Weekly Activities

Three large tubs of colour. Lots of empty cups. A turkey baster for everyone. "What colours do we have?" "Red, blue and yellow." "What colours can we make?" Before starting the activity the children already knew they could make purple, orange and green. J realized he made a 7th colour. "I made gold, it's brown too" S said "I made black!" S said "I made black too!"

A few days ago the children had very excited conversations about chameleons and how they change colour to match their environment. When we were outside in the forest they played a game where they tried to find matching colours in their clothes to the nature around them. This lead us to the activity of colours that change. Our materials were: a coffee filter, cup with a small amount of water and a black marker. The children first made some guesses about what colours make up black: "purple, orange, white, yellow, green, pink, blue, silver, grey, gold and red. Each child drew a black circle in the centre of the coffee filter, folded it then placed it into the cup. We then waited and tried to see if any colour was coming out. The children were telling me the colours they were seeing as the coffee filter was absorbing water and the colours were moving to the top. "I see blue!" "I see black still" "I see lots of red!" "The re...

Formative stages when developing the Inquiry The use of assessment FOR learning is known as “formative Assessment”. On Thursday the teachers started their 3 to 5 day formative assessment process.We presented a variety of experiences and then listened to the children as they spoke to one another during their explorations. Teachers took notes of statements children made and will use these and other observations to help them determine the scope and path of the inquiry. As you can see, the learner plays a significant role in advancing their learning interests. Over the course of this process through to the Summative Assessment (due in 8 weeks), the teachers will further develop the central idea which is When we explore the nature of colour, our appreciation of the world expands. The teachers will also develop ways that the children can assess their own learning over time (“I used to think that but now I think this”. They will also find ways to help the children give one...