Elf Job Applications

We have been immersing ourselves in the season and thank the families of Room 5 for their great input with ideas, supplies for crafting, and also the feedback for our Christmas Survey.  

Some of our writing in the last few weeks has been exploring ideas about Christmas too. We found ourselves wondering what it would take to be one of Santa's elves.  Room 5 came up with some great ideas, and we used some of these to fill in Elf Job Applications for the Toy Workshop, Elf Bakery, or the Gift Wrapping Department.  Have a peek at some of our ideas:

"I am really good at baking because my mum taught me and I can work fast at baking.
 I work all the time at home.  I bake cakes, cupcakes and birthday cakes for birthdays".

"I am really good at crafting things like origami.  That's why I wanted to sign up for this job.  So I can learn more about toys, get to know how toys work, and see the smiles of the children when they unwrap them."

The Thinkers Keys

In Room 5 this year we have been practising critical and creative thinking with the Thinkers Keys.  There are 20 keys such as:

• The What If Key - ask virtually any What If question e.g. What if all cars turned into skateboards?
• The Question Key - start with an answer and list 5 questions that give that answer e.g. midnight, seaweed or monkeys.
• The BAR Key - make an item BIGGER, ADD something to it, REPLACE something on it e.g. a skateboard, an umbrella or a freezer.

These Keys help us to think in more inspiring ways, are really challenging, and lots of fun!  Also, each of the keys can be tailored to the current learning in class. 

Recently, we have been using the Christmas Thinkers Keys,  Here is some of our thinking about 'The Reverse Key' - List 10 things you don't want for Christmas: