“Go outside in your transport groups. Create a song, rap, or poem, and choreograph a performance”, requested Miss Nzuza. Miss Nzuza is a Grade 2 teacher at Davidson Primary School, a school in the Eastern Cape. The children rushed outside as they spontaneously spread across the playground. Each group held a different brick to showcase their transport. Rap songs and poems about cars, buses, trucks, and trains soon followed as the children smiled and cheered each other on. Miss Nzuza walked enthusiastically between teams, providing feedback.
After the practice run, Miss Nzuza invited the learners back and each group was asked to perform their transport song. Confidently, groups belted different variations of the sounds. “Vrrrm vrrm, shoo shoo, kutchu kutchu” was followed by specific actions to identify their chosen transport. Sticking to the transport theme, Miss Nzuza made another request. “In your groups, I would like you to build a garage and the transport you want to see parked in our garage. ”Excited, the children started building. “Vvvrm phaaa!”, one learner shouted. “So what car is that?”, the teacher asked, amused. “A VW Golf, Teacher!”, responded the learner. Another shouted, “Mercedes C63!”, and the children giggled as they debated the car model. Following the builds, Miss Nzuza moved around the classroom and complimented all designs. Miss Nzuza made another request. “Now that you have made the garage, I would like for you to construct a road with road signs where your transport will travel. ”Hearing this, the children’s excitement grew. The traffic light was a common feature in many designs, and some groups added stop signs and speed signs to their roads. Children tinkered, explored, discussed, and constructed their roads. At the end of the build, the learners confidently explained their designs.
Miss Nzuza was able to transform a curriculum-inspired lesson on transportation and make it playful and meaningful to all the learners. She created a classroom environment that encouraged learners to be curious and test out their ideas. Moreover, children had the freedom to move around, observe other designs, compete, collaborate, and represent their ideas in several ways.
In the end, a learner shared how she felt about the lesson. “Iyo, I did not want to stop. I loved going outside with my friends to rap. Iyo, I also loved building my favorite car. I wish we could continue with the activity the entire day!”