We are Generous Beings #3 - How Can we be Generous?

painting the Giving Tree

The children can see that the giving tree gives to the boy and the boy receives from the tree. I asked the children if they were the little boy, what would they do? They answered they would be generous and give something to the tree.

The children painted each part of the giving tree (trunk, branches, leaves and apples). Then they thought of what the tree will need and made their gifts with felt fabric. 

adding the leaves

Enxin and Natalya think that the tree needs a heart so they each made one for the tree.

Andrew and Cameron wanted to give the tree a cat and a boy as companions so it wouldn't feel lonely.

Jayla and Peter gave the tree apples because the tree gave its apples to the boy.

The tree will feel lonely anymore!

Even though the giving tree that the children created is made out of paper, the children felt a connection with it. As Enxin and Natalya put their hearts on the tree Natalya said: "I think the tree is feeling happy right now."

Putting the tree together

Giving hearts 

We are Generous Beings #2 - What is generosity

The Water group began this unit by telling others who we are (the transdisplinary theme). The children told what they like to do and some of the qualities they have.  
Next we looked at Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. The children immediately noticed that the tree always gives the boy something when he visits the tree. Enxin commented: "Genenosity is sharing so the tree is being generous." Natalya noticed that the tree is just a stump in the end of the story. Peter added: "Yeah, the tree has nothing left." I asked the children: "Do you think the tree is happy?" Below are some of their answers:

Aiden: "The tree is happy when the boy is happy."
Cameron: "No, the tree is not really happy. Sometimes I don't have to share my legos."
Jayla: The tree is angry.

We are Generous Beings #1 - Generosity Party

 On Monday we brainstormed about generosity with the children. Here are some of their thoughts:

Sharing treats

Trystan: Generosity is helping friends when they are stuck.

Enxin: It is helping people when they are hurt.

Lysander: Sharing!

Tai: Hugging.

Aiden: Generosity is really good.

We told the children that we are going to hold a party where everyone is celebrating the new year and Orin suggested: "We can have a generosity party". What a great idea! I asked the children what we should do to make it a generosity party. The children said they could bring something to share with everyone and started to think about what to bring from home. 

Dancing with our friends

Laughing with our friends

Cheers!

Yum!

The children could not wait for the party! Even the children who did not attend the discussion day wanted to share something from their lunch kits. Everyone enjoyed the treats (thank you parents!) and dancing to the music(shared by the teachers). After, the children gathered together for a story The Gift of Nothing. It is about Mooch (a cat) pondering what gift to give Earl (a dog) when Earl has everything. The answer, of course, is nothing. Inspired by the story, the children wrapped empty boxes with colourful wrapping papers and played with them in our block area. 

Playing with the gift boxes

Gift wrapping

Please view our IB Wall to see the concepts, lines of inquiry, and teacher's questions for our new unit.