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"PLAY IS OUR BRAIN'S FAVORITE WAY OF LEARNING." DIANE ACKERMAN
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WELCOME TO the PS1P BLOG |
"PLAY IS OUR BRAIN'S FAVORITE WAY OF LEARNING." DIANE ACKERMAN
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Last week we started the 2nd Line of Inquiry, Places where water is found. During morning meeting we began brainstorming the ideas about where water is found with the teacher writing them down. We came up with the following:
We recalled our previous experience when we explored how people use water, when we walked around the school campus and looked at how water was being used. We decided once again to go for a walk around school, this time to see where water is found beyond the places on our list. As we passed the school canal, the gurgling sound of water drew our attention and we went closer to explore it. The children were introduced to the stream as a small river. The children tried to float small leaves and twigs in it. As we watched how the objects moved in the current, we wondered where they were going, so we followed the stream, listening to the different water sounds until we came to the place where the water disappeared into a big pipe. Now, other questions emerged, including ‘What happens to the water when it goes through the pipe?’ and ‘Where does it go?’ We left these inquiries open and kept walking until we came to the empty pond that is currently under some maintenance work. The children remembered that the last time we came here we saw some frogs, fish and bugs but now there were none. When we returned to the classroom, we invited the children to experiment with making a stream. We went out to our front playground in small groups and began experimenting using a hose to let water run like a small stream. Stones and twigs helped the children to manage and direct the flow. They enjoyed watching where and how far the water went. The children worked with great focus on their project, adding sand to try to block the current or clearing the way. Some of the children were intrigued by the swirling of the water and some observed how the water flow was now separating in two new streams. The next day, to reinforce the concept of streams and rivers as natural sources of water. We showed the children a satellite image of the Dvina river in Russia and used the ‘See Think Wonder’ thinking routine. The children were asked first what they had seen on the picture, then what they thought about it, and finally, what wonderings they had. See
Think
Wonder
We explained to the children that these lines were many different tributary rivers and streams running to the White Sea. This new information led to another wondering; ‘Why do they run?’. To help the children learn about the basic structure of rivers and streams, we read a book called ”Sources of Water” by Rebecca Olien. Then in small groups went outside to continue experimenting with making a stream. Finally, we took some time together to reflect and share impressions about our two-days worth of experimentation. We discussed how water flows more easily if it goes downhill and that this is how streams and rivers flow to the sea.
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