May I Introduce You to My Pirate?

What a busy couple of weeks it has been. Since we last updated you, the children have gone deeper into character for our ‘Conceptual PlayWorld’ experience. They have been inspired to make up their own pirates (or pirate pets) so that they can become a part of the story and act it out first hand. We have been focused on particular character traits and the descriptive language that they could use to add detail to their unique creations. Here is what some of the kids had to say about their very imaginative characters:

• Tigerlily – My one is shy. She is called Pink Beard. She is also kind.
• Gabe – I have a pirate that turns into a robot but then it turns into a pirate. It’s called Gold Beard. It camouflages to anything it sees.
• Dexter – My pirate puppy is called Sneaky Puppy and it can turn into anything around it so it can hide from monsters and attack the monster.
• Poppy – I made a pirate kitty named Angel. Angel likes Ruby’s Pirate because it’s her pet.
• Ruby N – I haven’t written down my pirate’s name yet but it’s Daisy. She’s selfish. This means she only cares about herself. It’s just make believe, though.
• Angus – My pirate is very smart. He’s called Multi-coloured Beard. His beard is really neat because the colours are in little squares.
• Harriet – Banana beard is very kind and eats lots of bananas. I like bananas, too.
• Jade – My pirate is called Jay-Jay. She is smart and when people see her as a pirate she just turns into a normal person.
• Leon – My pirate is called Weird-Beard, even though he rolls around to move, he can also untangle himself and do really high push-ups by lifting his beard up. He goes down and up, down and up, down and up. Yeah. That’s how he does push ups. He’s Weird Beard.
• Wren – My pirate is Sneaky Beard even though he doesn’t have a beard. He surfs in sewer pipes. Sometimes he disguises as a baby.
• Sachi – My pirate’s name is Beige Beard. She’s grumpy.
• Conrad – Yellow Beard lies on the floor all day. He’s always full even though he doesn’t eat anything. He sleeps with his feet on the pillow.

We’ve been writing, drawing, and painting images of our pirates, too.

Meanwhile, in line with reconciliation week, we read the book ‘Sorry Sorry’ by Anne Kerr. This book approached the concept of reconciliation in a way that helped the children understand some of this very complex and emotionally charged idea.

We made comparisons to our own experiences of saying sorry and recognised that apologies don’t need to be for something that was done intentionally. Likewise, we talked about making things right and how when we do need to apologise, it’s important to check in on the person who’s been hurt by asking them if they’re okay and seeing if you can do anything to make things better. After reading the text together, some of the children shared their thinking on the subject:

• Hugo – We can ask, ‘what can I do to help?’
• Ruby N – We can fix it by caring for everybody’
• Bell – We all need to say sorry.
• Tigerlily – We need to make sure that we all get what we need.
• Gabe – We should listen to each other
• Leon – You need to show respect. If you’ve gotten out of control you should apologise.
• Jade – We can say sorry for stuff that happened a long time ago.
• Poppy – We can go on an excursion and plant seeds for growing bush tucker.
• Henrietta – We can ask ‘are you okay?’

To share our thinking with the community at the assembly, we’ve made hands to represent everyone chipping in together. The hands have been illustrated with some of the Aboriginal symbols that they’ve been learning about. This year’s theme is ‘Now More Than Ever’.

Our older buddies also found the time to come in and help us with our writing. Knowing that every syllable needs at least one vowel, we worked together to try and come up with as many real or imagined words using a consonant, then a vowel, then another consonant. It was a little bit tricky, but really helped demonstrate how the letter sounds work together. I’m sure we will be seeing plenty more three-letter words make their way into the children’s writing. Keep an eye out for these words at home if you pick up a copy of The Cat in the Hat.

The coming weeks will see us go further into our Conceptual PlayWorld, using this as a launchpad for continued writing and maths investigations with an emphasis on learning more about the natural and man-made materials found in our immediate environment. Stay tuned!