We are doing a lot of projects right now in the Elementary School to respond to the disaster in the Philippines, including a toy sale, an art auction, and a Philippines flag colour day. As we collected toys from our homes to donate to the sale, we began to discuss what we knew about why this project was happening. We started with a simple question:
What do you know about the Philippines?
Daniel: An big wind blew the houses.
Axel: The wind went around so fast that they could not go outside.
Lea: My auntie is from the Philippines and now she lives in Singapore. A big strong rain and a strong wind blew all the houses out.
Zoe: The wind was first big like this and then small like this [describing a tornado].
Aziz: Maybe the big wind blew all the money away. The wind was too strong.
Axel: We can give the toys so the babies can touch them.
Ms. Alison: These toys are actual going to be for sale tomorrow with other toys that we can buy so that we can collect money to send to the Philippines because that's really what they need right now. Why do you think?
Daniel: Because they need to get really strong things to build a house.
Axel: What about the ones that don't have mummies and daddies?
Aziz: Only the adults can hold money.
Lea: What can the babies do with the money?
Daniel: What if the babies don't know how to talk AND they don't have a mummy or daddy? What can we do?
Violett: A big girl can help them.
Lea: My auntie is a mummy in the Philippines and her baby is there. Her baby is all grown up.
Leading on from Violett's idea, Ms. Alison explained how there are lots of different people helping in the Philippines right now to make sure that children are getting what they need. They might be doing this just to be kind to people they see need help or this might be their job and they work as part of an organization.
Daniel: Do they have schools in the Philippines now?
Ms. Alison: Some schools, yes, and some people are using them to live in in some places.
Daniel: Why didn't the school fall?
Aziz: They made it so strong that the wall wouldn't break.
Daniel: And they are heavy! I want to go to the Philippines to give all this stuff!
Axel: How can people go to the Philippines if the wind is going around and around?
Daniel: It will take a very long time to build again. And what if the wind comes again? It will break and they will have to build it again and again!
We started to think about what kinds of paintings we wanted to do which would be on sale as part of the art auction fundraiser and got excited about the idea of collecting more money to help. We decided then that it was time to bring our toys to the donation box.
What do you know about the Philippines?
Daniel: An big wind blew the houses.
Axel: The wind went around so fast that they could not go outside.
Lea: My auntie is from the Philippines and now she lives in Singapore. A big strong rain and a strong wind blew all the houses out.
Zoe: The wind was first big like this and then small like this [describing a tornado].
Aziz: Maybe the big wind blew all the money away. The wind was too strong.
Axel: We can give the toys so the babies can touch them.
Ms. Alison: These toys are actual going to be for sale tomorrow with other toys that we can buy so that we can collect money to send to the Philippines because that's really what they need right now. Why do you think?
Daniel: Because they need to get really strong things to build a house.
Axel: What about the ones that don't have mummies and daddies?
Aziz: Only the adults can hold money.
Lea: What can the babies do with the money?
Daniel: What if the babies don't know how to talk AND they don't have a mummy or daddy? What can we do?
Violett: A big girl can help them.
Lea: My auntie is a mummy in the Philippines and her baby is there. Her baby is all grown up.
Leading on from Violett's idea, Ms. Alison explained how there are lots of different people helping in the Philippines right now to make sure that children are getting what they need. They might be doing this just to be kind to people they see need help or this might be their job and they work as part of an organization.
Daniel: Do they have schools in the Philippines now?
Ms. Alison: Some schools, yes, and some people are using them to live in in some places.
Daniel: Why didn't the school fall?
Aziz: They made it so strong that the wall wouldn't break.
Daniel: And they are heavy! I want to go to the Philippines to give all this stuff!
Axel: How can people go to the Philippines if the wind is going around and around?
Daniel: It will take a very long time to build again. And what if the wind comes again? It will break and they will have to build it again and again!
We started to think about what kinds of paintings we wanted to do which would be on sale as part of the art auction fundraiser and got excited about the idea of collecting more money to help. We decided then that it was time to bring our toys to the donation box.