Under The Sea by amy p

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 02:14:24 UTC

Teacher Name: Amy Purcell
Age of Learner: 3-5 years
Date: 05/08/2019-12/08/2019
Title: Under The Sea
Learning Purpose: Exploring our entanglement with place through
music, movement and dramatic arts
Materials: Plastic plates/cups/chickpeas/lentils/sellotape
(materials can be altered to avoid the use of plastic
and food items)

The Learning Experience - Sound

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 02:26:08 UTC

During the first lesson, I introduced the students to my Dadirri experience which was an audio of ocean waves crashing against the rocks. I provided the materials mentioned above and the students worked to create their own ocean drums. They experimented by:
(a) putting two plastic cups together with chickpeas/lentils inside
(b) putting two plastic plates together with chickpeas/lentils inside
(c) putting a combination of lentils and chickpeas inside the plates. We
learned this was the most effective ocean drum.
They experimented with moving at different speeds to recreate the sound of the ocean.

The Learning Experience - Sound and Movement Combined

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 02:48:12 UTC

In our final lesson, we put the whole production together. First we revised each section. We listened to the ocean audio, recreated this sound with out ocean drums, practiced our wave dance and then put it all together. We experimented with holding our drums while we danced and also having half the students just play the ocean drum while the other half danced the wave.

The Learning That Occurred

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 02:57:14 UTC

(a) Documentation helps for future learning as it enables us to reflect on past learning to see what went well and what we can improve on. This helps us to expand on our ideas and improve them. Also through documentation, we are able to pin point children's developmental advances in an organic way without designing experiences to test developmental stages.
(b) It's interesting to watch a learning experience develop when you provide minimal instruction. The aim was to recreate the ocean using materials and our bodies. What the students made of that was entirely up to them. It is a good reminder that learning is all around us. Sometimes the simplest activities can be the most effective.
(c) This type of activity tells us that there are some easy ways for us to include Aboriginal perspectives in our teaching and learning. This lesson could easily be used in several other contexts. You could have the children engage in their own Dadirri - deep listening - experience and recreate it through music and movement. These small steps need to be taken in order to work towards more inclusive classrooms that are open to diversity.
(d) Children can make their own meaning from activities like this. Music, movement and dramatic arts is a useful way of teaching children about more pressing issues which the dominant discourse says is too much for children to handle. Through fun learning experiences, we can enable children to be prepared for what their futures potentially hold; diverse cultures, climate change, etc.

The Learning Experience - Movement

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 03:20:34 UTC

During our second lesson, we embodied the wave in an 8 step process. I introduced a youtube video and together we learned how to do the wave. We broke it down into learning 2 steps at a time. Finally, when we knew all 8 steps, we were able to dance the wave seamlessly.

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 12:14:35 UTC

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 12:15:34 UTC

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 12:19:04 UTC

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 12:21:11 UTC

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 12:23:09 UTC

Howcast, 2013, How to do the wave | kids hip-hop moves, online video accessed 07/08/2019

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 12:25:23 UTC

amy6993 — 2019-08-12 12:26:27 UTC