Independent Practice: The learners will have many opportunities to learn and share with their peers about this project. Our room has lots of communication, discussions, and debates regarding perspectives. This is how we learn when we have the opportunity to share our thoughts, help others understand, and defend what we think is right. These learners have had other experiences that were similar to this, but not as thoughtful. They have used the technology in the room all year long so this will be an opportunity to show what they have learned in this area as well. They are very aware of the criteria for the rubric and the ability to earn their desired assessment by meeting the criteria for that level.
Our environment is:
Learner-Centered: This Unit is learner-centerd on many levels. The entire egg "activity" was "born" (I didn't say hatched) through one child's innocent question: "Mrs. Jacobs. what would hatch from that egg in your hand?" (I was holding a speckled plastic egg and we had been talking about our upcoming Unit on oviparous creatures. I was merely using the in a brown bag to make them guess by answering their questions about what they thought they were going to learn about. They finally guessed "eggs", and I brought the egg out of the bag to show them they had guessed the object. The Unit, the title of the Unit and my questions grew out of that one experience. The learners are responsible for their learning in our room They have used rubrics all year long and they knew they had to complete specific activities and meet specific criteria in order to earn their desired number of stars, or smiley's or whatever! This activity was a lot more work and much higher level than my colleagues Units on oviparous animals. The kinders in our room had such a great time and looked forward to coming to school everyday, looking at the Internet, our webpages, and discussing oviparous creatures. It was a very, very cool experience for me and for them. They are also aware if they choose to sit, I will not provide extensions of time for them to complete their work. The big "R" of responsibility is a powerful concept in our learning community.
Knowledge-Centered: This research that they conducted is child-centered and developmentally appropriate for young learners. The knowledge being activated and built upon has to meet the learners where they are. Some learners might be able to read the webpages, but many would not, so I had to provide lots of authentic graphics, movies, wavs, and activities to engage the kinders at all levels of abilities. To help try and activate prior knowledge, and provide information that was interesting, I had to really guide some of the learners more than others. Some do not have computers at home and I paired those with those kinders who had lots of experience. It made for a great partnership in most cases. Since one of the goals is to provide information through hands-on learning experiences, we all met each learner were they were and took them to their next level of learning. That included the "coach," too!
Assessment-Centered: The rubrics were created and discussed with the learners before they began their project and way before they touched a computer. They helped design the rubrics and they knew, and we as a class frequently discussed, how the rubrics helped us cover all the information that we needed to become Eggs-pert Learners!
Community-Centered: Although this question does not enlighten the world, or solve any real burning questions, it does promote learning and made learning about the life cycles of our fur, feathered, scaly, and exoskeletoned fellow Earth inhabitants fun and more "real". We became so aware of the delicate balance of nature and our dependency upon one another. We also had some outcomes that will create our next Unit--Who Are The Endangered Creatures of Burleson? We have to take baby steps with the little guys and work up to the bigger, harder, more global or focused community-centered questions. But within our tiny community in room 100 at Stribling Elementary, we learned a LOT about oviparous critters. We also learned to: Raise That Egg!
Provides Elements of Transfer: This was a component that I did not know existed before beginning my graduate courses, so I am very aware of the importance of this concept and strive to help make connections for my kinders. I also want to hear their thoughts on connecting to other thoughts that they might have. They are able to draw conclusions more automatically now, and it stretches across all subject areas. They began to look at home, on the Internet to help make sure that everyone had enough information about their hatchling. It was more a group of 21 learners trying to make sure that these 21 hatchlings were going to survive! It was a hoot! The kinders were able to make connections about construction in our local community and how this effects our local animal populations. One little girl made a startling revelation, "I bet they are building homes in Australia and Tasmania just like here in Burleson and that is why the Spiny Anteater is becoming endangered...he doesn't have a home anymore", when we talked about the native Horned Toad and why we do not see them like when Mrs. Jacobs was their age. (No, I didn't tell them about my pet Apotosaurus, either!) They were able to build their habitats based upon the information they gathered. They were able to tell what ladybug pupas were when they found one on the side of the school building at recess. They were able to make connections and associations based upon their experiences in the classroom and they carried these understandings outside the classroom. Transfer occured in our little learning community.