Name of material: Landforms Image(s): Photo(s) courtesy of - - PDF document

Name of material:

Landforms

Image(s):

Photo(s) courtesy of Montessori Child. Visit www.montessorichild.com.au ¡

Video: Point(s) of interest:

The presence of real water in the Landform trays provides a sensory experience that invites and maintains interest.

Primary purpose:

Main objective Introduction of the names of various landforms.

Secondary purposes

Incidental benefits To promote an awareness of, and connection to, the world.

Control of error:

The relationship to the Tactile Globe (distinction of water/land) provides a method for the child to independently problem-solve when discriminating between the land and water in the model landforms. EYLF Outcome 1.2: Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency by engaging in self-correction to notice a mistake and seek a solution (rather than relying on an adult to identify the error and suggest the answer).

Presentation:

Please ¡note: ¡Montessori ¡presentations ¡will ¡vary ¡slightly ¡according ¡to ¡the ¡specific ¡training ¡ institute, ¡Album ¡or ¡educator’s ¡experience. ¡The ¡following ¡outline ¡is ¡intended ¡as ¡a ¡guide ¡and ¡ highlights ¡important ¡points/procedures. ¡Educators ¡should ¡build ¡on ¡this ¡from ¡their ¡own ¡ experience ¡and ¡their ¡understanding ¡of ¡the ¡children ¡in ¡their ¡care, ¡so ¡that ¡all ¡presentations ¡will ¡ have ¡some ¡universal ¡similarities ¡but ¡no ¡two ¡will ¡be ¡completely ¡identical ¡because ¡of ¡the ¡unique ¡ needs ¡of ¡the ¡child, ¡cultural ¡context ¡of ¡the ¡school ¡and ¡interactions ¡between ¡educator ¡and ¡student. ¡ Preparation:

• The teacher sits to the right of the child if the adult is right-handed and to the left of

the child if the adult is left-handed (this avoids the issue of having the adult’s hand/arm block the field of vision of the child). Lesson 1: Sensory Exploration

• The educator invites the child to bring the landforms to the table.
• The educator asks the child to collect a small jug and fill it with water.
• The educator explains, “These are the landforms. They show us all the different

ways that land and water can fit together on the Earth.”

• The educator invites the child to pour water into the trays and together they engage

in exploration of, and discussion about, the landforms.

• When the child has had enough exploration the educator shows him/her how to

carry the trays to empty them (preferably into the garden or a pot plant to recycle the water) and then carefully dry them before returning them to the shelf. Optional: Water transferring tools, such as a syringe or baster, can be used to fill and empty the water trays. Lesson 2: 3 Period lesson for names The same presentation is used for introducing all landforms but it is best to introduce only a few at a time rather than the whole set at once.

• The educator invites the child to bring two pairs of the Landforms to the table or mat

(eg. lake & island, bay & cape).

• The educator explains, “Today we will learn the names of the landforms.”
• The educator presents a 3 Period Lesson for the landforms.

For example; Period 1

• Place the island in front of the child and explain, “This is an island”.
• Place the island out of the child’s sight.
• Place the lake in front of the child and explain, “This is a lake.”
• Place the lake out of the child’s sight.
• Place the bay in front of the child and explain, “This is a bay”.
• Place the bay out of the child’s sight.
• Place the cape in front of the child and explain, “This is a cape”.
• Place the cape out of the child’s sight.

Period 2

• Place the landforms random order on the mat close to the child.
• Ask, “where is the island?” or “point to the island”. The child responds by identifying

the island landform.

• Ask, “where is the lake?” or “point to the lake”. The child responds by identifying the

lake landform.

• Ask, “where is the bay?” or “point to the bay”. The child responds by identifying the

bay landform.

• Ask, “where is the cape?” or “point to the cape”. The child responds by identifying

the cape landform. Assessment for learning: If the child successfully identifies the landforms move on to Period 3. If the child is not able to identify the landforms then the educator returns to the prior period. Period 3

• Remove the landforms from the child’s sight and place only the island on the mat in

front of him/her.

• Ask, “what is this?”. The child responds by identifying “the island”.
• Remove the island from the child’s sight and place only the lake on the mat in front
• f him/her.
• Ask, “what is this?”. The child responds by identifying “the lake”.
• Remove the lake from the child’s sight and place only the bay on the mat in front of

him/her.

• Ask, “what is this?”. The child responds by identifying “the bay”.
• Remove the bay from the child’s sight and place only the cape on the mat in front of

him/her.

• Ask, “what is this?”. The child responds by identifying “the cape”.

