Amazon

I am excited to have a storefront on Amazon where I will share resources and materials we use in our classroom! I have tried to link most of what you see here, on the blog or over on Instagram (@wonderfullinquiry) and Twitter (@wonder_inquiry).

Click here to see my storefront!

Enjoy my favourite products!

Update!

Hello everyone!

Big news over here. I will be moving into a Grade 1/2 class for this upcoming school year. I have loved teaching Kindergarten and while I'm sad to be leaving, I am also looking forward to a new challenge and more learning! (Also, excited to still have some time in Kindergarten classes!).

I have learned so much from the Kindergarten program and the students. I am excited to take this learning and use it to create an inquiry and wonder-filled classroom. As you can see, I'm no longer using 'Learning in Room 122' as I will be leaving Room 122. I have switched to 'Wonder-full Inquiry' as it applies to all future classrooms I will be teaching in.

I'm hoping to use this blog to continue to share my journey of inquiry and play in a Grade 1/2 classroom. Don't worry, I will probably continue to share Kindergarten ideas on here as well. Hope you will continue to follow along!

All social media accounts have the same content, they just have new handles. Check them out!

Twitter- @wonder_inquiry (https://twitter.com/wonder_inquiry)
Instagram- @wonderfullinquiry (https://www.instagram.com/wonderfullinquiry/)

Complex Math Through Play

"Every child has a different learning style and pace. Each child is unique, not only capable of learning but also capable of succeeding.

- Robert John Meehan

Many people believe that Kindergarten students are unable to grapple with complex mathematical ideas. This is not true. Kindergarten students are capable of exploring mathematical ideas when it is done through play and is initiated by their ideas and interests. As educators, we need to be listening, watching, questioning and prompting as they explore. 

A group of Year 2 students were using cuisinaire rods (a math manipulative) to create the solar system. They ensured that the sun was yellow, Earth was green and blue and all the other planets were accurate. They then wrote about their creation, sticking mostly to science understanding and sharing their learning from our space inquiry. 

The initial creation.

We prompted them to count how many cubes were in each planet they created. As the cuisinaire rods are grouped together, they could not separate them to count one by one. We worked on using different counting strategies- counting by 10s, using friendly numbers and counting on. They recorded the totals on sticky notes. As the educators, this was our goal- building math strategies to count larger numbers of objects. But, what unfolded next was because of these mathematicians thinking critically about their work and their knowledge about planets. 

The final version.
(You can see the changes to the total number of cubes in each planet after they problem solved the size issues for each planet. The sun is on the right and Neptune on the left)

After they added the totals to each planet they noticed a problem, which led to some very complex math and science thinking. We'll let you hear it from them. We have transcribed the conversation with the students explaining their problem solving:

What did you do first?

D.S- We made the solar system and then we counted them and we wrote the numbers

What was the first problem?

D.S- First Jupiter was smaller than Neptune

What did you do?

I.S- I took 30 blocks away from Neptune to make it smaller

D.S- I made 2 more for Jupiter to make it bigger (she added two rows to each side of their initial 'Jupiter' creation)

But that made a new problem...

P.W- And then the sun was smaller, so we all made the sun bigger

Then you noticed two other problems...

J.C- So when I came, Saturn was thin then I made it thicker and then I saw that Venus is supposed to be the same size as Earth, but we did Mars as the same size as Earth. So we changed it so Venus is the same as Earth.

Which was the smallest?

All- Mercury!

And is Mercury the smallest planet in the solar system?

All- Yes!

What happened when you added more cubes to Saturn?

J.C- It's the second biggest planet

Which is the biggest in the solar system?

P.W- The sun!

How many cubes was the sun?

D.S- 70!

At first it was, but then you made it bigger. How many did it have after?

All- 140!

As you can see, these mathematicians were thinking about so many different concepts during this play experience. Using Cathy Fosnot's math landscape, you can see they have begun to use a variety of strategies and explore and use a number of different mathematical concepts and skills.

They combined their learning about the planets with their understanding of quantity and size. 

Give your students (or your child) the chance to experiment with complex math through play. Provide open ended materials that encourage a variety of play, but most importantly...believe they are capable, listen to their ideas and challenge them to think critically about their creations.

Foods with Feelings

"Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more of everyone else"

-Sydney Clemens 

At the beginning of each school year, we spend a lot of time learning about emotions and self-regulation. We use the Zones of Regulation to support building language around feelings and emotions (See last year's post about how we use Zones by clicking here). We spent time reading a variety of books about different feelings.

We learned that all feelings are okay. It's okay to be sad, or scared, or angry, or frustrated, or happy.

We read the book 'How are you Peeling? Foods with Moods', which inspired a wonderful art and literacy project for our learners. Our artists decided they wanted to create their own foods with feelings.

Our artists used their knowledge of feelings to create a representation of different emotions using clay/plasticine. 

We then turned their artwork into a book! Our writers added words to describe each feeling. 

(We used the company Book Bub to have our book published).

Here is a peak into our book: 

Spider Inquiry

Our spider inquiry continued to grow! We learned so much about spiders and even got to speak with experts. While we were learning about spiders, the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) had a spider exhibit. As we were unable to organize a last minute affordable trip down, we contacted the ROM to see what our options were. We ended up having a video call with their 'spider wrangler' and a scientist and it was AMAZING!

Our learning about how spiders catch their prey- we added to this chart as we learned

A spider web created by J.C.

A trapdoor spider created by P.X.

A spider using a sticky globule to catch a bug by B.R.

Students showed their learning in play all over the classroom!

We created these Peacock Spider holiday gifts for the families.

 

After reading many non-fiction books about spiders, our authors wrote and illustrated their own:

By: D.K.

By: P.X.

By: D.S.

By: J.C.

By: P.W.

Before our call with the ROM, our learners wanted the experts to know all the information we knew. So they decided to use mind maps to share all their knowledge. They then wrote the questions they wanted to the spider experts to answer and we sent them ahead of time to the ROM.

 And then we had our call!

This is a moulted exoskeleton of a Goliath Birdeater Spider

Doing the Peacock Spider dance

A big thanks to the ROM! We are now all spider experts! What a great way to end our inquiry.