of
loose parts.
This week we have given the children different materials that we can find in our everyday life, such as:
popsicles, corks, old cd‟s, empty tape rolls and we placed them on a mirror giving another dimension to
the play.
The children used these parts in many different ways some of them wanted to build with the materials and
others opted for creating patterns and making faces, they spend a lot of time handling these objects and
just creating.
To extend the interest on the loose parts materials we decided to plan an art activity. The children went on
a hunt for natural resources in our playground and Alex K. found a rock, and Cody found another rock
and William M. another rock so we realized the outside pot plants had so many rocks and we could use
them for the art activity this week.
We offered the children a few containers with different paint colours so they could dip the rocks in one at
the time. Then we ask them to throw (gently) the rocks into a tray where we had some paper laying in it.
The approach to this activity vary from child to child some wanted to throw the rocks, while others used
the rocks as brushes and another lot decided that finger painting was their thing.
After all the rocks were thrown into the trays we asked the children do give the tray a big shake so the
colours would cover the whole paper. The messier the more there is excitement and satisfaction.
Come and find your child‟s creation in our art Gallery!
Stage 1 - Fledglings By Miss Gabriela Guimaraes
8 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 8
Climbing Mountains
Climbing mountains, climbing mountains, what do you see? What do you see? Continuing our last weeks
rock enquiry, the children this week explored the mountains, their colours, landscape and different
geological formations then experimented using soil to create some beautiful paintings.
Often while exploring our outdoor space we find our children playing with the plant soil, mixing it with their
fingers, checking its colours and textures. During this inquisitive process they find sticks, leaves, small toys
and even worms! Playing with nature and using senses to explore is a vital part of a child‟s development, as
it connects them to a natural world full of surprises and discoveries.
To support our children‟s inquisitive and brilliant minds we created a space in our room demonstrating
three different ecosystems: the desert with a mountain, a river and a green pasture. We displayed some
wild animals such as vultures, snakes, crocodiles, elephants, zebras, giraffes, monkeys, rhinoceros and
hippopotamuses. The children were thrilled to see that space and they spent a great amount of time
moving the animals around, imitating its sounds and even pretending to give them food and water from
the river.
In our sensory corner we created an inviting space with brown play dough, a green tablecloth, wooden
sticks and yellow and red cellophane paper. The children used their imagination to create mountains and
rocks using the given resources.
In our creative corner we had two successful activities. One consisted of mountain pictures and earthy
colour crayons and the other using paint mixed with mud. Taking meaningful resources as art inspiration is
important for children as it works as a tool for them to create, visually expressing their very own
interpretation. The other one was a painting experience called mud painting. They enjoyed painting with
mud, which is an open-ended resource, giving the children the opportunity to manipulate a thicker and
earthier paint.
In our exploration corner the children were invited to explore gemstones, there colours, shapes and sizes,
using mirrors and magnifying glasses. They loved this set up and were amazed by the beautiful little rocks,
as many of them said.
Finally, to complete our week with a golden key the children were invited to create a 3D mountain, using
paper towel, glue and earthy paint colours. The result is beautiful and it is displayed in our room.
I wish you all a great weekend with your beautiful children. They make our days happier and I am grateful
to be part of this big family called Reddam ELS.
Stage 2: Chicks By Miss Michele Santos
11 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 11
Stage 2 - Sparrows & Finches By Ms Eva Lo, Ms Natalie Stone
Sensory Experience Week
Sensory play takes an important role in children‟s early brain development. Children learn best through
their senses which stimulates their use of touch, smell, hearing, sigh and fine motor skills. We believe that
children learning to differentiate sharp from round. Smooth from rough, cold and warms a basic step in
empowering the brain‟s ability to discover, classify more sophisticated information later on. In our
curriculum planning, children have the opportunities to get messy with various types of sensory play.
From our last week science experience creating the coral reef was so exciting we decided
to further extend learning more about what is the ocean. During group time
we discussed more about the coral reef together and asked the children what they
thought the ocean might smell like. This was a tricky question and The children
explored the answer throughout the week and learnt that the ocean can be made
up of salt water. This sparked a lot of interest and we have been focusing on
coral sensory week exploring this time developing our sensory skills learning
about what we can smell, taste and touch from the ocean. The children created
some very special artwork using the salt and watercolour to create their very own salt-water coral reef art.
This was such a fantastic opportunity for the children to discover a new way to actively think and
experience a project in a totally different way, learning to think critically may be one of the most important
skills that children will need for the future.
This allows them to begin to understand how to use all of their sensors when
approaching a new situation and problem solve how best to achieve their own
personal outcomes.
In addition, The Sparrows and Finches have been very brave using only their sensory skills of touch to
determine what they think they can feel in the mystery bag. Inside there was rough, dry sand, hard shells,
bumpy sea animals, smooth fish, shark and different sea animals. It was such fun watching their reactions
and how they described what they thought they could feel, guessing what it may be and decide where
do they go on the sand or water.
14 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 14
When I grow up ……
Using a story titled „When I grow up ….” by Tim Minchin, was the inspiration for conversations that were
had this week. The children were taken on an adventure surrounding the working life of adults and the
careers that are available. Some Kookaburras questioned the work that their own parents participated in
during the working week. Our group of Kookaburras told us that their mums and dads had fun at work.
We then considered the careers that we would like to take on when we are grown up and hypothesised
the skills that we would need to acquire to achieve our career goals. We had a great variety of careers to
explore and consider for ourselves and each other. An art experience was then proposed to extend and
cement the Kookaburras knowledge surrounding career choices. This art work was a process as the
children first drew their intended career and later went back to add water colours to complete the
activity.
James: “I will be a policeman”
Mason: “I will be a daddy”
Teddy: “I want to cook pancakes” (we then decided on a chef)
Shelley: “I am a princess”
Joel: “Policeman”
Wayne: “A robot like Optimus Prime”
Ryan: “Lion”
Jessica: “A teacher”
Sebastian: “Superman”
Taylor: “Mummy”
Leah: “Princess”
Caleb: “Cat boy”
Charlotte: “Apple Jack”
Carolyn: “Shopper in a pizza shop”
Role play situations were then explored with dress up items in the home corner. The children took on their
role seriously and participated in situations that they predicted would happen in real life. By facilitating
and fostering these ideas and suggestions surrounding career paths the Kookaburras have bright futures
ahead of them.
Stage 3 - Kookaburras By Ms Riina Andrew
16 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 16
Stage 3 - Lorikeets By Ms Emily Chacon
Peter and the Wolf
Music ignites all areas of child development and skills. This week we have been exploring the beautifully
orchestrated story of Peter and the Wolf. The Russian symphonic fairy tale was written by Sergei Prokofiev
in 1936, a narrator tells a story while an orchestra illustrates it. Each character of this tale is represented
by a corresponding instrument in the orchestra: the bird by a flute, the duck by an oboe, the cat by a
clarinet, the grandfather by a bassoon, the wolf by three French horns, Peter by the string quartet (violin),
and the shooting of the hunters by the kettle drums.
Throughout the week the children were encouraged to listen to the introduction, and really focus on the
instruments and what they sound like. The children were then tested with flash cards. Emily laid out a line
of characters and a line of instruments. They were then encouraged to work together to match the
cards.
As the children were discussing which cards to match, they were using their communication skills and
ability to work with others. This experience encouraged children to further develop their sense of identity,
as children learn about themselves they create their own identity within their school community.
As a class we then began to explore tempo and the way different songs are played to a fast or slow
beat. Emily explained Lento – slow tempo and Veloce – Quick tempo, then using wooden tapping sticks
the children created their own tempo.
Emily then encouraged the children to display their knowledge by listening to a song played through a
speaker. First a classic instrumental song was played, the children began to tap their sticks slowly and
softly. Next the Wiggles – Hot Potato was played, the children began to bang loudly and quickly along
with the song.
To finish off the group time Emily queried the children on what emotions they felt throughout each tem-
po.
Slow (Lento)
Isabelle – “I feel tired”
Michael – “it makes me better”
Steven – “calm”
Sienna – “I feel beautiful”
Fast (Veloce)
Maro – “Silly”
Daniel – “I fell happy”
Next week we will be exploring sound through art. The children will be encouraged the allow the music to
create their art through impressionism.
18 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 18
Stage 3 - Galahs By Ms Lisa Harris
‘Room on the Broom’ Literacy Experience
Exposing young children to literature is vital for their overall development. This sets the foundations for
each child‟s developmental construction of; speech and sound, correct sentence structure and
grammar. It also allows children to develop the tools for imagination expression. The teaching aim for this
week was to provide children with opportunities that allowed active involvement in literacy. Children
were given linked curriculum sessions based on the children‟s book called “Room on the Broom”.
“Room on the Broom” written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler was read by the
teacher promoting children‟s interest and involvement. This led the children into the next learning activity
that encouraged children to express their imagination through the usage of props. Each child was provid-
ed with pictures of the characters from the book “Room on the Broom”. They were invited to use
these props to create their story or retell the story. During their expressions, our teachers were able to see
each child‟s confidence when reflecting many elements of the book. While observing this group of chil-
dren, many were able to verbally expressed their imaginations.
Some answers were:
Zoe – “The bird is going over the mountain then a dragon came”
Mabel – “The witch on the broom”
Amber – “Frog and bird went flying into the mud”
Jack – “Witch is flying and found the hat. The witch took the hat
back. The witch was so happy it found the bird”
Chloe – “The witch, the cat”
Arabella – “The dragon come to eat them, look at the hat it has come
off, flying around”
Matteo – “The witch is not happy, the dragon is finding the witch”
Ed – “It‟s a tree, the dragon fly, a witch is flying around the
dragon, watch out”
These children are expressing confident while verbally illustrating their minds. Our art project for this week
connected to this children‟s book. The children helped create two broomsticks by using long pasta that
was cooked at one end. Our class used the pasta as a painting tool to create masterpieces. These chil-
dren were able to see the link between this art lesson and the literacy component.
20 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 20
Research shows that colours have a personal effect on us. Different colours bring out different
emotions to which may influence our behaviour or actions.
In the Penguin‟s room this week a new provocation was started, The Colour Theory. The children
were introduced by talking about the rainbow, singing about the rainbow and creating our
own rainbows.
Using „How the crayons saved the rainbow‟ as our text, the children began discussing how we
see so much colour in our everyday life and how that in itself is linked to joy. We then began
discussing on how life would be without any colour. If it would alter our mood and if so how. The
children all agreed how the rainbow makes them happy especially when they see it in the sky
after a rainy day. From this discussion the children created their own rainbows using crayons.
From this provocation so far, we have discovered the importance of colour in the world and the
children have been discussing how certain colours links to certain emotions. Throughout the
next few weeks, children will be exploring colour through literacy and art. Each week we will be
reading a book linked to colour, with us starting with primary colours, then moving on to
secondary colours and then looking how the colours link to our emotions and why. This
provocation will assist the Penguins in recognising their emotions and why they feel certain
feelings. This will inevitably assist in their emotional and social development.
Carrie Cousins said “Colour impacts intuition”, intuition is something as humans we develop
young however as we grow older is when we begin to listen to it. Our aim is to get the Penguins
listening to their intuition and that is starting from our exploration of colour and emotion.
Stage 3 - Penguins By Ms Shazzy Amjadi
22 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 22
Expressing our emotions.
This week we started our new provocation. The provocation is “How to behave when I feel…” This
provocation has come about as there are a few children who are still learning to control their emotions
and learning how to deal with these. Because of this I feel it is highly appropriate that we explore this area
with the children. I feel it will encourage good social behaviours and give the children skills that they can
use in later life. During the week we have been exploring and discussing a range of emotions and feelings.
We started off the topic by reading the story “In My Heart” this story talks about a little girl who has a
different feeling in her heart for different experiences she was experiencing, for example “Sometimes my
heart is feels like a big yellow star, shiny bright. This is when my heart is happy.
After we have read the story the children were asked “How does your heart feel today” These are our
responses:
Anya: I feel happy, I‟m going on my holiday
Mireia: Happy
Sophie: I am shy
Isabelle: I am brave
Oliver: Happy
Jack: I am scared today
Seren: I am sad sometimes.
Saskia: Calm
Jade: I‟m feeling sad when my eye hurts
After the children explained how they felt we passed around the mirror to each child and we wanted the
children to make a face in the mirror of how they felt. This allowed the children to visually see themselves
and what the emotion looks like in real life.The art activity that we supplied for the children this week was
making faces with pasta. The children had a mirror, plain pasta, PVA glue and paper and they were asked
to design their face using the pasta depending on how they felt at that current time. The best thing about
this activity was that not one child‟s face was the same, all the children are unique in their own ways.
Another activity we set up for the children was shaving cream prints. The children were able to use food
colouring to represent how they have been feeling and put it into the shaving cream, we then mixed it
around and then printed their work. Not all children use all the colours and that was fine.
“Allow children to be happy in their own way, for what better way will they find”
Stage 3 - Toucans By Ms Lauren Doughton
24 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 24
Stage 4 - Cockatoos and Flamingos By Ms Bernadette and Amanda
DIORAMAS- Cockatoos and Flamingos
What better way to collaboratively demonstrate our understanding and learning connected to insects,
than to create a diorama?! Our dioramas allowed the children to create and plan three dimensionally.
Our dioramas evolved and were tweaked throughout the week to tell a story about four different insects –
butterfly, grasshopper, ants and beetle. Working collaboratively means that there is no limit to the level of
creativity that the children have inside of them. They are able to share ideas and negotiate, adding and
removing items to the boxes. It has also helped the children to view art in a three dimensional manner as
they cut out their art and hung them from the roof or found a way to stand them up from the ground.
Before they began to create their dioramas, the children were encouraged to sketch diagrams and
make a plan for their insect boxes. This was important as it allowed them to portray their unique perspec-
tives and discuss their designs with their friends. At group times, we revised what we had previously
learned about each insect and then the children were challenged to think about what might be added
to each habitat diorama. Children chose what they were most drawn to and interested in before begin-
ning to plan for that particular insect diorama. We used our information books and the internet to helps us
find out about what our four insects would normally have in their habitat before adding anything. We
wanted to get our facts right and ensure that they were correctly displaying the insect‟s habitats.
By leaving the learning space set up over the week children were able to revise their ideas and add to it
as they pleased. Often throughout the week the children could be seen accessing the materials, collect-
ing materials from around the school and appropriating them to add to the dioramas. It was interesting,
listening to the conversations as children tried to think of ways to make a three dimensional tunnel for
ants, or how to draw different parts of the life cycle for the butterfly. At other times, children would find
resources or draw something that they wanted to add and had to explain it to each other before it was
added to the collaborative project.
The results were fantastic, although we always try to focus on the process of creating art (the process of
learning and the process of children expressing themselves), we certainly cannot overlook the product
that the children created. They were so proud of their efforts and have been pulling over teachers, and
parents alike, to show them what they added to the project throughout the week.
27 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 27
Mandarin By Miss Sherry Zhu
As you know, Chinese New Year is a long festival. People in China celebrate it for 15 days. Now
it is coming close to the end of celebrating Chinese New Year. However, the fifteenth day of
CNY is quite important and meaningful (this Friday). The last day of CNY is the Lantern Festival or
the Spring Lantern Festival. It marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebra-
tions. In the early days, young people were chaperoned in the streets in hopes of finding love.
For children, they can go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on
the lanterns. Also they can have delicious Tangyuan. It is so sweet and yummy.
Therefore, this week, I have focused on teaching the children about the legend of the Lantern
Festival and we are celebrating it here at school. For stage 3 students, they coloured in beauti-
ful lanterns. For stage 4 students, they made a paper lantern by themselves.
In terms of language development , most of the Stage 4 students have grasped how to say
“good morning” and “I am happy/unhappy” in Chinese. Therefore, following on from last week,
we started to learn how to say “Today I am happy/unhappy” in Chinese. This week, we will re-
view these sentences. As for stage 3 students, they can count 1 to 10 in Chinese with the ges-
tures. Based on this we are now learning some words about animals. In the future, they can
learn how to say that I have two dogs or three cats in Chinese. For the students who come from
Chinese backgrounds, we are offering more language extension and this week, we will learn
how to say “Happy Lantern Festival” and review the structure of “yes or not”. For example: Are
you or are you not a baby.
29 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 29
Italian By Valentina
How many people are in the room?
Let‟s count together: uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque....
That‟s how we started our Italian lesson this week.
The children really loved counting, mostly in a different language, because they can understand
the other sounds of the words and for them it is something fun.
Through this activity children are able to learn in a spontaneous way how to count in Italian -
something they can already do in English
Our lessons are always based on learning colours. This week I introduced a new colour, white,
bianco.
I also prepared some puzzles with the letters, so they could try to put the letters together and form
the whole worlds. This allows children to link their understanding of letters and literacy with their
new understanding of Italian.
Every week children are very excited and pleased to do my Italian lesson and I‟m very proud of
them, because they showed me that they are really learning some Italian things.
If you want to practice with them:
1.uno 2. due 3.tre 4.quattro 5.cinque 6.sei
7.sette 8.otto 9.nove 10.dieci
Grazie
Ciao ciao
30 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 30
Drama and Dance By Miss Laura Hudson
The Nest/ Fledglings
The children will participate in teacher led dance and drama activities involving props and music continuing the theme of Dinosaurs
Skills learnt this week:
Following direction by watching and copying the teacher
Listening and responding to the teacher and their friends
Using their imaginations to go on an interactive adventure
Call and response
Facial expressions
Activities include: This week‟s class began with the teacher in role as a paleontologist,
explaining her role and showing the children the book she had wrote
This was followed by a number of dinosaur sounds. Could they guess which dinosaurs they belonged too?
Went on a Dino Hunt, using a time machine to get there. The time machine had lots of buttons, they had to find one, push it and make
a sound whilst doing this. They did this several times experimenting with different sounds before being spun around
The children followed Dinosaurs Footprints, where would it take them? They also used them to practice their balancing skills
Went on journey through the tropical forest, over a bridge, the quick sand, river, before seeing the T-Rex which was straight ahead, they
then retracted their steps as quick as they could pushing the button in the time machine so they could get back to their own time
Used Facial expressions to show what a Dinosaur looks like. They then split into 2 groups. One group was the dinosaurs and the other
group themselves, they then reacted to the dinosaurs (call and response)
Stage 2/3 Objectives:
Adventure has been our main theme over the last couple of weeks. Therefore the children will use the skills they have learnt to do a
whole class improvisation using their imagination to develop the drama
Skills learnt this week:
The children worked together to create an interactive piece of drama.
Rhyming words
Facial expressions
Used their imagination to pretend the ribbons where fishing rods
Listened to one another and followed the teachers‟ direction
Activities include: Discussed what items we might take on a camping trip, looking at what the Teacher (in role as Laura the explorer)
had packed in her backpack
Listened and described the sounds they heard in the woods.
The ribbons acted as a great tool for a fishing rod. Whilst fishing they had to use facial expressions and gestures to show what they had
caught
As the sun went down we gathered sticks for the camp fire, toasting our mash mellows whilst singing a couple
Stage 3
Students will participate in a group led improvisation as characters from Fairytales and Nursery Rhymes. Students will work together
through a teacher led piece of drama exploring fictitious characters demonstrating their ability to use mime and other drama tech-
niques they have learnt this term
Students will use their imagination to transform one object into many other objects
Skills learnt this week:
Improvisation and creativity
Taking on the role of a character in a story
Working Together
Perform and present a piece of drama for their peers
Mime
Spatial awareness
Activities include: Oath of the day
Using their imagination to pretend the wand is another object (e.g. guitar, paddle etc. etc.)
Discuss what kinds of seats are there?
The Life of the seat – children who are the audience, try and guess what seat the performer is in.
Moving Body Shapes
Teacher led improvisation
Moving Body shapes
Whole group performance (the children performing all of the characters and actions)
Discuss possible ending and act them out
31 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 31
Music By Miss Gabby
This week, the children sang good morning, and tapped the beat to a new classical piece. More
and more, in every class the children have started to stamp their feet and show each other dif-
ferent places to keep the beat, such as on their knees, through clapping or tapping our shoul-
ders. Keeping the beat is an important element in music, and keeping the beat on their body
allows children to feel the way music is fast or slow, and get a sense of time.
The children cut up their imaginary vegetables, and the older children suggested different things
they could put in the soup for the rhyme 'chop chop choppity chop'. This requires the children to
use their imaginations and role play cooking. They made sure to make their dessert with 'pat-a-
cake' which many of the children could join in with saying. The repetition of initial rhymes and
songs allows the children to get to know the words, and be able to join in with their teacher,
while the new rhymes create interest and build on what they have already learnt.
This week, the teacher brought in picture books, to sing familiar and unfamiliar songs to the chil-
dren. Usually, books are read to children, so singing to them, with images in front of them opens
up the imagination, and gives them a focus, while joining in with songs they know. They sang
Twinkle twinkle little star and All the Pretty Little Horses (a beautiful lullaby that allows for relaxa-
tion towards the end of a lesson). They also sang Incy Wincy Spider from a book which extends
on the song, so listening to this allows the children to differentiate between singing voice and
speaking voice. We counted how many legs Incy had, helping to incorporate other skills into
their music lessons.
In the older children's' classes, there were so many requests for the song 'No more pie!' Which is a
piece that uses call and response. The children love being the 'echo' which is an important ele-
ment of listening and responding in music.
In each class the children revisited our 'pitter-patter' rain song as it was raining outside, and the
children told the teacher what they brought to school to help keep them keep dry. Asking ques-
tions and getting the children to share with the class helped them to build confidence. They also
used shakers and bells in this song, which the infants especially love.
Last but not least, and before the goodbye song, the children did the 'teddy bear Cha-cha'
which the children absolutely love, giggling at the teddy dancing, and joining in with actions
such as clapping in time, spinning around and dancing, which allows the children to freely ex-
press themselves and get creative.
Each week, the children will add some new rhymes and songs, often revisiting familiar songs, with
new elements such as pictures or props/instruments
Gabrielle Bloom
Dancearama Music Teacher
33 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 33
Yoga By Ms Kelly Nance
Crawling back into the earth this week, the children revisited insect yoga. The children be-
came more familiar with the names of each, recalling many from the previous week.
During this yoga lesson, there was an opportunity to naturally include mathematical thinking
and exploration as well as scientific inquiring within the class as we observed the features of
insects. Children hypothesised about the number of legs insects had and we counted them as
we revealed a new insect pose. In some groups, we discussed the difference between spiders
and insects as a number of children wondered if spiders were within the insect family.
During quiet focus time, the children were each given a squishy bee balloon, a sensory experi-
ence that is both enjoyable under the fingertips and strengthens fine motor muscles. After-
wards, the children were shown how to play catch from their heads with the squishy bee bal-
loons by placing them on the top of their head in the middle, holding their hands in front of
their body in a catching position and then tilting their head forward to send the bee balloon
falling to the floor and perhaps into their hands. This game is a safe way to explore frustration
and perseverance as I model not being able to catch the bee balloon and as group
we discuss that it takes practice and patience to gain a new skill and that we have to keep
trying.
Love and Peace,
Kelly