Assessment for learning: If the child is not yet able to articulate the names of the landforms then the educator returns to the Period 2. If the child successfully identifies the three continent pieces the educator may move

• n to introducing the continents from the other half of the puzzle map.

Conclusion:

• After the presentation, say to the child, “We have explored the Landforms. You are

welcome to work with the Landforms whenever you like.”

• Ensure that you guide the child to replace it to its correct spot on the shelf. This

empowers the child to know where it is located so that he/she can independently choose the material again when he/she is ready and interested. This contributes towards the creation of a learning environment and promotes EYLF Outcome 4.4: Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural and processed materials.

Links to the Early Years Learning Framework Outcomes:

Participating in the Landform presentation with an educator and peers helps the child progress towards the following Learning Outcomes; 1.1: Children feel safe, secure and supported by engaging in one-on-one interactions with a nurturing and supportive adult. 2: Children are connected to and contribute to their world by being invited to take another step towards a global perspective of thinking. 3.2: Children become strong in their social and emotional wellbeing by feeling supported by the individualised attention of a caring educator. 5: Children are effective communicators & 5.1: Children interact verbally and non- verbally with others for a range of purposes by encouraging verbal and non-verbal (body language, facial cues etc) interaction between educator and child. Revisiting the Landforms for independent attempts helps the child progress towards the following Learning Outcomes; 4.1: Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity by starting to comprehend the scope of the world and, therefore, spark interest about all the fascinating elements within it. 5.4: Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work by making sense of a small, symbolic representation of a physical concept.

Observation and assessment for learning:

When the child is working independently the educator can gather and analyse information about what the child knows, can do and understands by observing the following: Indicators of progress;

• The child enjoys exploring the landforms for sensory purposes but is not yet able to

identify the names of the landforms.

• The child is able to identify some landforms by names but is still learning others.

The educator can present 3 Period Lessons specifically for the less familiar forms. Indicators of mastery;

• The child is able to identify the names of the landforms.
• The child begins independently identifying connections between the landforms and

his/her experiences and explorations (such as explaining, “I have been swimming at a beach where the water comes into the sand like a bay!”) If the child demonstrates the aforementioned skills the educator can engage in intentional teaching by introducing the following lessons with the geography materials. If the child does not yet demonstrate the aforementioned skills the educator can show responsiveness to children by scaffolding the learning by repeating the presentation. If the child still does not acquire the skills once the presentation is repeated then the task should be broken into smaller, discrete steps. If the child still cannot master the skills presented in the discrete steps the educator can support the child’s learning by reverting to the prior lesson. Questions for reflective practice: After presenting this material the educator might ask,

• Are there other theories or knowledge that could help me to understand better what

I have observed or experienced? What are they? How might those theories and that knowledge affect my practice?

• Who is advantaged when I work in this way? Who is disadvantaged?

Extensions/Variations:

• The educator can provide the child with the materials to make a plasticine

landforms (these can be placed in the prepared environment). This includes a quantity of blue plasticine (for the water) and brown plasticine (for the land) and a square container as the base/tray.

• The educator can introduce the Landform cards that show illustrations of the

land/water formations as they appear in the 3-dimensional models. This helps the child to take their recognition from concrete to abstract.

• The educator can prepare landform cards for sorting by type. That is, the educator

finds images (photographs are preferable to illustrations) showing aerial views of real bays, real caps, real lakes, real islands and so forth from around the world. These can be sorted into their categories (the educator can also make category heading cards with the written name of the landform and a drawn picture of the blue/brown illustration of it found on the Landform card).

Support ¡at ¡home ¡ ¡ Partnerships ¡with ¡families ¡

At this stage in a child’s development he/she is beginning to consider the formation of our world and have a more global perspective. A parent/relative could reinforce this and support continuity of learning and transitions by;

• Introducing materials relating to landforms. Put a child’s atlas in your child’s reading

corner and take care to point out bodies of water or formations of land (“Look, Italy is a peninsula!”) Bring out family photo albums from trips to show the landforms (“Here is when we went fishing in that lake”). Immerse your child in examples of the wonder, beauty and scope of the landforms around you!

• Making your own homemade landforms with your child using brown and blue
• plasticine. You can make large ones, to be kept in shape to use repeatedly, or small
• nes where you child can make them and pull them apart over and over.
• Suggesting ‘landform’ play in a range of contexts, such as making a “lake” in the

sand at the beach or using clay or “magic” sand to represent the land then pouring water in!

To ¡learn ¡more ¡visit ¡WikiSori ¡