CREATING A FOCUS -
The teachers helped the children focus on the topic of our bodies in several ways. First, the dramatic play area was turned into a doctor's office. Second, a 2-D plastic skeleton was used for crayon rubbings, and observational drawings. Lastly, we shared stories and stocked the class library with interesting fiction and non-fiction books about bodies.
LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE TOPIC OF STUDY -
At first we studied what we could see on our bodies. We noticed we all had feet and they were of various sizes. We made a bar chart of our foot size. We thought bar graphs were so awesome we did one for hair color to find most people had brownish hair! (how we did this is in the attached document that details our learning journey)
The Coutts Library really motivated ideal learning conditions in our class by borrowing us their anatomical models of a heart, skull, brain, skeleton etc. These helped us to think about what was inside our bodies, and helped us to better understand the diagrams we found in our books.
The dramatic play area changed so the children could doctor babies, thus changing the dynamic in that area. The children really loved learning about the heart and bones. Videos were watched - one about how the heart works, and another documenting a girl growning during the first twelve years of her life.
An expert, Dr. Patrick McKenna from Chiropratic on Whyte, brought in a bag full of adult bones and shared the following information about bones: inside bones is where blood is made, bones protect softer parts of the body, bones grow while a child sleeps, and bones get stronger with good healthy food and exercise. The children LOVED learning with "Dr. Pat" and enjoyed sharing with him their binders, favorite books, the doctor's office, and our collection of mysterious bones.
Children were also challenged to bring in a show-and-share item that related to the body. This was so EXCITING! We had a body puzzle, a stethoscope, a drawing, a photo of a newborn baby sister, and ultrasound photo, and a doctor's kit etc. WOW!!
The children decided they wanted to have their bodies traced on paper and then created a list of items they may wish to represent on their bodies. The list included: skin, eyes, bones, brain, knees, fingernails etc. Then each child had two opportunities to work on their paper body, using felts and craft supplies to represent their understandings. A teacher was always nearby to write down their comments and label their markings.
At first we studied what we could see on our bodies. We noticed we all had feet and they were of various sizes. We made a bar chart of our foot size. We thought bar graphs were so awesome we did one for hair color to find most people had brownish hair! (how we did this is in the attached document that details our learning journey)
The Coutts Library really motivated ideal learning conditions in our class by borrowing us their anatomical models of a heart, skull, brain, skeleton etc. These helped us to think about what was inside our bodies, and helped us to better understand the diagrams we found in our books.
The dramatic play area changed so the children could doctor babies, thus changing the dynamic in that area. The children really loved learning about the heart and bones. Videos were watched - one about how the heart works, and another documenting a girl growning during the first twelve years of her life.
An expert, Dr. Patrick McKenna from Chiropratic on Whyte, brought in a bag full of adult bones and shared the following information about bones: inside bones is where blood is made, bones protect softer parts of the body, bones grow while a child sleeps, and bones get stronger with good healthy food and exercise. The children LOVED learning with "Dr. Pat" and enjoyed sharing with him their binders, favorite books, the doctor's office, and our collection of mysterious bones.
Children were also challenged to bring in a show-and-share item that related to the body. This was so EXCITING! We had a body puzzle, a stethoscope, a drawing, a photo of a newborn baby sister, and ultrasound photo, and a doctor's kit etc. WOW!!
The children decided they wanted to have their bodies traced on paper and then created a list of items they may wish to represent on their bodies. The list included: skin, eyes, bones, brain, knees, fingernails etc. Then each child had two opportunities to work on their paper body, using felts and craft supplies to represent their understandings. A teacher was always nearby to write down their comments and label their markings.
CELEBRATING OUR LEARNING JOURNEY BY SHARING WITH OTHERS
At our Celebration of Learning the children shared their work with their parents and grandparents.
Our three directors enjoyed viewing the chidren's work before they met the Lead Teacher for a meeting.
Hopefully next week, the Coutts Librarians, our JK Administration, and Dr. Randy Wimmer will visit so the children can provide guided tours.
Interested in learning more? Read or view the learning story for the body inquiry attached below.
At our Celebration of Learning the children shared their work with their parents and grandparents.
Our three directors enjoyed viewing the chidren's work before they met the Lead Teacher for a meeting.
Hopefully next week, the Coutts Librarians, our JK Administration, and Dr. Randy Wimmer will visit so the children can provide guided tours.
Interested in learning more? Read or view the learning story for the body inquiry attached below.
body_inquiry_learning_story_november_2015.docx |