We began with Canada. I introduced children to a variety of books that I had borrowed from the library. We talked about what we notice is different compared to Oman. During this lesson a child pointed out the totem poles - this lead quite nicely into our art activity. We began by looking at the symbolism behind the poles and what influences the designs. The children then had to decide what they would put on their pole.
Our next country was Italy. For Italy we looked at the food they eat their, pizza being a main dish. We were pretty excited because we got to go on a class trip to a pizza restaurant called Pizza Express. From a teachers point of view I was very impressed with the trip, the staff were super organised and the kids were really engaged. We began by having a kitchen tour and seeing all the food storage and prep areas. We then learnt how to roll out our dough - children all got their own pizza pan and dough. Next they taught us how to spread the sauce and finally we were given a range of toppings to put on. The pizzas were all cooked and the children spent the next 20 minutes enjoying their creations. (The trip was a good set up for the weeks learning).
The next day we wrote instructions on how to make pizza - all children were able to do this with limited teacher input. We also made pizza art on paper plates and adding the 'topping' in the form of paper that was used. This then led into a math focus of fractions which children could grasp easily with the visual clue of the pizza.
For Australia we began by writing down questions for our Head of Primary who is from Tasmania. We had him come and interviewed him to find out the information needed to answer our questions. Some of the funniest questions from grade 1 were: "Do you have pencils in Australia?" "Do you have cars in Australia?"
We then looked at the Aboriginal people of Australia and explored some of their art and the meaning behind it. We had a go a trying to create our own aboriginal art and they turned out really great.
Our next country was Japan. In literacy we focused on story retell. We watched a short film called Sleeping Dragon. I paused it just before the boy opens the well. Children then had to decide if they would or wouldn't open the well and why. I had a screen shot of this bit where children had to draw a though bubble to show what they would do. Following this we shared our ideas and then watched the rest. The following couple of lessons we retold the story using sequencing words. To finish we made some Japanese blossom trees which turned out awesome.
My favourite country was next. I introduced children to the Maori culture and we looked at the language and art. To begin the week we made the feathered headdress like the Maori wear. We then looked at the different art, we compared this to the Aboriginal art. Children had a go at creating koru which they did really well. I then taught them how to count to 10 which they were good out - the pronunciation tripped a few Arabic speaking learners up. During this week we also began learning about mammal, fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles. For this we talked about what characteristics each animal has. I then gave mixed ability groups a variety of cards and they had to decide which animal it was.
To finish this week we had a whole school International Day. In the morning we had a massive parade where each country walked around the field to their national anthem while every one else cheered. The next block was class visits. Children went with their class teaching assistant to other classes to learn about their country they had studied. I did NZ in my class. I started off by showing them a video of the NZ landscape (I think most chn now think NZers live in hobbit houses). I then played the Haka and we then had a go at learning it.
Finally we finished the unit looking at the polar regions. This was mainly animal focused as animals were our science focus. I gave children a variety of print outs on their animal and in mixed ability groups they had to look through the information and answer their questions. We created little animal drawings and children had to draw on their previous learning to label them. Children then created their own booklets with the information they had found out about their animal.
In maths we have been learning about place value and then money. Money was difficult to teach at first because it was penny and pound which is not what we have in NZ. I told the kids this though and they loved learning with me. I also allowed the children to bring money from their home countries which was awesome. We had money from Egypt, Morocco, India, Pakistan, Europe, Algeria, Serbia, UAE and Oman. I had a little shop which I set up in the class and the children loved using the play money to buy things.
To complete this unit we had an open classroom where parents were given the opportunity to come in and see the work that their child has done so far. This was led by the kids and was great.
Our next topic is The Giants Garden.
Our next country was Italy. For Italy we looked at the food they eat their, pizza being a main dish. We were pretty excited because we got to go on a class trip to a pizza restaurant called Pizza Express. From a teachers point of view I was very impressed with the trip, the staff were super organised and the kids were really engaged. We began by having a kitchen tour and seeing all the food storage and prep areas. We then learnt how to roll out our dough - children all got their own pizza pan and dough. Next they taught us how to spread the sauce and finally we were given a range of toppings to put on. The pizzas were all cooked and the children spent the next 20 minutes enjoying their creations. (The trip was a good set up for the weeks learning).
The next day we wrote instructions on how to make pizza - all children were able to do this with limited teacher input. We also made pizza art on paper plates and adding the 'topping' in the form of paper that was used. This then led into a math focus of fractions which children could grasp easily with the visual clue of the pizza.
For Australia we began by writing down questions for our Head of Primary who is from Tasmania. We had him come and interviewed him to find out the information needed to answer our questions. Some of the funniest questions from grade 1 were: "Do you have pencils in Australia?" "Do you have cars in Australia?"
We then looked at the Aboriginal people of Australia and explored some of their art and the meaning behind it. We had a go a trying to create our own aboriginal art and they turned out really great.
Our next country was Japan. In literacy we focused on story retell. We watched a short film called Sleeping Dragon. I paused it just before the boy opens the well. Children then had to decide if they would or wouldn't open the well and why. I had a screen shot of this bit where children had to draw a though bubble to show what they would do. Following this we shared our ideas and then watched the rest. The following couple of lessons we retold the story using sequencing words. To finish we made some Japanese blossom trees which turned out awesome.
My favourite country was next. I introduced children to the Maori culture and we looked at the language and art. To begin the week we made the feathered headdress like the Maori wear. We then looked at the different art, we compared this to the Aboriginal art. Children had a go at creating koru which they did really well. I then taught them how to count to 10 which they were good out - the pronunciation tripped a few Arabic speaking learners up. During this week we also began learning about mammal, fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles. For this we talked about what characteristics each animal has. I then gave mixed ability groups a variety of cards and they had to decide which animal it was.
To finish this week we had a whole school International Day. In the morning we had a massive parade where each country walked around the field to their national anthem while every one else cheered. The next block was class visits. Children went with their class teaching assistant to other classes to learn about their country they had studied. I did NZ in my class. I started off by showing them a video of the NZ landscape (I think most chn now think NZers live in hobbit houses). I then played the Haka and we then had a go at learning it.
Finally we finished the unit looking at the polar regions. This was mainly animal focused as animals were our science focus. I gave children a variety of print outs on their animal and in mixed ability groups they had to look through the information and answer their questions. We created little animal drawings and children had to draw on their previous learning to label them. Children then created their own booklets with the information they had found out about their animal.
To complete this unit we had an open classroom where parents were given the opportunity to come in and see the work that their child has done so far. This was led by the kids and was great.
Our next topic is The Giants Garden.
