Shadow puppets...

...as a powerful tool for story telling!

Today, we introduced the shadow puppets to our environment and it wasn't long before the girls were exploring these with wonder and excitement. It was fascinating to observe the different ways in which the girls engaged with the puppets, and the way in which their play soon took the direction of story telling. The girls have such rich imaginations, and in light of this their stories were just magical!

Here are some images of the girls working with the puppets: 

Today on Mt St John...

...the grass was longer than it had ever been!

So we ran through it, and rolled in it and even made our very own cozy beds.

 Zoe thought hers was particularly comfy. She thought she could stay in it all day.

 We found cicada skins...

 ...and ladybirds!

 We even worked together to create a bivouac!

Finally, on the way back to school we had a running race with our shadows.

Cupcake delights.

Yesterday the girls buddies came to share morning tea with us here in the Foundation Class. Last week we created invitations for our buddies and delivered them to their classrooms. The girls each designed a picture and wrote to the year four girls.

First thing yesterday morning, we busily set to work baking cupcakes and decorating them with delicious pink icing and lovely decorations. The girls particularly enjoyed spreading the icing and choosing a decoration for the top of their cupcakes.

It was such a wonderful occasion, having our buddies in for morning tea and the cupcakes were just delicious! 

 

Shadow drawings.

Recently the girls have been invited to represent their thinking about shadows through the language of drawing. Here are some of the images which they have come up with:

 

 Artist: Sophie

 Artist: Georgia

 Artist: Emma

 Artist: Vanessa

 Artist: Georgia

 Artist: Chloe

 Artist: Alice

 Artist: Zara

Artist: Emma

Artist: Sophie

The wonder of shadows.

The more time you spend with children, the more you notice how inquisitive they are about the world and how keen their thinking is even about the most subtle things. Things which escape materiality, easy recognition, definite forms, things you can touch but can’t touch, that brush against the real and the imaginary, that have something of the mysterious about them and offer wide margins of interpretation.

A shadow is certainly one of these subtle things.

- The Hundred Languages of Children

Artist: Kaitlyn

How does the smell of a rose get to your nose?

Thank you to those of you that made it along to our parent evening on Wednesday.

On Wednesday evening we had a wonderful time hosting our parents, here in our classroom. We shared a presentation which gave insight into the everyday experiences the girls have, and also explored the journey which we have been on in relation to our shadow inquiry. 

Following on from this we invited our parents to reflect on and theorize about the question, 'How does the smell of a rose get to your nose?'

Next they were presented with the challenge of exploring their ideas visually, on paper and then having to join with a partner and work towards establishing a shared understanding. Finally, each group worked to create a three-dimensional sculpture depicting their understand of how the smell of a rose gets to your nose!

This experience highlighted the complexities of working in groups, the need to make compromises, negotiate and problem solve, and to develop confidence in sharing your thoughts and ideas. These ideas can be linked directly to the experiences our girls are having each and every day.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable evening, and a wonderful way for our parents to make connections and get to know one another, as well as finding out more about the learning experiences their daughters have in the Foundation Class.

"...Maybe the scent is the rose." - Aashis

Does everything have a shadow?

Here are some of our thoughts and ideas: