Room 2 Term 4

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This term's inquiry "Float On By" has been technology based. Although it took me awhile to get my own head around linking the technology process of designing a float for the local Christmas parade, the children in Room 2 got the idea a lot quicker! They were able to relate each step of the design process to our inquiry process and some of the reflecting they have done throughout the unit really blew me away. The have once again worked in groups for this inquiry and I still find that this is vital for them to achieve success in this at the moment. The discussions are so valuable as they work through the process together. It has been quite a quick unit, and I think this has been because we didn't spend as much time exploring the topic as we normally would as the children all had knowledge about floats and what was required to design one. We were able to still incorporate some thinking maps into the process, mainly used as a way to organise their ideas. They enjoyed using mywebspiriation for their initial brainstorm of ideas.
http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/219344a20c61
Having to keep a design portfolio has not been a challenge for the children as they have commented that it is just like how they normally track their inquiry process anyway. The clearfiles for each group have worked really well for this again. The children now expect that as standard practice and each task/stage is documented as they go along.