by Marie Tonette Bajao
As part of the social well-being topic of the grade 4 students in Unit 1, the students also learned about the meaning of the inclusive play. Ms. Tonette Bajao from the Additional Needs Programme (ANP) Department together with Ms. Bianca Bachmann facilitated the team-building activity for the grade 4 students. They were given the opportunity to present a video, PowerPoint, and activity for the class of Mr. Vince Mortillero.
The class watched a short animation film entitled "Ian" which was directed by Abel Goldbarb. The film is wordless — a deliberate decision to make “Ian” inclusive of all people. The film was inspired by a true story, about a boy named Ian, who was born with cerebral palsy. The film highlights inclusive play and awareness for typically developing children. After the film showing, the class processed their observations and thoughts. The students gave insightful comments to the facilitators.
For team building, the students were asked to play with their groupmates. The class was divided into four groups. The game is called "team pen," as the pen will be in the middle and the strings will all be tied to the middle of the pen. Each person in the group will grab a string and pull it simultaneously. Under the pen, a piece of paper was placed on the table for the group to draw on. The teams were asked to draw a certain shape such as a circle, heart, diamond, and rectangle. To accomplish the task, they must communicate and work together perfectly.
Most of the teams struggled at first, the students admitted that they must put a lot of effort and consideration while doing the activity. Some teams were frustrated, while others were determined to finish their goal. The teams were given four tries as some teams learned to work harmoniously. According to the students, they learned to listen to one another and work as a team. The students were asked to write their definitions of inclusive play before and after watching the short film and doing the activity. Let's read their definition of inclusive play:
