PEACEFUL SOLUTIONS
This semester our unit of inquiry looks deeply at how we can find peaceful ways to solve conflict in our everyday lives. We will be discussing and critically thinking about which strategies are the most effective in building harmonious relationships. Our goal is to apply this learning when interacting with others in different environments and situations.
Our first task was to analyse the key words to deepen our meaning of the central idea. The children analysed <peaceful> by identifying and investigating the base <peace>. We discovered that the base had a very interesting history which helped us understand the spelling. It comes directly from Old French <pais> and latin <pax> and is related to the word <Pacific>! The children also recognised that this base has a homophone <piece>. This reinforced that English spelling is primarily based on meaning, as words that are pronounced the same are spelled differently because of their meaning.
We started our inquiry with an everyday problem that can often arises in the playgrounds around the world. The children brainstormed all the ways that this problem could be solved and we sorted them into negative and positive solutions. It is like building a 'menu' of solutions and choosing an effective one for the particular situation.
The children will be introduced to the Six Thinking Hats (created by Edward de Bono) as a way of thinking about problems from different points of view. This strategy is extremely effective in helping us to control our own emotions when in conflict or when attempting to resolve an issue.
This site, Love and Logic, has some interesting articles to help us look at ways we can support children to solve conflict responsibly, independently and with confidence.
No comments:
Post a Comment