Opening up our classroom to other educators has been an amazing learning experience. It demands we constantly reflect on and rethink about what we do. Today’s post was inspired by the question, “What could inquiry look like in Kindergarten?”.
We noticed our Kindergarten students loved superheroes. They talked about them, pretended to be them, and their clothing choices often included images of Spiderman, Transformers, and Frozen. Inspired by this passion, we asked them "What is a Superhero?". Their first responses were along the lines of "They fight. They kill bad guys."
This misconception was the perfect opportunity to inquire!
We played as actors to imagine ourselves transforming into superheroes. What problems could we find? How could we help? RM imagined magnetic hands as the perfect tool to search for lost coins and keys. Students began to comment on everyday problems they noticed and offered suggestions or acted on solutions.
We bent, twirled, and glued paper to create 3D representations of a typical superhero day. This work become the blueprints for our story writing. We used numbers, shapes, and letters to design personal logos sharing who we were as unique individuals. This is how curriculum is uncovered through inquiry. It became authentic to look at the alphabet and and write letters that made the most sense in our personal logo designs. It became meaningful to sound out labels and communicate our ideas through words and sentences as we authored our own Superhero book.
After exploring and playing as superheroes, we revisited our original question: “What is a Superhero?”.
Our unanimous response: “We're all Superheroes! We all can help!”
@HeatherMMckay - Married to my best friend, mom to 3, Kindergarten teacher, life-long learner, book lover, tech. addict. Excited about the WONDER in every day! Class tweets found at @wander4wonder1
We noticed our Kindergarten students loved superheroes. They talked about them, pretended to be them, and their clothing choices often included images of Spiderman, Transformers, and Frozen. Inspired by this passion, we asked them "What is a Superhero?". Their first responses were along the lines of "They fight. They kill bad guys."
This misconception was the perfect opportunity to inquire!
We played as actors to imagine ourselves transforming into superheroes. What problems could we find? How could we help? RM imagined magnetic hands as the perfect tool to search for lost coins and keys. Students began to comment on everyday problems they noticed and offered suggestions or acted on solutions.
We bent, twirled, and glued paper to create 3D representations of a typical superhero day. This work become the blueprints for our story writing. We used numbers, shapes, and letters to design personal logos sharing who we were as unique individuals. This is how curriculum is uncovered through inquiry. It became authentic to look at the alphabet and and write letters that made the most sense in our personal logo designs. It became meaningful to sound out labels and communicate our ideas through words and sentences as we authored our own Superhero book.
After exploring and playing as superheroes, we revisited our original question: “What is a Superhero?”.
Our unanimous response: “We're all Superheroes! We all can help!”
@HeatherMMckay - Married to my best friend, mom to 3, Kindergarten teacher, life-long learner, book lover, tech. addict. Excited about the WONDER in every day! Class tweets found at @wander4wonder1
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