All about cars

I'm taking some time, this Memorial Day weekend, to write about the fun we have been having with our "Auto Repair" theme for the past many weeks.  All year long, the children have shown a lot of interest in cars, and, since spring break, I have been weaving this car theme into everything we do.

I want to document how I threw myself into 

this exploration, 

this theme, 

this inquiry, 

this emergent curriculum topic, 

letting the children's interests be my guide.  

Additionally, I hope to show how, throughout the fun, I intentionally wove in math, literacy, science, and social skills.  I am more convinced than ever that this is the way children should be taught - with their own interests at the core of their learning.

Now, I am wrestling with my longest blog post ever!!!

Thanks to my college pal Dale and her Chevy dealership, we had some awesome display signs for the dramatic play corner!  Add in a trip to a thrift store, where I spent $20.00 on a multitude of small toy cars, and the Big Cats Auto Repair had begun.  

The children were delighted with the bin of small cars (believe it or not, we had upwards of 100 small cars!).  For days, they made sets, patterns, groups, lines...all the while counting, how many did they have in all?  We look for patterns – all cars, all racecars, all trucks, all SUVs.  

We tried to count all our cars.  We put the cars end to end and went around the circumference of our large table; we had enough cars to create a second ring. 

For a couple of weeks, there was sand in the sensory table, and exactly 20 cars, with a taped parking spot on the table’s edge, for each car.  The children have loved counting these - and often wouldn't let us put the lid on the table until all the cars were back in their places.  As is true of most three and four year olds, some of the trickiest numbers to remember are 11, 12, 13, and that elusive number 15 (I believe it is the most forgotten number of all).  Our abundance of cars has allowed the children to work, work, work at understanding these larger numbers...over and over again, in an authentic, playful way.

Another math activity has been measuring the distances our cars go.  This has also included a lot of science fun, as we set up ramps in various locations and compared the distances the cars went.  First, we used skateboard ramps to test speed and distance of our cars, making predictions and measuring the results.

We also designed our own ramps using wood moulding, blocks,  and other odds and ends. We played around with the slant or angle of the ramps and the driving surface (carpet versus tile).  All the while, the children would tape off which car went how far, and measure the distance in various ways (their footsteps, small blocks, and measuring tapes).

One day, we painted our small cars, detailing them just as we liked.

I was impressed with the focus and attention each car received.  

We had many sensory explorations - including taking these very same newly painted vehicles and introducing them to an impromptu car wash in the sensory table!  So long, tempera!

Regularly, we are pressing small cars in Gak.  Can we cover the car entirely?  Can you guess how many cars are hiding in our Gak?

It wouldn't be my classroom, if we didn't try a bit of engineering!  This time, our influence was the book If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen.  Here, the narrator imagines the super powers and extras he would design into his dream car.  We set out to do the same.  First, we drew our designs:

We spent several days engineering our own small cars with special powers, and each of us wrote our own descriptions.  [In a separate post, I'll share the children's engineering efforts and their vivid descriptions of the powers that their individual cars have - there's no way I should add any more length to this post!]  Once again, engineering provided a playful, engaging opportunity for the children to challenge themselves cognitively, literately, mathematically, and physically (fine motor). 

There have been so many great opportunities for increasing literacy with this theme.  Certainly, our engineering efforts involved a lot of literacy as the children told great stories to describe their car's powers.  Additionally, we've been reading lots of great books about cars, including - 

The Life of a Car by Susan Steggall,

Crashed, Smashed, and Mashed : a Trip to Junkyard Heaven by

Joyce Slayton Mitchell, and

Cars and How They Go by Joanna Cole.

In my last blogpost, I shared how we went on a walk through the neighborhood to look at traffic signs and then came back and created our own.  The children loved this exploration.  You can see so much about a child's fine motor and literacy skills in these playful efforts.  

One on-going effort in our room is our alphabet wall about cars and auto repair.  We brainstormed everything we knew about cars on a large whiteboard in the classroom, sorting the words by their first letters.  The children are really excited by how many words they were able to brainstorm - and we continue to add to the word list with each new book or discussion that we have.  Truly, auto repair has continued to make our classroom "literacy rich"!

