Dogs Theme

The Dog theme project emerged in Class K 2.3 It came out through pretend play – kids role played that they are a family of dogs (daddy dog, mummy dog and puppies).

The children became more curious and interested about dogs when provided with books, songs and rhymes and also with the collaboration of their parents/guardians who sent items, toys, books, pictures, etc about this. With the help of pictures and features, children talked and discussed about different dog breeds, anatomy,reproduction, diet, care and much more.

Some kids also shared photos and information of their pet dog and also brought it to school to visit our class.

In class we documented our understandings on a web chart.

In sensory play, kids experimented about dirty dogs in mud and washed them with clean
soapy water and using soft towels.

They also responded creatively to a variety of stimuli using a tuff tray with different
shapes & textures of dog food and toy dogs.

Outside, experts were visited in their salon (dog grooming) and department (Police
Dogs’ Section) – aggressor, drugs and chemical substances

During our walk to our destination the kids noticed dogs’ waste bin. Listening carefully to the children, these findings led us to investigate new topics such as dogs’ poo and the dogs’ waste bin. The kids created poo using play dough and constructed a dogs’ waste bin using a box and a piece of a broom stick. They also painted it in the right colour code as seen outside. They asked for the symbol found on the bin. First I encouraged them to draw it but they wished to have it printed.With some glue they attached it to the bin. They put the bin aside where later they pretended to take out the dog for a walk (using a leash) and cleaned up after his dirt. On childrens daily walk to school, they noticed that dog owners dont clean up after their pet.

During our cooking session we did some play dough where children used rolling pins and dog themed cutters to create biscuits.

Kids also developed the formation of a written letter in flour. i.e. in this case k for ‘kelb’

More hands on with the formation of ‘k’, where first, children did the formation with their finger on the paper provided and glued pieces of brown paper (to associate it with ‘kannella’). They loved to do so in sand and with other items as well.

They also loved to imitate dogs’ tricks & behaviour and how dogs eat and drink.

Kids also sorted various sizes of bones to the corresponding dog and bowl size (big,medium and small).

They also developed fine motor skills (tripod grip) using laminated dog size themed pictures and markers.

Children loved to use their imagination in creativity e.g. drawing, creating a leash,role play, pretend play and much more

We also investigated new topics regarding dogs such as sledge dogs, guide dogs and adopting rescue dogs.

This project lasted four weeks and with a surprise.

Trains

The topic about trains all started when children used to put chairs after each other and pretend that they are on a train ride during their free play. I enhanced their interest about trains as we started to read stories while everyone was on board the train. The children enjoyed it and so we decided that this should be our next topic. The children got several books from home. Together we painted and built a big train out of cardboard boxes. We made a poster which showed all the stops that the train was going to make. The children came out with all the ideas for this poster, some of the stops were the jungle, the swimming lesson, school and the pool. We did several crafts related to this topic such as small trains and punching train tickets. We also learnt and carried out activities with magnets as this is the way that most train cars are attached to each other. We also learnt about different parts of the train.

This was a very interesting topic which came out from the children’s interests and built around their won likes and dislikes.

Dog and Chicken

This project emerged, as I provided the children with 2 empty boxes and I asked them what can we do with them. The children came out with the idea of making a kennel for the dogs at the bottom and on top we can do the chicken coop for the chickens. I asked parents to send something on this topic. The day after the children were very eager to show what they got and share the together. I asked the children to draw something on this topic on the journal, this helps me in planning my activities. The children were very interested and curious. I provided the children with paint and asked them to paint the boxes how they want. One of the children came out with a question, asking how the farmer is going to go on top of the kennel to feed the chickens. One of the children came out with the idea of making a ladder. So, we went outside in the school garden and collected some sticks and made a ladder. The children enjoyed it. We did a lot of fun activities in this project to enhance the child learning, focus on letter ‘K’ and ‘T’, by pre writing on sand, treasure hunt, playdough. Different ideas of how to build a kennel and chicken outside with bricks, logs and tyres. Sensory play kept the children focused and share ideas between them, especially children that have dogs as a pet. They shared their experiences with other children in how to take care of them. We also visited the dogs’ police station where children were able to see different experiences. Such as how dogs are trained and also understand that dogs are also our friends. I showed the children a real chick where we kept it at school for a day with us and then asked the children to draw their own chick, this helped the child to enhance his or her imagination. This project also lead us to learn and recognize the value of number 2 and the value of number 4, since a chicken has 2 feet while a dog has 4 feet. It also helped the children to recognize letter T and K. When doing this topic it helped us investigate our next Topic, Żiemel as the children started discussing between them that a horse can be added to our farm. This project took us three weeks, of learning, exploring and having fun together!!

K1.2 & K1.3 – Snails

This project emerged while we were planting seeds in the outside area. The children were delighted to see the garden snails in the soil and a particular boy brought a snail from home the next day.

In our classroom, we started the web plan and as educators we were delighted to discover that some children had already some good knowledge about snails. In particular, a girl mentioned the antennae, the feelers, and the fact that the snails eat leaves; vegetables or fruit. We started the topic by collecting snails, analysing them under our magnifying glasses and also counting how many snails we found. As children collected the snails they observed that the little organisms had soft and slimy bodies. Also, we observed that the snails left a trial behind.  

During circle time, we sang some rhymes related to snails- Xita, xita and Il-Bebbuxu jhobb jixxarrab. We also did some crafts related to the topic like the rolled up snail where children had to decorate their own snail using their imagination. During our cooking sessions we did also spiral cinnamon buns which the children loved to taste and enjoy. We had our book area set up with books related to snails, rain and weather. Children also loved listening to stories such as ‘Il-Harga tal-Bebbuxu’ where after the story we used a number of open ended questions to generate more thought and understanding in our children. This projected lasted three weeks.

Aeroplanes

This was a creative subject for our class as a three year old mixed class with 18 students in it.  The children decided to pick up on this topic since they were playing outdoors in the back yard and started imagining they are flying aeroplanes.

We discussed the procedure of how to board on an aircraft, made different flashcards and explained the procedure of departing, different kinds of aeroplanes, the inside of the airplane etc.

We then created a large cardboard aeroplane and they enjoyed playing with it going in and coming out of it.

Poeżija lil Ms Nag u Ms Maria (K1.5, K1.6)

Kull filgħodu malli nqumu

Qed nistaqsu ‘kemm ha ndumu?’

Forsi nilbsu dik l-uniformi

Blu u oranġjo li tgħaddili ommi

L-iskola aħna qed nimmisjaw

L-Ms Nag u l-Ms Maria nixtiequ naraw

Nisperaw li l-iskola nerġgħu mmorru

U żgur filgħodu mhux ser nibqgħu ngorru

Qawsalli u minn kollox aħna pinġejna

Naqra tisjir u anki żfin ħejjejna

Mixja fil-kampanja morna waħedna

Ngħoddu l-bebbux u ngħidu xi kelma

Illum l-ahhar ta’ staġun Xitwi

Għas-sajf nitolbu li jiġi x’jiġri

Forsi dal-virus jitlaq l’hemm

Ha noħorġu l’barra u ngħidu Amen!

Outing to the Groomer – K2.3

On Friday 7th February Kindergarten Class 2.3 were lucky to visit ‘Charms Pet Grooming Salon’ at Mgarr. This was a good opportunity which was linked to the theme about dogs of the emergent curriculum. With the help of Ms Dorianne Micallef the kids enjoyed a short walk to and from school and the salon. When we arrived we were greeted by Ms Charmaine Martin, the owner of the salon. She showed the grooming salon to the kids and also gave them some rules. The kids had a good time watching an African grey (parrot) which danced and kissed her owner. Later the kids were able to see the groomer taking care of a dog and she checked for swelling and parasites on the skin. The kids loved a Chow Chow dog named Sophie. They had the occasion to feel its fur. When the groomer washed her, the kids had turns to dry her up. We thanked Ms Charmaine Martin for her hospitality in her salon and also the dogs owner.

K2.3 – Dogs Theme

Constructing a leash and role play/pretend play  – dog with leash and going out for a walk. Constructing a dogs waste bin and cleaning after your pet. Children showing interest in books about dogs. Washing our pet dogs. Pretend play – eating and drinking like dogs. We also noticed how difficult it was.