Module Complte
Module Complte
Module Complte
1. Small toy character; sucker stick; wool; silver foil; pipe cleaners; straws; paper;
koki; netting; empty toilet rolls; bottle tops; scissors
2. Small toy character; lengths of wool; scissors
3. Small toy character; paper; thin cardboard; silver foil; pipe cleaners; bubble
wrap; scissors
4. Small toy character; stocking; bubble wrap; sucker stick; paper; koki
5. Two small toy characters; empty toilet roll
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Reflection Time
What skills do you think children would be practising by doing challenges like
these?
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UNIT THREE
Friedrich Froebel
Six Bricks activities can be repeated in different ways, so children are never bored, even
though they are repeating skills for consolidation & reinforcement:
Six Bricks activities can take 2 - 5 mins. They are short, sharp
& engaging activities that wake up the brain, but they should
be done every day
Children grow and develop at different rates – Six Bricks
activities can be adapted to any child’s level
Six Bricks activities caters for different learning styles - visual; auditory; tactile learners
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UNIT FOUR
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Think about how children will feel after having done some moving around with
the bricks.
Think about the learning that is taking place when children move.
Think about how this activity allows for child agency & how this play fits into
your curriculum.
Make a note of two quick playful movement activities in which each child uses just
two bricks, that you could try out immediately in your classroom.
Jot down some developmental skills that these activities could address.
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Learning is not isolated. Playful learning encompasses all learning areas and
integrates skills from Mathematics, Languages and Life Skills, and develops the
life-long learning skills needed for growth and development into adulthood.
Link your Six Bricks activities into your weekly themes & daily planning for an
easy integration into all Subjects. Allow the learners to cube their Six Bricks
and then to keep them on their desk so that they have quick access to this tool
when needed.
Developmental Skills that the activities with Six Bricks will address:
Physical – gross and fine motor: large and fine muscle
control; body concept; motor planning; dominance;
balance; laterality; proprioception; bilateral integration;
cross the midline; hand-eye co-ordination
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UNIT FIVE
5. Perceptual Skills are critical for the whole Foundation Phase
In Gr 2, we need to continue developing perceptual skills as they are a vital part
of reading, writing and mathematics. You will notice throughout the training
that in all the Six Bricks activities, no matter with what grade or topic we are
dealing, there will always be some involvement of the perceptual skills.
Perceptual development is part of cognitive development and involves the
accurate observation, organisation and
interpretation of information gained from
the senses to the brain. The process of
perceptual development is very closely
linked to motor development. Some aspects
of perception are hardwired and
start to manifest shortly after birth while others need to be taught or developed.
The development of perceptual skills in young learners is vital in laying a
foundation for all future development and learning.
From birth through to early childhood, children use their senses to explore and
to try to make sense of the world around them. Children (& adults) learn best
and retain information when they engage their senses. Think of how a smell can
trigger flashback memories in your own life.
Sensory play is therefore critical to brain development – it builds nerve
connections in the brain’s pathways which can lead to the child’s ability to
complete more complex learning tasks and supports cognitive growth, language,
motor skills, social interaction & problem-solving skills.
Perceptual Skills for the Foundation Phase:
Visual Perception: acquiring & interpreting information through the eyes
– accurate visual perception enables the learner to read, write & do
mathematics.
Visual Discrimination: the ability to see similarities, differences and
details of objects accurately. A learner must be able to see that there is a
difference between words such as hat and bat – there is a small visual
difference between these two words but a big difference in meaning.
Visual Memory: the ability to remember what the eyes have seen and the
correct sequence in which things have been perceived – an important skill
associated with the acquisition of reading.
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___________
How did this visual memory activity challenge working memory, inhibitory control &
cognitive flexibility?
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What difficulties do you foresee your Gr 2 learners having with this activity?
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How would you make it easier for the learner who is not confident?
How would you challenge the bright & very confident learner?
What would you be able to assess during observation of any of these activities?
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UNIT SIX
Create “What’s in the Box?” Activities. PLAY every day!
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Concrete First
Look at any lesson that you have planned for next week. Consider how you can now use
the Six Bricks as the concrete manipulative to help you teach the concept.
Design a CPA Lesson:
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Can you make your own ruler with the bricks to use as a measuring tool?
Measure & record the following items using your bricks. The grid below is
an example of a way for children to record their findings.
Can you measure? Estimate how many How many bricks How many bricks
bricks long/high long? high?
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Research reveals that the very same regions in the brain that are responsible for
movement are the regions that are involved in higher level thinking. This
suggests that there is a link between giving a child plenty of free play outside
involving whole body movement and balancing activities, and his ability to
perform higher
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daily movement?
How do the skills being exercised in these activities have any bearing on learning to read,
write & do math?
Where do you see activities like these fitting into your curriculum?
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UNIT SEVEN
8. A Moving Child is a Learning Child
The child’s body is the starting point of all learning experiences. If a child has a
poor image of their own body and cannot control their body well, they tend to
experience learning difficulties later. Children who cannot participate in daily
games with friends because they are too clumsy, or incapable of playing by the
rules, will often be lonely and unhappy at school. If any of the Gr 2 learners
have missed out on prior basic movement experiences, it could hinder their
reading and mathematics abilities as they reach the older grades and so the Gr 2
day should also cater for opportunities to move. Physical Education is a part of
Life Skills in the CAPS curriculum for the Foundation Phase and it is important
for the well-being of each learner – it assists in preparing learners for life and its
various possibilities within our rapidly changing society.
How can the teacher enhance the learner’s gross motor development?
Learners need space where they can use their entire bodies. If the classrooms
are crowded, go outside to find a suitable area. Outdoor play, climbing
apparatus, ball play, moving to music are all essential for developing gross
motor skills.
What is laterality & why is it important?
Laterality is the inner experience children have that their bodies have two sides
– left & right. This knowledge enables children to know which side of the body
is moving & when it is moving; they get this sense around about the age of four;
by the age of seven, 70% of children should be able to identify two sides of the
body. If they reach the age of eight and are still unable to tell the difference
between left & right, they could be at a learning disadvantage. Laterality is
crucial to writing, spelling & mathematics where the directional sequence of
figures is very important. (13 / 31; b / d)
What is dominance & why is it important?
Established dominance is important for readiness to learn at school because it is
vital for a learner to use the same hand, foot, & eye when carrying out tasks. If
this is not the case, the learner has cross-dominance which can give rise to
writing problems due to the lack of eye-hand co-ordination. If this dominance is
not established by the time they go to Gr 1, they will experience difficulties with
spelling & reading; inversions will occur (e.g. p for b; bad for dab; pat for tap;
pool
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for loop). These difficulties are also sometimes seen in Gr 2 and should be
addressed.
Crossing the Midline
Young children first cross their midline when they are able to roll over, as
babies. This ability sometimes only develops fully at about 8 months of age.
It is vitally important to build cross-lateral exercises (movements in which arms
and legs cross over from one side of the body to the other) into every teaching
day.
A child’s motor planning (jumping, bouncing, running), auditory (retaining
letters & sounds, listening to the teacher) and sensory input (behaviour,
attention, focus) as well as organizational skills used for mathematics, is
compromised when we do not allow our children adequate time to develop these
critical milestones used for helping the left and right sides of the brain work
together.
Movement and play-based activities (often lacking in schools today) are the key
to helping children who struggle with things like auditory processing; following
directions & instructions; everyday tasks; comprehension & the written word.
Using specific types of movement that connects the body with the brain =
crossing the midline. It is important to remember that the body is divided left to
right; top to bottom & front to back.
Look out for:
Children whose movements are clumsy; cannot do their own buttoning/
shoelaces; cannot kick/throw a ball; unable to walk backwards for 5 metres;
cannot stand on one leg for at least 6 seconds; cannot do 5 consecutive hops;
cannot run & jump rhythmically; cannot clap hands rhythmically/keep time to
music.
A child who has the tendency to touch right elbow to right knee, which means
they are struggling to cross the mid-line (L & R brain not working together).
The teacher may need to physically help that child to move the R elbow to the L
knee & vice versa, until they “get” it.
