Pumpkin exploration

Because it is getting close to Halloween and Autumn is in the air, pumpkins are all around us.  The children have seen them in the environment at the store, at the orchard, and even on our shirts!  What exactly are pumpkins?  Where do they come from?  They are a part of our lives, so it is a great opportunity to really think about them.
I started off by reading a book that, in simple pictures, showcased how pumpkins grow from seeds.  We discussed that book often and referenced that throughout the week.  We then spent time just observing the pumpkin.  What does it look like?  How is it shaped?  What colors?  How does it feel?  We drew our thoughts.

"The pumpkin feels cold.  You crack it and take a bite."

"It's smooth and the stem feels hard."

We then opened the pumpkins.  Some children had previous experience with pumpkins and they were familiar with them.  Others, this was their first experience seeing the inside.  

"It feels like Juice!"

"It's sticky, it's wet, I'm feeling it."

"It smells bad, it sounds like a drum."

"It's full of stuff.  It's wet inside.  I'm scooping.  We are going to make apple pie."

"Both the inside and the outside are cold."

After spending time collecting the seeds, I got a chance to cook them.  I took pictures of my process for those who were not there that day.  We referred back to those pictures as we talked about how I cooked them.  Introducing new foods is always tricky, so I made sure to keep it exciting.  We tried the seeds together and talked about how they crunched.  

Hopefully your children  have been telling you about the seeds and how delicious they are!

What is inside the osage orange

During group time on Tuesday morning we got a chance to reflect on our observations form the week before.  We repeated the 5 senses to describe the orange again before I posed a question:

What is inside the orange?

"I think it's a skeleton.  It's a baby."
"A robot."
"Bumpy"
"A baby"
"It's glue.  It's sticky.  It's like squishy."
"I think it will smell dirty."
"I think it will smell clean."

After preparing the children during group time, they would visit the opened orange during small group explorations.  They were encouraged to describe it using the words they knew.

"Seeds"
"I thought it was a watermelon."
"It's cold.  My hands are sticky."
"It smells like soap.  Kiwi."
"It smells like watermelon."
"Oh wow!  It's green inside!  A seed!"
"Wow.  It's sticky.  I need to wipe my hands."
"It smells like bad."
"They're so hard I can't understand."

"What is that thing?"

One day a few weeks ago I brought in some tall leaves and plants I found outside.  We spent a few days looking at it and exploring it.  The children really enjoyed looking and talking about it.  It was a great way to use our observational skills and write about it.

This brought me to the idea of talking about our 5 senses.  We use them to explore new things and they are great strategies to help us observe.  I talked about it during our Thursday morning group time.  What can we do with our nose?  How can we use our eyes?  How do they help us think of words to describe new objects?  I brought over an osage orange often found outside during this time of year.  We talked about each sense and how we could use it for the orange (unfortunately not our mouth this time).

We had a chance to explain our thoughts with our words as well as writing/drawing.  Providing opportunities for using descriptive language is essential in order to expand our vocabulary.  

"It feels hard.  It feels rough.  It has big bumps on it."

"It feels like a ball."

"It looks like a pear."

"It feels dry."

"It's green.  It's good."

When we get the chance soon, we will open it and explore the inside to continue our observations.

"I think I see something!"

Last week on Monday I brought something to school.  I did not mention it to the children and did not tell them what it was.

I kept a clipboard with paper next to the tank for teachers to write down the children's words.  We did not tell them what was inside, but would only talk about what they/we saw.  

"I see a hole!"

"There's nothing.  There's a rock.  There's two holes!"

"The holes are clues."

"There is dirt, a plant, and pieces of wood."

One lucky child discovered a frog peeking out of a hole.  She told a teacher immediately.  From there, the news spread fast.  Like a game of telephone, there were lizards, frogs, fish, and caterpillars living in the holes.  Children were convinced there were creatures inside without even seeing them.  

"Why aren't they coming out?  The animals are hiding."

"I saw a frog hop!"

"If we stomp out feet they will come out from hiding."

"What's in there?  Is there a lizard?  It's hiding!  I found it!  There is a second one!  They are cute!"

I then "forced" the toads to come out of hiding one afternoon so I could take pictures and give some of the children an opportunity to see them.  The toads spend most of their time in the dirt, so I made a book of photographs to "prove" to the children what was inside of the tank.

It is hard to see from this video (it's pretty choppy), but this is one of the toads eating a worm from the bowl.  I will try to put up a new video if I can get it to work.

Beginning Instrument Explorations

Ever since the first week, it has been very common to see the children walking around and singing to themselves while they are working.  They have enjoyed learning new school songs during group times.  We have been exploring music in different ways.  So far we like it all.  I’ve been thinking of the interest among all of these aspects of music.    Do the children like to perform?  Do the children like to hear different sounds within music?  Do they prefer to move with the music?  I started off by using instruments as an integral part of this investigation.  Instruments allow the children to sing, dance, explore sounds, and perform for an audience.

Through this exploration of instruments, the teachers have been investigating the sounds that are made.  We may not know the names of instruments, but we can explore with them to try out different strategies.  “It sounds tick tock, like a clock.”  “These are cymbals, but you can also sing music into them.”  

The plan is to keep exploring with instruments to see what we know, what we learned, and what we would like to know in the future.