Talking about your learning

Explaining what you've learned and how you know it is an important life skill and the top reason parents say they enjoy reading this blog: they want to know what's going on in the classroom and find it hard to get their child to communicate in any detail.

This is a skill we work on in the classroom too. Sharing with the class not only builds oral communication skills, it allows students to scaffold each other's learning and provides positive reinforcement for their accomplishments. Recently, I asked students to bring an object that showed their learning to our end of the day circle.

Here are the activities students highlighted:

First, a large number really enjoyed our art activity. These mittens are created by using oil pastels to create a base pattern and painting over that with a watercolour wash. We asked students to create a repeating pattern.

 

 

Next, we have the products of our workshop.

This is a garbage compactor, and the gears on the outside turn in tandem with each other.

The next chunk talked about having worked on their journal that day. Here you can see some examples of students pictures and writing. 

Finally, here were two I found interesting because they didn't quite fit into the broader categories. 

This student chose to talk about the book he'd brought in for show and share. 

This student was fascinated by the water clock we have at the science table.

There are some limitations to an activity like this. For example, students had also made an interesting tunnel system in the sand table that day, which was more challenging to bring to the carpet, so they chose something else. And, too, you get the sense of the made objects, but they're less interesting outside the context of imaginative play.

Next week, I'll post a little more about the maps students have been working on. I feel like it's the first inquiry that's really caught the popular imagination since our Doctor's Office.

Sincerely, 

Ms. Goegan

P.S. Library is on Monday. The circulation computer is back in full functioning mode, so make sure you return your book!