Beverly Papove Inquiry

Final Inquiry of the Year

Cruising along towards the last 2 weeks of school in senior kindergarten and we have just started an inquiry on bees. It came about when the wasps and bees and other flying things started to hover around the garden in the school yard. Students would scream and run, or spread rumours like, “I think it’s a yellow jacket.” “No, it’s a hornet. And if it stings you 3 times, you die.” Bugs were caught and squished as the Protector Instinct surfaced amongst a few students even while I tried to interrupt the squishing with reminders that, “True Nature Detectives are Observers NOT Disturbers!” To little avail.

So, we had a talk about wasps and how they are related to bees and that there are so many kinds of bees it can be hard to tell which is a bee and which is a wasp. The next day, I brought in a book of mine called “A Natural History of Bees”, and asked our wonderful school librarian if there were a few bee books I could take out to share with the students. As I started to read the books aloud, I was amazed at how focussed all the students were on learning the facts about bees. After reading one particular book, they started to mimic the circular dances bees do to communicate where a good supply of pollen and nectar can be found, and everyone started buzzing.

Back in the classroom, with only paper, markers and masking tape put out on the art table, self-conceived bee costumes began to take shape. At other tables, some students would pour over the photographs in the books, while others would start drawings of hives, bees, trees and flowers, and plasticine bees and hives were created. Perhaps the best question that came out of the inquiry was, “How do bees make honey?” I had no clue, so I read books with the class until we could answer the question. Essentially, a bee chews up pollen, then spits it into a cell in the hive. The wax they use to form the perfect hexagonal cells in the hive comes from sacs on their body and keeps the honey for the growing larvae to feed on. We learned, too, that a honey bee will work all their lives collecting pollen which amounts to about a teaspoon full of honey. Fascinating stuff. One little girl, however, wanted to clarify a fact when she asked, “Soooo, honey is really bee spit?” Yep!

To further their knowledge about bees in an interesting but unobtrusive way, I found a National Geographic video on bees that I projected onto the screen at one end of the classroom with the sound off. Students could walk by and stop and watch bees up close for a moment, then go on their way to whatever activity they had chosen.

For a math question, we imagined that our classroom was a beehive. I asked, “If this really were a hive, how many drones and how many worker bees would there be?” Having learned that drones are male and worker bees who collect pollen are female, the students had to come up with a way to count to find out how many of each kind of bee we had. They settled on the idea to have all the girls stand in one line and have a boy count them, and then have the boys all line up and have a girl count them. I asked why that might be a good idea, and they knew it was because you often forget to count yourself. They counted 13 worker bees and 13 drones.

After a few days of inquiry, I decided to read the book, “The Very Busy Bee” by Jack Tickle. While I was reading, I could tell that the students were a little disappointed to hear how it was not at all factual, as they started making comments like; “A boy bee doesn’t go out and collect nectar!” and “A bee can’t just eat pollen and not bring it back to the hive. They don’t eat it to get fat, they collect it for the hive.” These comments highlighted the knowledge that they had acquired from the inquiry, as well as their critical thinking skills, and their understanding of the difference between fiction and nonfiction stories. Report cards may be done, but ongoing inquiry in the classroom helps to keep the students focussed and makes it easier to continue to plan interesting activities – especially when it is the end of the school year.

 

Beverly Papove General

Who is feeling tired and cranky?

Who’s feeling a little tired and cranky these days? It is definitely the students – they just won’t listen, and they seem to have forgotten all the proper classroom behaviour we have worked so hard on establishing all year! I find myself losing patience with some of them because they are doing things they know they should not do – like, piling up on each other at the carpet, or jumping off a step when they should be standing in line, waiting quietly.

Who am I kidding? I am definitely experiencing a sleep deficit and feeling like the summer holidays can’t arrive fast enough. My colleagues and I pass each other in the corridors, rolling our eyes, sighing deeply and muttering about how many sleeps are left until the end of the school year. We can try and blame it on the students, but their behaviour is really just a manifestation of our collective state of mind.

This notion was brought home to me a few weeks ago when I had the luxury of attending a workshop at the school I will be working at next year. It is a lovely small school, where the staff has a common vision regarding the use of the outdoors as a classroom. The school is located within walking distance of a bird sanctuary which is visited weekly, all through the year, by the staff and students as part of their environmental inquiry. To give us the right state of mind, our staff meeting started with a walk through the woods where we saw turtles, ducks, herons, and woodpeckers. We looked for and found owl scat at the base of some trees a few owls had been nesting in until a few days prior, and we noticed all the new plants coming up on the forest floor. It was wonderful. When we got back to the school, we were able to focus our discussion on what we felt was really important which was getting outside with our students. It was wonderful and productive.

The next day, when I was back at school, I felt like I was floating through my day – any challenges or needs the students had I met with a calm and clear mind, happily answering questions, and leading them through the day. Even when my student who has serious behavioural difficulties began to escalate his behaviour, I was able to redirect him because of my peaceful, positive approach, and in the end, we were all able to have a great day.

I made a point of telling the principal that I figured out how to manage challenges at school, and that we all should have walks in the forest, as often as possible, especially when things get rough at work. Although she chuckled at my comment, she knows I was serious. It’s the old stop-and-smell-the-roses attitude that we can use to redirect our stress response so that we have a positive day interacting with our students and colleagues. We know the power of the outdoors on our students – it’s a good thing to remember that the benefits are also profound for teachers, too.

Beverly Papove Making a Difference Through Education, Social Justice, Truth and Reconciliation

“Watch, Listen, and Show Respect”

Last week on a warm Wednesday evening, I had the very good fortune of attending an event where the Honourable Senator Murray Sinclair spoke to an auditorium full of educators and students. Although he has become a senator, he may be better known for the work he did as Chief Justice Sinclair, head of the recently concluded Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which investigated and made recommendations for the government of Canada, following the documents and testimonies of hundreds of survivors of the sad legacy of the Indian Residential School system.

To start the evening, we were all welcomed by a drum group, followed by greetings and prayers from First Nation, Metis, and Inuit elders. As soon as Senator Sinclair took the podium, there was a standing ovation. Even before he spoke to the audience, there was deep respect shown for him and for all he stands for. The immense and comprehensive task he and fellow members of the TRC were responsible for unveils an unbelievably long and dark chapter in Canadian history – a chapter that has only recently begun to be learned about in Canadian schools. This was at the heart of what Senator Sinclair was to speak about and what we had all come to hear. As he began to speak, however, he completely caught us off-guard with the way he introduced himself. For almost twenty minutes, his speech was hilarious, but never irreverent, as he made fun of himself, revealing a side of his persona which one might not otherwise infer, given the critically important role he played as Chief Justice presiding over the traumatizing and cruel personal histories of Indian Residential School Survivors. Instead, here was a man who, along with the humourous asides and wit, shared a warmth and respect for the world. Even if he had not gone on to speak about the role of education in reconciliation, Senator Sinclair would have, none the less, taught us by example how to lead a good life.

His message was clear – education caused the problems affecting Aboriginal families and communities, and education can now be part of the solution. All Canadian citizens need to learn about the history of Indian Residential School schools in Canada. Senator Sinclair suggests our role as educators is to begin by helping our students to do three things; to watch, to listen, and to show respect. We, too, must do the same. It is a simple recommendation to help bring reconciliation to our classrooms and it will mean so much for all our futures if we are able to model and teach our students how to be good listeners and observers, who show respect for all.

Beverly Papove General

How to get at the truth – maybe

Almost everyday in kindergarten someone tells a fib. Sometimes it is me – “I will come over to see you swing on the monkey bars in just a minute.” More frequently, however, the most talented fibbers are from amongst my class of 26 five year olds. Occasionally, the fibs are small, like, “No, I didn’t bring my library book,” or “Yes, I washed my hands,” – either of these are easy enough to verify by checking in a backpack or looking at the hands in question.  A more substantial variety of the fib comes in the form of a tall tale, which I guess is a subcategory of the fib, but far more interesting and creative. Examples include; “I found a wasp as big as a bird in my backyard,” or, “One day, I lost my tooth, broke my arm, got stung by a bee, AND fell off my bicycle!” Which was curious, because the exact same thing – minus the broken arm –  happened to another student one day, too.

These kinds of untruths can be left as is because no one is harmed by such exaggerations. A student who lets loose with one of these may be heralded amongst his or her peers as cool, lucky or a great story-teller, and may even garner a “Student X has an excellent imagination” comment on a report card from his or her teacher. However, the fibs that are problematic are ones which can cause some sort of injury. This is often the time when the truth is harder to get at and when we, as teachers, need to figure out what has happened so that we can report to parents or to the administration. Nothing is more frustrating than having both parties involved in a conflict deny involvement. How can they be so convincing? Looking you straight in the eye, and giving their side of the story, you think you may know who is telling the truth, until the second student denies everything. OK, someone here is not telling the truth, but who is it? I don’t have training in the forensics of lie detection, I don’t have the time to slowly draw it out of a student when my classroom is in full swing with 24 kinders, and I need to get to the bottom of this. What to do?

Quite by accident, the other day I stumbled upon a strategy that seemed to work really well and quickly. I am not sure if it was a one-off or if it would work with other students, but it is definitely worth trying again. The situation was a relatively common one in the school yard; one boy had shoved another boy during outdoor play. When I went over to put a stop to the scramble, I was ready to give a serious reminder about schoolyard behaviour to the boy whom I had seen doing the shoving, when he very quietly told me that the other boy had tried to pull his pants down. What?! This was a very uncharacteristic statement from a boy who enjoys running and wrestling and has received the old ‘proper playground behaviour ‘ talk a few times already.  But the other boy said that he hadn’t done anything! He told me several times, in fact. Here’s the problem; when we are dealing with our students in delicate situations like these, we always want to be fair, but it can be really hard when 2 five year olds look at you and blind you with their cuteness and excellent fibbing skills. So, instead of being hasty and jumping to conclusions, I decided I would try again to ask my question, “Did you do that?” but this time, I told the student he could answer me with a thumbs up if he had done it, or a thumbs down if he hadn’t. When I repeated my question, he squirmed a few seconds, looked everywhere but at me, folded his arms, then, there it was, the thumb popped up. Now we could get somewhere!

I can only assume that it is more difficult to tell something that is not true when you cannot use your words, and I can only assume that it may even be a small kind of relief when your body just goes ahead and tells the truth. There is no more conflict or hole-digging once the gesture gets everything out in the open. I am not really sure why it worked, but it was a gentle way for a problem to be resolved and for me to help two little boys who had both gone too far in their actions, and, as a happy ending to this post, I am happy to report are still good friends.

Beverly Papove General

Circumstances Beyond Our Control

You know that feeling you get when you sit in a meeting with a parent and it all becomes clear as to why your student/their child behaves the way they do? Or when after meeting with the family, you would like to recommend the parents for parenting courses, or worse, you feel you may need to call for the support of CAS? We know we must do everything we can to protect our students from abuse by reporting when we have reason to believe that they are in harmful situations, but what do you do when the behaviour is inappropriate or harmful to the child in more subtle ways? The chaos, the disfunction, the stress in certain homes is out of our reach but it is what is ‘normal’ in the child’s life, and it will present itself in some way in our classroom.

We have such a student. Doctors are inconclusive in their diagnosis of Tara (not her real name), although ADHD and spectrum disorder are part of her treatment profile. In her home, there is discord between her parents which may or may not have been present before Tara was born, but which currently translates into a push-me-pull-you situation with regard to the way she is being brought up. To expect this child to easily switch gears as she enters our classroom and leave any emotional baggage at the door is a huge expectation. All we can do is offer the opposite of her homelife – a calm, safe, predictable environment. But the physical environment is not enough to bring Tara around and we are constantly trying new ways to ‘keep the lid on’ because what worked last week may not work this week. Usually we know within the first 15 minutes of our outdoor learning what kind of a day she is bringing with her, although, a good start does not necessarily mean a good end to the day. At the age of only 5 years, diagnosis of behavioural problems is still unclear, although a series of potent medications have been tried to help her bridge the turbulent episodes with the beautiful, calm, smart, kind child that she is most of the time, without too much success. Tara’s home life is inconsistent and so is her behaviour, to the point where aggression is surfacing. Thankfully, there is a big support system for her at school and good communication with one of her parents. It takes a lot of human power to help Tara manage each day – but it is worth it. If she is having an off day – we ALL have an off day.

One of our strategies that hasn’t changed is to have a quiet conversation with her every morning to remind her of how valued she is, see how she is feeling inside, and ask her what she’s looking forward to in her day. I recently saw an inspirational video of a teacher who does just that, making a point of connecting with each of his students in his behavioural class each day for about 5 – 10 minutes. It may seem like a lot of time directed away from instruction, but if you think about it, the learning environment is so much richer when our students feel comfortable and safe. For students who are riding through stormy seas, whether behaviourally or developmentally, a calm and caring voice can be an anchor for them. Rather than feeling lost and out of control, they can feel connected to something bigger than the storm, because, as we have seen with Tara, when she is lost in the storm, it is nearly impossible reaching her. So the only time to make that connection is sometimes a small window of opportunity when she is calm.

Tara’s awareness of her situation is heartbreaking because, after the fact, she knows when she has gone too far and she is not proud or happy about it.  While the event is tumultuous and we need to ensure her safety, evacuate the classroom to ensure the safety of the other 25 students, and try to contact the administration for back-up, our approach is consistent, nonjudgmental, and calm. We try to help her and the rest of the class by remaining calm during an episode of throwing chairs, emptying shelves, and yelling.

Of course the parents love their child, but we cannot underestimate how stressful it must be on them to hear, almost daily, that their child is causing serious problems at school, as well as continuing this behaviour at home. Tara needs to feel the consistency of attention and love in a calm and caring environment, as well as a unified approach to behaviour so that school and home are synchronized. This may not help her through everything in her troubled life, but it would help her brave her stormy times. It seems so easy for us because we only see Tara at school, but it is what we would love to be able to say to her parents.

Beverly Papove agency, Learning in a Real Life Context, Student Ownership

Kinders as Enviro-Experts

A couple of months ago, I got the idea into my head that we should have an Earth Day Fair at our school. I found it frustrating that although we touch on aspects of sustainability and respect for the environment in the curriculum, when it came to Earth Day, saying “Happy Earth Day!” over the morning announcements, was pretty much as far as it went. I happened to mention it to the principal one day, and she said, “Got for it!”. So I started to put more ideas together and tried to figure out how I could also bring my kinders into the mix, not just as participants, but as leaders.

Time passed and things slowly came together. We held our fair  in the morning, indoors, where tables were set up with various presenters to showcase their eco-friendly projects. In the afternoon, the whole school was invited to participate in a variety of eco-friendly activities in the school yard. It was marvelous!

Generally speaking, kinders are often not invited to participate with the general school in certain events due to their young age and somewhat shortened attention span. With the Earth Day Fair, however, I was willing to try out having a table set up, just like the big kids, where kinders could share their knowledge of the worms we have in our vermicomposter.

I decided to follow the science fair model of having a tri-fold poster board for all our information, some literature about worms, the things we need to prepare the compost, and the worms themselves for our information table. In the weeks preceding the fair, I invited students who were interested in showing what they know about worms to a table with pencils and paper and the tri-fold board already set up. I divided up the board into three sections I knew my kinders could elaborate on in order to be able to teach others about vermicomposting;

  1. All about Worms
  2. How to Compost
  3. Why is it important?

There were 8 students who showed an interest – reviewing the books and looking at pictures (some even reading – “Madame! Look! It says here that worms can push ten times their weight!”); who wanted the challenge of writing and drawing their information; and who stayed and observed and asked more questions whenever I would open the compost bin to feed or check on the worms – and so they became my Worm Experts. Because they contributed to the poster display, they were the right people to represent our vermicomposting table at the fair. They were so excited!

I was there to supervise while the Worm Experts had the responsibility of answering questions. Students and staff who visited the display learned a lot as the kinders presented anatomical drawings they had made of the worms, delighting in stating that worms have 5 hearts. The Experts also explained that worms need to stay slimy or they will die, because they breathe through their skin. The composting they explained in three easy steps; collect compost, blend the compost, feed the compost to the worms. Finally, they stated that worms are important because when they dig tunnels, their poo becomes soil with nutrients that helps plants grow. 

