Children as scientists

Children in the Rainbow Room (4) have been talking about bones and bodies ever since Classmate X. broke his foot. They have come to the studio a couple of times with their teacher Cris. In talking to them, we are trying to figure out how to support them, and to do that, we need to find out what their intention is in this exploration. Our hypothesis right now is that the children are forming understandings about systems within our bodies.

"A broken foot. This part (on the side with the toes) is the broken part. That is the part that hurts. The other part is o.k."

On this day, I reminded the children that in our last conversation (about veins), they told me that veins are connected to our hearts, and that we looked for where we could see our own veins. 

Gabriella said "You have to wear socks to keep your veins warm. My Daddy told me if you don't wear socks, your veins will disappear."
Then R. said "If you swallow a seed, a plant will grown inside your body." Can we draw that? I said. 

drawing a girl with a flower growing in her belly

thinking about it

"If you have a flower growing in your belly, then when you sneeze, it will come out of your nose"

 

next up; where does love come from?

a new book!

I am very excited that I have a chapter in this book, which is my article on the forest from Voices of the Practitioners. Lot's of great stuff here for you to check out if you are interested in teacher-research...
Our Inquiry, Our Practice
"Through teacher research, teachers engage in the systematic study of their own practice to answer questions they have about teaching and learning, and their own effectiveness. This book explores what teacher research in the early childhood setting looks like, why it is important to the field of early childhood education, and how teacher educators can support it. Including articles from NAEYC’sVoices of Practitioners online journal, Our Inquiry, Our Practice offers a theoretical framework as well as lively accounts of teacher research in action."
On March 9 if you are near Hampton Virginia, you could go to the VAECE conference and see "Conducting, Supporting and Publishing Early Childhood Research" at 2:00. I will be presenting along with Dr. Gail Perry and Leah Muccio of NAEYC.

Making a wooden Ferris wheel chair

After the children made their wire Ferris wheel chair, they found it was the right size, but noticed that the metal wire wasn't very comfortable to sit on. They had also decided that they wanted to paint the chairs with themes ("star wars and race car for the boys, butterfly and unicorn for the girls."). They decided that the wire chair was "just a plan", and that they would make a real chair out of wood.

B. measured the wire Ferris wheel chair and found that it was 34, which J wrote down
so no one would forget.

measuring 34

measuring and marking

goggles ready

sawing to 34

Here are some questions going forward:

How will the children "bend" the wood to make the seat and back?
When they notice that the measurements aren't precise (all the 34's aren't the same size), will the children want to make modifications?

and a big question; Does this method of figuring things out with woodworking lead to understanding of the underlying structures of things? Nancy, Robyn and I can provide scaffolding around specific things, but mostly we are letting the children do the thinking here. I have seen this method lead to understanding with observational drawing and other 3d media, so it seems like it would be the same here. Stay tuned!

Tinker Wall

 

All year long we have been talking about making some kind of a system for tinkering, so that the pieces are there for children to play with. Hopefully after the children have a chance to experiment and make discoveries with the pieces we make, they will begin to make and add elements of their own. This 'tinkering wall' is a prototype for a larger one we hope to install outside soon.

"We're doing hard work", they said

more signs

The Rainbow room has been thinking more about signs. The teachers noticed that one day, everyone was talking at once at circle, and no one could hear Gabriella's story. Could their be a sign that would help with this problem? We all talked about that and the children decided that they could make a sign that said 'be patient' so people would remember to wait to talk. I reminded the children that not everyone can read words. What they could draw that would mean 'be patient'?

 

 When I suggested we find a picture for the signs, D. told us he thought that it would be a good idea "to challenge the younger children with words".

people who are fishing by Juliet

The next day I went back to the Rainbow room with a long piece of paper so the children could draw their ideas, which I think are brilliant...

people in a rocket by Tanner

3 dogs waiting at a window by Xander

a school by Emory

School by Finley

A guy thinking about a rock by Duke

Kitty High Chair -next steps

Today when I came in, our wonderful "building man" Pippin had constructed a model of a high chair from one of the childrens plans. I brought it to their circle so they could talk about it. The teachers noticed some problems with the design, but would the children?

At circle, the children thought it was funny when we set the baby doll in the chair, and it would topple over!

After circle a group of children came back to the studio to draw their ideas for how to make the chair better.

C thinks the chair should be shorter

observing and drawing in the studio

explaining the plan

measuring to see how to make the chair shorter

"Make it much taller" (B. also added cat toys and a scratching post)

J showed how he would ad another side piece just like the first one,
 and a wide piece of wood to sit on. 

"Pippin should make blocks to hold up the bottom of the legs.
That will stable it."

             

Next I think I will make longer legs to see if the chair is more functional...and then maybe we will draw some chairs to see if that helps the children understand and represent more about "chair-ness". J is the only one who seems to have a mental picture of how a chair has to be constructed in order to work right. I wonder if he will be interested in observing and learning how to draw a chair?