New Unit of Inquiry: How We Express Ourselves

The K2 children have embarked on their last Unit of Inquiry of the year- How We Express Ourselves. Children will be exploring different mediums of expression, with the goal of being aware and intentional about the choices they make in their learning and play. A big focus of the unit is continuing to develop children's communication and social skills, which serve as approaches to learning as they prepare for transition to primary school near the end of the school year. 

Here is the key information and learning outcomes for the unit:

If you would like to learn more about the Unit of Inquiry along with some concrete examples of what the learning might look like in the K2 classroom, feel free to hear me walk through the unit in finer detail. It's a 5 min video and you may press the full screen button for a clearer view:

The first couple weeks of any Unit of Inquiry is always exciting as teachers set up play invitations and plan engaging circle times to gauge the children's prior knowledge. From there, children will co-construct their next steps in learning along with the teacher using the information gathered such as their interests and wonderings. Let's take a further look at how different K2 classes have been tuning into the new Unit of Inquiry.

Gecko Class

In this new unit, the focus will be to strengthen children's communication and social skills in order to effectively express themselves to others. The Gecko children each made their own "My favorite.." page to express their favorite activity/book/toy/etc., then they shared this with a classmate by practicing "Partner Talk" (as seen in the picture below). The goal after is to relay your partner's interests to the rest of the class; this involves communication skills such as active listening, being open-minded and remembering/retrieving information. These pages will be made into a class book that the children can access and read by themselves at any time; they love learning about common interests and making unexpected connections with each other!

In order for children to develop self-aware and intentional preferences as to how they like to express themselves, it helps to observe how others might do the same. The Gecko children were invited to try out learning engagements that tap into different ways of expression. In one small group, they made Kandinsky-inspired art with the focus of how they can use different shapes and lines to create. In another small group, they read the classic The Princess and the Pea followed by an alternate version of the same story- which one do they like more, and why? How does the story make them feel? 

Tiger Class

The Tiger children engage in music and movement every week; these opportunities add to their repertoire of ways to express themselves. There are many different elements to music and movement that they are encouraged to explore - different percussion instruments, various props such as scarves and ribbons, and musical concepts such as beat, tempo and rhythm. Movement is really powerful in supporting children to make connections between their awareness of their physical body, and how they might use it to express an idea. For example, how might your body movements align to fast versus slow music? What story do you hear in the music and how might you act it out through movement? 

Amy also read the book Dancing Hands by Margarita Engle, to get the children thinking about how music can evoke emotion and bring comfort and joy to people. If your children play instruments at home or like a particular style of music, please do encourage your child to share it with the class! Peer learning is always very inspiring and gives children a sense of self-efficacy "I can do it!"

Dragon Class

Dragon Class started off Term 3 with the highly anticipated Interest Days where they got to learn more about the teachers' interests, specifically painting, crafting, dance, and piano playing! When children discover how others have interests that they are passionate about and want to share with others, it creates new connections between people and inspires the children to think more deeply about their own interests and preferences too. To further develop their communication and social skills, children practiced interviewing others- "How do you like to express yourself?" and used a tally to record data (see picture below). This connects to their personal interests and is a way of discovering commonalities with others.

The Dragons have also been exploring other ways to express themselves while simultaneously developing their writing, fine and gross motor skills! Some are creating shadow puppets to express themselves through pretend and dramatic play, whilst others are creating an "All About Me" book through drawing and writing (they are becoming quite skilled at bookmaking!) As a class, they are always keen to express themselves through dance; there is nothing more exciting than to wrap up the day with a dance party!

Turtle Class

Throughout their K2 year, the Turtle children have been given ample opportunities to create their own play and make meaningful connections to their own experiences through the use of loose parts and open-ended materials. With a sense of agency to direct their own learning and play, they've developed strong communication and social skills that enable them to express themselves confidently to their peers, and also be open-ended and respectful towards others' ideas and experiences. These skills and attributes continue to strengthen as they tune into this new unit. In the below pictures, they are exploring den and tent building, while creating a campsite mirroring their real life experiences camping with their families. In fact, the AM class has invited Suzie and Stripey to join their campsite this week! Aligned with the key concept of connection, it is so meaningful when ideas and experiences connect people to one another.

Donning construction helmets and vests, some Turtle children have also been busy collaborating and building structures together. Transferring their knowledge and skills from a previous Unit of Inquiry How The World Works, the children are welcome to draw blueprints of designs and construct all kinds of structures. For many, the act of designing, building, or constructing is their preferred way of expressing their ideas and experiences!

Already in the beginning stages of the inquiry, it is evident that the K2 children have their own unique interests and preferences when it comes to expressing themselves. As the inquiry deepens, we're excited to see how they might tap into the concept of perspective as they respond to each other's experiences.