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Nest Project: Inquiry Learning in Mrs. Holman's Kindergarten Class

9/21/2015

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Our project began after we read the book, "Mama built a little nest", by Jennifer Ward.

“There are so many different kinds of birds—and those birds build so many different kinds of nests to keep their babies cozy. With playful, bouncy rhyme, Jennifer Ward explores nests large and small, silky and cottony, muddy and twiggy—and all the birds that call them home!” ~http://www.amazon.ca


The children were so intrigued by the variety of nests.  We picked our favorites and learned about the birds that lived in these nests.  The children chose: a nest made out of mud (flamingo), a nest that floats in the water (grebe), a nest made out of a hole in the ground (burrowing owl), and a nest made of giant sticks (bald eagle).  The pictures in the book are fabulous, but they weren’t real photographs.  We were curious to know what these nests really look like.  Google came to the rescue.  The children quickly learned which birds matched which nests

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The children were so excited about nests that they began to make their own nests at recess. With all of this genuine interest, Miss Holman and Mr. Lantz knew they would have to take this idea further. First, we made a list, posing this problem to the children: what do birds need to make a nest?

The kids were full of ideas:
  • Big sticks
  • Moss
  • Spider webs
  • Grass
  • Twigs
  • Mud

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Let’s head outside to see if we can find all of these things… 

Success!!!  And look what else we found!
It’s made of big sticks and the children wondered if it was a bald eagle nest.  Through research, we found that a bald eagle’s nest is much bigger. Whose nest could this be?

We had buckets and buckets of the things we found.  The next problem to tackle:

How do we organize these materials? 
With no hesitation from the students, it was decided we needed to sort.


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Sticks
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Grass
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Mud
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Moss
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Rocks
While the kids were sorting, we heard and saw the most interesting things. 
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“These are too big.”  -C. (If the sticks were longer than the board, we couldn’t use them.)
“One stick is too big, one is too small.”  -R.
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“How about we each sort: you do twigs,  you do sticks, you do moss.”  -C.
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“Hey look!  I found a worm!” – K.

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“This is the measuring board.”  -B.
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“A burrowing owl can live in here!”  -C.
“This grass pile is like a volcano!”  -Z.
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“This is starting to look like a baby eagle nest.”  -A.
After we sorted, it was time to build.  The kids were each given a piece of thick cardboard as the base.  They were free to build with any materials with only 2 conditions:

  1. The nest has to fit on the board

  2. The nest has to be able to pass the “wind test”.  If their nest fell apart after experiencing wind, they would have to rebuild.  After all, birds’ nests don’t fall apart in the wind.

Here are some pictures of what we accomplished on the first day.
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Using string to help keep the nests from blowing away
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Can the nests survive the “wind test”?
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The kids were very imaginative and did an excellent job.  Here are some of the nests after Day 1:
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“Look how comfy mine is!” -T.
As Day 2 began, we took a moment to look at some real nests.  Mrs. Sterling, Mr. Lantz, and Miss Holman had brought in some nests that we found abandoned at home.  The children we asked to observe the nests and find something that they all had in common.  
These are the ideas the children had:
  • They all have grass
  • They are all shaped like a circle
  • They are all round
  • They all had eggs and then they hatched
  • They all had birds living in them
Miss Holman put an egg in one of the nests and blew as hard as she could so that the egg would roll out – but it didn’t.  When asked why, the children noticed something else.  “It has walls!” one of the kids noticed.

With that in mind, the children were sent back to their nests to make some adjustments.  This time, they had to pass the egg test.  If the egg falls out when the wind blows, they would have to fix the nest so that it wouldn’t.

It was so amazing to watch the kids fine-tune what they had already created.
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“Mud sticks all the stuff that doesn’t stick together; like we use glue, they use mud. My mom told me that.” –Q
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Performing the “egg test”
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After Day 2, the children thought they had the perfect nests and called it a day.
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“If there’s a mom and a dad, they both have a seat.” -J.
Clean-Up!
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“We’re gonna be cleaning up all day!” -E.
Now that our building is done, the children were challenged to use their imaginations to create a bird to live in their nest. The children drew a picture of what their bird would look like and what it would be called.

Literature Link:
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The children did such a great job creating birds in their imaginations that we wondered what kind of egg their bird would lay.  After reading “An Egg is Quiet” by Dianna Hutts Aston, the children learned that eggs can have many different colours, shapes, sizes, and textures.  That was all the information we needed.  The kids went straight to work.



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“Should’ve worn our dirty shirts!” – T. “It’s gucky to me and it’s fun!” - D.
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“If you get us messy again, it’s your fault, and you’re going to have to talk to my mommy!” –S.
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“I’ve got to get messy, I’m a farm girl!” – C. “Miss Holman, I’m getting used to this!” - J.
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“Miss Holman, look at my spotted one!” –R.
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“Oops, sorry!” – M. “That’s okay. Anyway we ARE going to wash ourselves after.” -S.
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“I’m making a colour pattern.” –D
Curricular Objectives Covered by our Nest Project

