Making Connections

When the children started to compare their creations they were using the idea of measurement. The children were using the mirror and markings to see whose creation was taller than the mark. Another child was using sticks and small pebbles and started to create a pattern. Stick, pebble, stick, pebble. The children dropped the idea of measurement and their interests sparked in patterning. I was amazed to see on Darla Myers Pinterest board a great collaborative experience her students were encountering.Her Pinterest board can be found at http://www.pinterest.com/darlamyers/ I knew that the natural materials will help spark the children’s interests into creating a pattern.

One child said “what are you making?” The other child replied “it’s a pattern! You can help me!” A group of children worked to create a collaborative pattern using the sticks and pebbles from the outdoor walk. According to the Full Day Kindergarten Document the children were able to identify, create, reproduce, and extend repeating patterns through investigation, using a variety of materials (FDELK 2011, P4.1, p.109). One child told me that he noticed the floor tiles in our classroom made a pattern as well! White, blue, white, blue. He was able to identify and describe informally the repeating nature of patterns in everyday contexts (FDELK 2011, P4.2, p.110). 

When I walked over to the window I noticed two students lining up the rocks, sticks and branches in a row. I was curious to see what they were creating. The child looked up at me and said “I am measuring to see which is longer”. I then asked him “how will you know which material is longer?” He responded “if it moves past the shadow than it’s longer!” I was amazed to see how the child was using the natural light in order to measure the materials. According to the mathematical domain the child was able to demonstrate, through investigation, an awareness of non-standard  measuring  devices using the shadow as a guide (FDELK 2011, M2.2, p.104).

 The whole group of children went over to see what the student had created and noticed that measurement was a spark in their interests. The children started gathering materials from the classroom and discussing with themselves ideas. I decided to sit back and let the magic of constructivist learning take place. The children gathered the materials from the classroom they found and lined them up on the carpet. I noticed they were lining up the materials from shortest to longest. According to the math domain the children compared and ordered two or more objects according to an appropriate measure of length (shortest to longest) (FEDLK 2011, M1.2, p 103). In the math domain the children also were able to sort, classify, and compare objects and describe the attributes used (FDELK 2011, DM5.1, p.110). This was seen as they sorted the objects from shortest to longest.

 One child then put his markers into the shape of a square. He looked at the other markers sitting beside him and made them into the shape of a triangle. One child looked towards the shapes and said “Wow I can make those with the clay so we can see whose is bigger!” The boy replied “yes lets both make them out of clay, but let’s have them standing up!” The child then replied “how will we do this?” He then said “We can use the toothpicks to make them stand!” In the art domain the children used problem-solving skills and their imagination to create visual art forms by using the toothpicks to create a three-dimensional structure stable (FDELK 2011, V3.1, p.154).It was amazing to see how the children were able to problem solve and create their own learning. In the language domain the children were able to listen and respond to others for a variety of purposes and while solving a math problem; in an imaginary/exploratory play (FDELK 2011, 1.2, p.73).

According to the math domain the children were able to compose pictures, and build designs, shapes, and patterns, using two-dimensional shapes, and decompose two-dimensional shapes into smaller shapes, using various tools or strategies (FDELK 2011, G3.3, p.107). The children were also able to build three-dimensional structures using a variety of materials and begin to recognize the three-dimensional figures their structure contains (FDELK 2011, G3.4, p.107). This was a great learning experience to see the children engage in and made connections across the Full Day Kindergarten Document along with the mathematical domain.