Water Sites

Can you help this village get fresh water?

Upon researching for our inquiry into water, I found some interesting websites for the students to peruse. These are interactive sites to find activities to do along with your child. The sites also provide great prompts for you to have in depth discussions and enhance the inquiry.

We use this site frequently in class. In an appropriate manner, it explains the water cycle through interaction and animation.

Wateraid is an international charity dedicated to supplying impoverished areas of the world with clean water. Go to the learn zone for several learning experiences to explore with your child. Highlights for the younger child are a game where you help villages receive a fresh water supply and case studies about how children use water throughout the world.

Be the Sound-Phonics Come Alive in KGG

"Children need to have many experiences working with written symbols so they can learn how to look at letters and use this information to read and write."-Word Matters


KGG has been consolidating the sounds that they have been learning by 'becoming' the sounds and creating words. Using letter vests, a handful of students took on the role of the sounds that they recently learned. Students were challenged to organised the 'human sounds' in ways to create words. The activity saw the students gain a deeper understanding of the sounds. The students were enthused to create words with the sounds they had learned. The 'human sounds' took their role as sounds seriously, critically thinking about the words in which they belonged.

An inquiry into Water-How the world works

KGG has started a new unit this week. Our class will be investigating and exploring water, a vital component to our world. As this is a classroom of inquiry, we do not end with purely learning facts about water. Rather we learn to ask questions about water, so we may begin to develop an understanding about water that will grow, shift, evolve throughout our lives.

In their planning, the KG teachers develop questions that will help students grasp the concepts that they (the students) are intended to comprehend. The questions are not designed to have a single answer. Instead they are constructed to evoke wonder, tension and more questions from the students, as they are guided through the inquiry process.

For this unit, the teachers will use the following questions to create activities. We will also refer to them when assessing students understanding.

• What is water like?
• Where does water come from?
• Where does water go?
• How do we know that water is there?

As a parent, examine these questions closely to check for your child's understanding of water at home. Encourage your child to ask questions about their world, and help them find ways to find out.

Stories for the International Child

This site has several fables
and stories from around the
world in a variety of
languages. Students can browse
the stories using forward and

back buttons, and some
stories are available in large print.
It seems like most stories are
illustrated by children, and
they are all pretty interesting.
You can view a list of the stories
by picture or title. Enjoy!