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The class sessions gave me a lot of knowledge that I use it to do my project in assessment 2, now continue to assessment 3. My work draws directly from my experience at the Maribyrnong River Trail, where I connected how sound, movement and drama related to our life. When I use my sense to connect with the place, I recognize how all the sounds and scenes create a natural drama and tell story. All of that is the foundation for my experience to become a teacher.

Music is connected to my experience by the way the sound attracted to me in nature. Like when I follow the sound that I hear, it’s children’s instinct, children always curious about the animals sound and want to find where they live. And I encourage children to create the nature’s sound (bird, wind, water). Connect to the Aboriginal perspective, Maribyrnong river have a deep connect with the Aboriginal people. This place is where they gather and look for food. And music is a traditional method that they used for story telling and knowledge. According to Hamm (2015), country is not a generalised or undifferentiated type of place, country is a living entity with a yesterday, today and tomorrow with a consciousness, and a will toward life.

Movement also have an important role in my experience. When I created movement and class and watch movement in the nature, I understand how strongly movement expresses meaning. In the classroom activity, I freely moved in music, nothing to shape my movement. Besides, when I go to my country visit, connect myself to nature, I can see different movements of different things in the environment. Wilson (2008) claims that the natural world offers an incredible wealth of sensory experiences and open- ended materials for motoric manipulation. I believe that nature gives students good opportunities to encourage their movement.

Drama is the element that can connect everything together. My experience during the class session gives me the knowledge about how movement and music interact with drama, it can create the whole story. In class, I pretend an imaginary friend to play with me. And in my assessment 2, I create a drama to tell about me creative project. In the game, children will pretend play to help the tree happier. I choose drama as a way for children as I watch the video Journey to Healesville - learning through drama (n.d), I see that through drama, children can improve their problem - solving and develop their imagination.

During the class sessons, I have more knowledge about how music, movement and drama related to children’s journey. And how natural environment supports children in their experience of self development. According to ACECQA (2022), this is evident when children use play to investigate and explore nature and natural environment, educators promote this learning for all children when they provide children with access to a rage of natural materials in their environment. Connect the music, movement and drama in nature encourage children to develop their senses and learn new skills.

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This activity aims to help children to encourage body awareness through sound and connect body with the environment. Suitable for students with visual barries, meaningful opportunities for students to be exposed to sound through movement

Material: youtube video

https://youtu.be/cJQQrI7nCeY?si=dEG1Hut-ngzBDd-F

Step1: Ask children about the excursions, do they like it? How do they feel? What sound they hear

or

Ask children about their experience when they go to the park with family.

Step 2: Introduce the activity to children

They will make movements/ create actions that base on the sound of the environment (wind, water, human, birds, transports)

And follow the sound to show actions

Step 3: Ask children to create the actions base on the environment in the park

Wind

Birds

Water

Human

Transport

Step 4: When children are ready, turn on the sound, join the game with them

Step 5: Children makes actions by following the sound in the video

For example: if they hear the wind, do the action that represent the wind. Same with the rest

Step 6: After the game, celebrate with children and ask they to perform it again together. Children can share the different sounds they hear cause there are a lot of sounds.

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City Park Sounds For Relaxation | White Noise & Study Aid

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Materials:

A thin paper (or a silk)

Bottle (some water inside)

Step 1: Remind children about the time they go to the park, communicate with them and ask them to share the experience

Step 2: Ask children to image the sound and make it. They can use the objects to create the sound

Step 4: Introduce the activity to children

Teacher will sing a song, follow the words in the song (birds, water, human, wind), students will make sounds about it.

Step4: Sing the song, and children starts making the sound following the words in the song

For example: when teacher sing the wind, they make wind sound. Same for the rest.

The song:

we went to a place

oh what place is it?

Maribyrnomg River Trail (name of the place they visit)

it was amazing

but but but there was was a lonely tree

lon lon lonely tree

why are you standing here

just just just just by yourself

I can bring you friends

how how can?

b b b is birds, do you want some birds

(children makes bird sound)

the birds flying aaround

oh.. but he needs some more friends! how can we help him?

can we bring him water?

(children makes water sound)

watering the tree

lalalalalala the tree is growing up

oh oh no nooo

wait, but how about the wind

(children makes wind sound)

the wind’s blowing around

oh oh oh oh

oh maybe bring him some human?

(children making human sound like footstep…)

hi tree, I’m (children’s name)

lalalalala he is happy now

with with with with new friends, the tree has more friends (children make the sounds)

no no no no more lonely, this is happy tree.

Step 5: Celebrate after the song, children perform the it together.

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Materials:

Loose parts

Step 1: Introduce to story to children

“We have an adventure today. And now we are predenting to be animals in nature”

Step 2: Ask children what animals need

Step 3: Divide children into different groups due to which animals they like (bird, fish, rabbit, elephant). They will be the families in each group

Step 4: In small groups, ask children to explore how their animals move, what they eat and where they live.

Step 3: Create different sences for children to solve the problem

For example: “Oh it’s raining, what should we do?”

Step 4: Children create family and show how they live

Step 5: Each group show their animals’s movemnts, sound and live

Step 6: Discussion about how children think the animals feel in their homes, how they know what animals need.