If the child’s right arm doesn’t make it over to the left shoulder – then they are
not crossing the mid-line. The child should also not be swinging too far back or
way over the midline.
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What does crossing the midline have to do with reading and writing?
How do the activities we have just done help with crossing the midline?
How can you spot a Grade 2 learner’s inability to cross the mid-line?
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UNIT EIGHT
9. Learners need to PLAY with Words
The young child in the Foundation Phase is led and moulded by his
conversation with his teachers and the language they use. The teacher has to
take the child’s language level into account to be able to communicate
effectively. Language is the main way we convey & think of ideas. When we
play with words, we play with ideas. When you play with words, you
discover the potential of language & your own
potential to use language & to communicate.
The child’s whole education is rooted in his
language education which largely shapes him
into the person he will be, and so literacy is
one of the most important aspects of any
learning programme for young learners.
Spatial Positioning - Reflection Time
Was this boring or fun? Should the teacher worry about whether the child gets it right or
wrong? How did you correct your own “mistakes”? How does this link to your curriculum?
Give an example of how you could use the Six Bricks to playfully practise some
listening to & carrying out instructions, and as an aid to understanding and using
prepositions.
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Write the Funny Poem that was co-created in the class. Write the
poem in a funny shape.
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When you observe children during this activity, what skills could you assess?
Create a Six Bricks activity or game which will encourage children to work
together. Consider how you will give children agency in this activity.
Socialisation
Young children have to learn how to co-operate and take turns; socialisation
does not happen by itself; it is acquired. The purpose of a social well-being
curriculum is to present lessons & activities that will create opportunities to
expose young learners to a range of knowledge, skills & attitudes that will
strengthen their social development & awareness of healthy social relationships.
It can be learned in the classroom when there is an interested, accepting &
communicative teacher. Young children can move away from egocentric ways
of thinking only if they interact with other children and experience the fact that
other people have opinions & feelings too. Consistent boundaries promote
healthy emotional development as they allow children to feel safe.
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UNIT NINE
10. Acquire Reading Skills through PLAY!
Which skills do you think are being targeted with this activity?
Explain how this activity allows the child to direct their own learning.
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Story Sequencing
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Let’s look at all the reading skills we have covered by doing these playful Six Bricks
Activities!
Phonological Awareness: is largely an oral and auditory skill and refers to a
child’s awareness that spoken words are made up of sounds. These sounds
have many different functions and can be re-arranged to make other words.
As an auditory skill it is about replicating and manipulating the sounds of a
language, identifying and comparing sound units.
Practical Example where PLAY was used to develop this skill: When you
built a Funny Thing & created words for the poem, you were making
participants phonologically aware; when you did the Colour Sort & Match,
you looked at initial sounds & alliteration & rhyming showing that sounds
have different functions & can be re-arranged to make other words & it was
done orally & auditorily first: children have to hear sounds before they can
write sounds.
Phonics: is the relationship between the written letter symbols and the
spoken letters and sounds. These letters and sounds create words. Teaching
phonics can be done in different ways. This is a vital part of teaching and
learning which will help children speak and say words correctly and will
help with spelling.
Practical Example where PLAY was used to develop this skill : Colour
Match & Sort; Fishing game; Build letters; Perceptual Activities
Word Perception/Word Recognition: is the accurate perception of words &
phrases and the understanding & interpretation of the word symbols –
reading depends largely on the original impressions or perceptions of the
printed page. Teach different methods of word attack.
Practical Example where PLAY was used to develop this skill : All the Visual
& Auditory Discrimination & Memory Activities will develop the ability to
perceive & recognise words more easily.
Reading Fluency: is the ability to read with accuracy, at the appropriate rate,
with expression and phrasing. Fluency can be achieved if the learner is
accurate in decoding words, recognises words automatically and understands
context and meaning. Fluency is often measured through oral reading but
can also be part of silent reading. When assessing fluency, the teachers
should look at expression, volume, phrasing and smoothness, not just how
quickly a child can read.
Practical Example where PLAY was used to develop this skill: Patterning –
this activity allows a child to practise that left to right eye movement with
the reverse sweep back to the left at the end of a line of print.