The Worm Experts answered questions for the better part of an hour, with the whole school filing past to visit the display. With their enthusiasm beginning to fade a bit towards the end, I asked if any of them would like to stay at the fair or return to the classroom. Half of them decided to return to the classroom because “Being an Expert is hard work.” The others who were happy to stay, chatted with other presenters or went and visited other displays with grade 6 Big Buddies, just like the big kids.

Beverly Papove Constant Learning, Inquiry, Outdoor Learning, self reflection

Stewardship/Sustainability in SK

With our winter inquiry coming to an end, the biggest challenge in my mind was how to facilitate the opportunity for my senior kindergarten students to use what they have learned so that they can become valuable stewards of the planet.

To provoke an understanding of the need to care for and respect the environment which related to our winter inquiry and hoping the students would automatically spring into action, I wrote a note from the creatures the students have observed living in and around our schoolyard. In the note, the creatures complain that the snow is so dirty, that it is making them sick: “Chers Amis, Our homes are not healthy any more! When the snow melts, the water we need to live is making us sick. Many of our friends have already left to find a cleaner place to live. We don’t want to leave! Can you help us? Signed, your friends – Earthworm, Chickadee, Rabbit, Crow and Cardinal. I folded the note and tucked it into a space between the bark and trunk of one of our maple trees growing along the fence in the schoolyard.

During the morning Outdoor Learning period, we started off the lesson with a turn and talk activity to review some of the things we learned about What Happens in Winter. Information flowed as the students chatted with their peers. When they had finished, I gave them the challenge of looking for and finding evidence of living things in the schoolyard. I was beginning to wonder if anyone would find the note, when finally, a group of students came running back, all talking loudly at once about something they had found in a tree.

I gathered the students together and read the note aloud to them, ending it with the question, “What do you think?”  They turned and talked with their neighbours excitedly. “Rabbits can’t write!”  “Yes they can.” And about the message of the snow being unclean; “It’s true! There is sand in the snow. I can see it.”  “Snow looks clean but it’s actually really dirty.” Others mentioned the microbes and the dirt from cars as well as the dogs that dirty the ground. So I asked, “Can we drink the water if we melt this snow?” to which came the answer, “Ewww! No way!”

At this point, I was hoping the students would acknowledge that humans played a part in the messing up of things and that, consequently, it was up to all of us to stop it. However, I was quickly made to realize that, of course, how to clean up the planet is a gazillion dollar question that nobody can fully agree on, let alone a group of five year olds. At this age, they are very capable of figuring out how to help in such a situation, one animal at a time, by giving a bowl of clean water to drink, which is what they do for their pets at home. And what did I really have in mind as far as stewardship goes? Petitions? Posters? Protest marches? It became clear to me that rather than ask HOW we might help the creatures, a better question was, WHAT IF? So I started over again, asking them, “What Would Happen If There Were No Winter?”,  and I explained that, “There is something called Climate Change which is making our Earth warmer than it should be. Scientists think this is happening because of pollution caused by people using cars and airplanes to travel around, and building factories to make things.”

At first, the group was rather quiet, but then one of the students made the comment that a warmer Earth meant that the snow would melt. RIght away, more students began to add their thoughts as a conclusion began to form itself:

“If the snow melts, then the polar bears would have no home.”

“And the seals and foxes, too.”

“There would be no habitat for the animals.”

“All the animals would lose their habitat and then they won’t have anything to eat.”

“Their habitat is broken and the animals would get dead.”

Losing habitat is something the students could visualize and understand, and so I was able to ask them, “How do you think we can be habitat helpers, then?” They were so happy to articulate how they have bird feeders in their backyards, how they compost and recycle garbage, how they plant gardens with their families, and how sad they are when they see destruction of habitat such as trees being cut down, or dried up worms on the pavement. While five year olds may not independently engage in activism on a large scale, when we finished this inquiry, many of them realized that they already do have a positive impact on the environment. My own learning came when I had to acknowledge that Stewardship and Sustainability in an SK classroom are, of course, tied very closely to the five-year-old developmental stage and the way children at this age perceive the world, with themselves firmly at the centre of it all. I was reminded that everything does, after all, start with the individual.

Beverly Papove General

Learning to share habitat

The week before March Break we scheduled a workshop with the Scientist in the School program. Our presentation was for a kindergarten workshop on habitat called, “There’s No Place Like Home.” It was a great way to engage the students so close to a holiday, and a wonderful lead up to Earth Hour which our school participated in during the last afternoon before the break.

During the workshop, the students rotated through centres facilitated by parent volunteers and the program presenter. In the well-organized and engaging centres, they learned about animals in salt versus freshwater habitat; they learned about animals that dig tunnels and animals that live in, on and under trees; they also learned how beavers create habitat when they dam a waterway. All in all, it was a great afternoon of hands-on learning which the students thoroughly enjoyed.

When we got back to the classroom, I created the opportunity for the students to paint a mural of animal habitat as a follow up to the workshop. On a blackboard placed at eye level for the students, I painted the slope of a hill which lead to a body of water. To encourage the placement of a beaver dam, I painted two water levels, to simulate before and after a dam. Then I invited students to come and paint animals in their habitat.

They painted birds in trees on the hill, worms and ‘bunnies’ in tunnels under the hill, and fish, ducks, and turtles in the water. Someone painted the beaver dam and added a moose on the shallow water side having a drink. Throughout the day, students would ask if they could add an animal and its habitat, and so the mural was quite full and detailed by the time we left for outdoor play at the end of the day.

The following day, I sat with some students at the art table. I had with me a pile of card stock cut in half lengthwise (about 4.5” x 11”). On one of the cards, I drew a long broken line down the middle of the length of the card, put some masking tape on the back, and handed it to one of the students, asking them if they could find a spot to put a section of road in the habitat mural. I asked them what happens when a road is built but there is water or a valley along the way. That’s when they realized they had to build a bridge with the cardstock over the water and the beaver dam. As the road and bridge were being built, I asked if anyone wanted to draw, colour and cut out cars and trucks to put on the road. Then I asked if houses and buildings could be drawn up the same way. Soon the mural was full of roads with cars, buildings, a bridge, a car factory, stop signs and traffic lights.

When it was done, I gathered the students to have a seat in front of the mural. I asked them what had happened to our habitat mural. Here is some of what they said:

“Cars came.”

“The habitat got covered up.”

“Their habitat is under the road and it’s not really good.”

“The road’s right above the bunny tunnel and they can’t get out.”
 “If animals try to get up on the road, they could get killed.”

“Maybe some workers that cut down the trees might not know that a robin was in there.”

When I asked, “What should we do?”, the students suggested taking all the roads and buildings out of the habitat, until one little girl asked, “But what about us? We need a place to live, too!” There was a collective murmur of, “Oh yeah…” and several heads nodding in agreement as they realised that there might be a bit of a problem with their initial idea. Rather than getting into a discussion of the enormous conundrum involving population growth, urban development, and habitat destruction, and hoping instead that the lesson would build knowledge and end on a positive note, I reframed my question by asking them if they and their families had ways of living that could help and protect habitat. Many mentioned that they have bird feeders, that they walk to school instead of driving in a car, and that they have a garden and a compost bin. As they continued to list off the many small ways they are engaged in looking after the environment, there was a sense of , “Oh ya! I am a helper not a destroyer,”  which seemed to make everyone feel better.  Later on, when we turned off all the lights, the computer, and the overhead fans for Earth Hour, the students had a new appreciation for participating in yet another way to help out the planet.

Beverly Papove Combined Grade Classes, Constant Learning, self reflection

Life is for Learning Curves

The view from the halfway mark of my first year teaching senior kindergarten is a lot different than it was just four months ago. Whereas I struggled every day in terms of how to implement the curriculum, now I am so much more comfortable in many, but not all, areas of the program. I hadn’t really taken the time to reflect on how I was feeling about my progress as a teacher and co-learner until, while chatting with my principal the other day, she asked me if I loved kindergarten. I hesitated, because I was thinking back to other grades I have taught, wondering if I had ever said that I loved teaching any of them. I realized, in forming my answer to her, that it is never really the curriculum of any given grade that I love teaching, but rather learning about my learners in order to be able to teach them is what I enjoy the most. I said to her that last term felt like ice-climbing, but now I am on a sort of a plateau – I can take a breath, look back proudly at where I came from, and look forward to how much I still need to learn. I most definitely have not mastered this grade, however, with the loop-de-loop learning curve I have been on this year, I am sure I will be a much better teacher next year.

