Observations

It was great to see how the big idea of balance emerged into making connections across the mathematics, emotional, language, art, and science domains.

The children were discussing with each other which marker was their favourite colour. When I overheard this I decided it would be a great way to introduce graphing with the children.We all got to the carpet to discuss what our favourite colour marker was. I explained to them that when I ask this question we are taking a poll together which can help us determine which colour is liked best. One child noticed as we were creating the graph that we were measuring which colour was liked best. I was pleased to see how the children were able to make the connections through the curriculum. In the mathematical domain the children collect objects and data and make representations of their observations, using concrete graphs (FDELK 2011, DM5.2, p.111). The children also respond to and pose questions about data collection and graphs (FDELK 2011, DM5.3, p.111). Together the children were able to respond and notice that red was the most liked colour and dark blue was the least voted. 

The children also were telling me what their favourite big ideas of math were, some said balance, some said measuring objects, and some said sorting and graphing was fun. Either way the children enjoyed their learning and they directed their engagement, interests, and knowledge. In the emotional domain the children were able to express their thoughts on the mathematical learning and share their experiences  (FDELK 2011, 1.3, p.62).

Together we were able to make documentation for the children to refer to and allow them to spark more inspiration and interests!