February 2011

Dear Parents,

We are now beginning our next Unit of Inquiry based around the idea of How we express ourselves.
At school we will be investigating the central idea:
Social play is an avenue for improvisation and collaboration.

Through this unit we are hoping to lead the students to understand and value the expressive
contributions of themselves and others to play and to reflect on their choices of play mates and
play situations in order to empower their play.

In order to reach these understandings, we will be discussing:

 How we play (role play, organized sports games, word games, in pairs, alone, in teams etc)
 How we express ourselves through play
 How our play is enhanced by working with others

At home you can help your child by engaging in conversations about who they play with at school and
what sort of games they play. Encouraging creative play by providing dress up costumes and props -
these can be as simple as your old clothes, pieces of cloth, boxes, tubs, saucepans or indeed, any
household items that can become something else through imagination.
Reading and telling lots of stories! Talking to your child about how you played as a child, who you
played with, different social situations you found yourself in when at school.

You can also help us at home by explaining and discussing some of the following words with your child
in his/her home language. When your child understands the ideas and vocabulary in his/her home
language please help him/her to learn the English vocabulary needed to share their thoughts and ideas
with teachers and classmates.

UOI Related Vocabulary

 Imagination/pretending/ideas/creating
 Friends/ groups/teamwork
 Sharing/ feelings/communication/ taking turns

Thank you for your help and support with this unit,
The EY Team