NZ Teacher

Most children will happily choose something that interests them from the activities on offer in the classroom. One boy, on his second day at school, said, "I'm bored."  He'd previously said that the song '1,2,3,4,5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive' was for babies so I am aware I need to provide some challenges for him. I invited him to take a seat at the table. I put a piece of paper in front of him.  He asked, "What do I draw?" I looked out the window, at the car park, and answered, "You Dad's car."  "How do I draw a car?" he asked. "I don't know," I said and walked away. A couple of minutes later he came to me with his picture. "Ow, interesting car," I said. "It's not a car. It's a submarine. Two small submarines. And two big submarines." He then moved on to play with a group of children who had the dinosaurs at a table. I wonder if he'll be bored again in the ...

I'd cut the apple into thin slices and A. said, "It's a half circle." After he'd bitten into it he said, "It's a mouth." We laughed. B. saw the star (I'd cut it in half, across the apple) and said, "I can see the star. Like Frozen."  She then said, "When I was a baby I fell down the stairs. I bounced down the stairs." Then she asked, "Can I have some pear?" After trying it she said, "I don't like it. I like apple." The value of a simple rhyme, an apple and a pear, as a conversation starter. See my previous post:   Do you like apples? Do you like pears? rhyme

We've known each other for just one week. In just one week the children have shown curiosity and confidence. They've asked questions: Why can we hear the ocean in the cup? Who is Eric Carle? We'll explore the first question during centers time during the week. We found a picture of Eric Carle at the end of "Brown Bear" on youtube.  When I read "Dirty Bertie" one child asked: Is that by Eric Carle? We've only had one week together and already they have been wondering about what they've seen in their classroom.

We like to write about what interests us.  It's the same for children.  Journal writing time is an invitation for the children to draw something of interest to them.  They tell me something about their pictures and I write it on the page.  They see how writing happens by starting with an idea then seeing it get written down.

The classroom environment, or the third teacher, can provide opportunities for us to find out what a child knows or can do. One of our learning outcomes is for children to use ordinal numbers. Today, C. was looking at the hour glass which is made up of one minute,two minute and five minutes. He talked about how the last one, 5 minutes, had the most sand because it took the longest. He told me which one would be first. We talked about which one would be second. On his way out of the classroom he noticed that his bag hook is "second" in the row. He is able to use ordinal numbers. The third teacher has provided the opportunity for me to find out what C. knows about ordinal numbers.

 What should we do with them?" I asked as I sat down at the table with the apple and pear in the middle. "Break them?" "Break it like this." The rest of the conversation focused on what they liked and then onto seeds. Seeds that can be eaten could be an emerging interest. Here's what the children said: "I like pears." "I like apples." "Do you like pear better?" "I want the apple." "I want the pear." "I want one hundred apple." "I want some pear." "You can't eat the seeds." "Watermelon seeds. I eat the white ones." Maybe there is an interest in seeds I can foster. I could introduce more seeds into the environment and see what happens.

This group was presented with an apple and a pear. We had to wash our hands before eating them. A. said, "We have to wash the apple." I told him I'd already washed it. He replied, "But there's no water on it." I told him it was dry, then realized I should let him go and wash it, the same way we washed our hands. So he did. B. had an apple in his hand and said, "I need a manifying glass." He went and got the magnifying glass to look at the apple and he shared it with the other children at the table so they could look too. C. is new to speaking English. I cut the apple into pieces for him and counted 1,2,3,4. I realized that I should learn the Polish numbers to help connect with him. I asked: Do you like apples? Do you like pears? Do you like falling down the stairs? Do you like white? Do you like pink? Do you like falling down the sink? Would you like to do that. "No, you'd get hurt?" said D. B. talked about the app...