Over the past couple weeks the children have been exploring shadows. This lead followed our exploration into rainbows and light. During our morning large group gathering time, educators decided to challenge the children to deepen thinking and learning (to “deficile”)
Educator: “What can you tell me about this picture?”
LittleMr. M:“The person …the shadow is holding the flower for the girl…but The shadow can’t hold the flower”
Educator:“How can that be? You know so much about shadows…so what more can you tell me?”
LittleMr. M: “If someone is walking and there is a little light reflecting…I think it’s someone’s shadow, it’s a boy”
Educator: “Why do you think it’s a boy?”
Little Mr. M: “..because it doesn’t have curly hair”
Little Mr. B: “I think it’s a picture of like a shadow of two people who are in love, the shadow is of a person behind the light”
Little Mr. J: “The girl is holding something and wearing a hat…like a boy, the girl does not have the same hat, it looks different..the hat. I don’t see the flower. I don’t know who’s shadow it is, I think the person is behind the bricks”
Little Miss. T: “That’s a girl and that’s a guy. It’s a guy because he has a hat, the shadow is giving a flower, I think she is holding the flower! The shadow is invisible and he’s over there (points in front of picture) because the light is reflecting off the wall. I think the guy is over there”
Little Mr. A: “It looks funny with the rose…cus of the face. It’s the girls shadow…its her shadow because the legs are long”
Little Mr. L: “Well…the girl didn’t have a shadow. The shadow doesn’t have the same…the legs are longer then the girl. The flower is here and the shadow is not holding the flower because shadows can’t hold flowers…only the girl. That’s somebody else’s shadow, I think that the person is in front of the shadow”
This rainbow appeared just outside the front doors of our school the week we were investigating rainbows!
While children were gathered for a story on the carpet two boys made an interesting discovery. The two boys attention is drawn from the story to the carpet and their shoes. They began pointing, shifting and quietly saying “look!” and “watch this”. The boys noticed a rainbow of colors had appeared flickering and moving from their shoes to the carpet with just simple movements of their bodies. The educator decides to take this opportunity to investigate their inquiry and find out the children’s thoughts. The first group conversation began like this;
Educator: “Wow! look at what C and J have found! Boys, why don’t you show your friends what you have discovered”
Little Mr. C: “Well…ummmm it’s a light on my shoe, look…see!”
Little Mr. J: “Ya…it’s colors and it goes on the carpet too”
Educator: “What do you think it might be?”
Little Mr. C: “It’s a rainbow!!”
Educator: “How do you know?”
Little Mr. M: “It’s a rainbow because it has red, orange, green yellow and indigo”
Educator: “Where do you think the rainbow is coming from?”
Little Mr. B: “Its coming from the frogs water see (child points our frog tank), the water is making the rainbow from outside”
Educator: “Those are some interesting thoughts and ideas, why don’t we find out!”
During the next few days small groups of interested children decide how they would like to research and find out more about rainbows. Some children choose to go to the library, while others decide to look on the internet. As more children begin to show an interested in rainbows, we decided to use this new inquiry/interest to plan and provide other learning experiences in the classroom over the next few weeks (careful not to mislead, this did not become a “theme” the classroom did at all times reflect other learning and play as well).
In our “Art Studio” opportunities to explore all painting tools and colors, crayons, and pastels are available for exploration. Sharing times are focused on various representations of rainbows created, as well as other learning. Children are encouraged to label colors, and print their name on their art work- based on their individual literacy skills to represent their learning.
The Light table becomes a place to build, create and pattern using different colored transparent blocks and color filter paddles. Crayons, paper and pencils are provided and children are encouraged to “make a plan” for their creations or record their patterns for sharing.
As the children continue gather their research into their inquiry, we were hoping the weather would co- operate and share a little sunlight that would allow for the children to play and experiment further, but no luck! The weather over the next few days was very cloudy, so we decided to use a science experiment found here- http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Rainbow (method 4- flashlight method) to help the children create their own rainbow!
The children loved the idea of making their own rainbow!! Each child participated and took their turn using the flashlight to shine light into the water and create their own rainbow on the ground! Some children ran into the light to see how that would affect the experiment, other children gently tried to catch the light in their hands sharing smiles as the light of colours landed on in their palm.
As we gathered at the end of the week we asked the children to share their learning and research as a group. Little Mr. C shared with his friends “the sun makes the rainbow”, little Mr. B adds “it’s only when it has been raining, cause the sunlight reflects off the drops of rain and makes the colours”.
To extend this learning even further, during “Spirit Week” at our school each individual class was asked to choose a colour to wear that would represent their class on December 17th. Participants from Kindergarten to Grade 8 were asked to came together in our front foyer to reflect, and offer Prayers to those who might be struggling over the Christmas holidays. To honour our virtue of hope and our inquiry into Rainbows our school created a formation using the children and their class color to create our very own “Rainbow of Hope”.
As the Christmas holiday are upon us we will be curious to see when we return if the children continue their interest into rainbows, what their new questions and wonderings might be and where the learning and play will take us next!
Stay tuned to see how we used this inquiry to promote learning into math and data management….
A discovery while playing with the train set sparked an interesting question. While in the block center two boys sat building with lego. An Educator sits closely, not to interrupt or disturb but just to listen. The boys were building what they described to be an “army tank”. Little Mr. J turns to his friend Little Mr. B and says “lets make a train track and then we can pick up the people in the army truck”. They began to put the train track pieces together, and when they had used the 9 pieces they choose, they put the trains together and began to pull the green train with the blue one. Moving quickly, the trains fell off the track and onto the floor. Little Mr. B picks up one train and attempts to put the trains back together, he notices quickly that they would not stick, so he turned the train around, quickly stuck them together and returned the two to the track, and resumed play. The Educator then enters the play and poses a question;
Educator: “I noticed you turned the train around, can you tell me why you did that?”
Little Mr. B: “oh, cuz they don’t stick”
Educator: “why do you think that might be?”
Little Mr. J: “well because one is blue and one is green, so they don’t stick together”
Educator: “hummm..thats an interesting thought, lets try two blue trains” (the boys now have two blue trains, and attempt to put them together)
Little Mr. J: “oh they are just sticky”
Little Mr. B: “umm, actually I learned this in Round Tree, you have to push them in really hard (he demonstrates with the two trains), you have to press with all of your might”
Educator: “well tell me, why do you think it is so easy to do on one side, but so tricky to do on the other side?”
Little Mr. B: “well….thats just something with north and south”
Educator: “you boys have some interesting ideas, how do you think we can find out?”
Little Mr. J: “We can look on the computer”
Together the children and the educator search for answers on the computer, and then take a walk to our school library to search for more information. As our play and inquiry time comes to an end, and the children tidy up their toys the class comes together for our sharing time. The educator asks the boys to show the class what they discovered, and as the boys hold up the trains to show them how they stick on one side, and not on the other, the educator asks the class what their thoughts are.
Little Mr. C: “Thats cuz the blue ones are sticky”
Educator: “Does anyone else have any other ideas?”
Little Miss. A: “Actually its because the blue ones like to stick!”
The small group inquiry will continue over the next few days, lets see what they find out!
We are so excited to share with you an anti bullying campaign our school embraced on Monday October 20th. The inspiration behind this idea was a story of a teenage girl from Alberta who took a stand against bullying by celebrating everyone using “…tiny uplifting messages”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zLteIn7IS0)
What began with a story of one girl quickly spread to every student and staff within our school. The buzz within the walls of our school was that of laughter, and joy. Children from Kindergarten to Grade 8 secretly positing positive post its to siblings, friends, peers, Educators and Administration. Classroom doors became a place that documented kind messages that lifted spirits and simply further inspired more to join in the fun! At every corner, throughout every hall children could be seen gathering, smiling, reading and sharing.
We ask you to share the Positive Post It Day Campaign and our story in hopes it inspires to join the fun. Lets help children further understand that positive creates more positive, and how one person can, so very simply, make all the difference in the lives of others!
A quote from Charles Pascal (Parent of the Full Day Kindergarten Program) shares for a quote for our website that beautifully highlights the team vision “…the kind of teamwork expected of the ECE/Teacher partnership. Founded on mutual respect for the equal and complementary gifts that each of you brings to the sandbox, you are creating something bigger than the the sum of these gifts for the sake of the kids…”
Tomorrow marks the date of the 5th and final phase for the Full Day Kindergarten Program. As educators prepare, set up and add final touches to the classroom, and curriculum plans, parents prepare their little ones for their first day of school.
Any educator with children remembers first hand just how worried and anxious you are to send your child off for their first day of school. So many uncertainties as you approach those gates or doors that lead to this new classroom and school environment. Will they be cared for? Will they make friends quickly? Is their teacher nice, warm, and welcoming? Is my child crying while Im not there? Is my child scared or uncomfortable in these new surroundings? All those who are familiar with the vision for the FDKP set out by the Province and Ministry know that parents are a vital part of our team. Help parents put their worries aside, build a relationship with the parents, and in turn the children by letting the parents in. As the children see their parent’s anxieties come down and they see a relationship beginning between their parent (a person they trust) and their new Educator, children will become more settled, responsive, respectful, and comfortable…and therefore ready to learn. Your parents can be a brilliant resource to a play/inquiry approach to teaching. For example, one of our parents in the past was a high school art teacher and offered to come in to give a lesson on painting still art to those children who were interested! So fun!!
At our school this year we have made some changes! My lovely teaching partner has decided to challenge herself by embracing our Moderate-Severe Special Needs classroom, with a natural environment and play/inquiry approach to teaching. I will not elaborate as Shirley would be the right person to speak to it, but please watch postings in the near future to see how it all unfolds…FDK and Special Needs come together, love it! so many possibilities!!
So we are officially beginning a brand new immediate team (Teacher and DECE) in FDK! Over the past few weeks we have been sharing successes, goals, challenges, schedules, flow of the day and curriculum strategies and found so many similarities to our approach. Our classroom is set, our weekly curriculum is prepared, and we are ready to build a community of learners!
Our team plan for the upcoming weeks includes, a clean slate classroom-the children will begin to co create with us, an eclectic arrangement of materials and resources, we plan to sit, to engage and get to know these new little people, to listen and assist…to be present. Being present and assess through play to find out where each child is and plan next steps, it also enables you to role model, sharing and problem solving strategies when needed. To build a community of learners that ask questions, and feel valued!
September 2010, I was blessed to walk into a classroom and meet an Administrator and co-Educator that would change my life forever! As I entered the school I would be directed to classroom on the second floor. St. Mary was an older building, over 50 years old, with a Church on the premises, trees and a small wooded area where children could play. The school itself was small, built into a hill, and I would soon realize in spite of its size, this school was all heart. I walked into the school, one day the week prior to the children returning after summer break. As I stood in the office, I was welcomed by my new Administrator, Patricia Peroni. As I followed into her into her office I immediately felt at ease, and all my anxieties and fears began to fade. Patti directed me to the stairs and gave me directions to my new classroom, where I would meet my new co educator, Shirley Silva. As I look back, I had no idea the amazing journey we would begin as a team from this point. I remember BLUE! the walls, the doors, and one long hallway that lead to the very last room in the school..that was now to be my new room. As I peeked inside, a smile would welcome me in and a greeting I will never forget. I had met my partner in crime, my side kick and other half in this FDK world, Shirley Silva. We began to chat about where we had come from, who we were and one of my very first questions for Shirley was “…soooo what is my role? Am I a T.A?” and her reply would change my life “no, you’re not a T.A., the vision for this program is that we take what you have and what I have..and we put it together!”. Over the years, as I would meet and talk with other teams, I would then realize what gift Shirley gave me that day, a voice!
She had validated my profession, and gave me the ability to bring what strengths I had as an Educator into our classroom, our school, and our Board.
The first month or so you could walk into our room and clearly see the roles divided. I was creating and sitting in centres, while Shirley met with groups. I was involved in play…while Shirley hit
curriculum expectations with the children directly. Then something amazing began to happen, as I began to understand and gain knowledge of the kindergarten expectations and began to watch this amazing teacher deliver guided reading, target and teach math strategies, Shirley began planning centres with me. We soon realized together that the expectations could be hit within the centres (for the most part, yet targeted learning was still required)….and all we needed to do was communicate and plan as a team. So we did, and then we began to listen…listen to the conversations, the questions and understandings of the children. We began to merge and create a curriculum plan each week that would validate and respond to the needs of the children, and weave in Kindergarten expectations.
We could truthfully write and go on forever about all the stories that brought us joy, tears, laughter, success, challenges and goals we had for our program, but nothing has been more clear to us over the past 4 years…the single most important aspect of our journey was the team! Team is the key to success in Full Day Kindergarten!! If you have the team (Administrator, DECE, Teacher and parents) the passion, and an understanding of the vision created by Dr. Charles Pascal and Dr. Stuart Shanker, you’re already on your way!
We would like to share with you a motto we created and would paint on our window each new year.
“Play a little…
Pray a little…
Sing a little…
Dance a little…
and laugh a lot…everyday!”
For more information about our team approach, including planning strategies for FDK from our Administrator perspective please visit our website!
For many of us, being the nature of the school system, at some point we must feel the affects of FDK divorce!