Science
 I can explore and investigate objects in the environment
 I can generate ideas to make sense of objects and relationships
 I can demonstrate some ways of organizing materials (i.e. collecting, arranging, creating, and
    transporting)
 I can select and works with a variety of materials to build structures
 I can use materials for a purpose
 I know that I need to take care of materials and use them without wasting them
 I have started to use some technology in my learning activities
 I am aware of the importance of protecting the environment
 I can describe a home for a bird
 I can recognize familiar animals, what they look like, and where they live
 I can identify familiar shapes in the environment (i.e. circles)
 I know there are different colours, shapes, patterns, and textures in the environment

Math
 I can tell you what is the same and what is different in living things, objects, and materials
 I can describe objects in my environment, sort objects according to things that are the same, and 
   match objects as going together
 I can compare objects based on length
 I can build and describe 3-D objects

Language Arts
 I can suggest ways to gather ideas and information 
 I can find information from a variety of different places
 I can use pictures, photographs, and video programs to find information
 I can use new words and vocabulary associated with our project
 I can ask questions to understand new information
 I can identify some individual words in texts and on the word wall
 I can recognize capital letters and periods in print texts
 I can write a sentence
 I can speak in a clear voice to share ideas and information
 I can make comments about what we are talking about
 I can connect letters with sounds in words
 I can hear and identify dominant sounds in spoken words
 I can use drawings to illustrate ideas and information
 I can listen to the ideas of others

Creative Expression
 I can experiment with a variety of art materials to create 2- and 3-D forms
 I can use past experiences to develop new ideas
 I can explore familiar materials in new ways
 I can respond to and interpret visual images, by viewing natural forms
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"Take risks...make a difference for students"

9/15/2015

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This was the message delivered by our superintendent on opening day. It seems to have struck a chord with many PHRD teachers who are embracing the challenges presented in their classrooms this year with even more than than their usual amounts of determination, creativity and commitment.

Some PHRD teachers are taking their classrooms into the public realm with class blogs that are shared with parents, families, and students in other schools, towns and countries. Others are entering the Twitter-verse and bravely sharing their learning on social media platforms.

Many PHRD teachers are re-thinking how curriculum is divided and delivered. Some of the questions being asked in various classrooms in the division:
  • How can we present curricular content to students in authentic ways so that they may become more engaged and produce higher quality work?
  • How might we combine Social Studies and Math so that students can make connections between apparently disparate subjects, maximize their prior knowledge and move forward in new learning? 
  • What would happen if we put two classes together and had two teachers available for the 50+ students in the same space at the same time? 
  • What community resources could provide our students with valuable knowledge and experiences beyond those of the school teachers and admin? How can we encourage those people to strengthen our students’ learning experiences?
These are just a few of the many creative instructional experiences PHRD teachers are using this year.  Some of these teachers have enlisted CLTs to help them sort out their journey. Others are working independently, or with trusted colleagues. If you have an idea for a new learning experience that you want to try with your students and you need a bit of assistance, or someone to talk it through with, or maybe someone to gather feedback from your students before/during/after the experience, we are available. Click the “Book us” link at the top of this page. We would love to see the learning happening in YOUR classroom.
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Happy New Year!

9/8/2015

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By Tammy Tkachuk
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It is that time of year again: new classrooms, new books, new students, new assignments...

And why not make a new school year resolution?


What is one thing you could change this year about your classroom and your teaching?  



Maybe this is your year to try using Google Classroom.  Perhaps you want to revamp some unit and lesson plans.  It could be you hope to build students' group work and collaboration skills.   You might think of differentiating your instruction.  Or you might focus on giving students choice about how they represent their learning.  Participate in the Global Read Aloud or challenge your students with activities from Taking IT Global.  The possibilities are endless!
 
You don't have to make big changes.  Start with something small.  Pick one thing and give it a try.  Take a risk.  

Click on the following link to check out some of the things PHRD teachers have done by making small changes in their practice.  


PHRD Connections List of Materials

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We've Got Your Back

9/3/2015

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PictureTammy Tkachuk speaking to BES Staff
Welcome back everyone,

Your Collaborative Lead Teacher team is excited to start working with you all this year.  Our job is to support staff in innovative practices that represent continuous improvement of pedagogy and student achievement.

Some ways that we could support you and your teaching practice:

Instructional Design
-Social emotional learning (Eg. Block 1 lessons, building community activities)
-Plan activities, lessons or units (Eg. Universal Design for Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Project Based Learning or Daily 5)
-Connect you with other educators in and outside of PHRD
-Find resources
-Plan assessment
-Collect feedback & documentation on a strategy you are trying in your class

Technology Integration
-Google (Drive, Classroom, Chrome-Apps & Extensions)
-iPads (accessibility features, apps for creation)
-Digital Citizenship
-ePortfoilios (Edublogs, FreshGrade)

Communication (students & families)
-Class websites
-Remind 101
-ePortfolios (Edublogs, FreshGrade)

Classroom Connections
-Video conferencing (VROC experts, Skype)
-Twitter
-Global Read Aloud
-Global Cardboard Challenge
-Blogging

If you are interested in having us work with you go to our website http://phrdconnections.weebly.com/ and fill out the form on our "Book Us" page.


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    Authors

    This blog and resources website has been developed through the work of various AISI coaches in PHRD.  The lead collaborative teachers for the 2015/2016 school year,  Cheryl Frose, Christine Quong and Tammy Tkachuk will continue to update this site.  If you have resources you would like to share or would like to contribute to the blog, please contact us.

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