The world is full of wonderful places!

Upon first hearing the term "Prior Knowledge" it sounds too complicated to use with our young learners... but it really isn't!  They bring a wealth of knowledge about a variety of subjects with them when they come into the classroom.  It is important to give them the chance to share what they know. For example, before reading a story about pirates I asked the class what they knew about the topic.  They had plenty of ideas, including:

• pirates fight
• pirates hunt for treasure
• pirates have swords
• pirates are mean
• pirates have a flag -and plank
• pirates have a ship
• they have one leg with a shoe and a stick on the other leg
• they wear eyepatches

 When we read the story "How I Became a Pirate" the students were excited to see their suggestions appear in the book. This is useful strategy to have, to activate what you already know about a topic, before starting to read a book.  Having ideas ahead of time about what they might encounter in a story can help the students to decode unfamiliar words when they first begin reading texts.  After enjoying the pirate story different learning "invitations" were put out.  Some students chose to make their own pirate stories, some worked in small groups on drawing treasure maps, and some created play scenarios with pirate figurines and wooden blocks.

Building pirate ships out of wooden blocks

Prior knowledge came up again this week, when we brainstormed what the students know about cities.  The very first answer given was that cities have Japanese restaurants.  This led to suggestions of other types of restaurants, and it was clear this is a subject near and dear to their hearts.  What a perfect opportunity to transform the home corner into a cafe. It was easily the most popular activity this week!

Reading the menu; writing an order

Water also remained a topic the students were interested in exploring.  They tried painting with water and saw their efforts evaporate.

They watched how the force of the flow of water can make the wheel spin, as they poured and funnelled at the water table.

They noticed a "stream" made by pouring water in a bowl and saw objects displaced because there was "too much water" when they put in bucketfuls more.

They created their own experiments!  Some brought ice cubes outside and watched them melt.

Others put ice shards on paper towel to see how the ice melted.  They also noticed the effect on the paper towel and wondered why water makes some things soggy but doesn't change other things.  More possible areas for future exploration...

Reminders:

Here's hoping this haze clears up soon so that we can get back to having fun at school!