Try as I might, there is no way to list all the fun things we have been doing with cars.  One on-going activity is “tape roads” that we make all over the Gathering carpet, and then the children race small cars on these.  The children are mapping out the roads - thinking about how cities are made.  They build homes and city buildings all over.

Every day, they build many, many houses for our cars, all shapes and sizes, all sorts of stories to go along with them.
This is where the Green Lantern lives.  
This is a police house.  
I have lots of cars in my garage.
A princess pony lives here.

In the midst of all these cars, blocks, and creativity, we've had some tremendous social-emotional learning.  At one point, the big box of cars led to frequent arguments over who got which car, who had too many cars, and other contentious preschooler issues.  To the children's surprise and chagrin, I put the bin of cars away for a couple days.  During this time of deprivation, we brainstormed ways that we might use the cars more successfully.  These were great discussions!  For me, this is the heart of teaching at the preschool level - helping children develop the self-regulation skills to get along with one another.  At one whole group gathering, we did a "guided discovery" with the cars and the ramps, working together to see how they might be used best.  We playfully dramatized some of the arguments and sharing struggles that might occur.  The children suggested:

• if someone throws a car, ramp, or other thing,
• if someone hurts somebody else, or
• if someone is yelling loudly,

then, that child will take a break from the cars.  They have lost the privilege of playing with the small cars for awhile.  Since this group problem-solving, we have had very successful days with the cars, ramps, and blocks.  I've overheard children tell one another, when someone grabs a toy - "You need to take a break." These preschoolers are amending their ways!  This is great social learning.

But let's not forget how much true fun and dramatic play the preschoolers are having!  As detailed in an earlier post, we made one large classroom car – which we can get in and out of.  

[We still haven’t figured out the roof, but we’re trying.  This past week, we painted the car a multitude of colors - "like a rainbow."]

I originally hoped to suspend this large car from the ceiling in our auto repair corner, to pretend to fix it.  However, we are enjoying playing in the car much too much!  We have pretended to drive to California, North Carolina, and New York City.  We bring our laptops, our “playstations,” our cell phones, our money.  We've have pretended to be Mom, Dad, Uncle Doug, baby sister.  The stories go on and on. There is so much to do with a make-believe car!  

The learning will continue for a couple more weeks...our school year ends on June 15th.  I think it is clear that a lot of academics have occurred through this emergent and playful theme.  It bears repeating, I am more convinced than ever that this is the way children should be taught - with their own interests at the core of their learning.  Why teach any other way?

SOLSC #13 Where does this little guy fit?

Still thinking about those darn alphabet assessments - and what they miss, what they don't show. 

One of my three year olds simply won't or can't name any alphabet letter other than the first one in his name.  He loves the first letter of his name!  

I know he is very intelligent.

I think he has keen spatial intelligence.  He loves to build.  He loves to rearrange things.  He's the first to notice any change I've made to the room - shifting the puppet theater to a new location, setting up a center in a new way.  

He loves to draw.  When he draws, he works his first letter into all his artwork, no matter what he draws - almost a "Where's Waldo?" abstract image. 

Leave a pencil laying around, this little guy will find it.

(That's why I stash clipboards and pencils throughout the room, throughout all my centers.)

The other day, I found him staring at an old Morning Message, a page that was turned over in the pad, and upside down on the table.   I had left the flip chart laying about.   I had left my marker out as well.  Yes, careless me.  There was this little guy totally engrossed, like a scientist, 

searching, studying, staring, intently, 

marker in hand:

He was tracing my note from the day before..."Good Morning, Big Cats!..." Upside down, backwards...he was writing.

Lovely.

It is irrelevant to me that he can't name his letters. He likes to draw letters!  

He knows the letters on a much more intimate, visual level.

This juxtaposition is fascinating to me.  Not going to name them, but really wants to draw them.

This little guy fits so well in my class.  I'm so, so glad that I'm not looking simply through one lens: does he know his letters?

SOLSC This makes them happy!

Three and four year olds love stories!  I'm continually searching for ways to bring books alive for them.

