Sample Lesson - 3s

One of the 3s’ curriculum threads is the discussion of mail and the mail system, and the exploration of every aspect of mail. It all started a couple of months ago when a child in the class decided to send a letter to fictional person named Sally Asport.

The teachers responded by experimenting with making different kinds of mail – drawing with markers, Cray-pas and pencil, and collaging with magazine and newspaper images.

As provocations, the teachers put two large envelopes on the rug. Inside was some of the "treasure" that the 3s had been looking at in one of their other curriculum threads.

This led to further discussion around the aesthetics and purpose of mail- both form and function. When asked how mail is delivered, some of the children said that there is an underground mail system with lots of tubes and pipes. Some also said that a mail carrier picks up the mail at the mail box. We have been exploring that idea by taking apart a scanner in order to use the parts to build the underground mail system. Heath also joined our class and lent his building expertise to the project. Most recently we added tin foil to cardboard tubes in order to make them work better with the industrial look of the underground mail system.  

Mail and letters are, of course, an excellent vehicle for literacy and numeracy, and we have been taking full advantage of that opportunity in the 3s. Recently we offered the children a large "postcard" addressed to the Blue School for the children to work on, and several of the children began to imitate the letters and numbers on the address. We scaffolded this by offering them opportunities to work on their name at the writing table the next day.