kindergarten 2:
LEADERSHIP
term 1:
food Production
In Term 1, the Kindergarten 2 children were excited to learn all about where their food come from. During the term, Teacher Gailynn took them on a field trip to Quan Fa Organic Farm at 35 Murai Farmway. The children had the opportunity to expand on their knowledge on how plants are grown in Singapore. They had first-hand experience on picking, plucking and digging up produce. Afterwards, they also had a taste of the fruits of their labor with a farm-made drink and salad.
Over the rest of the term, the children planted their own kang kong in class and learnt how to care for it. They took turns watering it and turning the pots towards the sunlight. Once it was was fully grown, the children all brought some home to eat and share with their family.
term 2:
pollution
In term 2, the Kindergarten 2 class touched upon pollution. Teacher Gailynn talked about the different types of pollution in class and shared educational videos on it. Teacher Gailynn also shared videos about the effects of pollution and how it affects people and animals.
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During the term, the children went on a field trip to the Singapore Zoo to learn more about otters living in our wetland ecosystems and how water pollution affects them. The children had the opportunity to not only see a real life otter but also touch it. Sher commented "Wow! The otter is so smooth and not rough like i expected!" It was an enjoyable and unforgettable trip for all, especially for the children as they saw firsthand the damage pollution will bring to otters and all the other animals.
term 3:
arctic animals
In this term, the Kindergarten 2 children will be focusing on Arctic Animals. They will learn more about the habitat of arctic animals, food they eat and physical adaptations to overcome living in the cold.
In week 1, the children will write a letter to Mr. Polar Bear to ask him questions about what they want to know. For example, "Why is your fur so thick?" Mr. Polar Bear will return mail with answers pertaining to their questions, and more facts about himself.
Over the course of the rest of the term, Teacher Gailynn will borrow informative books on Arctic animals from the library and bring them to class. The children will get to bring home one book each for to read over 2 days. After 2 days, Teacher Gailynn will have the children to write or draw what they learnt from the book and present in class. Afterwards, their work will be displayed on the wall in the classroom.
Part 1
Part 2
term 3, week 1: Dear Mr. polar bear
Theme: Types of animals
​Topic: Arctic animals
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Learning area(s)
Discovery of the World
Language & Literacy
​Learning objective(s)
Children will be able to...
1. Ask questions about what they want to know about polar bears
2. Pen down their questions on a piece of paper
3. Tell the teacher what they have learnt about polar bears from this lesson ​
Teaching technique
Documentation and questioning​
teaching techniques
Documentation refers to the gathering and organisation of information to provide a written or pictorial record of children's learning (MacNaughton and Williams, 2009). By doing so, we are making children's learning journey visible to them and enable them to revisit their own learning (MacNaughton and Williams, 2009). As such, during the tune-in of their lesson, Teacher Gailynn used her phone to take pictures of the children while they were sharing their thoughts. She will print the pictures after the lesson and caption it with what the children said. In the closure of the lesson, Teacher Gailynn also asked the children what they had learnt about Mr. Polar Bear and noted it down on a piece of mahjong paper. By displaying the paper on the wall, along with children's work and pictures from the tune-in, it enables children to see and revisit their learning journey (MacNaughton and Williams, 2009).
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Questioning is a teaching technique in which teachers can use to find out more about what the children know. There are two types of questioning, closed-ended and open-ended questioning. Close-ended questioning limits the answer that the child can give, and is often used for a teacher to know what a child have understood. On the other hand, there are many possible answers for open-ended questioning. Hence, this invites children to share about their understandings and theories without the fear of being wrong (MacNaughton and Williams, 2009). Teacher Gailynn used a variety of both closed-ended and open-ended questions in the tune-in and main activity of her lesson and this encouraged a diversity of responses from the children, which aided her to better understand their thought processes and depth of their knowledge.