Term 3 has certainly flown by in the prep neighbourhood – so many wonderful learning experiences, and so much fun while we’ve been doing it!
In the studio, our creative students have been excitedly exploring the world of clay, using a variety of tools to add intricate details to their creations. Stemming from Conceptual Playworlds, some students crafted a diverse array of insects—such as worms, caterpillars, and spiders—alongside imaginative elements inspired by nature, including trees, fossils, animals, and even bush tucker baskets and foods. Over the past few weeks, their experimentation with this delicate medium has led them to recognise its fragility. This realisation has prompted them to reassess their sculptures, focusing on making their pieces sturdier and more resilient. This progression has been a testament to their growing skills and thoughtful planning, with their creative development clearly visible in their evolving works. We have created a new provocation for this area that will carry through to next term – can they create a character, landmark, or artefact relating to our inquiry story – We cannot wait to see what they create!
Conceptual Playworlds: The students have been collaborating in small groups to create their own worm habitats. They began by drafting and labelling a plan that detailed the resources they needed: bottles, soil, sand, leaves, compost… and a worm! Once their lists were complete, they worked together to gather these materials and assemble their habitats according to their design. Each group carefully added the ingredients to their bottles, ensuring everything was just right. Now, they are actively involved in maintaining their habitats by spraying them with water every few days and closely monitoring the conditions to observe any changes. This hands-on experience has not only deepened their understanding of ecological systems but also fostered teamwork and careful observation skills. We have learned that worms start producing eggs after a few weeks, so we look forward to (hopefully) seeing some babies in these habitats when we return from holidays.
These past four weeks we’ve been lucky enough to have Min, the teaching candidate from Melbourne University, bringing new ideas and fun activities for the Preps to try out. All his lessons have been very popular for their mix of movement and maths. The last one we tried out involved underarm throws and counting ‘points’ connected to australian coins (5, 10, 20, 50). After recording each throw in teams, the students then counted up their total using a whiteboard. Tied in with this we’ve also been playing a special version of Monopoly during provocations that reinforces counting strategies linked with currency. Who knew that maths could be so much fun? I’m sure we’ll have more fun with coins next term.
