Hockey Continued and Our Dramatic Play Centre

Our hockey exploration has continued and built into a great amount of talk about math!

We have also noticed an interest in exploring hairdressing!  We have changed our doctor's office into a salon and are fascinated by how excited the children are and the level of oral language in interactions.

Often our posts highlight the interests and inquiry projects happening in our classroom.   We try to name the learning for the children and for families to make connection from interests to specific areas of curriculum within  math, literacy, and science.  There is also lots of learning that happens outside of these projects.  Often an educator is sitting at the writing centre supporting letter recognition and sounds as children write cards, stories, or signs.  We also ask rich questions as we see children exploring (e.g. at the water centre we may start to ask about capacity, number of scoops of water, measurement, etc.).  Additionally, we work with small groups of children on a variety of skills such as literacy and math.  Our goal within small groups is to choose "just right" challenges where children are not overwhelmed or having their confidence dashed but just challenging enough that learning is happening.  Below is a peek at some of our small group number formation. We began with a quick video about numbers, modelling of how to form them with poems, and then children began to follow along.  Children were able to choose a variety of tools (paint, playdough, sandpaper numbers, wax sticks, pencil and paper, etc.).

Beginning of March Update

March has come in like a lion with the fervor behind the interests we are observing and supporting in the classroom!

Our inquiry groups at the beginning of February were comprised of one group who was exploring life-size human body creations and another who was looking closely at body systems and doctor tools.

Below is a group who was exploring the skeletal system using a variety of types of materials.

Here you will see a group exploring doctor tools.  We discussed their various uses, children slowed down their thinking and observations by sketching carefully and then they used a variety of supplies to create their own replica of a tool of interest to them.  We worked on listening carefully as others share their ideas.

Out of this exploration, another interest began to grow.  Children had been very interested in hearing heartbeats (and voices!) through the stethoscope.  We began to dig a little deeper into the concept of sound and explored nature sounds along with sounds we could make ourselves using various materials.  We shared our sounds with the group.

We had also noticed in the last few weeks that children were using markers at the writing centre to make patterns of music.  We decided to combine this interest with the sound observations we had been making in our medical inquiry.  We began to explore bucket drumming and have moved into exploring making music with a variety of objects.  We have been watching minds-on videos such as Stomp clips and the Cup Song.   There are many pathways this inquiry could take so we are observing and documenting carefully.  We have also put an ad in the local paper looking for guests with drumming experience to come and share with us, so if you know of anyone, please pass our contact information on to them.

 


With the excitement of the Olympics, it's no surprise that there has been hockey talk in the classroom.  It's interesting that the talk did not begin to happen until closer to the end of the Olympics.  As mentioned previously, we take our cues from the children in terms of interests.   We've tended to see a similar pattern this year with Valentines Day and Christmas not being discussed until much closer to the time (and sometimes it happens after and we explore it then!).  

This interest began with a hockey game in the cubbies using blocks.   There was a referee, players, and goalies.  There was a great deal of conversation about rules and adjustments and lots of teamwork and celebrating.  After listening to hockey conversations and watching the play, we discovered there could be all sorts of curriculum uncovered as we explored hockey.   From numbers during scoring, to writing on jerseys, to measuring and creating our own rinks and sticks - the possibilities are endless!  We've begun this exploration with a great deal of enthusiasm from our learners.  Below is a snapshot of the beginning stages.