Rick Gowing responded to our ad with 40 years of drumming experience and came all the way from Mildmay to join us. Children eagerly watched and explored as he set up his drum set, listened carefully as he explained his experience, danced along as he played, covered their ears during the loud parts (Rick encouraged this to preserve hearing if they felt it was too loud), and had a chance to play on their own.
Green Legacy has been visiting our school for a few years and dropping off seeds to plant in classrooms. Children plant the seeds, attend to their growth, and then the trees are sent back to the greenhouses at the end of the year to grow further and be distributed to the community. We have noticed a huge interest in this growth with the children. They were so excited when the trees began to sprout, some have been sketching their parts, and others have been comparing their height.
This interest led us to setting up a flower planting centre. Children were eager to "plant" flowers and create arrangements and eager to water and get their hands dirty.
Following this exploration, we spread grass seed into our soil to see what would happen. After a few days in the sunlight and with some careful watering, the children were thrilled to see the grass growing. We provided scissors to allow students to explore using their fine motor skills and, again, there was a great deal of measurement talk as it grew. Mrs. Armstrong worked with children to plan and track the growth of a variety of seeds making predictions about which would grow first.
We were lucky to have Mrs. LeGrow bring in some pussywillow branches when she was in as our guest ECE. Children were just as eager to explore these, to feel the buds, and to sketch their thinking as they observed. I was recently at a workshop where teacher Susan Stacey (author of the Unscripted Classroom) discussed drawing as "the lost art". She noted that children often say "I can't draw that" when faced with a new or complicated item or idea. By connecting to what children can already do (Well, branches look like lines and I know you know how to draw lines!), children are able to further extend their thinking. Within the language portion of the kindergarten curriculum, there is a big focus on using pictures to share learning and meaning.
We try to put out invitations to learn on a regular basis that combine the interests of the children with our kindergarten curriculum. Students were eager to explore properties of sticks that have been making their way into the classroom, create patterns on them using acrylic paint, form letters with the sticks, and work with Mrs. Diljee on a collaborative art project to create a decorative piece for our window. Children explore measurement and ordering of the sizes of sticks and one child was eager to count the bells.
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We've noticed a great deal of authentic writing happening in our classroom. A small group has taken an interest in re-writing familiar stories to make their own books. Other students create plans for their buildings and use rich oral language to explain the parts. One student made a list of paint colours she required while she waited her turn. It is wonderful to see children understanding that writing is meaningful and conveys messages regularly in our room.
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Below is some documentation of the written plan discussed above. It was amazing to sit and watch this small group consult and share their plan and use it to create their structure. The amount of measurement language used as they built was incredible and I was blown away by the problem solving they used when they were left with two blocks that were too short. You may notice in the documentation below that the children put vertical supports in to allow the shorter pieces to be used. This deep thinking occurs on a daily basis in our room and never ceases to amaze us!
Finally, we have been eager to get at our outdoor learning materials that we ordered a few months back. They are stored in the bunker outdoors for easy access and we have been thrilled with the outdoor learning taking place with these tools. They have really reinvigorated our excitement to be outdoors!