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To reflect on my journey during the unit, I have more confidence in art after the lessons. I made an movement activity for children, it’s “We make the World”. This activity is from the thinking that “Every individual contributes to the World”, and I choose the park as a theme that the scene is made by different elements. What went as my expected is when I filmed the activity, it was good enough for only one people as we have to create more than one action at the same time. And when I do the activity, I didn’t tell my friend details about it, so he can act as similar as an innocent child. I believe that when the adults are new to something, they are just like a blank paper, they confuse and try to explore it. Same with the children at the young age. The ‘children’ in the video made mistakes, I need to remind him what will he do. And I think this experience is exactly the same with how I play with my little cousins, sometimes they didn’t focus on the things and I have to remind them to get their attention back. However, this is the first time I filmed myself as a full video. What I want to be improved next time is I could learn to set up the filming area better so I can have a better video. And I will try to speak clearer. After I watch the activity video, I also think that I want to use my own sound record in the park for children rather than use the Youtube video. Maybe next time I will try to open my own sound for children because it also reflects my own experience. As a role of a early childhood educator in a future, I think that this activity help children to encourage body awareness through sound and connect body with the environment. However, in a classroom of more students, I need to consider a way to help children focus on the game more as some children might be too shy to share their movement in front of classroom. Overall, this unit gives me an opportunity to explore more about movement. During the class, I learn more and more how movement helps children in their childhood experiences. The unit activities help me stepping out of my comfort zone as I can dance and make movement in front of a lot of people.

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The music activity is the activity that I spent the most time to think about, as I’m very shy to sing. My activity is aim to encourage children explore music thought experience in nature and encourage them to create music by loose parts, which is develop their creativity. However, this activity is better than what I expected. I spent more time to think about the song, the melody of the song “Row, row, row your boat” (1852) stuck in my mind at that time, so I make a song that based on this melody. I also use loose parts to help children to make the sound, it’s a good way for children to develop their creativity by using objects to make difference sounds. In the other side, after finish the activity, I look at it again I think that there is something I want to improve next time. I want to make the song clearer for children, and more loose parts so children can be creative as much as they can. I think that the activity is suitable for the young children to explore music through loose parts. As a role of an early childhood educator, I want to bring this experience to my future teaching. However, in a classroom of more students, I have to consider about having more loose parts to help children makes more sound, and I want children to sing the song together than making the sound only. The hundred languages of children by Edwards, Gandini and Forman (2011) claims that children have a hundred languages, thoughts, way of thinking, of playing, of speaking… . I believe that learning through music not only help children about creative but also help them to express their personal feelings as they make the sounds different on how they feel In conclusion, I earn a lot of experiences through this journey. This unit helps me to gain more confidence in music and be creative as much as I can. I also learn that music is not only for people who good at it, but also for everyone and there is nothing to shape it.

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To reflect on my drama activity, I make a game call “We live in nature”. The aim of this activity is help children express their thoughts and ideas throught role play, also develop their imagination and problem - solving. What went more than I expected is the activity that I created. I spent a long time to think about my drama activity, and I end up with this idea. We went to the Maribyrnong River Trail to film it as the theme of the activity is nature so I learn from the movement and music experience, I went outside to connect more to nature. And what I think that good is I also use my way again, I dđin’t give my friends much details about the activity so they can be as free as they can. Like Thi in the video, at first she said she likes lion, but then she said she wanted to be a fish. I recognize that it’s just like children, they change what they think really quick. However, what did not go as I expected is a lot of people came to this river trail today, so my video have a lot of other sounds, but I think it’s quite good as I want my activity have more nature elements. And the angle of the video is not wide enough so my ‘children’ don’t have much space to move. I think what I will do next time to get the better video result is try to set up the angle wider so ‘children’ in the video can be as active as they can. And I create this activity for a lot of children so I will try to bring more friends next time so my video can be as match as the activity step said. As an early childhood teacher in the future, I believe that this activity will help children to encourage their playing experience through the pretending play. However, I need to try more details about the game as a classroom will have more students. Wilson (2018) also claims that nature is unpredictable, real and sensory-rich. I believe that when children have opportunities to play in nature, they also develop their senses and In conclusion, my perspective of drama changes a lot after the unit content and required tasks. I understand that pretend play through drama help children to encourage their problem solving, social skill and communication.

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I earned a lot of experiences thorough the class sessions. In the music session, I realize how music play a role in our life, especially in children development. I learn how to make music without instruments but loose parts. And I also know that when we have different feelings, the sounds we made are different too. It shows obviously when we use the guitar to make sounds based on how we play it when we happy, angry and tired. I found out that even in simple activity like making sounds by loose parts, children are allowed to express feeling, build self confidence and learn to be collaborative.

During the movement sesson, I learn that movement (dance) is a perfect way for emotional expression. Before the class, I was a shy person who will never dance in front of a lot of people. But I have more confidence after the class, as Bianca said “no judgment in this classroom”, and the theater makes me more comfortable in my movement. I had a lot of fun when I dance with my friends, and do the Dragon dance, which is the Asian culture in the big festival. In overall, I learn how movement encourage confidence, joy and body awareness.

During the drama class, I learn more about how pretend play support children in their experience. When I pretend to have a new friends to play with me, I feel like I come back to my childhood, play with my teddy bear. And I also know that drama is a creative way to making the learning experience more meaningful. When I use role play in my experience, I notice that how I see my little cousins play when our adults in the family are busy, and that’s how show their creativity and imagination.

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ACECQA. (2022). Belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning framework for australia (V2.0). In ACECQA. https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/EYLF-2022-V2.0.pdf

City Park Sounds For Relaxation | White Noise & Study Aid. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved September 16, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJQQrI7nCeY

Edwards, C. P., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. E. (2011). The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia experience in transformation (3rd ed.). https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/detail.action?doclD=820317

Hamm, C. (2015). Walking with place: Storying reconciliation pedagogies in early childhood education. Canadian, 56-66. https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=26024c46-924d-32e9-a217-a228a5b86642

Vic Gov. (n.d). Journey to Healesville: learning through drama - teaching demonstration. https://www.vic.gov.au/literacy-teaching-toolkit-early-childhood/videos/journey-to-healesville

Wilson, R. A. (2008). Children, creative play, and the natural environment. Nature and young children: Encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments.