Carrot Inquiry--Part Two

"The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery."

~Mark van Doren

Over the past week, the students and I have been discovering answers to our inquiry questions about carrots. We confirmed some theories, began a few experiments, gave our creative energies a workout and honed fine motor skills.  We aren't finished yet, however.  Here is a sampling of what we have been up to.

After discussing the properties of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes, we examined a tray full of carrots from our garden.  Then, we created a graph to show what shape we thought most of the carrots were.  We analyzed the data and watched a short video, which confirmed our results.

The activity below didn't answer any of our inquiry questions, but it did allow us to practice one of our state standards.  The children weighed and measured carrots to determine which were the heaviest, longest, etc. 

These videos show interviews with some of the students using the same materials.  I love how their thinking becomes visible as they work! 

The students used ultra-fine Sharpie markers to draw carrots in detail and then painted them using liquid watercolor paints. 

One of the students' favorite activities was getting to peel carrots.  They would have done this all day long if I would have let them!

We made torn paper carrots and labeled the parts. This covered another state standard: I can name the parts of plants.

The students wanted to know what the top of the carrot was called.  We planted carrot tops to see what would happen and put them in our kindergarten greenhouse, which was purchased by our PTA.  After a few days, the students observed that stems and leaves were growing out of the carrots.  This was confirmed by a book we read called Carrots Grow Underground. I have never planted the top of a carrot, so this was a really neat experiment for me! 

We read the following books:

We also watched another video about carrots, which helped us find the answers to a few more of our questions. This week, we will be wrapping up our inquiry by planting carrot seeds in our Root-Vue Farm and making carrot-applesauce muffins. I also made some carrot cake play-doh for the students to explore using their senses. Finally, my challenge will be to create documentation panels to show the thinking that was made visible and the answers they discovered. In the future, I would like to create the panels as we go, but since this was my first classroom inquiry project I put it off to the end in order to focus on the steps of inquiry and to hone my skills.

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Carrot Inquiry--Part One

CARROTS!  CARROTS!  CARROTS!

At our school, we are blessed with a beautiful nature center. 

We are even allowed to have our own classroom garden plots. Last spring, my class planted carrots and field corn.

Wanting my students to get a taste of the inquiry process, I thought a teacher-led inquiry about carrots would be a wonderful place to start. 

First, I shared the book Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens.  It is a funny story about a lazy bear and a cunning hare, which indirectly introduces children to parts of plants.

Following the story, I brought my class out to our nature center.  I asked them to tell me what they noticed in our garden plot.  Many noticed the corn right away and a few noticed leaves (from the carrots). One student even shouted out, "Carrots!"

Next, I asked them how they could find out what plant the leaves belonged to.  A few started bending down and pulling on them.  This proved to be harder than they thought.  Soon enough, however, the first person discovered a carrot and pandemonium ensued! The look on the child's face was priceless.  Soon, all the children were frantically trying to pull carrots out of the ground.  When it proved difficult for some, classmates offered tips and assistance.  It was wonderful to see this display of teamwork, a skill often underdeveloped in our current educational system.

The next day, I read the book I Wonder by Annaka Harris.

This a wonderful story about what it means to wonder. One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "It's okay to say, I don't know... When we don't know something, we get to wonder about it!"

I asked my students to tell me what the do know about carrots, and we came up with this list:

From there, I asked them to tell me what they wonder about carrots.  I made a web with from their thoughts.

Knowing that identifying parts of plants is one of our kindergarten science standards, I had the students identify where they were in relation to the learning goal--a 1 meaning they didn't know much about plants; a 2 meaning they new some parts, but not all; a 3 meaning they could name all the parts of a plant; and a 4 meaning they could name all the parts and tell what they do.  This was the first time we had talked about learning targets and how to think about where we are in relation to them, so I had to walk a few students through the process.  In the end, our chart looked like this.

With the students' questions in mind, I went home and mapped out possible activities and resources we could use to find answers.  I included books and videos as well.  My map looks like this:

Finally, on the back of my web, I highlighted all the state standards I thought I could cover during this inquiry.

This week, the students will engage in activities which will allow them to find answers to their questions.  In my next blog, I will share pictures of what we discovered and created, and examples of problems we solved.

Exploring with Loose Parts

When hearing the term "loose parts," one tends to think of the pieces left over after putting together a new toy or piece of furniture. While this may be the case, loose parts are also an important part of an early childhood curriculum.

Loose parts is not a new concept. In fact, it has been around since the early 1970's, when British architect  Simon Nicholson coined the term to describe open-ended materials that can be used and manipulated in many ways (Nicholson, "How NOT to Cheat Children, the Theory of Loose Parts", 1971). Nicholson believed that creativity was not for the gifted few and that all children are born as creative beings, curious about the world and excited to experiment and discover new things. Loose parts allow students entry into the learning experience regardless of ability. Because of this, they are a valuable learning tool.

How many times have you heard a parent make the comment, "My child was more interested in the box and ribbons that the toy came in than the toy itself?" This is because most toys have one purpose and once that purpose has been realized children often lose interest. With loose parts, there are infinite possibilities to create, think critically, problem solve and explore. From an educational standpoint, these are worthwhile skills, especially given the fact that we are preparing children for jobs in the future that may not even exist yet. In addition, often children work alongside other children while playing with loose parts, building social skills and learning to work as a member of a team.

The Academic Value in Loose Parts

In the age of state and national standards, it is important to note that loose parts play supports the acquisition of academic skills and knowledge. Simply watch a child explore loose parts and you will see them creating patterns, sorting, counting, measuring, combining and separating and classifying--all essential math skills. Watch them arrange loose parts into wonderful artistic creations as they display their creativity and learn about the way colors, shapes and textures work together--concepts covered within the art curriculum. Witness a child stack rocks, boxes, boards and other materials and you will see him/her learn about the physical properties of objects and how they relate to one another.  As a child explores loose parts in an indoor or outdoor environment, he/she learns about scientific concepts, without ever touching a worksheet!  Children can manipulate loose parts to retell or act out a favorite story. Simply engaging in the act of conversation with other children and adults while manipulating loose parts leads to enhanced language development.  

When children are encouraged to use loose parts and try their own ideas, they are driven to learn. They are driven to not only ask their own questions, but also discover their own answers and create new possibilities. A child's play with loose parts even begins to match their developing skill level (Daly and Beloglovsky, Loose Parts, Inspiring Play in Young Children, 2015). 

Putting the Theory of Loose Parts to the Test

Armed with knowledge gained from reading the book, Loose Parts, Inspiring Play in Young Children, I decided to put the Theory of Loose Parts to the test.  When setting up my classroom, I included provocations with loose parts and waited to see what would happen.  It didn't take long. During our Meet the Teacher Conferences, children were invited to explore the room while I met with their parents. Time and time again, the children were drawn to the tables with the loose parts, often stopping to manipulate them along their way.  

We have now had two days of school. My students have been rotating through different areas in the room to become familiar with the materials presented, preparing them to make independent choices during our twice daily discovery times. In all the craziness of the first days of school, I was able to snap a few pictures, although not as many as I would have liked.  

Aren't these self portraits the cutest? I love how the girl in the top picture matched her beautiful blue eyes and added the adorable red bow in her blond hair. The girl on the bottom has blondish-brown hair--just like it is shown here.

 "Mrs. Zeidler, come look at my guinea pig! It is just like my guinea pig at home. It is golden colored and has a black eye right here (pointing to eye)" I asked her what the two beads on top were and she said, "Its bones that stick up there."

I am not sure if you can see it from this angle, but this boy stacked tree cookies to represent each number. We begin our first math unit next week and it focuses on sets.  The learning target is, "I can represent numbers using objects." Do you think this child has already mastered that skill? Oh, yes! Don't worry, I, too, noticed the reversals with the 1, 4, and 9. Relax, it is only day two, people!

This is what the loose parts math provocation looked like. Very open-ended, as you can see.

Check out the way this student chose to use the materials. What a great way to practice fine motor skills! And...he counted them after he finished--without prompting!

One student to the other: "Look, it can be a garden!

This one made me laugh, because these materials were not even set out yet. They were in a basket on a shelf. Children have the best eyes! "Mrs. Zeidler, Look!" (as he holds the two half circles with the ball inside and cracks them against the table, opening them) "An egg!"

I am not sure I can technically call these loose parts, because they are commercially prepared pieces that I have in a basket at the light table, but I am going to anyway--mostly because of the exuberant scream coming from the girl working there. "Mrs. Zeidler, Mrs. Zeidler, come look at my letter G!"

I honestly don't think I have heard so many, "Mrs. Zeidler, come look" comments made in a 20 minute period as I did during this introduction to discovery time. You tell me, would you rather have your students spend their days completing worksheets?  I know my answer...

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