Name of material: Colour Box 2: Secondary Colours Image(s): ¡ Photo(s) courtesy of Think Education Supplies. Visit www.thinkeducation.com.au to purchase this material. Video : Point(s) of interest: The attractive colours and the special technique of reverently holding the tablets so that the colour is not touched. Primary purpose: Main objective To promote the visual recognition of colours. To introduce the vocabulary corresponding to colours. Secondary purposes Incidental benefits Refinement of motor control and coordination.
Control of error: The Colour Tablet presentations are deliberately sequenced to provide visual cues for self- correction. The lessons begin with Colour Box 1 which features only three, highly contrasting colours (red, blue, yellow). If a yellow is matched to a red the extreme contrast provides a significant visual signal, much more so than it would be to mistakenly match yellow to orange. As the child progresses through to Colour Box 2 and 3 the eye has been progressively trained to identify differences and similarities in colour and so the control of error can be more subtle but still successful. 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 : • Demonstrate the correct method for handling the box (one hand underneath, not both hands lifting the lid) and invite the child to take the material to the table. • 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). • The educator starts by demonstrating the method for handling the tablets, placing the thumb on the wooden frame at the base and stretching the first two fingers up to the wooden frame at the top. This ensures that the coloured silk (or coloured wood) is never directly touched and, as such, the colour is maintained over time. The educator invites the child to practice holding the tablet. Lesson 1: 3 Period Lesson • The educator introduces a 3 Period Lesson for the names of the colours. The educator can initially try presenting four colours at a time (meaning two separate 3 Period Lessons will be needed to present all eight of the new colours in Box 2) but if the child struggles with four tablets at once the educator can scaffold by presenting two or three at a time. Period 1: • The educator places the orange tablet in front of the child and states, “This is orange.” • The educator places the purple tablet in front of the child and states, “This is purple.” • The educator places the green tablet in front of the child and states, “This is green.”
• The educator places the pink tablet in front of the child and states, “This is pink.” Period 2: • The educator places all three tablets on the table and asks, “Where is orange?” • The educator asks, “Where is purple?” • The educator asks, “Where is green?” • The educator asks, “Where is pink?” • If the child does not identify the colours correctly then the educator returns to the first period. If the child successfully identifies the colours then the educator rearranges them and repeats the process (“where is orange? Where is purple? Where is green? Where is pink?”) Period 3: • The educator places the orange tablet in front of the child and asks, “What is this?” The child replies “orange”. • The educator places the purple tablet in front of the child and asks, “What is this?” The child replies “purple”. • The educator places the green tablet in front of the child and asks, “What is this?” The child replies “green”. • The educator places the pink tablet in front of the child and asks, “What is this?” The child replies “pink”. • If the child does not identify the colours correctly then the educator returns to the second period. If the child successfully identifies the colours then the educator concludes the presentation, “You have identified orange, purple, green and pink.” The 3 Period Lesson is repeated for the remaining new colours. Lesson 2: Matching • The educator revisits the method of carefully handling the tablets by touching only the wooden frame, not the colour itself. • The educator places one of each colour in a vertical row on the top left side of the table. • The educator places the corresponding colours in mixed order on the right side of the table. • The educator explains, “I am going to match the colours by finding two that are the same .” • The educator points to the colour at the top of the row and repeats, “I’m looking for the same colour”. • The educator visually assesses the mixed tablets and carefully selects the matching one. • The educator collects the matching tablet in the special grip and places it to the right of its mate. The educator observes the pair and announces, “They are the same.” • The educator continues this process for the second and third tablets. • The educator takes a moment to observe the matching sets and then explains; “Now I will mix them up so you can match the colours.” The educator rearranges one of each colour into a random arrangement. • The child works to match the colours and engages in as many repetitions as he/she likes.
Conclusion : • After the presentation you can ask the child if he/she wishes to continue repeating the work or if he/she is ready to finish. • If the child chooses to conclude the activity then 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 Colour Box 2 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. 1.4: Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect by encountering the concept of ‘turn-taking’ in a controlled situation with an adult role model. 5.1: Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes by communicating with a trusted educator, with words and through imitation and engagement, in a mutually respectful context. Revisiting Colour Box 2 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 engaging in experimentation, self-correction and assessment. 4.3: Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another by applying their skills of visual perception and self-correction to increasingly challenging levels of activity. 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 identifies some colour but not others. The educator can present a 3 Period Lesson featuring only the unknown colours. • The child is able to match colours to one another but does not remember the names. This indicates visual perception skills but a lack of confidence with the associated vocabulary. The educator can provide a revision of the 3 Period Lesson.
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