Divorce by definition;
– To cut off; separate or disunite:
– A separation between things which were or ought to be connected:
– any complete separation or disunion
…so there it is! by definition …I am divorced! 🙁 I don’t even like saying it…its like if I say it out loud it makes it real.
There is no doubt about it, there is sadness, feelings of loss, loss of a dream you created together…gezzz loss of a limb almost!! This person who has become your confidant, a partner and ultimately a friend is gone from my FKD life. No more bursts of laughter about that inside joke no one else understands, no more glances of “oh dear what now” after being vomited on…gone, all gone.
So now what?
The divorce has been decided so now begin the questions….who gets custody of the children?
how do we divide our assets? (from a home you have built together)
and those are just some of the questions that represent the past…what about the future.
Not only am I divorced..but I need to get re-married (an arranged marriage of sorts) right away. No time to mourn the loss…get up, dust yourself off and move forward. Once again, more questions;
Does my new partner embrace a team approach?
What must I do to ensure the success of this new program?
Reality is 5 days a week, 7 (waking) hours a day, and planning on the side – with 25-29 children, seriously more spent awake time spent with my FDK partner then my spouse at home. Yet with all these questions and uncertainties, I know and clearly remember how fabulous it can be. I know if there is respect for one another, and understand what we each bring to the sandbox, success will follow.
So heres to a new year, a new journey and a new team partner and co educator! Jane I am so glad its you!!! lets just take this one step at a time! 🙂
Every Full Day Kindergarten Program is different, and should reflect the children and both educators in the classroom. The room should feel like an extension of home for children and educators (this mind set will help you to choose colours you may want to paint on bulletin boards etc.). Each September should begin as a “clean slate”. Natural colours, natural resources and light. It will be the learning, the inquiries, and the children’s creations that will document the learning experiences throughout the year and decorate your room.
A classroom resource list could include;
– plants
– baskets
– table cloths
– curtains (if needed)
– fabrics and materials throughout – cozy corners, reading nooks etc
– natural stones
– mirrors
– candles (battery operated from dollar store work well)
– reflective stones
– ribbon
– light table (light table materials)
– washable placemats- for creative and/or sensory experiences
– outdoor materials- pine cones, acorns, branches etc (please keep in mind any allergies present in your room to maintain safety of all children)
– framed pictures of children and educators with their families (adds comfort and sense of belonging)
– recycled materials for all-purpose use and creativity within play (toilet rolls, bottle corks, pop can tabs…the options are endless)
– when ordering manipulatives, toys etc, choose natural! (wooden blocks, stainless steel kitchen utensils), not to eliminate plastic completely, but make “real” choices.
This list could go on endlessly! Please try and work alongside your teams next door or within your school, do not get doubles of everything, share resources!! This will make storage and clutter more manageable in each room.
* These materials and resources may or may not be covered by your start up budget, if you are buying with your own money, please take it slow…you do not have to spend hundreds of dollars to have it all in September, connect with your local community establishments, garage sales and build on what you have slowly.
* Pinterest has fabulous ideas shared by Educators everywhere: keywords- “Reggio classrooms”
We had been playing outside first thing in the morning and the children were noticing their shadows – against the wall their shadows were shorter than themselves, on the ground they were long… They were trying to step on each other’s shadows…
When we came inside, we talked about this interest and wanted to see where it might go. We quickly googled shadow images and threw this image up on the smart board as the children entered the classroom. We thought that it would be fun and maybe challenge their thinking a little. But nobody seemed to notice the discrepancy in the photo. This was confusing to us. There were a few that thought the lines in the background were cool but that was it. So we said nothing and just carried on as usual. After a bit, we heard some children pointing out the photo and we let them talk. It took about 5 minutes before most of the children really noticed that these were not true shadows of the people in the foreground. We’re thinking this is strange because it is so obvious to us. Maybe they don’t know as much as we think they know about shadows. Hmmm. A provocation to begin our day. 🙂
Networking is key! It is amazing how much we can learn from each other. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to meet so many Educators embracing the Full Day Kindergarten Program. These encounters leave us feeling rejuvenated, eager, and excited to try new things.
We love sharing, communicating our successes, goals, struggles and excitement as we embrace this new way of teaching. Today we welcomed eight educators in different stages of FDK. Four educators beginning their journey into phase 5, and four up to three years in.
A big thank you to the lovely ladies who met with us today, and to our friend Kristen for putting this together.
Photos of our classroom shared by a learning team, Kristen and Gemma.Our learning environment
