This week we began work on our new unit of inquiry. Our central idea is, ‘Numbers help us make sense of and organise our world’, and we are starting with an inquiry into numbers in our lives.
To capture the children’s interest, we introduced a fun provocation. The children returned to class to discover a mysterious bag/box had appeared. They were curious to see what was inside, but it was locked with a padlock. We explained that to open it, we would need the correct combination of numbers.
The children eagerly suggested different combinations—000, 333, 123, 456 and many more—but the lock would not open. Then, we noticed three notes taped underneath the box. Each note contained instructions to help us find a number.
Working in small groups, the children followed the clues. One group went to the playground and dug in the sand, uncovering six rainbow-coloured balls. Another group found a parcel and played pass the parcel until they revealed two bear counters. The final group searched the kitchen and discovered nine paper stars.
We came back together to share our findings and tried the numbers in sequence—6, 2, 9—and it worked! The lock popped open. Inside, buried under tissue paper, we found sparkly numbers from 0 to 10.
This led into a discussion about our new unit, where we will be learning all about numbers, where we find them, and how they help us in our everyday lives. The photographs below show a snapshot of this initial provocation.
Wishing you all a good weekend,
The KG1 Team
