This Was a Great Day!

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Jennie

Romana, Geography, Milly, and ‘Blind Travel’

“The Story of Learning, and a Great Day in the Aqua Room”

The best learning often takes place at unexpected times.  As teachers, we have to recognize the moments when children are curious or excited, and turn those moments into a learning opportunity.  Today, those moments seemed to multiply.  It was wonderful.

It all started with Milly the quilter.  She was visiting today to finalize helping children select fabrics for our quilt.  Romana wanted to tell Milly that she was going to Romania, so we opened our big book atlas and found Romania.  This was an in-depth discussion with everyone.  We looked at how far Romania is from France (we studied France last year).  We didn’t know that Romania is on the Black Sea (did you know that?).

Of course we used the atlas to see where Massachusetts is, and how far it is from Romania.  Then, we found England and Brazil, because Doctor Dolittle (our current chapter reading book) is from England and is sailing to Spider Monkey Island, off the coast of Brazil.

Whoa!  Is your head spinning?  Yes, this is what happened, and this is how young children learn.  This was not in the plans, but we certainly embraced it.

It gets better!  Toward the end of rest time, children who are awake get a book or a nap toy.  Today teachers watched that full group of children use the big book atlas, together.  No child picked an individual book or a toy.  Collectively, they wanted to find Brazil, Romania, Massachusetts, and Spider Monkey Island.  When the lights were on, they wanted to play Doctor Dolittle’s “Blind Travel”.  That means closing your eyes, opening an atlas, circling a pencil three times, and then putting it down on a location.

We played “Blind Travel” for twenty minutes.  Your children traveled to Europe, South America, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.  Those were just the locations with a teacher.  Romana and Milly and Doctor Dolittle gave your children a powerful lesson in geography, yet all learning is interconnected.  Today, chapter reading, an atlas, Romana and Milly helped to inspire learning.

Jennie

(The Aqua Room is my classroom at Groton Community School)

P.S.  I will post a blog a week.  Today at school was so profound that I will post that in a few days.  I just can’t wait!

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Welcome to Jennie’s Blog.

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Jennie

Jennie's avatarA Teacher's Reflections

I am excited to share with all of you my insights into teaching young children.    There are so many good things that I have written about, from reading aloud to music, art, ‘traveling’ across the world, eating in our Chinese restaurant, quilting, play performances, and so on.  Each time something great happens in my classroom I write about it.  Often the most important things are the little things, as they become the foundation for learning.  It’s all those little things that are really the big things, and that’s what I write about.  Let me give you an example:  Music is a big part of my program, and a few years ago the children were particularly excited about singing “God Bless America”.  I’m not sure why, as we sing many types of songs at school.  I paid attention and realized they needed more.  They had begun to sing together on their…

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Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Welcome to Jennie’s Blog.

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Jennie

I am excited to share with all of you my insights into teaching young children.    There are so many good things that I have written about, from reading aloud to music, art, ‘traveling’ across the world, eating in our Chinese restaurant, quilting, play performances, and so on.  Each time something great happens in my classroom I write about it.  Often the most important things are the little things, as they become the foundation for learning.  It’s all those little things that are really the big things, and that’s what I write about.  Let me give you an example:  Music is a big part of my program, and a few years ago the children were particularly excited about singing “God Bless America”.  I’m not sure why, as we sing many types of songs at school.  I paid attention and realized they needed more.  They had begun to sing together on their own and even stage themselves on the playground to sing for other classes.  In November I invited soldiers into the classroom so we could sing to them and thank them.  It was wonderful, but still not enough for the children.  In December we made our own book, based on the song, for our families.  This was an enormous and collaborative effort.  Don’t ask me why, but I could sense that I needed to do more for the children.  I contacted a master quilter who had been a frequent guest in my class.  She is a grandmother figure who adores the children.  With her help, the children designed a quilt based on the song “God Bless America”.  They did everything except the actual sewing, which they watched the quilter do.  That quilt traveled to the Intrepid Museum in New York City, and is at the Fisher House at Boston’s VA Hospital.  What if I had not paid attention to children singing a favorite song?  Nothing would have happened beyond singing. 

Parents and teachers have been reading my work for years, and begging me to share what I know with ‘the world’.  So, I am doing just that.  I’ll post on my blog every week, from ‘soup to nuts’.  Look for my next post in a few days.  I hope you enjoy reading.  

Jennie 

 

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