Designing and Engineering

Some of our girls brought in dolls from home, and were a bit embarrassed they were naked. I put out some tissue paper, tape and scissors, and suddenly they were fashion designers. 

Brynlee: we are making dresses and skirts to dress up the dolls. 

Marley: Do you like her dress? I made it. 

Maddy: I'm making the bed for the dolls. Marley, can you test to see if it's big enough for the doll? 

Marley: it's too small. Her head is hanging off. I'll make a pillow. Now it's perfect! 

Maddy: Let's make a whole house!

It's lovely to see our girls thinking as designers, engineers and problem solvers! They are learning all about working together, solving problems, and using their fine motor and measurement skills. They are thinking in three dimensions, improving spatial and visual skills as they play. 

Happy Love Day

Our Valentine's party was a success! The children have been working on their valentines for a few weeks, and the work continued on the big day.

As part of our learning goal "We are learning how numbers work," we have a success criteria of "I can guess amounts." We put our some jars full of candies and made guesses.

After we counted, Maya was so shockingly accurate, we asked her to give us some lotto numbers!!

We did some measuring and pouring with pink and red rice.

And made an ooey gooey mess with cornstartch and water.

And of course, we delivered and opened valentines. Thank you to Mrs. Pottle for helping out with the deliveries!

Thank you to the parents for their hard work at home getting the valentine's ready for the big day. We also appreciate the food donations for the snack table. Hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Intentional Interactions

The Full Day Learning Program is a play-based program. Does that mean kids "just" play all day? Well, yes and no. Yes they play, but educators are there to respond to, extend, and challenge thinking. The involvement of a trained and responsive adult is what elevates the play to authentic learning.

Katy and I are currently in an adult inquiry project that challenges us to think about our intentional interactions with children. What is it about our interactions that elevates the play and encourages deep learning? We notice and name literacy behaviours, but how do our questions reveal the thinking of a child?

To explore this question, I sat down with Brynlee to talk about a creation she made with loose parts. I was trying to get her to reflect on her learning, and ended up revealing some of her higher level thinking, such as visualization. Here’s the text of our interaction. My words are in bold.

I made lots of popscicles and lollipops.

Tell me how you made it.

I put them all in it. Then I put the sticks on.

I’m noticing that each lollipop has one of each thing. Why did you do that?

I did it before.

You told me it was finished. How you did you decide you were done?

I looked at it and I thinked in my head.

What did you think about?

About when I did it before.

So you saw a picture in your head?

Yep.

That’s actually really important what you just did. You saw a picture in your head, and then made it real. That’s what artists do. Great job!

She cleans it up and comes back to me a few minutes later.

Can I make a picture of it?

Of course!

She goes to get a clipboard, paper and a pencil. She draws a quick sketch.

I put a B on it so I know it’s mine.

Well people might think it’s Brooklynn’s, you both start with B. Can you finish your name please?

She tries to make her name in pen, makes a mistake and tries to erase. I give her a pencil and she writes her name backwards.

So how did you make this picture?

She rolls her eyes.  I know how to make a picture.

What were you thinking about?

I thought about going around and around and I added a stick.

So you remembered?

Yep, I remembered what it looked like and I drew it.

That’s what writers do! They take an idea from their head and write it down. Do you feel like a writer?

Yep!

Pizza party

We had a great time making pizzas yesterday. We supported our healthy eating project by picking only "always" foods for the pizzas - whole grains, cheese, vegetables and meat. It was also a great sequencing activity, where the children learn to complete a project in order- first sauce, then toppings, then the oven, and finally we get to eat.

Today we  took some time to reflect on the experience. Reflection is a literacy behaviour, and supportsour language learning goal of "We are learning to share ideas." The text below is by Brynlee, Naomi, Makenzie and Emma. They told me what to write.

I put sauce on my pizza crust. Spread it out with a spoon so you don't get your hands all dirty.

I am grating the cheese.

Put the toppings on the pizza. We had pepperoni, mushrooms, cheese, onions, olives, and peppers.

Put the pizza in the oven. 

Time to eat!

MMMMMMMM. It's nummy!

Let's make pizza again someday!

Mystery Moth

During our morning meeting, a moth suddenly appeared on the carpet. One moment it wasn't there, and the next, it was. I scooped it up in a jar so we could take a look at it.

Brooklynn asked a key question: "Why is there a moth in the classroom?"

I just love it when inquiries fall it my lap! This was a great opportunity to get them thinking like scientists. I abandoned the plan for the morning and instead started gathering their ideas:

Maddy: Maybe overnight he saw the crack in under the door and crawled in.
Kenadi: Maybe someone picked him up and held the door open.
Ari: Maybe someone stepped on him and he stuck to their shoe. (We checked him for signs of shoe trauma, then abandoned this hypothesis.)
Landon: I think he saw a big hole outside in the ground and he came through it into the class and he landed on the carpet to sleep.
Mia: Maybe he came in behind the door and landed on the carpet.
Maya: Maybe he went through the window and it was tired so it flopped on the floor.
Brooklynn: It might have hided somewhere in the classroom and he fell down. Maybe he was camouflaged on the roof.
Adam: He can also camouflage on the floor.
Maya: And the walls too!

They wrote some stories about what they think happened:

Did the butterfly get in from the windo or did the butterfly get from the door or did the butterfly get from the vent? We don't know. -Maya

Nolan

The children decided to build them a house. Jack suggested they make blueprints of their ideas:

I asked: "That's a great plan...but what do you need to build it? We need a list."
When they responded with "grass from outside", I suggested they look outside for a spot to find grass.Hamish checked, saw the 3 feet of snow outside, and said "Uh oh, I guess we'll have to wait till spring."

Adam said: "We don't have that long! Water then. From the tap for him to drink. And blocks."

Hamish was consulting his blueprint as he built.

Adam found a white container for a "bed", since it had a big hole for an entrance and was the same colour as the moth.

The moth seems pretty happy to sleep in his/her new home for now...Maya even added a plastic friend.

Some other good questions:

What do they eat?

Do they eat bugs? Or grass? Or worms?

When is he ever going to wake up?

Do they always sleep in the day?

Should we put in toys for him?

Is it going to have baby moths?

Does it have a house with a family in the class somewhere?

All you need is love

Inquiries in kindergarten are all about investigations...taking an idea, wondering about it, researching, exploring, and sharing ideas.

Lately we're been inquiring about love and families. 

For some people, they are exploring weddings and brides.

Others are practicing their nurturing and parenting skills.

One day, I noticed some boys playing with a baby doll in a not-so-loving way. They were putting the baby in the microwave and in the dishwasher. I asked them why, and they said they wanted to get the baby clean.

When I asked how mommies and daddies get real babies clean, they knew we needed a bathtub. So we turned the water table into a baby bath.




After carefully drying them, the babies were tucked into bed.




It is so fulfilling to see our children planting the seeds of empathy that will make them good parents and citizens two decades from now.

What is this?

Last week we had a mystery object show up in Room 132.

In an effort to provoke some inquiry-based learning, we asked "What is this thing?"

The children examined it and made some guesses. 

Everyone agreed it was a type of fruit, with many feeling it was an orange, lemon or pumpkin. Nolan said it smelled like a Christmas tree...and he was right! We smelled it and agreed it had a piney smell to it.

They had some excellent questions about the fruit, such as "Where did you get it?" and "Why is it all wrapped up?"

I cut it open and the children examined the insides closely.

Then we had a chance to taste it. Most people said it tasted like a cross between an orange and a grapefruit. It was delicious!

Only two people tasted it and didn't like it. Most kids were clamouring for more!

Isobel wasn't a fan.

If you want to try it yourself at home, look for a pummello (or pomelo) at the grocery store. They're in season now!