1. In your opinion, reflecting on and synthesising all that you learnt in LSKM 221, what are the most important aspects to keep in mind when planning foundation phase lessons?

When the teacher plans a foundation phase lesson plan, he/she must make sure that the lesson is fun, will grab the learners’ attention and the learners will engage fully in it. When the teacher starts the lesson, they must first check the learners’ prior knowledge before introducing and explaining the topic. You must come up with activities that won’t be difficult for the learners to solve. Ask questions and allow learners to ask you questions too if they don’t understand. If you are teaching and want to integrate music in the lesson to make the lesson more exciting, you should add the music at the beginning and end of the lesson. Always use the caps document to see how the arts topics correlate with life skills. At the end of the lesson to check if the lesson objectives are met allow the learners to demonstrate and summarize the lesson.

Since learners in classroom has different learning abilities and styles, diverse interests and socio-economic backgrounds, as a teacher you must come u with ways to manage and accommodate all of them and also create a classroom environment where all learners feel safe, loved, appreciated and have a sense of belonging.

2. What is your opinion about the value of utilising arts integration and play in foundation phase lessons?

Learners should be actively involved in the teaching and learning process through arts integration and play because it allows them to have fun while participating in a meaningful, authentic and fun teaching and learning activities in social settings and demonstrating their understanding practically through the arts.

 It is very important to incorporate arts integration and play in the foundation phase because it does not only build the learners’ social and creative thinking skills, but it also increases learners' excitement for learning while also allowing them to have a better understanding of the content taught.

3. Has your perception and priorities with regards to lesson planning and the inclusion of music (and the arts) throughout your teaching and learning in the foundation phase changed? Please motivate your answer.

Yes, because I have learnt and seen that by integrating music and the arts into the class has a significant impact on the students. Music and arts allow students to have fun while learning in a real and relevant way. Therefore, we can say the use of music in the classroom boosts the learners' willingness to learn. Incorporating music and art into the foundation phase allows students to be actively involved in the lesson while also assisting in the development of their social and creative thinking skills.