Shape and Space Mathematics Inquiry - Year One & Two

A ‘Nest’ of inspiration!

For children a ‘Reggio Inspired’ provocation is an open ended activity that doesn’t have a prescribed outcome, instead it is designed to stimulate ideas, initiative and imagination for and amongst children, whether they choose to explore their ideas alone or in groups.

Journey into Early Childhood defines provocations as
“deliberate and thoughtful decisions made by the teacher to extend the ideas of the children. Teachers provide materials, media, and general direction as needed, but the children take the ideas where they want. This allows children to develop skills of creativity, inventiveness and flexibility in thinking, planning and reflecting.” Source

Finding a hidden scroll in your classroom, with a note left from the main character of the story you just read, pleading with you to build her a new nest was an exciting way to commence our Sharing the Planet unit this week in Year 3.

This provocation sparked students thinking about our related concepts of interdependence, impact and solutions, as well as our central idea: Changes to habitats require solutions that support the survival of living things. The atmosphere in our classroom was electric as students searched for the scroll that was left by Mrs Bird earlier that morning. Once it was located, students set off to identify a location within out school grounds, collect necessary materials and then construct their very own nest. The photos and videos taken throughout the provocation truly captured the high levels of engagement, enthusiasm and intrigue of all the students. This provocation provided a means of expression through creativity for each child in 3DA.

Using his/her metacognition skills, students took time to reflect on the experience post-
provocation. The wonderings that this provocation generated were documented in a portfolio
of learning. The fact too that the nests were unintentionally destroyed during the lunch time
break, guided the inquiry towards our related concept: impact, which will be further discussed
and explored in upcoming learning engagements.

Until nest time....

Central Idea

Changes to habitats require solutions that support the survival of living things

Lines of Inquiry

• Interdependence of habitats and the living things within them

• Human impact on living things and their habitats

• Creative solutions to respond to changing habitats

Concepts

Connection - how is it connected to other things?

Change - how is it changing?

Responsibility - what is our responsibility?

Related Concepts

Interdependence, Impact, Solutions

Written by Michaela Dalgleish

Year 3 Teacher

Australian International School Singapore