NZ Teacher

Our daily question is read (with some help) by the leader of the day: How many circles are there? The Velcro circles are available for the children to rearrange throughout the day. They have made many different combinations with the 5 circles. They have also arranged them into a repeating AB pattern. Hands on mathematical learning, communication and visual representations of numbers within this daily question.

You never know when a child may have the urge to cut. At the literacy table we had been talking about how to make an ice lolly. When involved in his "written response" this boy drew lines and decided to cut them out. "I've done it!" he exclaimed with pride after cutting his paper across the lines he had drawn. Independence, fine motor, communication and a sense of achievement.

The blocks were in tubs on the shelf in the center of the room. It was time for a change, so the blocks were put onto the shelf by the OHP, providing a more enclosed space for the children to build with the blocks.  One of the children spent time building a structure. After he has finished, he was able to leave it there for a while, and later in the day he was able to put the blocks back on the shelf where he had found them. Changing spaces creates new opportunities.

It started with lining up the long lines, part of the Handwriting Without Tears resources.  He then added the bigger blocks on top.  Finally he added a sign with the word "No" on it to stop others breaking it. Spatial learning, creativity, writing and perseverance.

It's an old Over Head Projector (OHP) that we use for our light table. It has provided hours of learning -  exploration in light and shadow, color combinations (using the transparent color blocks) as well as lessons in cooperation. The children have been "repairing" it with tape, winding it round and round. The top part of the OHP broke off so they needed to repair it with tape.  (It now has a plastic top, after the glass broke).  Experiences in collaborative repairing.

The yarn was used to make a trap.  It was tied to a picture frame and a basket. Each was positioned on shelves across from one another.  The children had to go "under" the trap to get to the carpet for whole class time. There was a lot of sharing of ideas, problem solving, and use of the positional language "over" and "under" and "around".

Most of the children are able to chant the question: "How many circles are there?" Everyday the leader (with my support) reads the question. One of the children made this pattern with the 5 circles.  Another child likes to make the pattern of 5 seen on a dice. Literacy learning, math development, communication and creativity.