Nursery 2

Gasing

Our little wizard dressed in a batik button up is playing with a Gasing.

Zero point

The children playing a traditional game called "Zero point."

Chapteh

Gasing

Our little wizard dressed in a batik button up is playing with a Gasing.

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The theme for term 1 was “About me” and in conjunction with racial harmony day, the nursery had a lesson on the different cultures that can be found in Singapore.

The children were given the opportunity to play with different childhood toys from various cultures such as the “Gasing” and “Chapteh.” Furthermore, the children were also encouraged to come to school dressed in traditional costumes.

Term overview

Term 1:

Our Culture

The children stumbled upon a caterpillar during their outdoor walk and started gaining interest in them. Using the children's interest, Teacher Irsalina planned a lesson based on the the book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle .

For this lesson, The children created their own hungry caterpillar and also learnt about sequencing.

Demonstration Time

Teacher Irsalina is demonstrating to the children on how they can create their own caterpillar

Caterpillar Time!

As seen in the picture, Daisy is creating her own caterpillar using paint and a plastic cup

Our end product!

Demonstration Time

Teacher Irsalina is demonstrating to the children on how they can create their own caterpillar

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Term 2:

The very hungry Caterpillar

Introductory

Teacher Irsalina is introducing the various textures to the children

Touching time!

The children using their sense of touch to feel the texture

Main Activity

Yasmin and Lee Shian working together to create their own texture book

Introductory

Teacher Irsalina is introducing the various textures to the children

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After noticing the children constantly using the same adjectives to describe things, Teacher Irsalina created a lesson to extend their knowledge on the different textures that can be found in the environment.

The children created their own texture book using various materials such as fuzzy wires, felt and more. On top of that, the children also had a show and tell session where they shared about their texture book to their classmates.

Term 3:

Textures around us

Lesson Overview

Seeing as the theme for Term 3 is "Environment," Teacher Irsalina sees this as an opportunity to extend the children's knowledge on textures. Hence, the focused topic for the N2s is, "Textures around us."

The children worked together in groups to create their own texture book using materials provided by Teacher Irsalina. Afterwards, the children had a show and tell where they shared with their friends about their texture book.

The children gained new knowledge and learnt new textures such as soft, rough, smooth and fuzzy.

Lesson Overview

The children will be able to list at least 3 different textures.
The children will be able to work together in groups, to create their own texture book.
The children will be able to speak confidently and share with their friends about their artwork.

Lesson objectives

Facilitating

Watch this video to learn more about how the texture board was used to facilitate the children's learning!

According to MacNaughton and Williams (2009), “As a teaching technique, facilitating refers to the process of making children’s learning easier.” For example, scheduling, selecting materials, organising space and interacting verbally and non-verbally with them (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).

To facilitate our N2s with their learning, Teacher Irsalina prepared teaching aids to ensure that the N2s will have an easier time understanding what is being taught.

As shown in the video, Teacher Irsalina is holding a texture board that she prepared to be used as a teaching aid.

Facilitation supports children learning by paying attention to what materials they are offered (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).

For the main activity, Teacher Irsalina provided the children with various materials that allows them to create their own texture book without having to search for the materials themselves.

For example, Teacher Irsalina gave Lee Shian foam paper and a pair of scissors when she noticed that she did not have any materials to work with.

Watch this video to learn more about how Teacher Irsalina gave verbal and non-verbal demonstration to the children!

Demonstrating can be used to facilitate children in learning alternative and more effective ways of exploring a problem (MacNaughton & Williams 2009). It is fair to say that while demonstrating does somewhat require a child to imitate an action, it does not necessarily produce a singular way for them to leave (Penfold, 2018).

Before the children were allowed to carry out the main activity, Teacher Irsalina gave a verbal and non-verbal demonstration to ensure that they have a better understanding on what they are supposed to do.

Despite giving a demonstration to the children, Teacher Irsalina did not restrict any of her students from designing their texture book in their own way.

documenting

Teacher Irsalina documents the children's learning by taking pictures and videos of the children while they are pasting and cutting materials for their texture book.

Documenting is seen as a method for assessment and evaluation ( Kalliala & Samuelsson, 2014).

Other than photo documentations, Teacher Irsalina ask questions and get the children to share about their artwork through show and tell. By doing so, it allows her to understand their thought process.

Furthermore, Teacher Irsalina also writes down what the children shared about their artwork.

Pedagogical documentation is viewed as a multipurpose tool which makes pedagogical work visible, including the children's learning process and the professional development of the teacher ( Kalliala & Samuelsson, 2014).