Special Places (Citizenship in Geography Context)
Dear Parents and Carers
As we progress in our Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) learning over the term, foundation have been learning about citizenship through Geography. They have used the key inquiry questions 'What makes a place special?' and 'How can we look after special places? which linked heavily to the Sustainability General Capability in the Australian Curriculum and outcome two from the Early Years Learning Framework. Curiosity, wonder and respect for places and environments are fundamental to creating students who go on to enjoy and develop their geographical thinking beyond the early years of schooling (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, n.d.).
In order to spark thoughts about place and space, we identified and photographed special places around our school. The whole class agreed that the playground was a special place to most students in our class. Together, we brainstormed a word wall that included things we see, do and feel in our school playground. This can be seen in image 1.
After we had finished our first brainstorm, we thought about the things we had come up with and talked about how we can look after our playground. Sometimes children notice there is rubbish in and around the playground, children suggested we could look after our playground by putting rubbish in the bins, and by picking it up if it has already been dropped.
Building on this learning about special places, children in foundation brought in photos of themselves in special places from outside of school including photos from their bedrooms, homes and neighbourhoods as well as other special places like the local library or their grandparents' homes. Children picked one special place from outside of school each to share with the class and great interest and joy was evident in the room when we got to learn about each other's special places. Children shared where their special place was, why it was special to them, and how they look after their special place.
I was able to bring in a picture of my family's farm. I explained that this is one of my special places. I explained that it is special because I like to spend quiet time out here walking my dogs. I also spoke about how I look after it by watering the crops, feeding the sheep, and making sure my pet dogs do not chase the ducks at the dam.
After sharing our special places, each child had a page template (image 4) for our 'special places' class book. Children wrote the name of their special place and how they look after it. They then drew themselves looking after their special place. The book will be bound, and all are welcome to come in and read our 'special places' book. It will be kept on the book shelf in the reading corner (which happens to be a special place in our classroom).
Thanks for reading along about our exciting HaSS learning. There is more to come!
Kind regards
Hayley Koehler
References
As we progress in our Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) learning over the term, foundation have been learning about citizenship through Geography. They have used the key inquiry questions 'What makes a place special?' and 'How can we look after special places? which linked heavily to the Sustainability General Capability in the Australian Curriculum and outcome two from the Early Years Learning Framework. Curiosity, wonder and respect for places and environments are fundamental to creating students who go on to enjoy and develop their geographical thinking beyond the early years of schooling (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, n.d.).
In order to spark thoughts about place and space, we identified and photographed special places around our school. The whole class agreed that the playground was a special place to most students in our class. Together, we brainstormed a word wall that included things we see, do and feel in our school playground. This can be seen in image 1.
 |
| Image 1: Our Playground Brainstorm (personal image) |
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| Image 2: How to Look After Our Playground (personal image) |
Building on this learning about special places, children in foundation brought in photos of themselves in special places from outside of school including photos from their bedrooms, homes and neighbourhoods as well as other special places like the local library or their grandparents' homes. Children picked one special place from outside of school each to share with the class and great interest and joy was evident in the room when we got to learn about each other's special places. Children shared where their special place was, why it was special to them, and how they look after their special place.
I was able to bring in a picture of my family's farm. I explained that this is one of my special places. I explained that it is special because I like to spend quiet time out here walking my dogs. I also spoke about how I look after it by watering the crops, feeding the sheep, and making sure my pet dogs do not chase the ducks at the dam.
 |
| Image 3: My special place is my farm (personal image) |
After sharing our special places, each child had a page template (image 4) for our 'special places' class book. Children wrote the name of their special place and how they look after it. They then drew themselves looking after their special place. The book will be bound, and all are welcome to come in and read our 'special places' book. It will be kept on the book shelf in the reading corner (which happens to be a special place in our classroom).
 |
| Image 4: Special Place Book Page Template (personal image) |
Thanks for reading along about our exciting HaSS learning. There is more to come!
Kind regards
Hayley Koehler
References
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting
Authority. (n.d.). Retrieved April 07,
2019, from https://www.acara.edu.au/
2019, from https://www.acara.edu.au/
Department of Education Employment and
Workplace Relations (DEEWR).
(2009). Belonging, Being and Becoming: the Early Years Learning
Framework for Australia. Barton, ACT: Australian Government
(2009). Belonging, Being and Becoming: the Early Years Learning
Framework for Australia. Barton, ACT: Australian Government
Division
for Early Childhood. (2014). DEC recommended practices in early
intervention/early childhood special education 2014. Retrieved from
www.decsped.org/recommendedpractices
intervention/early childhood special education 2014. Retrieved from
www.decsped.org/recommendedpractices
Fromboluti, C. S., Seefeldt, C.,
Darby, L., & Gibson, B. (1999). Early childhood,
where learning begins: Geography: With activities for children ages 2 to 5
years of age. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of
Educational Research and Improvement, National Institute on Early
Childhood Development and Education.
where learning begins: Geography: With activities for children ages 2 to 5
years of age. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of
Educational Research and Improvement, National Institute on Early
Childhood Development and Education.
Hi Hayley,
ReplyDeleteAgain I hope some of these are useful to you. I'm just pointing out things I've noticed, and I'm sure Charlotte will add some brilliant feedback!
- I'd just read over and double check capital letters. I can't find it now I'm looking for it, but there was a word that should have had a capital letter, but didn't!
- Probably just me, but the captions for the first two images aren't centrally aligned under their respective images. It's just a little off putting when the remaining images are formatted this way. I also don't blame you if you choose to ignore this point because blogger is horrible.
- Your reference list is lacking. The minimum was four academic references excluding the core text and curriculum documents per post. I'm taking a wild guess that maybe it didn't copy over correctly, but I would definitely check, and if necessary, expand your list.
- Another comment on the reference list, but you haven't referenced the images either. I don't know if it is a requirement, but I'd reference them to be safe if they are not your own. If they are your own, I'd probably state as such in the reference list just to keep uni happy.
- The language is really appropriate for parents/carers, and you've addressed them throughout the blog which is wonderful. I like how you've invited them to read about the special places book you and the class developed.
- I also assume that book is the assessment item, though it seems to be the only option to me. I really love that idea of creating the book though.
Shara.
Hey Hayley,
ReplyDeleteGreat job! Here are some more feedback points, hopefully I haven't repeated Shara's feedback too much.
- I loved this blog and I can definitely see myself using this learning sequence in my own classroom.
- You made each stage of the learning sequence very clear. Along with the images, your blog provides viewers with a great picture of the learning happening throughout this topic.
- Shara already mentioned about the references. You could possibly add some more references by explaining how the learning of special places links to citizenship and why they are learning about special places.
- So I think the main thing you might want to consider explaining in your blog is the purpose of learning.