The Bird Nest

…sharing stories of our learning

May 15, 2012
by Ms Clayton
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Mother’s Day: Stitches In Time

Here is why students were eager to begin learning a new skill:

1) they knew that their efforts would result in a gift for mom

2) this was not a typical art project in our classroom and getting to use a needle and yarn was appealing

The first step towards engaging students in this small sewing project was to ask them to write down their mom’s favourite colour. A vase was cut from fabric of this specific colour and then sewn on to fabric so embroidery could begin. 

Daisies in a vase

On our first day of stitching, yarn was often wrapped from front to back around the outside edge of the wallhanging…not just once, but at least three times before help was sought. It took some time before most students were able to control the length of the petals and fine-tune their judgment of where the needle should come through the burlap from the front to the back. When students and I reflected on the learning that occurred with this little project, we knew that there was a lot more than embroidery in the works. At the very least, it took patience while waiting for help to re-thread the needle or to get some help to get unstuck.

It is quite common for students to share how they feel about participating in classroom tasks and activities. Most children have no hesitation stating whether an activity appeals to them or not. Students’ feelings about participating in new activities allows adults to get a glimpse into their dispositions towards certain styles of learning.

I wondered if the students who typically state, “I’m finished” just as their peers are still collecting materials, would be able to persist with embroidery stitches to see the completion of the project. So when one student, frustrated with the embroidering skills stated, “That’s all I want. One flower is what I’ve decided,” I agreed that one flower was just fine and she still had time to add another if she ever changed her mind. She moved on to making her mom’s card while most students continued adding stems and flowers to their wallhangings. It was a good three days later before she picked up her wallhanging and was deciding which colour to choose for the second flower. She also had a peer who assured her that she would give her help each step of the way.

Judging where the needle needs to come through for each petal

Judging the distance where one must pull the needle through in order for a petal to be a certain length and also meet at the centre of the flower had students engaged in problem solving. It is difficult to visualize a flower petal and determine where it should begin and end. Each student brought his or her own experience and abilities with the task. One student had experience stitching dishcloths together to make a small “sleeping bag” with her nana. She would prefer to receive help only if absolutely necessary, but was always willing to put her work down to help her classmates.

Embroidering the second stem onto the wallhanging

One important aspect of this project, which we reflected on as a group, was the many ways students supported their peers. Some students would show where a needle and yarn needed to come through the fabric. Others used encouraging words about their classmate’s flowers looking great. Students would sometimes be very engaged in their own work, but still take the time to help a classmate who was getting frustrated.

Putting some yellow in the centre of the flower

Compared to other art projects (that fit more neatly into prescribed learning outcomes), this project helped me understand the very different ways that students approach and solve big and little problems. Knowing each child a little better at this time of year and understanding some of their dispositions, I was better able to anticipate the amount of support students would require. Having my own wallhanging to work on allowed me to model some embroidery stitches, but it also provided a place where students could practise their stitches before working on their own.

Making yellow centres in the red and blue flowers

Please take a look at our Vimeo slide show to see how beautifully each students’ embroidery completed the wallhanging:

May 1, 2012
by Ms Clayton
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The Work Of Mathematicians: The #Eggciting Experiment Part 3

#Kinderchat #Skypeplay: The #eggciting experiment again? Yes, during our Skypeplay egg experiment,  students started surveying school friends about their science experiment
Survey says: Using tally marks is a quick way of keeping track of numbers in groups of five

Here is a brief summary of how surveying started in our classroom. I often ask, as most people generally do, “How is your day going?” So, long before the #eggciting  #Kinderchat  #Skypeplay  experiment, one student at The Bird Nest Class decided to survey classmates about their day. This one question led to an increasing number of questions which were generally about how friends were feeling or if they had a certain item for breakfast or in their lunch. Two students grouped classmates as they arrived in the morning into the categories of “boy” or “girl” which demonstrated one-to-one correspondence as each tally mark represented one child. If you say survey in this classroom, your survey materials consist of paper attached to a clipboard and a writing tool for check marks or tally marks. There is an unspoken understanding about official business in the classroom.

Students surveyed classmates, visitors to the classroom, and office staff and then clipboards were taken outside where school mates were surveyed during recess. At first, I added five clipboards to the tub and then, at one point, the entire class set of clipboards was in circulation. There are many more reasons to have a tub of clipboards in a classroom at any grade level!

