Colours Emerging Everywhere!


Every morning our students begin their day with Daily Physical Activity (Aerobics or Dance) followed by a class meeting.  Before the educators share documentation, we always invite our students to share the important things or events that are relevant to their lives.  Although we encourage personal experiences, books, drawings, and writing, we also welcome their treasured belongings which often include their favourite toys.

This past week a few students brought in items that emerged into great learning opportunities for our colour inquiry.

One student brought in a panda (R.J.) and we were able to begin discussions on animals and camouflaging.  The panda so perfectly camouflaged into her dress.  We also loved how the dress had dots and were able to also make some connections to our dot project.


A few students began to bring in items pertaining to a holiday that their families celebrate: Christmas.  One boy (D.B.) brought in a drawing he had made of Santa Clause, while two other girls (L.N. and H.W.) brought in their Santa Clause dolls.  We took this opportunity to engage them with some sensory motor activities within our sensory tub by placing a variety of loose parts with different textures for them to touch.    The students began to use this space to tell stories and dramatize them using the "Colours of Christmas" offered by the educators.





Rather than ask students to put their special items into their backpacks and dismiss their important ideas, we honour them by placing them somewhere within our classroom that links with our learning.  

I believe that there is always space for everyone's story, if we are flexible and are willing to see the possibilities for further investigation!

Parents, if your child has not brought anything to share during our morning meetings we encourage them to try to do so soon!  We would love to hear more about other special celebrations that our students participate in.

Share your thoughts :

  1. Beautiful inquiry, I love how the colours jump out at you while using black and white. I'm interested in how your day begins together. How much time do you spend in your meeting area?

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  2. Hi,

    Thank you for visiting our blog! I love creating eye popping posts, and that is one of my favourite photography apps to play around with!!

    We begin our day with twenty minutes of dance or aerobics and about ten to twenty minutes of a morning meeting. Then the students create their plan for "Thinking and Learning" time.

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  3. How do you get them to create a plan for thinking and learning time? Is it completely child directed or are you guiding them to participate in certain things?

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    1. Hi Megan,

      Sometimes the plan is self-directed by the students or if it is a focused inquiry-based learning session (similar to guided reading but for inquiry) then I ensure that I guide the students through the process of creating a plan for what we are about to embark upon.

      Hope that this helps!

      Joanne Babalis

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