Tuesday 7 March 2016 We don t know how high it is but we know it s very tall. - Gigi We have been having some wonderfully rich discussions about cities. With our excursion occurring later in the week we asked the children what they already knew about Eureka Tower and what they wanted to find out. During our conversation we have developed lots of interesting questions that we will ask on Thursday to learn more about Eureka Tower and our city. On Saturday I went into the city and saw the big tower where we are going. What did it look like? It looked like a gold window. Sean: Last time I ve been to the city. Harper: My aunty went and saw the Eiffel Tower and went up the little steps. It s taller than that (referring to Eureka Tower). Do you think Eureka Tower has stairs? Felix: A lift and stairs. I think only a lift. You have to press the button to go up and down. No, they have to press the button to the level. How many buttons do you think there will be? 30 levels. Olivia: My Dad takes me to the city. There are 1000 buttons. Isobel: Because there are so many levels. Maybe we can count how many rooms there are to count how many levels. There is a restaurant. What happens in the rest of the building? Felix: It s busy. Arabella: They might be working. They might be working on their computers. What s the place called where people work on their computers? Harper: The work. An office. There might be a hotel. People from other countries might live in there. Billie: And stay there. What s an office? What might you find in an office? Billie: Phones. Isobel: IPads. Kyler: I think we can look out the window and see our school. My daddy went to Eureka Tower and had dinner there. Why are there lights in Eureka? How was it built? Felix: People worked under it. Kyler: A crane. Eureka Tower looks very big. Do you think it s the tallest building in our city? Maybe they are going to change the building. Kyler: There could be stairs all the way to the top. Is it is taller than our school? How are we going to go up to the top if it s going to take so long?
Do you think it s the tallest building in our city? Maybe they are going to change the building. Kyler: There could be stairs all the way to the top. Is it is taller than our school? How are we going to go up to the top if it s going to take so long? What do you think we will see when we are up the top? Kyler: Little heads. Ruby: Sky. Felix: Lots of clouds. Isobel: I was up really high and there was some fog and we were in the clouds. (Referring to her trip to New Zealand). When I was in Hong Kong I went to a tall building. It was an oval shape. Felix: Planes go higher. Taj: Lots of houses. Felix: How many metres is the building? We don t know how high it is but we know it s very tall. Based on what the children already knew about Eureka Tower and what they wanted to find out, we developed a few questions that we hope to find out more on Thursday to extend our knowledge. Questions Does the Eureka Tower have stairs or just a lift? How many levels is Eureka Tower? How many metres is Eureka Tower? Is it the tallest building in the entire world? Where is the tallest building in the world? Will is always be the biggest building in our city? What is in the building? (ie. restaurant, officers or people s homes) Who uses the building? Why are there lights on in the building? Can we see our school from the top? How was it built? What is it made from? Will we be in the clouds when we are at the top? VEYLDF Outcomes Observed: Outcome 4: Children transfer and adapt what they have learnt from one context to another. The children were excited about the excursion. As a group we worked on questions to explore, infer, and predict what we think we might see in the city and also looked for areas in our knowledge where we could develop questions to increase our understanding and knowledge of our city, buildings and Eureka Tower.
Monday, 6 March 2016 Feel the music During our music session with Ms. Sofo we listened to Mozart's Clarinet Concerto-Adagio and Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee. The children were encouraged to draw the place where the music transported them to. We talked about why we choose those places and linked it to how the music made us feel. In the music room at school. Harper At the mountains. Clara Lots of busy people at the beach house. Arabella A slide in Dubai. Angus Lots of people at the city. Taj In the jungle and mountains. Milan In a princess tower. Ruby I am sliding on ice. I feel happy. Chloe In a tent. Like at the circus. Olivia In my body making sounds. Felix In the jungle and something bad is happening. That s why there is bad music. Gigi I m under the water. Kyler A shop in Hong Kong. Sean I m with my family. We are playing in the park. Billie Walking along a path. Aiden Steam coming out of the city. Alex A band in the city. Lexi I m in my bedroom reading a story. Thomas VEYLDF Outcomes Observed: Outcome 4: Children resource their own learning through connecting with people and place. The children were able to interpret how the music made them feel and connect this to a place they have been to or seen.