Our whole school is getting ready for a Learning Showcase about the seven continents, so my preschoolers have been exploring tales from around the world.  With our class spotlighting Australia, we threw ourselves into creating a series of murals across the back wall of our classroom, to tell the story of Why Koala Has a Stumpy Tale (by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss).

I set up lots of different process art activities to engage the children.  One day, we shredded paper into bits and pieces to create the cracked earth of a dried up riverbed. Another day, we rubbed and rolled crayons up, down, and all around a cut-out koala and tree kangaroo.  Still another day, we raced cars through paint, to create the lines on a tree trunk.  But the surprise fun was the leaves!  No, not so much their creation - sure, it was fun to be free to make rainbow leaves, purple leaves, any kind of leaves, and it was fun to use the oil pastels for this.  But, no, the real fun was helping to hang the leaves on the tree.

Yes, the technique that drew them in
was letting them climb up on the table
to stick leaves on koala's tree!

They had such fun, standing, big and tall, breaking that long-standing custom, of no standing on the table.

Every one of my wiggle worms, my active, "just can't stop for a moment," "I'd rather run than sit, thanks" friends was totally engaged and queued up to have a turn at hanging the leaves.  Their laughter was delightful.

And, you know, I think it helped them learn the story!

What to do with the Tiggers?

It happens so very quickly. He moves so very quickly. Highly-reactive, in a physical way! Today's example, he is carrying his lunch debris to the trash can; he pauses to look at the book that the Teaching Resident is reading to a small group of children. Another child moves into his line of vision. WHUMP! He throws an empty milk container at this child and then the rest of his trash. I am furious. There is milk and rice on the carpet. He just can't help himself; he never plans to react this way. If he sat and thought about it, he wouldn't do it. He is very sorry. It's just impulse. Throw! Shove! Hit! Smack!  


He sees I'm upset and he runs away, to the other side of the room.

Another day with my Tigger.

Wow.
They are exhausting to teach.
They are exhausting to parent.

Tiggers?

Yes, you know...as in A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh:

The wonderful thing about Tiggers
Is Tiggers are wonderful things
Their tops are made out of rubber
Their bottoms are made out of springs
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!

Tiggers.

For many teachers (and parents) this is truly "challenging behavior."

For many teachers (and parents) this is behavior that should be tamped down on.

I'm here to say:
Enough with the scolding! Let's seek to understand.


This is very, very common behavior.
Developmentally "within the range."
Not in the least surprising to me.
It is very common for three year old children
(often, but not always, boys)
to be highly physical, reactive, and impulsive.

In a much earlier blogpost, I described multiple intelligences as defined by Howard Gardner  (Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Spatial, Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Naturalist, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal).  Let's highlight one:

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence. Breakfast table squirmers and the first on the playground, they pick up knowledge through bodily sensations. Athletically gifted, they show interest in sports, dance, acting - anything physical. They communicate using gestures and body language, like to act out their thoughts and are clever mimics. Occasionally they express their skills in crafts like woodworking or sewing. Without appropriate outlets, they may be labeled hyperactive. Learning comes with touching and moving. Motivate them through "role play, dramatic improvisation, creative movement and all kinds of physical activity," says Armstrong. Hands-on activities are their learning opportunities.

This year, I have several "Bodily-Kinesthetic Intellects" in my class.
They are perky and fun a lot of the time. But exhausting.
They learn with their bodies.
They discover with their bodies.
They hurt without realizing it.

What do I do in my classroom to support these students?

How do I discipline these physical, reactive, impulsive friends?

I honestly think that it is very likely that different temperaments, different intelligences require different discipline approaches.

No two children are exactly alike - why should our discipline be one rigid, unwavering way?

Tailor the discipline to the child.

With these "Tiggers", I try to:

• let some of the small stuff go - no need to tamp down on every little mis-step
• recognize and compliment when they show restraint, 
• be a calm force in a reactive field (and forgive myself when I fail!),
• minimize my words, 
• lose my moralizing tone, 
• take them by the hand and engage them in a moving, physical activity with a simple "Let's go..."
• give them a physical outlet - a simple walk down the hall with me, or washing out paintbrushes, or wiping tables - before I speak to them about the "wrong-doing," 
• be present and quiet, alongside them - give them a chance to open up.

When the child is calm, and I am there beside him/her, I try to encourage reflection and amends.  Dan Hodgins  suggests that you help the child recognize the problem:

1. Ask, "what happened just before you hit Jamie?"

2. Restate what is the real problem, "Jamie took your truck and you are not done with it."

3. Help with solutions, "Jamie could ask first," "You could hit this box," or you could say, "This is mine and I'm not done yet."

I also find it helpful to teach my whole class about our different temperaments - and all the different ways that people show anger and frustration.  I teach children to give one another "wide berth" when one is frustrated or angry.  

Last, but not least, I try to step back and think about the individual child and the overall classroom experience that day - to reflect upon personal struggles the child might be having, plus, how many physical outlets I have provided, and how many "powerful things" I've allowed the children to do.  Am I providing an environment that allows children to learn self-regulation?  As Bev Bos, Michael Leeman, and Dan Hodgins emphasized in the "Good Stuff for Kids" conference this past summer:

the more "powerful" experiences that you give to children, the more self-regulation they acquire, and the less discipline issues that arise.

What does it mean to support or provide power for a preschooler? I know I already shared these from Bev, Michael, and Dan, but they are so important that I'm going to repeat them again here:

• Jumping
• Hammering and sawing (using real tools - with adult guidance)
• Provide lots of physical space
• Ziplines
• A variety of movable objects
• Ladders
• Climbing walls
• Allow children to raise their voices, to be louder than you want
• Have a loud space (not just a calm down space)
• Visual guidance (rather than adult voice)
• Allow children to take things back and forth between centers/areas of the room
• Give children choices; be flexible with them
• Sword fighting with rolled-up newspapers
• Ignore healthy "bullying" between children- such as - "Hey, go get that block for me" (retire the teacher's voice re: bossiness - especially if it's not an issue for the receiver)
• Put out pretend fires
• Construction - in as big space as possible (most workbenches are too small)
• Crates for pulling and filling
• Rough-housing and tumble play
• Clay pounding
• Singing
• Dressups - especially capes
• Tug of war
• Arm wrestling
• "London Bridge"
• "Motorboat"
• "Red Rover, Red Rover"
• Boxes for kicking
• Running
• Handshaking!

Whew!  Yes, Tiggers can be challenging.
There's no single approach or technique that creates a perfect day every day.
Patience, understanding, and compassion are essential.

A final word of advice from Bev Bos:

When you are struggling with what to do, just gently hold the child's hand and look at it, study it. You'll know what to do, with your eyes on that sweet gentle hand.

What if a spaceship grabbed you?

We had another wonderful engineering exploration this past week.  The special book was Alistair in Outer Space by Marilyn Sadler, a completely fictional tale that I have fond memories of reading to my own boys many years back.

"Alistair was a sensible boy.  He made lists of things he was going to do and lists of things he was not going to do."

It is one of those books that humors adults as well as children.  I decided it would make an excellent starting point for engineering...

I read up to the point that dear Alistair is happily walking along the street to the library, to return his books on time, when, suddenly, a spaceship filled with Goots, snatches him up into outer space.  And then I closed the book.

With their rapt attention, I whispered, 

"We have a problem."

Total silence filled the room.  

The children just stared at me, wide-eyed.
What?! We aren't going to find out what happened?! 


"We have an engineering problem.  We are engineers.  We know how to fix things.  What can we build that will prevent Alistair from being taken up into space?"


As usual we would use nothing but recyclables.  Alistair was represented by a small paper "doll" I had created - "this figure needs to fit into your device." After our devices were built, we would test the devices by using a small fan as the spaceship - could they prevent Alistair from being blown away?

Immediately, there was a chorus of voices as the children brainstormed how to solve the problem.  As usual, I was mesmerized by the diversity of thoughtful ideas and creativity expressed by these young children.  They are problem-solvers!

Eleanor asserted, "We need to put some weights on Alistair, something heavy like rocks, so that he cannot be taken by the spaceship."