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Use your Six Bricks to build something that starts with “wh” (e.g. whale);
build something that ends with “sh” (e.g. fish).
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These activities above are great examples of how you can make phonics &
reading lessons fun and fruitful:
Children will need a longer time for a build like this; they will also need
time to “play”, with the model they create; they will want to act out
scenarios and enjoy their models before packing it all away.
These types of language activities & real experiences through the DUPLO
build, constantly attempt to expand vocabulary – vital to later work in
reading & comprehension.
Learning to read must be
preceded & accompanied by a
background of meaningful
language experiences obtained
through home & school.
Children communicate their
needs through speech; they
should come to feel that
communication through
writing is just as essential.
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This activity could be linked to a Life Skills Science lesson about fish or
fishing; sea creatures; the ocean etc.
It can be an outside activity that links to Physical Education where the
children use their bodies to move like certain sea creatures.
It could be a creative arts lesson where the children use other craft items to
build their fish tank.
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UNIT TEN
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Children are very good at inventing their own games and love to
make up their own rules.
Encourage them to make up a set How?
of Math games that will involve
the Six Bricks.
Keep these Game ideas, with the Rules?
Dice?
rules, in a box where they can
access them, e.g. when they have
completed their work and they
need to keep meaningfully busy
whilst waiting for others to
complete their work.
First 2 Four: Math Group Game - Reflection Time
FOUR!
FOUR
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o Our job, as teachers, is to educate, to teach lessons & to prepare learners for life outside
the classroom but it is also our purpose to go to the effort of really getting to know the
child. Look beyond the “good” or the “bad” behaviour & the academic performance and
see the potential & the heart of each child. Know their story.
o Relationships matter. Greet the children by name every morning; make eye contact;
create a relationship of trust.
o When you truly connect with children, they will grow to love you; they will care for you;
they will work for you. They will not want to disappoint you and you will see the results
in their academic achievement. You have the power to unlock potential in each child you
teach.
o As a teacher, you need to step up and fulfil a role as pack leader within the first few
minutes of the first day of the year.
o Never criticise or scold a child in front of the rest of the class. You will humiliate the
learner and be seen as the enemy. Take the learner outside after class & address the
situation calmly & unemotionally. Look for reasons to praise rather than to criticise.
Sincere praise publicly or privately can make a child feel worthwhile & loved.
o Never raise your voice – shouting is not conducive to creating an enabling learning
environment & does not promote a sense of a teacher being in control of their class.
Rather change the level on which you address learners – move closer to them. Improving
classroom management skills promotes a sense of respect from learners.
o Admit your mistakes and take responsibility for them – apologise. This sets a good
example for learners to follow & a good lesson to learn that they need to be responsible
for their decisions & actions.
o You may find yourself presenting the same content year after year but for the learners in
your class it is their first experience. They deserve the same enthusiasm, passion & effort
into planning that you displayed when you first presented the lesson. Live your passion &
teach the children well.
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Observation during these Six Bricks Activities can assist the Teacher to assess various skills
About Brick Spatial Funny Pattern Copy Story Data H; Cross- Match; First 2 Towers
Me Hunt Pos. Thing Cat Sequ. Measure Lateral sort Four
Balance
Body image
Cross midline
Fine motor
Gross motor
Physical
Hand-eye co-ordination
Hand-foot dominance
Laterality
Proprioception
Spatial orientation
Spatial reasoning
Colour & shapes awareness
Comparing
Computing
Mathematical
Counting
Estimating
Measuring
Number concept
Sequencing & Patterning
Sorting & Matching
Auditory discrimination
Auditory foregrnd & backgrnd
Auditory Memory
Figure-ground perception
Perceptual
Form perception
Observation
Tactile discrimination
Tactile memory
Visual discrimination
Visual memory
Auditory sequential memory
Describing
Language
Listening
Prepositions
Talking
Visual sequential memory
Allows for iteration
Creativity
Critical thinking
Cognitve
Consideration
Empathy
Playfulness
Sharing
Taking turns
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This observation & assessment style provides the Teacher with the
basis for future planning of activities and supports for individuals
& groups of children.
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