Finding the Math in Recycled Christmas Lights

By Stephanie Bartlett

“These lights are longer than the ruler.”

Listening for the spark, I was ready when it came. We stopped everything and came over for a quick conversation and HG repeated his thought. As I held up the lights, more comments came and this was my chance to teach French oral language structures and vocabulary for mathematical reasoning.

“Those Christmas lights are taller than you.”

“I think they might stretch to the ceiling.”

“Do you think they are longer than the window?”

As students returned to their activities, some stayed to draw patterns using the lights as examples and to count the bundles of lights that our school is collecting to recycle in order to recover the copper inside.

At the end of the day, we gathered around the smart board to ask questions about what we could measure, how to measure accurately and how to make an estimation before measuring. Students divided into groups and drew their estimation first. Today, rather than artists or scientists, mathematicians would draw their guess in their journals before beginning to measure together.

 We thought that we could measure the length of the windows and collaborated peacefully to secure the lights along the length of the shelf below the windows.

Since we were sure a string of lights was longer than one student, we wondered if a string of lights would be longer than three students together. 

Tomorrow, the students will continue comparing, estimating and measuring the length of a string of Christmas lights. Some have mentioned that they want to attach the strings to see if they are longer than the hallway. It looks like one might find us learning in the hall...

Linking Art and Math

by Stephanie Bartlett

Lately I have noticed that my bulletin boards don't look very traditional. In fact, if you took a quick glance expecting a display of uniform work, you will be disappointed.

I am wildly proud of my students' work, but feel that I need to explain the process so that people can appreciate how they arrived at the finished product. It started as an art project, extending over a couple of weeks when it fit into our learning. We learned about warm colours one week and experimented with colour and paints. Next, we learned about cool colours and did the same. Throughout this process, we talked about how to  use the water colour paints, how to wash the brushes and the fact that students were free to paint around the room but needed to be responsible and clean up. 

The next time we pulled out the projects, students were given their samples of warm colours and cool colours. Choosing one as the background, they cut the other into rectangles and glued them on as trees. Branches and details in the bark were added on as the finishing touches with a coveted Sharpie marker. 

I could have stopped at that point and put them on the wall but my goal is to teach the students to recognize math in the world around us wherever possible. I distributed the paintings, and scattered counters in the centre of the circle. Students were invited to put a counter on each tree, then write the number on a sticky note, then find where best to display their work on the whiteboard. 

The opportunities to assess this task are many, encompassing fine motor skills, one-to-one correspondence, ability to print numbers, follow directions, and the list goes on. Some students even extended their understanding by drawing another representation of the same number on the sticky note. I documented by taking pictures, recording conversations and making notes for next steps. 

Students were highly engaged in a rich, meaningful task at the end of the day in Kindergarten and I had to stop them to clean up and go home. That speaks volumes to me. 

Alligator Tales

By Stephanie Bartlett

Around the time we were exploring metal and found objects, we left a photo of two metal alligator sculptures on the smartboard for students to discover. Many went immediately to sketch them. 

One student went so far as to create a materials list so that he could create his own alligator in the classroom.  We sent the list to the scrap metal yard, hoping they might donate some steel for us to play with.

One morning, as the sun streamed in the classroom, students entered to find a pile of steel on the carpet. First, they explored each piece. Then, with an adult acting only as a guide, an alligator began to take shape.

Conversation was lively as they compared and analyzed the picture and their own creation. Screws were painted for the teeth. "There are 27 teeth. I counted." "What will we use for feet?" 

We were fortunate enough to have a parent weld our alligator together. Our new metal friend then became the class mascot for the rest of the school year. The first day that she was delivered to our classroom, no one spoke. No one touched or even looked at her until the end of the day during our reflections. One girl whispered "Can we ride it?" Eyes lit up when I said yes. The next morning and every day after, students rode the alligator, read to her, cuddled (yes, cuddled) her, and paddled rapidly downstream on an imaginary river. 

At the end of the school year, we said goodbye and put her out in our courtyard garden for the whole school to enjoy. Last I heard, the grade two class would like to paint her. 

A Little Bit of Magic to Start the Day

By Stephanie Bartlett

Although I greet each morning with anticipation, rarely does the day begin with magic. We normally begin our day with about 15 minutes of activities that target fine motor development or skill competencies and then move on to the rest of our day. Until today.  One of the activities I had left out was a container of loose metal pieces and magnets for sorting, patterning and fine motor development.  When the group began to grow, I started to pay attention.

 “We need a screw driver thing.”

“We need wood.”

“How can we make a door?” 

“Can I help?”

“Here, hold this.”

 “We need instructions.”

“I can draw instructions. My mom is a designer.”

“I’m good at this. Here, let’s do it like this.”

 Now, if we are going to look at the seven strands of creativity, these students were touching on many of them without even trying. Collaborative Development, Experimentational Development, Analytical Development, Generative Development were all evident as students figured out what to make, how to assemble the materials and what to do when the first idea didn't work.  I sat listening and watching in awe wondering at what point the work of transforming my practice had arrived at a point where students were generating sophisticated ideas and creating on their own...in September!! 

So far, I think it is the culture I am co-creating with my students. I speak regularly to them about drawing plans and using the writing materials in every centre to explain their thinking. It must also be the predisposition that many of the students bring to the class, and the materials and tools in the maker space that are readily available for such explorations. Regardless of the reasons behind the magic, today I was spellbound and the feeling lingers on.  I got to know my students and their interests just a little bit more today and will sprinkle this magic liberally as the year gets going!

My Story, Our Story

By Stephanie Bartlett

As I think deeply about the threads that I could use to begin weaving the fabric of this new school year, the idea of stories seems very appropriate. Early in September, my pace is slow and my vision is big and far-reaching, in a friendly sort of way.  I feel like I won’t be able to achieve my goals in my Kindergarten class this year if I don’t slow down and pay attention to the story...or the many stories that will create the whole of our experience together.

And so it begins with the self. With me. With my story. That is the easiest concept for a five year old to grasp. David Loy writes that stories “teach us what is real, what is valuable, and what is possible. Without stories there is no way to engage with the world because there is no world, and no one to engage with it because there is no self” (Loy, 2010 p.3). So, we will take the time to carefully and thoroughly create our world in the classroom by telling our stories. I am picturing our morning gatherings. Cloudy, grey morning outside but inside, there is a hush as we gather  with our bodies leaning forward, eyes bright as we focus on the person who will share their story and an important picture that day.The image fills me with anticipation and warmth, and I hope my students will feel the same. That there is no place that they would rather be. 

Once we begin to weave our collective tapestry, we will move into our story. If “ to ‘settle’ a wild place means to create not only houses and farms but also the stories that will make [the aboriginals] a home” then to ‘settle’ our classroom in September means to give meaning and value to the stories that happen in our surroundings as we build our sense of community (Loy, 2010, p. 8). Each child in our class is inherently valuable to the whole and will play an important part of who we will “be” as a group. How we will be together as a collective group? What will matter to us? I hope to guide my students towards caring for our community and our environment yet I haven’t discovered what is important to my students, so I can’t predict what direction this will take. I do  know that we will take care with our story. What stories will we create together on our journey? What else will we discover that really matters to us enough to tell the story? The image of “stories all the way down” fills me with anticipation as I wonder about the different layers of stories that we will discover and create together (Loy, 2010, p. 5). The idea of the classroom as a narrative will hopefully encourage the children to all become storytellers and creators of stories in their own right. All kinds of stories.

Stories are about the process. The good, the bad, the happy, the sad, the triumphs and the failures. Yes, the failures. That is how we learn, develop and grow. It takes the idea of “I can” statements to a deeper level as students fill their portfolios with stories and pictures that document the story of learning and the bumps along the way.

Music...It's Instrumental

By Stephanie Bartlett

Time. We need the slowness of time to really learn and explore a topic and sometimes this is very difficult to honour. I took the time to reflect this summer on some of our projects that best demonstrate my journey as I learn how to slow down and really take the time to figure out what really matters in our classroom. I am beginning to discover that no matter what the program of studies may ask us to teach, it is the topics that invite passion and wonder that allow us to cover curriculum deeply. I share this story as an example of how to take an idea, be it student driven, teacher driven, or both and transform it into a spark that can develop into an in-depth inquiry.

Before Earth Day, there was a cbc.ca challenge inviting bands to perform a song using found objects as instruments. At first,we watched the videos, looking closely at the instruments. Then instruments and objects were left out for exploration.  

After a couple of weeks, students chose an instrument and played along, finding the rhythm of the song. The result each time was a heartbreakingly beautiful moment of synchronicity. Students moved to the music, found the beat with their instruments and some sang. Everyone was engaged. No one noticed their teacher willing this moment of learning to suspend us in a calm space amidst a busy morning. 

Collaboration moved us forward to the next level when we visited the grade 3/4 classes to see the instruments that they had created. Never underestimate the power and influence of the big kids. Each kindergarten student was paired with an older child who carefully explained their instrument and the process in which they had created an instrument of their choice to reflect changing tone and pitch.  In small groups mixed with older and younger students, they worked to compose a rhythm together.

Back in the classroom, we saw a rapid change in the variety of instruments created and increased complexity in the rhythms. We started to create songs in small groups. Some students even ventured to record their music in photo booth. We did not work on this every day, nor did I have a set outcome. My dream goal was a big one: to present their songs at our end of the year celebration.  If we didn't get there, I was ok with that because the process of creative development was rich. Formative assessment was ongoing and curriculum was integrated and covered just by the students immersing themselves in the process. Some were more involved than others and that was ok. There are always leaders, innovators and instigators at any age.

The last step was to visit the older buddies one last time to watch their music videos. Students explained the criteria to the kindergarten students...once again the results of collaboration amazed me. We had some very interesting percussion and string instruments and the work of the rock bands began to take shape.

The students presented proudly at our class celebration, showing parents and myself that given time, guidance and patience, an amazing inquiry can keep momentum over a longer period of time, covering more curriculum than one would ever think possible. Jackie Seidel, my professor in Graduate Studies at the University of Calgary, writes in her essay 'A Curriculum for Miracles' that:
                   

                     a Curriculum for Miracles understands that life can be opened from this
                     wonderous place called a classroom or school, or it can be closed. Life can
                     be seen as wonderous or as dull. It can creatively overflow with joy, justice,
                     peace and love, or it can serve the future, the literal, the non-miraculous...
                     thus a Curriculum for Miracles is a curriculum that knows life itself as an
                     Object of Wonder.  Fragile. Unique. Interconnected. Just once. (Seidel, 2014)

Echoing Jackie Seidel's thoughts, it is a living curriculum that takes precedence in my program. One of hope, one that allows students to voice and develop their ideas. Giving up my need to control everything that goes on in the classroom and co-developing my program has been instrumental in my shift towards teaching and learning a curriculum that celebrates the joys, the sorrows, and the passions of all stakeholders.

Citation:

Seidel, Jackie (2014). A Curriculum for Miracles. In Jackie Seidel and David W. Jardine (Eds.), Ecological Pedagogy, Buddhist Pedagogy, Hermaneutic Pedagogy: Experiments in a Curriculum for Miracles. 

Scrap Metal: Lessons in Sustainability

By Stephanie Bartlett

It began with the spark of one student.

Departing from the typical get-to-know you activity at the beginning of last year, I invited students to bring five photos that defined who they were.  I asked parents to think deeply about the fabric of their family. What were the passions and curiosities of their five year old child? What made their child laugh? What are the stories that helped shape who their child is today?

For the first few weeks of school,  Blaze was quiet and reserved.  I wondered how I could connect with him and find out what made him tick. It turns out that the wheels were already in motion with our photo project. When it was Blaze's turn to present his favourite picture, he chose a picture of a machine with a giant claw. His voice became as deep and matter of fact as a man's, and as mesmerizing as a storyteller's as he proceeded to inform the class that this was his own scrap metal yard and that he had two of these machines. He explained that the machines smashed and sorted metal, which was then put in a container and sent to China where it would be reused. Blaze went on to say that he often went to work after school, and that he had his own office with a computer.  And there was the hook! This five year old child was already so engaged in a real world context that a classroom full of toys and large group lessons had precious little value to him at that moment.  After asking Blaze's parents if we could visit the scrap yard later in the year, I started to think about how we could use Recon Metal as a real, authentic example within our local community to learn about sustainability and the life cycle of an object. I started to ask myself what really matters in the context of teaching the curriculum and discovered for myself that learning is much more engaging when it is based on the real life and when it directly addresses the passions of our students.

Fast forward to April, a few weeks before Earth Day.  We set the date for our field trip and began to spend time exploring the field of environmental sustainability. We began the month by learning about recycling of different materials through videos, literature and discussions. The students explored and played with wire, and different found objects. Students created art projects, storyboards for movies, and books, all of which showed the process or importance of reusing and recycling.

On the day we visited the scrap metal yard, the students disembarked from the bus, donned t-shirts and hard hats and began the tour. We watched a machine load a shipping container bound for China and  watched a car get smashed by a giant magnet. We ran our hands through shredded copper and aluminum, and sorted different metals. All in all, it was an unforgettable day.

But the best part? The next day, when we reflected together, the students really understood the message. Their comments demonstrated a basic understanding of the life cycle of an object. An object can be used, recycled, shipped somewhere else and created into something new, like a new toy car, for example. And that is the bottom line when we are teaching a new generation to care for our planet and our future.

Looking Closely at Student-Owned Documentation

by Stephanie Bartlett

A big part of my journey this year has been exploring documentation panels.  Inspired by the many talented educators on twitter, I have read, thought, researched, reflected...and the cycle repeats.  I take photos and videos and must admit that I am still figuring out a process to post the photos in the classroom in a timely manner.  (I would appreciate any techniques from those well versed in the world of documentation panels.)

The other day, I printed the photos of our coconut explorations. I thought that if Hunter cut out the pictures, and we explained them together, then the panel would be meaningful to him rather than the parents coming for conferences as had been my original intention. He got some fine motor and sequencing practice cutting and ordering the pictures before we got ready to document the story.

I settled in with sticky notes and proceeded to be amazed at what I learned from Hunter. I thought he would label each event in each picture.  Instead, Hunter labelled the steps of collaboration. The first step was Hunter finding the coconut and exploring on his own. The second group of pictures was when Erik came to join him, the third was the class (spelled phonetically KSE) and the fourth was the opening of the coconut. 

Together we reflected on the different questions that he had been asking and I scribed those underneath.  The message had come through loud and clear for me and I was thrilled: collaborative development is an integral part of creativity in educational practice.  Hunter showed me in his own words that collaboration has been embedded in our classroom culture.

There is an important place for teacher-directed documentation panels to explain our programs to adults, and to celebrate the learning of our students by showing the thinking process.  Dylan William states in his book  Embedded Formative Assessment that "teachers have a crucial role to play in designing situations in which learning takes place, but only learners create learning." (William 158)  I provided the learning provocation and then the pictures; Hunter responded with a high level of engagement and showed me how students can help manage their learning process.  It is now up to me to take everything Hunter shared with me to help design new learning experiences for him and the class. 

Citation:

William, Dylan (2011.) Embedded Formative Assessment. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press

Coconut Tales: Looking Closely At One Student's Spark

By Stephanie Bartlett

Hunter discovered a coconut in our Looking Closely centre.  He spent activity time looking closely, listening to the water inside, wondering and drawing in his journal.  "I wonder how we can crack this open?" He is a collaborative guy, so he quickly found a friend to share his discovery.  The group began to grow and our class discussion at the end of the day was all about whether we could open the coconut the following day and how we might do that.

The next day, I had my tools ready: screw driver and hammer to open the coconut in a fairly teacher-directed fashion.  Sure enough, a gang of them headed towards the unsuspecting coconut, each armed with scissors. The snippets of excited discussion I heard were the very things that I had been teaching all year.  They were talking, wondering, figuring out how to open the coconut and all the while, finding ways to listen and work together. I stopped the whole class and quickly told them there were some people who wanted to crack the coconut.  I asked everyone to just drop their toys, grab their journal and draw how they thought we might open it.  

Next we all gathered around the table.  When I turned back from gathering my tools to demonstrate how to do open our treasure, I saw that Rowan (who had just returned from a five month stay in Maui) grabbed the coconut, and used his scissors like a screw driver in one of the holes, saying "Let me do this. I used to open these every day."  What empowerment for a student who is working hard to return to routine, school, all the while learning a new language! There was no need for me to be there, so I quietly hung back and let him run the show.  

The conversation turned to excitement about the water inside. "What will it taste like?" "Can we try it?" Like a surgical assistant hoping to be helpful, I grabbed our class set of cups and suggested that everyone pour two shakes in so that they could all try the water.  So fun! And then...after some French oral language activities because I need to get them talking as much as I can...we counted to three and tried the coconut water.  "Eeeewwwww!" "Gross!" 

The last step was to graph who liked the taste and who did not.  We ended the day chanting "Je n'aime pas l'eau de coco!" 

This activity was made possible by a provocation that sparked the curiosity of one student. Then, he shared his interest and collaborated, all the while generating ideas on how to open the coconut.  Students then caught the spark and drew a plan.  This gave them an opportunity for authentic writing, then math and oral language skills.  Listen carefully to your students, teach them to wonder, question and investigate and offer provocations that will allow their curiosity to spark.  To me, this is a joyful way to teach and the results always astound me. What examples do you have that highlight student engagement?

Looking Closely At Our Special Talents

by Stephanie Bartlett

Transforming a program is akin to a leaf in the wind; sometimes you float gently, content with the wind to give you lift, other times you are thrown wildly somewhere you haven’t been before. My strongholds are my teaching partners and my action research in creativity in educational practice. This post is the next step in our creative journey of Looking Closely in the Kindergarten classroom.

 When we laid plans to develop the Je suis unique theme to carry us through the year, we knew how to begin.  It fit into virtually every area of the Kindergarten curriculum and tied in beautifully to the Looking Closely project.

Students were proud to bring in their five photos and proudly hang their favourite on our class tree. What came next has touched the educator in me in ways I couldn’t have predicted had I planned the entire unit early in the year.

The Olympics led us into Je suis bon/bonne en… We looked closely at the different sports and athletes.  Then, students were asked to go into their special pocket in their portfolios and choose a photo highlighting an activity that they love.  We made salt dough Olympic medals and hung them with our photos on the tree, then practiced the vocabulary for about a week.  Our medal ceremony was a celebration of each child’s source of pride.

Inspired by Georgia Heard’s heart maps in her book Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School, I gave students a large piece of paper and gave them a guided drawing lesson in the technique of drawing a large heart (you need to move your whole arm to draw it!) and let them create their own heart.  Always looking for an opportunity to develop fine motor skills, they had to cut out the heart themselves.  The next step required students to draw their favourite activity in the classroom. In my mind, if they visit a centre often, that action demonstrates intrinsic motivation and engagement.   I taught them how to add texture to a painting, and gave students a large paper to paint a background on which to glue their heart.  Each day, a quick journal lesson built on the previous, and step by step, we developed our hearts. Students were encouraged to add another activity that they loved.  This was a gentle encouragement for students to think about their work and begin to analyze.  Many revisited their hearts and added new activities with phonological writing.

This week at student-led conferences, students will proudly give their parents a tour of their “hearts” and the activities they are passionate about.  Going back to outcome unknown, I have an idea where we will go next to further develop Je suis unique, but will enjoy this moment and with the help of my students, we will collectively decide the next steps on our journey that will take us into spring.

Citation:

Heard, Georgia (1999). Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry In Elementary and Middle School. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Join Us For National Sweater Day on February 6, 2014

Posted by Stephanie Bartlett

Sweater Day is on February 6, 2014!

Let our students take charge with a social innovation project!  Our Kindergarten students are getting ready to educate the school community on the importance of saving energy by lowering our thermostats by 2 degrees.  We will encourage families to wear their craziest sweaters in support of this movement and lower their thermostats.

We'll start with some discussion about climate change, then brainstorm ways that we can spread the word within our school.  I'm thinking class visits, posters, video clips and a blurb in the newsletter but am curious to see what other suggestions come up.  

WIth so much learning opportunities in a real context, I can't wait to see the results.  Please join in the fun with your school and share your comments and suggestions.  

Learning Experience Design Model: Bridge the Gap between Tradition and Innovation

Designing lessons focused on creative development requires a shift from traditional lesson and unit plans.  

Sometimes we want to change but just don’t know where to start; it is often easier to fall back on what we already know.  As I develop my own program centered around creativity and higher level thinking, I often wonder how to best to share what I have learned in a way that people can jump in and explore.   What would be the most essential tool to use when learning to design creative explorations and Genius Hour?  A colleague of mine asked me to help her design a Grade one unit about animals.  As I started to wonder about possibilities, my mind kept veering towards Dr. Robert Kelly’s Learning Experience Design Model. This planning tool aides the teacher in planning units and explorations of any length, while scaffolding for individual student creative development.  It works in tandem with the Seven Strands of Creative Development and helps each student progress towards the production of original work towards the end of the unit.  

Read on for an overview of the Learning Experience Design Model:

This is a planning template that allows the teacher to differentiate for each student right from the beginning of an exploration.  Teachers can easily relate to the familiar framework,  similar in structure to traditional lesson/unit plan design.

Set a pre-inventive structure.  In other words, determine the direction in which you want to guide your students but don’t set an exact outcome at the end.  Creative development is dependent upon the process and time spent cycling through research/investigation and experimentational development.  Final outcomes and representation of learning will become more defined as students build on their knowledge and experience.  What are the questions that you will ask the students to find out what they already know and what they might like to learn and discover?  What activities will you plan to help students with early idea generation?

Type 1 experiences are based on technical acquisition and discipline competency.  

Generate a list of skills and concepts that need to be taught from as many areas of the curriculum as possible or necessary.    Do you need to teach a particular technical skill  or concept that students might need during type 2 or 3 activities?  An art technique?  A writing strategy or genre?  Type 1 activities can be intermixed throughout the learning experience, whenever a mini lesson is required to teach a skill or concept.

Type 2 experiences are co-owned between student and teacher.

This is an opportunity for the student to apply new skills and knowledge.   Set the parameters for the students in a way that encourages choice.   Perhaps start with lessons and conversations about your unit of study.  Progress to other areas such as how to add details to a drawing, or how to create a clay sculpture.   Feedback should be frequent, either on student blogs, in conversation or written in journals focusing on the skills and concepts being developed.  Positive feedback and constructive comments should be embedded into the lesson plans to help the students progress.  Give students opportunities to reflect on their work and the chance to redo and revise to demonstrate their progress and above all, their success.  The experimentational phase of creative development allows students to play and create multiple prototypes.  Here is the perfect opportunity to teach students how to analyze their work and that there is learning in failure.  Students learn an essential life skill when they have to problem solve  and analyze their work.

Type 3 experiences are student-owned with a personal emotional connection.

Students set an inventive structure or blueprint based on the learning exploration that has taken place up to that point, incorporating their choice of representation and materials used.  In lower grades,  it helps to have a bulletin board for students to post their idea generation, questions, plans, and photos of their progress. Remember that all work is relevant to previous student work and that not all students are ready for Type 3 experiences.  This is where personalization and scaffolding comes in.  For those who demonstrate readiness to explore and represent the topic independently, let them go. If students are still learning concepts, or need help creating a plan, offer more teacher support.  The students who are achieving creative sustain will cycle through the idea generation, research and experimentation to finally converge.   A regular feedback loop enables students to reflect on their own and others’ work.    It is the learning process here that is important and the ability to collaborate throughout the exploration.

Assessment should be formative, dialogic feedback based on authentic learning experiences.  

The resources section of www.creativitycollective.ca has some tools for you.  Balance your assessment of creative development with skill acquisition.  

Constraints and Considerations:

Traditional unit or semester plans are usually teacher-driven with set time frames, providing little opportunity for students to apply their thinking skills within an authentic context.  For students to move on to Type 3 experiences, spend as much time as possible between Type 1 and Type 2 activities to allow for plenty of idea generation, research and experimentation.  Use the space in your classroom to provide lots of stimuli for the students. Stimuli can take the form of books, internet, pictures.  When students walk into a classroom that intentionally displays work in progress and  any extra visuals, their curiosity comes out to play.  This way they can explore many different options and avoid early closure of ideas. Early closure is like writers block:  it sometimes occurs from a lack of stimulus and engagement.  

Now download a copy of the Learning Experience Design Model and try it out!

Learning Experience Design Template for Creative Development.doc

Citation:

Kelly, R. W. (2012). Educating For Creativity: A Global Conversation. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Brush Education.

Planning a Year Long Project

By Stephanie Bartlett

Looking Closely:  Our Year Long Project 

During the summer, I read Role Reversal by Mark Barnes.  I loved the idea of a year long project that covers many curriculum outcomes and is based on student interests.  The idea that you can have something to just pull out when a subsitute comes and the students know exactly what to do and love doing it?  I was hooked!

Our overarching question in Kindergarten this year is Looking Closely/ Je regarde de près.  We will spend time looking closely at nature and other interests.  There is so much in the Kindergarten curriculum to cover about the sense of self, and what makes up the world of a five year old.  What better way to showcase and celebrate our students than to find ways to look closely at ourselves and our friends all year long?

Our Newsletter to parents explains the project.  We sat down as a team to decide how we would do this new kind of Star of The Week.  Students will bring five pictures representing themselves, their culture and their interests.  We will back them on coloured paper and laminate them so that they can be manipulated in different ways all year.

First activities: 

• We need to design and create a class tree.  I bought twigs at IKEA that we will trim, bend and manipulate to create an accessible spot to hang our pictures.  Since we have our tree outside that we are sketching, and learning about, underneath and around, it is perfect to bring the tree theme inside. 

• Laminated pictures will be left on a table for a few days to explore, sort and discuss.

• Students will each be given the chance to share some or all of their pictures.  Last year, we did this:  Students shared their artifacts and their classmates asked questions.  I then guided each student through the process of writing on a sentence strip:  J’aime ____. or I like ____.  for my English Kindergarten partner.  He or she then cut up the sentence strip (great way to see awareness of letters, words and spaces, plus cutting skills) and glued it on a bigger piece of construction paper.  The student then added a simple drawing on a smaller white paper with a black sharpie and we had a great wall display of student work.  In January, we did it again with vacation memories and the sentence starter was J’ai fait _________.  or I _______ (insert action.)  With a bulletin board full of sentences, we engaged regularly in shared reading and students read to themselves or to each other.  The impact was significant:  struggling students remembered the conversations and became familiar with the sentence structure; more advanced students were able to use those as a springboard to create another book or sentence of their own.  This year, we will take that idea and keep it going for the rest of the year.
  

The literacy component of the curriculum fits in beautifully to this project.  When it is time to target a new skill or outcome, we will do it in the context of this project in tandem with whatever other inquiry we are exploring at the time.  We will spend more time during the first half of the school year to build our community and celebrate how we are all unique.  Once we have the framework of the project well established, who knows where we will go with it?  I am thinking that it will be an excellent way to tie in the Winter Olympics and how the athletes are unique as well…

Genius Hour in Kindergarten

Genius Hour In French Immersion Kindergarten

By Stephanie Bartlett

It is easy to read about Genius Hour and assume it is geared for middle school.  Having taught my Kindergarten students through the lens of creative development for the majority of the year, I wanted to give Genius Hour a try.  At the beginning of last June, I decided to devote most of our time to experimenting with this concept.  By this time of the year, my students were familiar with the process of generating ideas, experimenting and creating prototypes, and analyzing their own and their peers’ work, so I felt that as a class, they were ready to apply their knowledge and develop their own projects.

To make the initiative relevant and applicable, Genius Hour needs to be assessed.  I wanted students to be involved in the feedback loop, so I posted their assessment sheets on the wall to track what stages they were working in and what they needed to work on.  Using the visuals and seven strands of creative development on the assessment tool, I guided discussions using consistent vocabulary.  The nature of the feedback was very positive.  I only documented direct comments and student-generated goals, never anything negative or personal.  Click here for a copy of my assessment sheet.  The assessment tool in the photo was my own prototype that I trialled before I published it.

Generate Ideas:

Students were used to brainstorming discussions and wonder walls to collectively question and generate multiple ideas.  We started our journey by wondering what we were passionate or curious about.  Suggestions included building structures, protecting animals, writing books, gardening and much more.  At any age level, there are students who need more support and scaffolding than others.  Some students were very strong in the generative phase of creative development and this helped those who couldn’t quite articulate their interests by giving them a springboard.

Create A Plan:

I had students sketch out a small drawing of their plan.  This was put on our class bulletin board to document their learning.  Each time a student developed new ideas or sketched  more information, it was added to the board.

Research/ Investigate:

Students then headed to the computer, ipad or books if they needed to discover more about their interest.  Many students helped each other and brought information from home.

Play!

The experimentational phase is where we played by putting thought to form.  Students were taught to try, try again.  By creating multiple prototypes, students learn to analyze their thinking.  This is part of the metacognitive piece that we are striving towards as educators.  One student was very interested in caterpillars.  She drew a monarch caterpillar and then used plasticine to create a model.    In a conference with her, I showed her a picture of a monarch caterpillar in a book.  She then changed the colour and the markings of her prototype.  In a class discussion, someone suggested that she create another pattern showing the pattern of the markings and not just the colour.  By the time she created three prototypes, this student was able to clearly describe the characteristics of the monarch caterpillar and went on in her investigations to create a model of the life cycle.

Analyze:

Class tours and discussions played an important role here.  I spent time observing and then took the class on a quick tour of the classroom to showcase the work of a few selected students each period.  I would point out what I noticed, using the vocabulary of the seven strands of creative development.  Students would then collaborate and analyze by offering positive reinforcements and suggestions.  The next day at the beginning of the period, I would highlight those points again to refocus the students and sometimes use the tracking of the bulletin board to suggest a goal for individual students that day.

Sustain:

Many students reached the point of creative sustain by experiencing Genius Hour in Kindergarten.  I observed that some showed strength in different areas of the seven strands, for example, one student was highly generative and always had ideas on the go.  I would then encourage her to prototype and expand her understanding.  As described in the Learning Experience Design Model, some students never reach these Type 3 activities and require more scaffolding on the part of the teacher.  This is differentiation and personalization at its best.

Where does play fit in?

It is important to note that I knowingly taught Genius Hour for more than 20 % of the week in June because I wanted to play and try it out so that I had a plan of attack for following school year.  Because of this fluid schedule, I tracked students’ plans on the bulletin board and the assessment sheets.  Every time that students added a new prototype or drew a new plan, I would add it to their section of the bulletin board.  Our daily schedule continued on the same, so students worked on their Genius Hour projects during our hour of play. In this way, learning was completely self-instigated.  Many used the vocabulary and concepts that we were learning for spring to develop their learning, others went in different directions.  Rather than visiting other centres upon arrival in the morning, many would head straight for their projects or to look at the projects of other students.  The atmosphere was a focused, calm buzz that  never failed to move me as the students joyfully got to work and play in the sunlit classroom, with no reminders from me.

What is the role of the teacher?

My role was to guide and observe my students as they moved through the different stages of creative development.  I would often sit and listen to conversations. This allowed me to plan my class discussions and mini lessons.  Literacy and Math lessons were  embedded into this process .  I would use student project ideas for shared writing and reading each day.  When I noticed an opportunity for a lesson on patterns, 3D shapes or numbers, I would use it as a real life math lesson.  For example, the building centre offered lots of discussion points about 3D shapes and the garden explorations were the basis of many word problems.  Students were so engaged in their projects that there were no discipline problems.  Those who had a difficult time during large group activities benefitted greatly from having the chance to express their knowledge in this format.

And now…

As I head into year two of teaching creativity, I am convinced that I will do Genius Hour again.  The third week of school is about to begin and I am busy doing community building activities and setting routines so that we can delve into the world of creativity.  Trying to implement something too abstract will not fly early in the year, as we all know.

My plan is to investigate whatever theme we are working on from Monday to Thursday, gradually building the process of creative development into our discussions.  (I will enlarge a copy of the assessment tool for our reference.)  Sometime this fall, Fridays will become the day that we will explore Genius Hour.  In the beginning, we will work on our year long project involving building a sense of self and what makes each student unique.  Stay tuned for a future blog post highlighting this project.  An email will go home to parents within the week asking them to share what fires them up, what their passions are.  I can then call upon parents as experts, and find other specialists to guide us as students begin to identify their own passions and interests.  As with anything that requires skill building, I will go slow, do group explorations, and divide the group to work and learn with different volunteers.  As the year progresses, many students will begin to develop creative sustain and generate their own ideas and projects.  There are many teachers experimenting with Genius Hour and evidence of their discussion can be found on twitter in the #geniushour professional learning network.

As with any long term creative development project, my work with Genius Hour will continue to evolve. How do you teach Genius Hour in  your Kindergarten classroom?