Dinosaurs roar!
Watch a teacher describe her process for expanding and exploring children's interests using the ongoing cycle of planning.
Resource information
In this Illustration, Hebba, the teacher describes her process for expanding and exploring children's interests using the ongoing cycle of planning. Drawing on the children's interest in the topic, she plans activities to engage them in understanding key concepts related to their interest areas and guided by children's questions. She describes strategies around how she uses a variety of questioning styles to understand what the children already knew and what else they wanted to know about the topic. She engages individual children and groups in active discussion to understand, explore and extend learning.
This Illustration was produced through a partnership between the Victorian Institute of Teaching and the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.
This Illustration was produced through a partnership between the Victorian Institute of Teaching and the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.
Selandra Kindergarten is located in the suburb of Clyde North, south-east of Melbourne. The kindergarten is managed by the local council, the City of Casey and currently caters for five groups of children who attend for 15 hours each week. The children come from a wide variety of cultural background and the staff of early childhood teachers and educators at the kindergarten focus on holistic teaching and learning, as well as connecting with the local community.
Discussion questions:
- What strategies do you use to engage children in discussions about their interests and learning?
- How do you use your research skills to support a process of investigation and discovery with children?
- How do you use your own knowledge as a collaborator in learning to scaffold children's learning in line with their interests and needs?
