Current events provide great entry points for playful learning experiences. The Olympics offer many educational opportunities for young children. Some possible themes for exploration are: geography, flags, national anthems, introduction to different cultures, teamwork, and the list goes on… In preparation for the Olympic opening ceremonies, we thought it would be fun explore flags around the world!
Start out by generating a list of the countries that your have personal connections with. We started with nine countries that either we’ve been to, or know someone who lives there. Next, cut out the flags from those countries and glue them on the on the world map (see printables below). As the Olympics progress, you travel to new places or current events unfold, continue to add flags of the your countries of interest!
“The Potential of the Child is stunted when the end point of their learning is formulated in advance.” – Carla Rinaldi
Children’s literature holds so many possibilities for open-ended explorations. As Maria Montessori stated, education is not something a teacher does, but a process which occurs naturally and spontaneously in any child. Enjoy sharing stories with your children and see what questions are sparked and then take their lead in extending the picture book experience.
A picture book can be shared in so many different ways and the weight it plays, depends on you as the parent, care giver, or teacher. It helps to know the story you are reading well. Pre-reading prior to sharing with your child allows you to think of little anecdotes to sprinkle throughout the story. A little knowledge about the author and illustrator and even the publishing house is always beneficial. Gather more titles by the author and illustrator or on the topic to allow this book to be the launch pad for further questioning and research.
Every now and then a picture book comes along and it is moving, truly moving and it becomes, almost overnight, a modern day classic. Often it is the clever combination of author and illustrator and on other occasions it is simply the magic of one person. In its simplicity an entire forest of activities open up and the possibilities are endless!
Home, by Carson Ellis is a picture book created by the most magical illustrator Carson Ellis who is based in Oregon and has a wonderful life with her two sons, husband Colin Meloy, and many animals. Her illustration style is whimsical and wild and embraces the imagination of its viewers with the unspoken invitation to explore and question…
Who lives here?
What do they eat?
What do they value?
Would I like to live like these people?
Where in the world do people live like this?
Print out the attached world map and see if you can locate these homes on the map. You can write down the continents, name of the countries, and illustrate the homes.
Another possibility is to do some research on any of the homes, countries and cultures mentioned?
What can you find out about:
Vikings?
The country of Kenya or Japan?
Norse Gods?
Babushkas?
Nursery rhymes?
As a family or a class group create your own book entitled Home inspired by Carson Ellis. Pose the question “Let’s create our own Home book, what shall we include?”
Home is a must for any serious book collector and makes the most beautiful and thoughtful gift. Make sure to check out other titles illustrated by Carson Ellis.
While we all get swept up in the happily ever after notions of today’s fairytale characters, it’s important to break open the concept of being a “princess” and widen the definition of what that might look and feel like for girls, both young and old. For deep within these tales are valuable lessons to be learned that go way beyond finding your prince charming.
My first year of teaching was in an amazing kindergarten classroom. We were very fortunate to have a guest teacher come to our class once a week over a period of time to introduce the children to a Cinderella Study. I watch watched, captivated each week, as Karen Balliett, shared Cinderella stories from around the world and lead thought provoking discussions about the universal commonalities as well as the cultural twists among them.
Years later, the time was ripe for sharing the Cinderella Study with my daughters’ book club and it turned out to be a great experience! We gathered our favorite versions of the Cinderella tale (see above).
Everyone had their own copy of the printable above and we started out by introducing the elements of story. Once the girls knew what each term meant, we read the different versions and took notes on each one. As we read, the girls started to notice different nuances in the story.
In some of the stories Cinderella had to look beautiful every time she saw the prince, in others that was not the case. In some versions the Cinderella figure marries the prince and in some she does not. In the versions where Cinderella does marry the prince, in some of them she shows forgiveness to her step-mother and step-sisters and in others she does not. Where the magic shows up and what is required to access it differs from tale to tale as well. The possibilities for discussion are endless!
Once we finished our exploration we took some time to draft notes on our own Cinderella stories, which then led to final writing pieces. By the time we got to writing our own stories there was not moment of hesitation as each girl new exactly what they wanted to write. We ended with a lovely author share, as we munched on carrot sticks and hummus, and eagerly waited to hear each other’s inspiring tales…
Do you and your family have favorite places that you visit frequently or that you have special memories of? Most of us do. Whether they are in our own yards or across the country these places hold a special place in our hearts. Our interactions with them help shape our unique sense of those places. If it’s an outdoor place that you visit frequently, you may have noticed how it changes throughout the seasons and therefore how your feelings and experiences may change. If it’s a far away place that’s quite different from where you live, perhaps the contrast heightens your sense of place of home. We also develop a sense of place from built spaces. Our interactions in them and with the other visitors can help define our sense of community and sense of self.
Places and our interactions with them are important. Take some time to think about your favorite places and your sense of place as related to them and celebrate them this Valentine’s day with this map hearts craft.
Here’s how to do it:
Gather maps of some of your favorite places and some sheets of plain colored paper.
Cut out an appropriate sized heart template.
3. Using the template, trace the heart on to the map of each special place.
note: be sure each place that you want to feature will show on one half of the heart
4. Do the same for each coordinating colored piece of paper.
5. Cut a slit halfway through each heart along the middle. Since the map heart will fit together with a solid heart, cut the slit on one heart from the top down, the other from the bottom up.
6. Fit the two hearts together, making sure that the featured place shows. Do the same for all hearts.
7. Glue the back of the hearts on to a background paper in whatever arrangement you like.
8. Frame or hang as is and enjoy!
This garland and this bouquet are also fun ways to display heart maps of your special places.
In planning for back to school with my second and third graders, I spend a significant amount of time researching which books to read aloud to them. I am often asking myself questions such as:
Will this story hook my students into reading?
Will students reach for this book during reading workshop?
Which non-fiction texts are best for reading aloud?
Which non-fiction texts will peak students’ interest and encourage additional inquiries?
Which poems will encourage a love of words?
I find back to school to be the perfect time of year to focus on incorporating different genres when I’m reading aloud to my class. In developing a love of language and encouraging students to be avid readers, I want to be thinking about how I can reach them all. Some will be quite motivated and learn best through listening to a story, others love realistic photographs and factual information, while still others prefer the rhythm of words in the genre of poetry.
There are many wonderful books to include in your back to school read aloud sessions. This fall while in the classroom, my students and I have begun to explore some of the titles listed below. Each genre offers a wide range of possibilities for sharing.
Fictional Picture Books: I often share several picture books on the first few days of school. This year some of our favorites include:
Fish and Snail by Deborah Freedman – Fish and Snail is such a beautiful story about exploration and trying new things but most of all the power of friendships.
Once Upon An Ordinary School Day by Colin McNaughten – Once Upon An Ordinary School Day is a fantastic story that explores the power a teacher can have to ignite passion in students. Mr. Gee (the teacher) brings words alive in encouraging his young students to write.
Non-Fiction: This year I intentionally set out to locate non-fiction books that focus on back to school around the world. I was thrilled to locate the following fabulous read aloud titles:
Off To Class by Susan Hughes – Susan Hughes hooked my students immediately with a focus on unique schools around the world. We read through a section on Bangladesh boat schools and rich discussions ensued. In fact, we had so many questions and wonderings that we’ve decided to locate more information such as videos, additional books and articles about boat schools.
A School Like Mine produced by UNICEF and authored by Penny Smith is also intriguing to students in that they get to explore how children around the world attend school The author interviews individual children and as such readers gain a unique view into their daily school lives.
Poetry: Sharing poetry with students is one of my favorite ways to make sure students see language as fun and inviting. These two collections invite students to read together and laugh out loud!
Outside the Box by Karma Wilson is a collection of poems I love to use that explores the fun of thinking differently. This year I took the poem entitled Outside the Box, shared it several times with my students and took photos of them jumping out of a box. Super fun way to explore thinking outside of the box!
Monique of Green Acorns is with us todaywithto share a wonderful project for helping children connect to their community and develop a strong sense of place.
Did you grow up in the place where you currently live? I did not and it took me quite some time before I felt truly connected to my new place. My roots were somewhere else and so much of my identity is linked to that place. This new place, however, is where my children are being raised and where their roots are taking hold.
As I reflect on the significance of “sense of place”, I find myself becoming more mindful of the experiences that my children are having and the impact they leave. Every trip to the farmer’s market and local farms, every exploration of surrounding parks and nature preserves, every event attended in our community, every observation made in our own backyard, is being woven together to create my children’s unique sense of place.
In my previous post I mentioned drawing favorite places on a map of your town as a way to nurture your child’s developing sense of place. This is a fun activity that gets kids thinking of places in their environment that are important to them and is a wonderful opportunity for parents to gain some insight on the matter. It’s also a great way for children to see the range of their community and where each special place is in relation to others.
It’s fairly simple:
Ask your children to make a list (or dictate one to you) of their favorite places within your town. It could be a park, the library, a store, or a spot right in your backyard.
Next, find a detailed map of your town. We chose to make a collage of images printed from Google Earth. My children LOVE Google Earth, by the way. They get such a kick out of locating a particular place and zooming in on it. And the 3D street view is so cool! It has so many features and is really a great tool.
Once you have your map, it’s time to locate all the places on your children’s list. Older children may be able to identify most themselves. For younger children you may want to mark some specific locations beforehand and help them to identify the places.
Time to get creative. Ask your children to paint or draw a picture or symbol that represents each place right on the map near the actual location. Allow your children the freedom to decide their own representation, providing guidance only if they seem stumped. They may also choose whether or not to label each place. My children decided together to not add place names but instead created a legend of each symbols meaning.
Now you have a beautiful sense of place map and a wonderful tool to encourage further exploration!
Monique of Green Acorns is with us todaywithto share some great advice on the important topic of developing a sense of place for ourselves and the children in our lives.
Sense of place. Have you heard this phrase? It has only been in the last year or so that I have been hearing more about “sense of place”. Although it’s fairly new terminology to me, the concept is familiar. To put it simply, it refers to the meaning attributed to a place as influenced by our interactions with it.
Close your eyes for a moment and think of the places that were important to you during your childhood. Was there a certain stream you loved exploring? A favorite climbing tree or place to build a fort? How about a market, museum, or place of worship? What memories are attached to these places? What significance do they hold for you? Chances are that you have strong emotional connections to the special places from your childhood. Places can also hold historical, spiritual, or cultural significance but for young children it is primarily the emotional attachment associated with them that give places meaning.
Why is sense of place important? Here are just some of the reasons:
Connecting to one’s surrounding environment establishes knowledge of and appreciation for its resources;
A sense of place supports the development of personal identity;
Having a strong sense of place can inspire stewardship;
Understanding sense of place can nurture empathy.
“The motivation to interact with the environment exists in all children as an intrinsic property of life, but the quality of the interactions is dependent upon the possibilities for engagement that the environment provides.” (Anita Rui Olds, 1979)