That is what I was telling myself until recently when our school board confirmed its decision to integrate junior kindergarten with senior kindergarten next year. Even after having lived the senior kindergarten life for six months and feeling they could not be too dissimilar, I could not really tell you what goes on in a junior kindergarten classroom. That is why I am hoping that my principal will give me some coverage time to hang out in one of our JK classrooms to get a feel for the way the program is run and to see how the wee ones go through their day, as a way to help me imagine a blended classroom. Adding French Immersion will be another part of the picture – what will that look like? In-service workshops are to be part of the plan from the school board, and hopefully, so too is having quality time to work it all through with a supportive team of ECEs and teachers. Whereas this year, I was scrambling to make sense of it all as the newbie in the midst of a crew of seasoned kindergarten teachers and ECEs, next year, everyone will be trying to work things through. Life is indeed for learning curves.

Beverly Papove Indigneous Ways of Knowing, Inquiry, Learning in a Real Life Context

…What I have Learned

Well, true to form, the trajectory of inquiry can never be predicted. And so it was that at the end of the couple of weeks of exploring What Happens in Winter, our students ended up quite aways beyond knowing that animals hibernate and plants die off when the weather gets colder. Following a visit from a teacher from the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre, their understanding was now in the realm of recognizing how a wintery landscape not only makes animals adapt in different ways, but how it has also influenced the lives and culture of the Inuit.

The students touched sealskin, fox, and rabbit pelts; tried on an amauti (anorak), kamik (boots), and bone snow goggles; played a caribou skin drum; held seal knuckle bones which were used to create pictures during storytelling; and played Inuit games that involved strength and stability (hilarious wrestling games which they discovered are also easily played outside in the snowy school yard). Our KWL bulletin board filled up with sentence strips on which the students wrote about what they learned and liked about the visit; “I learned that sealskin is best for clothes and boots because it’s warm and waterproof.”; “I learned that Inuk live in houses not igloos.”; “I liked playing Inuit games.” At the art table, several chose to paint what they learned; “I learned how to play a drum – a man’s drum and a woman’s drum,” “I learned that fox don’t hibernate in the arctic – they change color,” and, “I learned how to tell a story using seal bones.”

In activities and centres we set up following the visit, we offered opportunities to draw on their learning.  In math, after discussing the best shape of rock to build an inukshuk, students were challenged to draw an inukshuk with more than 5 rectangles and then to tally the total number of rock rectangles they used. Later in the block centre, several students took the challenge further and built free-standing, life-sized inukshuk (which are usually not very tall). Another day during the week following the presentation, a group of students were tipping over chairs and using them as blinds while they were hunting seal and polar bear – it started to get very physical with running and squealing, so, for safety reasons,  the crew were redirected to the art table to make paper bag puppets of seals, polar bears, hunters and dog sleds. They were so excited to use the puppet theatre to act out their skit which we were later all invited to watch. Another provocation was posting the Inuktitut ‘alphabet’ on chart paper. Next to each symbol I wrote out the sound it represented. While some students recognized that there were several triangles in the alphabet, others attempted to find the syllables they could use to write their names.

Now when we are outside for our outdoor learning every day, I ask questions about the snow, the sky and clouds, and animals; “If we had to build a shelter, would this be good snow to use? Let’s find out.”; “What are the clouds telling us? What do you notice about the weather today? Is it different from yesterday?”; “Can you hear any animal sounds? Have you noticed any signs of animals?” (scat, tracks, birdsong, etc.)

The students are also now aware of the fact that, according to our local groundhog who got scared of his shadow, we are in for a few more weeks of winter. What does that mean for them? Now that they have learned a bit more about What Happens in Winter, and have explored how arctic animals and the Inuit have adapted and survived in a wintery land, my next challenge is to provide opportunities for them to show me what they will do with that knowledge. The big question is, what do I need to do to help my 5 year old students take the next step into stewardship and sustainability?