Showing Our Knowledge

On our Staff Professional Development day, the Nest teachers met to document our work with children as researchers. When asked what the biggest challenge was in helping children with research, we replied, "They cannot read or write yet!" 

We discussed the different avenues we use with children for gaining information: fiction and non-fiction books, expert visitors, real world observations, field trips, the internet. 
As the Rocks Class gathers its thinking about birds, I have started color coding the sources we use to help us track where this information comes from. We want children to see how many diverse sources of knowledge they can access... not only an iPhone. 

As I made the web, one child asked, "Why are you making all that writing?" The children are not able to express their knowledge through writing so we look for other "languages" or media to show their learning.

Today when the children began making nests using the Kapla blocks, we looked at a photograph online to see where a duck makes its nest. We learned that some birds nest on, or next to, water. 

Everyone looked at a non-fiction book and two models to inform their drawings of a pigeon. 

We set our ladybugs free in the park. For the children, this has been an unforgettable real world observation of the life cycle of an insect. 

We opened clay one final time and the students showed their knowledge of insects by making a clay ladybug with three body parts and six legs.

Even our jigsaw puzzles are informative!

"It needs two antennae."

Your children are doing the work of researchers.