LILCHAMPS HOUSE
Nursery 1 Termly Overview
TERM 1
Colours
Here in Nursery 1, our Term 1’s project theme was ‘Colours’. Children explored a variety of colours and were able to recognize and name primary colours as well as simple secondary colours upon mixing 2 primary colours by the end of the term. Children ended of the term with a field trip to The Art Ground to experience first hand with interactive art exhibitions and a child-friendly artist-led workshop.
Our Garden
TERM 2
In Term 2, our project theme was ‘Our Garden’. All along when the Nursery 1 children were brought to the School’s Garden frequently, they showed curiosity in the many attributes in the Garden through many questions asked. During this term, children were instilled with knowledge about what is in their School’s Garden - leaves, flowers, plants, snails and different types of insects. They also went on a field trip to Garden’s by the Bay to enhance their learning. By the end of this term, our Nursery 1 class created our very own mini indoor garden with the help from parents, and invited the other Little Champs from Nursery 2 to Kindergarten 2 to visit!
Currently, our school have embarked on the theme of ‘Community Helpers’ and our Nursery 1 children have chosen the project topic on ‘Doctors’ after showing much interest in Mr Doctor when shown a video on community helpers. Children will explore and learn about what the friendly Mr Doctor does in his daily life and increase their understanding on doctors. A doctor will also be coming down to share more about himself to our Nursery 1 children.
TERM 3
Doctors
Nursery 1 Timetable
*Friday's Outdoor play is Water Play time!
Lesson Overview
For the current Term 3 with the broad theme of our LilChamps House being 'Community Helpers', the Nursery 1 Little Champs have found an interest in learning about 'Doctors'. Thus, the project topic of the term for our Nursery 1 Little Champs are 'Doctors'.
After the Nursery 1 teachers have decided to document this term's project, careful observations of children's learning throughout the project was shown in this lesson.
Children will be making their own Doctor's bag and explore what Mr Doctor should bring in his Doctor's bag. The process of children making and sharing about their Doctor's bag is documented through photographs and videos.
Children have prior knowledge before this lesson on Mr Doctor and his job scope.*
Lesson Objectives
Children will be able to:
-
Represent their thoughts through placing in materials that they feel a Doctor needs, in their own Doctor Bag.
-
Name at least 3 items that a Doctor brings along in their bag to work.
-
Use simple words to convey their message of talking about the Doctor Bag they have created to others.
D
O
C
U
M
E
N
T
I
N
G
According to MacNaughton & Williams (2009), documenting provides a written or pictorial record of what has occurred and as a teaching technique, documentation refers to the gathering and organizing of information to create a written or pictorial record of children's learning.
Teacher Effie documented the gathering and organizing of information on what is in Mr Doctor's bag by drawing out the items children mention, and recapped who had mentioned which item afterwards.
VIDEO
Click to watch Teacher Effie displaying documenting while children are creating their Doctor's bag and sharing about it to their fellow peers.
In Nursery 1, the main part of documenting is photographing children's work with children included, to record the observations of children's learning, as younger children understand pictorial information presented in a concrete way (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
Teacher Effie takes photos while children are creating their doctor's bag, and asks questions to get children to express themselves on what they are doing or what is in their doctor's bag.
Documentation illustrates both the process and the product, and each child is seen as an individual with various possibilities and also in relation to a group, with various possibilities for the individual (Klein, 2008). The photos showcases a unique individual when they create their own kind of Doctor's bag, concurrently showing how children can learn from their peers.
Digital video-recording is used as a form of Documenting by Teacher Effie in this lesson as such video recordings enables staff and children to instantly revisit their recordings to further reflect and keep track of children's learning progress (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
Here in Nursery 1, documentation is a major part of the environmental set-up as a "third-teacher" (Klein, 2008). The video recordings equips Teacher Effie in creating her documentation board by transcribing children's comments alongside photos and their works which would be displayed, creating a learning journey visible for children.
"I have medicine!"
"Every time I go see children I want give them lollipops"
Children are videoed with an iPAD when sharing verbally about their own Doctor's bag and probed further with questions given by Teacher Effie to stimulate their learning and development.
Video-recording children's learning acts as a form of recording children's language, offering a rich source of information about language used and interactions (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
Teacher Effie can keep track of children's development and learning, likewise children can re-watch the videos as a form of building on their sense of self confidence. Parents can also watch these documented videos on the parent portal and at the end-of-term-project gallery to watch their children's growth!
"I have gloves!"
"When we are doctors, we need to protect ourself. So we need wear the mask!"
According to MacNaughton & Williams (2009), after all information on children's learning have been recorded, educators must interpret and organize it in ways that can explain children's learning process. Teacher Effie creates a documentation board which would be displayed in class as a form of a visible learning journey for the Nursery 1 Little Champs.