Lucca created a rocket ship and said, “It’s a rocket ship.  This is a shooting thing and this is for battles.  He’ll climb in this, and he’ll be crying, and he’ll stop crying and be safe in this rocketship.”

Billy created a rocket ship and said, “Mine is big and has a lot of tape.  He jumps in it and it flies up and away. And he gets away fast.  It is a rocket ship.”

Alex made a pool and said, “I am making a pool for him to jump in and hide.  No, he doesn’t go in there.  The spaceship falls in the pool and it gets stuck to the tape.  And Alistair is safe.”

Salma created a device to hide Alistair and said, “He jumps into here and he goes climbing towards here and jumps down, then he goes over here.  Then he goes back here and hids.  He stays safe.”

Naia created a sled and said, “This is a sled; it goes really fast as a rocket ship or a car.  Alistair has it with him.  It has a special extra – pieces of tape, so it can stick to the ground.  And when it’s time to go fast, they come up, and it goes up in the air.”

Gideon created a device that releases a parachute and said, “Alistair climbs onto this and climbs up and goes across and falls in here.  And, the parachute jumps out and he lands back at the library, so he can get his book.”

Paul built a device to make the spaceship crash and said, “The library is broken by the spaceship.  This device, it has a hose to spray the spaceship.  And it makes it fall by the water.  Alistair jumps on it.”

Samiya created a device to hide Alistair and said, “He jumps on it and lies down.  He hides.  It can’t find him.  The string wraps him and keeps him stuck.”

Sukey created a rocket ship and said, “Alistair jumps on it.  It is a rocket ship.  It saves him. It comes.”

Oscar created a car and said, “There is a car.  He jumps into it and stays in because it is a racing car.  It gets away fast.  Oscar is the driver of the car.  It even has a remote control steering wheel and makes the TV go on.”

Yes, it was a wonderful engineering exploration.  This is true learning through play.  Although they are laughing and talking and, to the untrained eye, simply cutting and taping recyclables, the children are:

• thoughtfully planning what to build and then following through, which are essential school-readiness skills;
• orally writing and editing descriptions of their projects (I not only take notes on what they build, but read these aloud to the children, allowing them to refine or modify their ideas);
• collaborating with one another about how to improve their projects (developing real team-work skills);
• attending, focusing, and persisting on their ideas - work habits that will serve them well in future years of schooling; 
• cutting and manipulating tape and cardboard - essential fine-motor skills, which will actually help them in holding writing tools; and
• developing essential literacy skills, as they consider who are the main characters in a story and what is the main problem or plot. 

With all this rich learning, let's remember:  let them play, let them play, let them play! 

How do you plan for everyone?

I'm thinking today about how to prepare lessons for young children. I am well aware that my teaching plan is dependent on the engagement of my class - if they aren't that into it, than I need to change it up or throw it away. This is the daily juggle of teachers...and it has led me to today's blog reflection:

how to lesson plan for everyone? how do you engage them all?

I love the whole idea of "backward design" wherein you first think about what is essential that children know and then you back up and figure out how you might best lead them to this. For example, I want children to realize :

- they can create solutions to problems;
- they may fail first, but that they can always try, try again; and
- every story has a problem hidden in it.

I also want them to simply engage in exploring found materials, discovering new ways of looking at and working with ordinary things.

When you start to plan for these "big ideas," you realize what flexibility you actually have as a preschool teacher - there is no "one way" to accomplish these. My engineering lessons have proven to be a flexible and engaging way for children to discover answers to these essential questions. Many children love to build things - and I think it is particularly inviting when you have the flexibility to build things in your own way, by your own design. It is no small thing that I, too, love to build things, therefore this type of curriculum is near and dear to my heart and the children pick up on my enthusiasm. We have a lot of fun together, exploring in this way.

At the end of each engineering effort, when parents and caregivers come in to pick up their children, I routinely hand them an interesting object created from recyclables and a brief description of today's engineering problem:

TODAY'S BOOK:
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? The storybook problem we explored
HOW SHOULD THE PROBLEM BE SOLVED? A brief description of what we will try to create
TEST: A brief description of how we tested the device
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROJECT: (The child's own words go here...)

This project description is just a hint of the fun we had (and hopefully a great catalyst for additional conversation between parent and child). However, my "behind-the-scenes" lesson planning has never been this straightforward. Certainly the lesson description is the "heart" of it...but it is never all I do.

The way that I lesson plan reminds me a great deal of the way my sons were taught to write in elementary school in the 1990s -

Come up with your main idea and write down every imaginable thought related to it, creating a web of ideas.

[This is completely different from how I was taught writing when I was in elementary school (late 1960s): tell them what you are going to say, say it, tell them what you said.]

Once I come up with my primary activity or idea - the essential questions I want to pursue, the "heart" of my lesson - my thoughts and planning go in so many different directions:

I try to make sure that I have thought of ways to get the children excited about the topic through different intelligences -

Yes, we'll be building with cardboard, scissors, and tape, but what might we sing or chant?

Is there a movement/dance or two that I could do?

Do I have other books, to buttress the theme? Especially, "real" engineering books for those who want to go deeper?

Is there opportunity for children to work a long time on their creativity? How about a chance for them to work together?

What about the children who aren't so interested - do I have a way to reel them in? Do I have any games or other materials elsewhere in the room, to go with the theme?

Will I have a good adult-child ratio for this project, to help/guide children in various ways? What exactly will the adults be doing?

I also think about a "parent piece" - some sort of takeaway for the families. I always try to document what their child has done and, ideally, offer ideas for extending the exploration at home.

I find that when I spend time "webbing" all these questions, thinking through the possibilities, I am able to be more present with children and less likely to be thrown off by the surprises that always crop up.

Obviously, my lesson planning is not very efficient. With time and practice, I have had to write down less, but in some ways I "run around" more - gathering all sorts of materials and extras to make the plan work for everyone. Are all preschool teachers juggling like this? Is it possible that there are teachers who simply plan one project in detail from start to finish and that is that? How do they do it? Are the lessons successful? Please, share these techniques with me!

(To think, I haven't even mentioned how one reflects on how the lesson went, considers what to keep or change, and then organizes all these lesson ideas to have them at the ready through the years...wow! There's a topic not easily resolved in a blog....)

Happy New Year!

A simple entry to start the year, some "food for thought"...

This comes from a book entitled The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson, Ph.D.

He notes that when you are doing what you love, what you are meant to do, the time and effort required is irrelevant. He notes that many people refer to this happy state of focus as being in a "zone" and adds:

Activities we love fill us with energy even when we are physically exhausted. Activities we don't like can drain us in minutes, even if we approach them at our physical peak of fitness.

When people place themselves in situations that lead to their being in the zone, they tap into a primal source of energy. They are literally more alive because of it.

We - as parents, teachers, and caregivers - have a beautiful window into just what this zone is for the little ones in our life. We can use this information to guide them in the future. Simply by watching children play, we can see their gifts, their strengths, their passions. As Ken Robinson continues,

This is about looking into the eyes of your children or those you care for and, rather than approaching them with a template about who they might be, trying to understand who they really are. Left to their own devices, what are they drawn to do? What kinds of activities do they tend to engage in voluntarily? What sorts of aptitude do they suggest? What absorbs them the most? What sort of questions do they ask, and what type of points do they make?

Want to hear more from Ken Robinson? Check out these two videos from TED Conferences where he has spoken about creativity and education:


http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html


http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html


Happy New Year, everybody!!

What is intentionally planned play?

How to lay the groundwork for a delightful day at preschool? I believe the delight is in the details. Perhaps it seems like a contradiction in terms - you must intentionally plan your open-ended, exploratory fun; you must intentionally plan the learning through play.

Let me showcase a recent classroom I visited. Minutes before the children arrived, I walked around snapping photos of everything the teacher had prepared, realizing I might be able to give great visuals of the thought that necessarily goes into a delightful day.

Children "come as they are" at ages 2, 3, 4, and 5. The teacher spends her day juggling these often varied personalities; the wise teacher provides a welcoming activity for each, appealing to their different learning styles. In this classroom, there are places for all the different personalities to land happily - to be able to enter the room and immediately immerse themselves in something that is very much to their liking.

Let's see...

There is the sensory table, right near the entrance, for immediate gratification. Young children often have mixed feelings separating from their loved ones at the door - immersing one's hands in a sensory activity, such as sand or water, can be just the right fix for these troubled emotions.



You will see in this same photo, above, another table that holds a work in progress - a puzzle that the children started the day before and asked to continue today. This idea of keeping work out - allowing children to add onto their efforts of the day before - demonstrates tremendous respect of children's play.





There is an art project, where the teacher has already ensured that each interested child will have the materials he/she will need. Having materials at the ready helps children to stay focused, to work longer on their creative efforts.

Also prepared is a concentration game, laid out, in position, ready to play. There will be no need to search for something to do. The game is simple, clear, and inviting. And look - it reflects the Thanksgiving theme!



It's important to point out - none of these tables is "static." This is just today's "look." Each day, a new plan - new activities. (In fact, this is just the welcoming/start of day "look." Once the morning is underway, the teacher will clear a couple of these tables for a cooking activity - today, the children will be making pumpkin muffins.)

But I haven't finished telling you about all the activities that have been prepared throughout the classroom for all the different learners. Across the room is a jumping spot for kinesthetic fun. Don't you know a child or two that needs to run and jump lots and lots before they can focus? Wouldn't that child be happy in this classroom!




In a corner of the room, there is a quiet table with a rather academic manipulative that is just the right place for a more introspective sort.



Last, but not least, on one side of the classroom, the teacher has fenced off a large running area and opened up the rabbit cage. The rabbit explored merrily and soon his familiar friends would be here to play with him, under the watchful eye of an adult.





(This rabbit was so happy and quick, I had trouble getting a good photo until a pal arrived....)



Oh, these lucky young naturalists, learning how to care for this dear little animal, showering him with love and attention.

This classroom exemplifies the intentional planning that goes into creating a playful environment for preschoolers. What a wonderful variety of activities! This is going to be a delightful day!

Why is exploratory play educational?

I ended the summer by going to see the Smithsonian Museum of American History's exhibit Inventions at Play with my friend Marla. This was my second time visiting this fun, on-going exhibit - and it is chock full of wisdom and ideas about how to educate children.

The exhibit asks what inspires people to become inventors? Across the board, these creative geniuses noted their creative play when they were young. They learned to invent through hands-on exploring, daring, making messes, testing cause and effect, trying and failing and trying again. Their childhoods were filled with a variety of rich innovative experiences. Many recalled time outside in nature; others mentioned classic toys like Legos and Erector Sets; all noted the value of open-ended, exploratory play.

Consider these terrific quotes:

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play, than in a year of conversation." - Plato

"I don't draw a line between play and work." - Newman Darby, sailboard inventor.

"Always listen to children. They might have ideas we've never thought of." - Alexander Graham Bell


Inventions at Play excites me about my own teaching - children need exploratory experiences and I love trying to provide them!

As noted in the exhibit:

This ability to see non-obvious connections and relationships often leads inventors to the key insight that is the basis for their inventions.

Isn't it important for children to discover what we do not already know? We have to find a way to make some part of children's learning not about specific answers and data, but instead provide them time and materials to explore non-obvious connections. I think children should have plenty of time engaging in play that has no specific answers, but that allows children to develop skills that are more intangible - such as curiosity, perseverance, extrapolation, reflection, rethinking, scaffolding, and, even, teamwork.

Child-development specialists see a strong connection between children's level of pretend play and their ability to think creatively.

The exhibit included several hands-on "play" activities for all ages, including one called "Marbles and Motion." Here, a table is raised at one end, so that the surface is slanted. There are a variety of kitchen utensils (classic "toys" from the housekeeping corner of any preschool class) that you use to set up an obstacle course that will help guide the marble to its corner goal. If at first you don't succeed, rearrange the items, position them differently, eliminate some, add another...play until it works. Folks of all ages were participating in this open-ended activity, laughing and talking together - it's not just for preschoolers, though we teachers can recreate it in a moment! (See my attempt in the photo!) This play example illustrates how simple it can be to set up an educational exploratory activity for children.


