To celebrate Education Week our school held an Open Day on Friday 22nd May 2015, where we showcased our Four Pillars curriculum using design technology activities.
Children came to school dressed as their favourite Letterland character and participated in a parade on the oval, despite the chilly and drizzly weather. Our teachers for the day were Kicking King, Quarrelsome Queen, Noisy Nick and Vase of Violets. They chose two costume winners from each class, who received books as prizes.
The day’s activities were structured around our Four Pillars:
- Learning to Do
- Learning to Know
- Learning to Live Together
- Learning to Be
Students were organised in multi-age groups and rotated through each of the four activities during the day.
Bridge Making Challenge – Learning to Be
Each team of four students were challenged to build a bridge from raspberry lollies and matchsticks, which they had to purchase using their budget of $7 per team. The finished bridge had to pass the test of being able to support a mobile phone.
Students had five minutes to design the bridge and decide what supplies they needed from the bank. This was followed by purchasing their supplies and then by building. There was lots of trial and error during the bridge building phase of the activity, with some students applying bridge designs shown on the smart board and others creating their own.
Invent a New Toy or Game – Learning to Know
Teams of four students were given the task of inventing and making a new game or toy from recycled and scrap materials. The invention had to be for 2-4 children, easy to carry and safe.
The materials available included scraps of fabric, ribbon, plastic CD cases, straws, plastic containers, glue, sticky tape and scissors.
One group of students invented a boat racing game with a hazard of wooden peg crocodiles, another a board game and yet another a guessing game involving plastic cups and a wooden peg.
Skyla said, “I’m making stuff to put on the teddies. To make them fancy!”
Your Ideal School Uniform – Learning to Live Together
Each group of four students got the chance to design and create their ideal school uniform out of newspaper, glue and sticky tape.
One student in each team was the model, who had to patiently stand there while the other team members draped and stuck and wrapped newspaper around their bodies, arms, legs and even feet. There was some amazing team work in the groups and even more amazing creativity. Some designs were out of this world and featured hats, capes and pleated skirts.
After 20 minutes of putting together their creations the students were treated to a fashion parade by their models. The fashion show was complete with music, a catwalk and a spotlight.
Make a Moving Object – Learning to Do
The Shedatorium reverberated with hammering all day as children used wooden blocks, nails and hammers to make a moving object.
Students had a choice of making an object using a cardboard cut-out or a wooden block. Plastic bottle lids served as wheels and textas and extra bits of cardboard were used to decorate their vehicles. Some children even made seats and drivers for their moving objects.
This activity was designed to teach the children how to:
- be responsible,
- use reflective practices,
- make productive use of their time,
- be persistent.
By the end of the day, we sure had a lot of incredibly diverse moving objects in our Art room!
Find out more about our Four Pillars curriculum by talking to your child’s classroom teacher.