Ah, I thought to myself, he's associating an unknown phrase with something he already knows. So I said, "Oh, yes, I'd heard about that, but I think it was windmills he tried to fight." "What's a wind mill?" he asked me. I pulled out my smart phone and quickly Googled "windmill images." A page of thumbnail photos came up. "These are windmills." As he looked at the dozen or so thumbnails, he asked if he could look at one closer. "Sure, just touch the one you want to see and it will come up bigger." He did, and pulled up a very abstract-looking modern windmill that had several turbines on one post, branching out like wildflowers. I'd never seen one like that before myself.
"This is not like the windmills Don Quixote tilted at. That story took place a long time ago. There are still windmills like the ones in his story, but this is one we currently use to generate electricity. It's very modern." "How does it work?" he asked me. I gave a quick run down on wind propelling the blades and a mechanism inside turning that motion into electric power, but realized, I haven't a clue, really, on the physics of how electricity is generated, transferred and captured for energy use. I could better imagine how an old grist mill worked, with direct gears turning upon each other, etc., but didn't really know much about that, either. The child pressed another photo, this time a rustic American farm pump windmill, then another of a very old European windmill."That's very much like the ones in Don Quixote's story," I pointed out. He looked at a few more. We talked about the ones that look like ones he might see if he traveled through passes where wind farms are located here on the west coast. He was completely captivated and had many more questions.
This is a good example of a perfect entre into an emergent education topic that teachers and children can explore together. Within less than one minute we were able to open and expand a conversation about windmills and discovered he had questions about them. Questions about what they were used for, how they worked, where they were. Some questions I could attempt an answer, others were as intriguing to me as they were to the child. What else might be interesting about windmills? How could I bring things to the surface that would engage preschoolers? A little thinking and another Google search brought up illustrations of windmills kids could color, plans for making simple pinwheels to discover how wind moves upon blades on a wheel, illustrations from Cervantes' story to understand the weird concept of Don Quixote tilting at windmills, explanations and illustrations of how windmills work. Other teachers might bring out different ideas, but these few things can open up a road map of directions a class might explore to discover more about windmills. Add the musical theater link that started it all and the Cervantes novel it was based upon and you have boundless possibilities to involve every child in the class at their own level of interest. A project could begin from these seeds very easily. But it is based on one thing: a child's genuine interest in finding something out.
It can become an infectious investigation. Children come up with their own new questions as they make discoveries and brainstorm together with their teachers. Inquiries like this can lead to field trips (Are there local windmills? Anything local on Don Quixote at the library, or is there someone from the production of Man of La Mancha the child mentioned that could come see us or take us on a backstage tour?) They can lead to noticing details and wondering about them (What was the armor like that Don Quixote wore? Where is Spain? Can we grind our own flour? Generate our own electricity? What about water wheels? 4 blades, 3 blades, 6 blades, dozens of blades. . .does it make a difference? If we make our pinwheels bigger or smaller, what works better?). The inquiries are limitless, driven by the children's interests and questions, their curiosity to know and understand something. Their interest might last a day or two, or go on for weeks.
When teachers begin to explore this way with children, they seek to incorporate activities that reach into every developmental domain: cognitive, physical, social, and emotional. What can they provide in each area of the classroom, the cores, and playground? Can you think of something physical you might come up with for children to do? I'm thinking perhaps trying to do cartwheels, maybe having Diana show them a cartwheel and working on steps to doing them. Looking at the topic through literacy, what books might we bring into the classroom? A call to the local children's librarian will surely reap a rewarding list for the book corner. For math and manipulatives we might think of featuring counting games, pattern blocks and building with tinker toys (all of which have easily adaptable materials relating to windmills). Science activities could include making pinwheels, looking at science fair plans for pictures of generators, finding plans or photographs of the interiors of old fashioned windmills, drawings and illustrations of how windmill pumps work, materials to build our own simple grinding wheel or water pump, experiments with the effects of wind, velocity, looking into what causes wind, other ways to harness wind power. Art project ideas abound (We can paint with wind power through straw paintings, make a wind-generated splatter painting box, paint 3D windmills or draw our own representations of windmill types. There are songs about windmills, spinning, being dizzy, going in circles. We can even come up with cooking activities to tie-in (Spanish food, windmill cookies, grinding grains and baking with them). The teachers and children can make a web of all their ideas. Keeping with the children's questions is key. We probably would never have come up with an idea like the ones that genuinely come up for them.Brain researchers are finding this style of emergent exploration brings an unsurpassed richness of creative and genuine learning in all the domains. It's the way humans seem to learn best.
If you would like to read more about emergent education techniques for use with preschoolers, infants and toddlers, here are some good places to start exploring:
We Are All Explorers
The Language of Art
Working in the Reggio Way
Young Investigators
Engaging Children's Minds
Starting With Their Strengths
Don't Leave the Story In The Book
Infants & Toddlers at Work
Bringing Reggio Emilia Home
No comments:
Post a Comment