Lastly, I found myself thinking about how we often tamp down on the more creative spirits in our classrooms - trying to get them to be the same as the others. Consider this quote from James McLurkin, robotics inventor: "I was always getting into things. I hoarded broken bits, made messes, build things, burnt up bathrooms."

I'll close with something for you to think about...
Is there a James McLurkin in your class this year? How will you channel his genius?

Why is dramatic play educational?

I just attended a fantastic training by Victoria Brown of the Lucy School on the "Dramatic Difference in the Preschool Classroom," at the Potomac Association of Cooperative Teachers' Spring Conference. This training was a refresher for me, having participated in some 15 hours of Lucy School training back in 2006-07. Several of my colleagues have participated in the Lucy School's week-long summer training institute on using drama and the arts in education - an experience I highly recommend!

Drama is a vibrant tool for teachers to engage children. But, it is not simply about entertaining children - there is real education happening here. Let me quote directly from Victoria Brown's handout:

Children emerge as communicators, problem solvers and humanitarians through holistic experiences. The arts provide a unique multi-dimensional medium for early learning. Drama, movement, dance, music and visual arts communicate to young children in their own language - the language of make-believe. Their curiosity is stirred, questions arise, ideas are shared, and language is expanded and practiced. What's more, when children participate in creative arts activities infused with literacy, their interest in and awareness of reading and reading-related activities increase.

Today, Victoria Brown was teaching some 100 teachers how to use drama in their preschool classrooms. She used the story Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and showed us, scene by scene, how we could dramatize this book with children. We teachers had such a good time! It was quite a sight to see all of us sailing on an ocean journey, creating birds, alligators, and whales with a simple piece of paper ("object transformation" - to do this, children must encode/decode, which is a necessary step in pre-literacy). There were many laughs as we collectively danced the wild things' rumpus, jumping on bubble wrap like happy, young children. We vigorously shouted "I'll eat you up!," as Max did, and then immediately returned to our normal selves. (Imagine the thrill children must have, being the protagonist - especially, such a naughty one!).

At the end of today's training, we collectively brainstormed just a few of the things that children learn from drama:

• it is a great pre-literacy tool; becoming good readers requires entering the story and acting lets children do that,
• drama teaches the structure of stories – beginning, middle, and end,
• it is a great way to engage active learners and, conversely, shy children,
• drama helps children learn to self – regulate, as seen by speaking in varied tones of voices, moving in unique ways, and
• it provides a fun starting point for talking and exploring subjects (such as, in Where the Wild Things Are, exploring feelings of disappointment, anger, being out of control, and even forgiveness).

Many children's books can be easily dramatized. Victoria Brown offered suggestions for incorporating drama into your curriculum, including:

• Dare to dramatize as much of the story as you like – it is also effective to read most of the story and dramatize only a part. (Remember the developmental attention span of your class – 20 minutes may well be sufficient.)
• Be careful to distinguish between your teacher’s voice and any character you might play – and, vice versa, have a signal for the children to know when they are in character or not.
• Try to make the scenes multi-sensory, with sight, sound, and tactile experiences.
• Consider having the children keep a drama journal – allowing them to write or draw in response to a performed scene.
• Develop a drama “trunk” or closet, to have basic extras at the ready, including fabrics, yarns/ribbons, CDs with nature sounds, and even basic recyclables such as paper towel rolls that could be transformed into magical objects in a drama.

All the specific lesson ideas and strategies that we saw today are described in detail in Victoria Brown and Sarah Pleydell's book The Dramatic Difference: Drama in the Preschool and Kindergarten Classroom. Drama is an intrinsic part of the Lucy School program, and the children work through stories over many days and even weeks. This school year, they worked through a remarkable original drama about Pakistan, based on Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen. Those of us at the training saw fabulous photos of this creative endeavor. It was truly remarkable to see small children engaged in an intensive, long-term effort on such a mature theme, leaving me no doubt that there is tremendous value in dramatic play for children. Check out the Lucy School website for more information! Enjoy!