 

Check marks are used to keep track of responses to survey

Tally marks keeping track of yes or no responses

I needed to catch up to students’ interests and learning and share “Tally O’Malley,” a book I enjoy reading every year. At calendar time, we use tally marks to represent numbers, but lots of students still preferred to survey and collect a page full of checkmarks. Occasionally, one or two students who were confident tally mark users would try to sway those who preferred to use checkmarks by showing how much easier the end counting could be for them. They never persisted if a checkmarker insisted he or she was happy to stick with checkmarks. For ease of counting, though, we all soon began to notice that a page of tally marks was quicker to add up than a page of check marks. We remembered that when we subitize, it is a visual of a small grouping(s) that lets us perceive or judge a number. All of a sudden our representation of numbers by using tally marks began to make sense to learners.

So how did students survey students and staff about the #eggciting experiment? They asked questions about whether or not someone would or could eat an egg that had been in vinegar for seven days or what they thought would happen to the egg shell after sitting in vinegar.

Here is a short Vimeo slide show about our surveys:

Our class still likes to ask people if they are having a good day or not. What are some good questions you have asked on a survey?

Murphy, S. (2004). Tally O’Malley. New York: HarperCollins.

Kabaam for iPad

#Kinderchat

#Skypeplay

© Jill Clayton 2012

April 30, 2012
by Ms Clayton
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Earth Day and #Skypeplay: Making Our Own Globes

Learning about maps and globes: part Earth Day and part #Skypeplay learning

Getting to work on a paper mache globe

Since we have been connecting through twitter (#Kinderchat #Skypeplay) and we are also interested in finding places on Google Earth, we decided to make our own globes. One student had previous experience creating with paper mache and she was eager to begin. A few students found paper mache to be messy and it just didn’t feel good to have cold paste and wet newspaper in their hands.

Ms Clayton provided an ultimate demonstration that left one child with paper mache all over his face. Good for Chi that during the first part of my demo when the balloon got too heavy on one side and it flopped right off my hand and smack into his face that he was able to take it in stride and even ham it up just a little. He eventually leaned his face towards me with a “Can you clean this stuff off my face now?” kind of look. We kept the paste flinging in balance though. When my “demo” balloon was one third covered, it popped leaving me with a dough – dripping face and glued hair. “Jack pot!”

Earth Day to us means simple considerations throughout the year every day that show that we can all make a difference. Additionally, we should not shy away from those tasks that are less than simple that can support young learners in developing life-long skills in taking care of the earth.

In our classroom, these are the things that we try to do:

  • use lights only when we need them and for certain activities
  • recycle all sorts of paper and plastics
  • use recycled materials for our art, science, or math when we can
  • encourage each other to bring food in containers that can be used over and over again
  • lots of us walk to school
Here are things that we need to do:
  • compost our vegetable scraps
  • start growing a vegetable garden at our school
  • support and encourage others in the school to become more aware of recycling and to become more energy conservative
Here is our Vimeo slide presentation of all our globe-making project:

Me on the Map is a book that introduces cartography, mapping, and geography. The book is centred on a young child describing her place on a variety of maps. It supports early learners because it begins with mapping a child’s bedroom, house, street, town, province and country. The book is American, so state and country need to be adjusted and explained. This can be difficult, but we get to Skype with students from the United States and we have exchanged Christmas cards with most states and we are often finding places on maps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweeney, J. (1998). Me on the map. Richmond Hill, ON: Firefly Books

April 16, 2012
by Ms Clayton
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Spring Break On Vancouver Island

One week visiting family and friends at the northern end of Vancouver Island and then back down island for a week of gardening at home

When I model writing a personal recount, I very often refer to the place where I grew up. I often use my family’s front yard and the beach as examples when I am drawing a detailed picture that tells a story. The stories I tell often include my sisters, friends and pets I used to have. They usually also include the beach and forts we have built along the beach or in the woods. Or they might include stories about my children spending time kayaking and building rafts along the beach.
I wonder what kinds of stories I could tell after this year’s Spring Break holiday with my family. Take a look at this slide show where I highlight a few things I did with my family this Spring Break. What stories do you see?

For my students:

© Jill Clayton 2012