Prep | Year 2 News
Unit of Inquiry
Sharing the Planet
Central Idea: Taking action can sustain and protect the world’s resources
Key Concepts: Perspective, Responsibility, Causation
We have begun this term by inquiring into different perspectives on how the land is used and cared for, and the effects it can have on others. By sharing an Indigenous Australian perspective of how to sustain the land, we have started to brainstorm ways in which we can be part of a sustainable solution. It has also helped us develop empathy for how we perceive other actions. Through reading Bin Chicken by Jol and Kate Temple we learnt that the Australian Ibis was once a revered and sacred bird. Only after humans had destroyed and polluted their natural habitat did they become scavengers of our rubbish. This has given many boys the motivation to recycle their waste and even begin designing a place where the birds can eat their preferred diet.
To get a better understanding of why we need to protect the environment, we have begun to research which resources are finite and which can be sustainable if used responsibly. We played a very interesting resource game based on the concept of greed. This game involved a circle of resources that the students could take from. They could then use these resources to ‘buy a prize’. At the end of the turn what was left in the middle would double but unfortunately, some could never come back again.
You should have seen the chaos.
It is amazing how our desire to procure these luxuries can override our reasoning to be custodians of the Earth’s resources. This simulation helped demonstrate how greed is slowly hurting our planet and that we now need to show the responsibility to help it recover.
English
What’s better: Being too hot or being too cold? A posh fancy meal or dinner at the small neighbourhood bistro? A busy holiday to Europe or a relaxing break on the Australian coast?
Could you give reasons and evidence to support your reasoning?
This term we are inquiring into what makes a good argument and how we can persuade others to agree with us or to change what we believe. This is a difficult skill to do well as it requires clever choices in emotive language and a carefully deployed device to help sway the audience to our perspective. Your sons are beginning to understand that the loudness of their voice is not a good indicator of a strong argument. We will be practising writing our arguments using a scaffolded structure so that we can clearly articulate our points of view. Maybe we can transfer our learning from Sharing the Planet to help promote change at our school?
Maths
Isn’t it incredible that the physical world is made up of 100’s of 1000’s of shapes combined in interesting ways! This statement has become the focus of our inquiry of 2D Shape and Area. We have begun identifying more unusual shapes and started to understand the key properties that define them. We have also been exploring how regular and irregular shapes can be combined and separated to make new shapes and patterns. This concept will support us to solve new problems in area and also maybe give us a new perspective on our artworks!
Growth
Last week we had two fantastic events that helped us grow our relationships and our hopefulness. On Tuesday Brainstorm Productions performed a dramatisation about coping with angry feelings. They shared strategies to help recognise when we feel anger and suggested some ways to help ‘cool down’ and respond proactively. It was a thoroughly engaging story full of useful ways to deal with angry situations. The second event was our Nude food picnic. As we have been exploring how pollution in our School can hurt the environment, many boys in Year 2 had a completely plastic free recess! However, there was still plenty of single use plastic in other classrooms which resulted in quite a few full bin bags. In the end Hilliard House had the Nudest of food and were crowned winners. Wouldn’t it be a great achievement if every day became a Nude Food Day?
Music
In Classroom Music the Year 2 are participating in a Stand-Alone Unit of Inquiry presented by Musica Viva called Timmy and the Breakfast Band. Throughout this unit they will be inquiring into the connection between music and emotions, music and movement and folk music using the Musica Viva stimulus material. Last week the group presented a one-hour concert to the students which was a wonderful opportunity for them to experience and hear live musicians and an acrobat in action! They will explore the Concepts of Connection, Change and Perspective and continue to develop music notation and creative skills by notating and performing rhythms and composing original compositions that reflect mood in music. These activities will develop their use and understanding of music elements of rhythm, form, tempo, dynamics and sound quality. They have also continued their involvement in the Strings Program learning new repertoire, sight-reading and ensemble skills.
