Monthly Archives: September 2010

Yesterday, was our Prep Toy Expo. The whole school community really supports our Prep students. The Expo is attended by parents, grandparents, all students and teachers. It’s a wonderful experience for our Preps to explain their toy design and show their toy. There were  80 plus Prep students, their toy and design brief set up in our multi-purpose room. The Expo runs for one hour and is very busy. Great conversations were heard, with older students and parents asking terrific questions about each toy.  I’ve included a couple of pages from a design brief. The other pages have photos on them. Photos of children are not included in this blog. The last page is a student reflection and teacher reflection.

Today was football day. Yesterday, the children took their toy home, but one returned today. This toy is a real character, although I’m sure he could be dressed in better colors.

Cheers Nina

My school has recently completed pre-autorisation for the  (IB).  Our curriculum is developed using the IB-Primary Years Program (PYP) framework. Our present Inquiry is outlined below:

Transdisciplary Theme

How the world works

Central Idea

• Toys have changed over time due to technology

Lines of Inquiry

• Toys are made of a variety of materials
• Technology has changed toys over time

Learner Profile

• Open Minded

Attitudes

• Creativity
• Curiosity

Key Concepts

• Function
• Change

The children have been completing their own Toy Design Brief. Using their brief they are making a prototype of their toy. I’ve included pictures to show their work. We’ve had some very industrious sessions. The children have loved making their prototype. Please ignore the Christmas table covers; I use them all year round. So what does a Prep classroom look like in Australia? Take a look!

The foam was wonderful. It actually looked liked it had been snowing by the end of this session. Very Exciting! The children are now preparing their color swatch which will be included in their brief. They’ll be painting and ‘glitzing’ this week in preparation for our TOY EXPO. The whole school community is invited to attend the Toy Expo. Parents and children are asked to donate a gold coin which is donated to the Salvation Army to help provide toys for children in need. These young children understand this. The school community are asked to question the children about their toy… and admire of course. I’ll post some finished toys soon.

As part of our inquiry, parents and grandparents were invited to share a toy from their childhood at our Toy Talk. It always amazes me how supportive our community is.  Here’s a few pictures of some toys brought in and explained by our visitors. Each toy has a personal history, which links beautifully with one of our previous inquiries.

Only one more week until our Term 3 holidays (2 weeks). The year is flying! For my international readers, in Australia, we have a four term year. Each term is roughly 10/11 weeks. We start in late January/ beginning February and finish mid December for our Summer holidays.

Cheers Nina