Thursday, 10 March 2016 I can see the entire world. - Lexi
Week 7: 7 11 March 2016 What an exciting and amazing day of rich learning we had on our excursion to Eureka Tower. The children showed great enthusiasm when we went into the city and were excited to find out what they could see from the top of the building. On the bus some of the children asked Are we there yet? We looked for clues to see if we were in the city yet. Do you think we are in the city? No because I saw small buildings that are only one and two levels. As we approached the city we noticed changes in the landscape and the children were able to see clues that we were getting closer. Olivia: Olivia: I saw a traffic jam. There are some trams. There is a tall building. There are 100 windows because that building is really tall. There is a balcony on top of that roof. Later when we returned to the ELC we had a rich conversation about all the things we could see from the top of the tower and other things that we saw during our walk through the city. What did you see from the top of the building? Taj: I saw the crown I stayed in that. There was another crown. It was grass an outside. It was a roof outside door place. A roof top garden. I saw it. It had so much bushes and trees. I didn t except to see a fair outside. I saw a big wheel. There could be some rides. And there was a tiny wheel. I saw a building like an army building. It was green and black. It had lots and lots of black windows. I see trains and a blue tram. I saw the football ground. The Melbourne Star. Thomas, Sean and I followed the river until the open sea. I saw a shark fin. We saw a boat. It looked like a normal boat. It was actually a ferry but it wasn t. I saw a big black building. Did anyone see a building with writing on it? What does the writing tell us? Isobel: It says what s in the building. If the person wants something they go out to the building and the person knows what s inside it. What did you see from the top of the building? Harper: Arabella: Chloe: Arabella: Arabella: Billie: Clara: Felix: I can see the entire world. On the way back to the bus I could see the bumble bees and the mum bee. I saw some trains. Did anybody see people? Ruby: Me too. They were moving and the floor where they were was small and low and there was three trains and they weren t moving. They were blue. I saw some buildings - a lot! I saw a building it looked pink, black, white and yellow. I could see the whole city. I saw trams. I saw their number when we were looking down. I saw on the river yellow, green and red things (buoys). When I was walking back to the bus I saw a café. It was on the water. I saw a big wheel. It was at the circus. I saw an ice palace. I saw a train and a rat. I saw a tall building. It looked funny because it have green grass all over it. It was on the sides and the top. It has glass windows with all glass. I see a building. It looked like it was underground. I did. They were tiny. Like a baby.
Continued. What did you see from the top of the building? Felix: Isobel: The MCG. It was a circle shape. It had green grass and I could see the seats. I saw the lights. When its dark time they turn on. Otherwise people won t be able to see and watch them. I saw the aquarium in was next to the water. I saw lots of boats. The river went to the open sea. Were the boats in a line? One boat was more bigger than my school. I didn t see anything on it. Was it a rubbish boat? No. I saw a boat with lights and it sailed on its own. And I saw a building in the middle of the sea. I saw a castle and it had lots of flags in it. I saw a lake. There was nothing on the lake. It was blue in the city. I saw trains lines up on the train track. The trains were moving. I saw a river boat it goes it to Transylvania it was a red boat. I saw that boat at the end of the water. I saw out the window a circus and a Ferris wheel. It was next to a tall building. There was a gate. I saw the tower we went in from the bus. What was the name of the tower we went in? Eureka Tower. Alex on the bus you were very excited to see through your window. Isobel: Kyler: Ruby: Milan: There was a balcony on the building. What s a balcony? A balcony is when you see stuff. You can stand on the edge. Its apart of the house. It s just a fence. A balcony is a rectangle thing. It s higher than you. You can play on the balcony. I saw trams. The Bolte Bridge and the West Gate Bridge. I saw some cars lots. They were driving very fast because cars go fast. The cars were faster than the trams. I saw the red line at the Eureka Tower on the bus. I didn t see that but Chloe told me she saw it. A building with brown and princess castle. I saw my Mum s house. It was big. There was big buildings. The shape was rectangle they had special decorations on it. I saw lots and lots of parks. And I saw a crane. Me too. I saw the player on the MCG playing. Ms. Bawden said the Tower wobbles a bit. I don t know what makes it wobble but it doesn't crash just wobbles. She told me on the bus. The Eureka Tower only moves when there is an earthquake. A earthquake is when everything breaks. VEYLDF Outcomes Observed: Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners.