CLD 262 | sarahdutchburn

Inquiry Based Learning

Rain Stick

Curriculum Area: Cognitive and Fine Motor (4.3 Cause and Effect Exploration, 5.2 Palmar Grasp)

Goal: To have the children flip the rain stick and associate the noise it makes with something familiar to them (older children). Also have the children tao other objects on the rain stick to see the different pitches of sound it makes (younger children)

Materials Required:

- Paper

- Ink

- Computer

- Scissors

Procedure: Lay the cards out on the table all scattered, have the children match the three components, and ask them what animal makes that sound as well as how many animals are on that card

Reflection: The child was intrigued by the activity and used the ribbon as a handle to pick up the rain stick which was not the main intention of the ribbon but worked for the child to use the rain stick easier.

Above is a picture of the rain stick created for the toddlers in the EYC

Animal Number Matching

Play-dough Mats

Curriculum Area: Cognitive (4.15 Representing Numbers, 4.16 Describing and Determining Ordinal Number and Position)

Goal: To have the children be able to count and match quantity to the written number in three forms (animal, dots, written number)

Materials Required:

- Paper

- Ink

- Computer

- Scissors

Procedure:

- Lay the cards out on the table all scattered

- Have the children match the three components

- Ask them what animal makes that sound as well as how many animals are on that card

Reflection: The child at first was interested by the activity due to his interesest in animals. The child pointed out each animal when completing each card. The child did not loose interest when matching the numbers which was rewarding to see.

Here each child matched the written number to the quantity as well as the visual aid which interested the child in this activity

Alphabet Rice Writing

Colourful Spagetti

Curriculum Area: Cognitive and Fine Motor (5.3 Fine Motor- Tool Use), 4.2 Problem Solving)

Goal: To have the children use the mats to help manipulate the play dough into letters

Materials Required:

- Play Dough

- Flour

- Salt

- Water

- Food Colouring

- Ink

- Paper

- Plastic Covers

Procedure:

- Lay the mats out on a table in the sensory area of the classroom.

- Have the children shape the play dough into letters by staying in the lines

- Have the children identify the letter that they have just made

Reflection: The child at first were more interested in the play dough aspect of the activity. Once explained and demonstrated the children understood and appeared to enjoy rolling out the play dough and shaping it to form the letters

Curriculum Area: Cognitive and Fine Motor (3.12 Understanding of Orientation and Familiar Conventions of Print, 5.3 Fine Motor- Tool Use)

Goal: To have the children recognize the difference of upper and lower case letters. As well as what steps are needed to write these letters.

Materials Required:

- Rice

- Tray

- Written out upper and lower case letter cards

Procedure:

- Lay a tray filled with a even layer of rice on a table.

- Have the children look at the diagram of a upper and lower case letter

- The child will then proceed to use their finger to draw that letter in the rice

Reflection: The children were intrigued by the texture of the rice as well as being able to create letters in the rice. The children seemed to pick up the idea of the activity quickly.

Curriculum Area: Cognitive and Fine Motor (5.3 Fine Motor Skills, 4.10 Classifying)

Goal: To have the children experience different textures and (for the older children) to distinguish the colours within the bowl of pasta

Materials Required:

- Paper

- Ink

- Computer

- Scissors

Procedure: Lay the cards out on the table all scattered, have the children match the three components, and ask them what animal makes that sound as well as how many animals are on that card

Reflection: The children were very interested in this activity due to the texture of the spaghetti as the parents said that this was a new experience for the children. The children were hesitant at first to touch the spaghetti but once they over came that fear they were very intrigued.

Above is a picture of the final result where the children shaped the play dough to represent the letter of the mat

Above is a picture of the final result where the child wrote the letter in the rice base on the letter that they saw on the given card

Here was the spaghetti placed in the sensory bin for the children to come and explore the texture of the pasta as well as determine the colour of each strand.

Spontaneous Activities Implemented

- Group Reading on Carpet (Communication- 3.6 Listening to Others)

This activity took place on the carpet where 2 children sat on the carpet and I read a book to them while showing each picture to the children and pointed out elements on each picture as well as asked the children what they thought of the book.

- Playing House with the children in the play kitchen (Cognition- 4.3 Representation)

I directed the children to the play kitchen set and they directed the activity by pretending to cook me a meal with the play food that was available.

- Using musical instruments to make music (Physical 5.3 Fine Motor- Tool Use, 5.3 The senses- Auditory Exploration)

While sitting ion the carpet, I lay out musical instruments for the children to create a song. The children participated willingly

- Drawing with different sized markers to see the difference on paper (Physical 5.3 Fine Motor- Tool Use)

I put out crayons, markers, colouring pencils on the table and allowed the children to experiment with the markers so that they could see the different markings that they made on the paper

- Having toy truck races and comparing fastest to slowest (Cognition 4.10 Classifying)

I created a track on the carpe area for children to race toy cars on and have them compare which is fastest and which is slowest.

- Using Building blocks to make a house and castle (Cognition- 4.3 Representation)

I arranged the blocks in a circle so that the children could use their imagination to create a house or castle

- Changing out sensory bin with rice for sensory development (Physical 5.3 Sensory Exploration

I changed the materials in the sensory bin to rice instead of sand so that the children could experience the different textures and watch the rice pour through the items in the bin; such as a funnel.

- Puppet show (Communication- 3.6 Listening to Others, Cognition- 4.3 Representation)

I took the puppets from the dress up bin and created a puppet show for the children in the centre. The children were all engaged during this activity

10 Things I Learned at Placement

1. Understanding the different family dynamics seen at different centres and how the family unit changes with different circumstances.

2. How to run a program with families. This included: the prep before hand for the program, what to say and what to plan during the program, and the involvement of families in the program.

3. The Native culture of my placement I have learnt a lot about this includes: smudging, medicine bundles, cultural foods, and the language.

4. How to interact with families on a daily basis. This includes starting a conversation and interacting with them during their visits with the children.

5. The importance of home visits. This includes: what is said during the home visit, what is given to the families, and what services are provided to the families.

6. How to set up the Early Years Centre with the resources needed for each families visit.

7. How to plan one activity and make it work for a variety of ages.

8. How to engage children and parents with activities and keep them focused during their scheduled visits.

9. Spending time working one on one with the children during activities is the best way to have them focus on the one task.

10. Each family that comes to the centre is different and has different needs. I learnt not to judge, but to accept which lead for a very open minded positive placement experience.

Second Year Placement Site Information

Name: Native Child and Family Services of Toronto

Location: 30 College Street

Phone Number: 416-969-8510

Partisipants must be: Natives Individuals and Families

Support Services Include:

The largest Aboriginal Head Start program in the Country
Summer resident and day camps;
An Ontario Early Years Centre
Youth programs including the Native Learning Centre and 7th Generation Image Makers;
Children’s mental health services and case management
The Scarborough Child and Family Life Centre;
Developmental services
Youth outreach services including transitional housing.

Dates Attended: September 12th 2017- November 29th 2017