The children have begun to research and inquire into challenges and risks faced by children around the world. They are inquiring into such subjects as malnutrition, poverty, bereavement and natural disasters, such as floods. The children have had the chance to research using reference books in the library and websites. They have been encouraged to search for information using child safe search engines (as listed on the side of this blog).
We have talked about the need to avoid stereotyping people and making general statements. For example the sentence "All people that live in Germany each sausages" stereotypes people living in Germany as sausage eaters and generalises that everyone likes to eat sausage. Of course the children obviously know that some of us that live in Germany eat sausages, some of us don't! It is important that the children learn the importance of seeing people as individuals, of course.
The children were given this to help keep them on track in their Inquiry:
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| As they research and inquire they will focus on the concepts 'causation' and 'reflection' and ensure that they are able to relate their inquiry to the central idea. In Literacy we have read an adaptation of a poem "Children are amazing" by Aisha Patterson: Laughter echoes through the skies, - children are amazing So young and so innocent - children are amazing Care free yet compassionate and kind - children are amazing From birth to walking and finally speaking - children are amazing Enthusiastic at day, pristine at night - children are amazing Naive and curious, motivated to learn - children are amazing Working young, carrying sacks heavier than them - children are amazing Selfless, working for their families - children are amazing Naked in the streets, asking for money to eat - children are amazing Dreams to nightmares, hearts strengthened in mud - children are amazing Staying resilient through adversity and poverty, That is truly amazing! There are some difficult words and phrases in this poem and we have spent some time discussing what those words mean. The children also worked together to produce definitions of the more difficult (or new) words, using their Merriam Webster dictionaries or the online dictionaries, posted on our blog website list. We have also talked about the differences between the first part of the poem and the second and how the poem relates to our central idea and inquiry. Today the children used art media to show their understanding of the poem. Some of them are not yet finished but those published here give a sense of the understanding and empathy that the children feel for others.     Next week we will explore some of the literary devices that the poet has used and, in the coming weeks, the children will have the opportunity to write a poem about their chosen subject. In Maths we have continued to explore fractions. The children have continued to look at equivalent fractions and to simplify fractions. I wish you all a very good weekend. I hope all of those children that have been unwell this week are soon better (we miss you when you're not here!) |
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