they worked to research and reach conclusions about frog camouflage, poisonous frogs, and frog and toad differences. The children were free to choose which of the topics interested them most. They participated in scaffolded individual and small-group activities designed to help them collect and interact with data in ways that were developmentally appropriate. During these activities, Ms. Evelyn and Ms. Kelly integrated opportunities for the children to apply the following practices involved in science learning( NGSS 2013):
› Making observations through sensory-derived information
› Learning about and using tools to explore and to collect data
› Developing predictions by applying knowledge of causal relationships
› Interpreting collected data and sharing findings with peers
The children engaged in multiple field visits on the playground and at the pond that inspired further in-class explorations and learning. They found frog eggs and tadpoles outside and took photographs of their changes during each visit. While in the classroom, they painted pictures of the tadpoles and depicted them using geometric blocks. They explored the frog life cycle further by using replicas and learning related terms, which they added to the vocabulary wall. Over time they observed that frogs of similar color and markings gathered where they could hide( on leaves and bark). They tallied the number of frogs to learn the size of their population and created graphs and drawings to show their findings.
While the field observations and in-class activities yielded many answers, the children had additional questions that required more resources. Ms. Evelyn and Ms. Kelly took them on a field trip to the campus library. They met with a librarian who provided guidance about locating nonfiction books related to their topic. With their teachers’ help, the children found books to bring back to the classroom. Once they returned, Ms. Evelyn and Ms. Kelly helped them identify relevant information in books and in online sources. In addition, the children had the opportunity to speak with a frog expert who was acquainted with one of the children’ s family members. The prospect of meeting an expert invigorated their research about specific topics as they created questions in preparation for the visit.
Throughout this phase, Ms. Evelyn and Ms. Kelly prioritized the children’ s ability to share their learning. They scaffolded writing in response to the children’ s needs and preferences, such as encouraging their use of estimated spelling and letter chart prompts and offering to transcribe for children who preferred to orally share their thoughts.( See“ Phase Two Activities and Learning” on page 52.)
Partnering with Families to Enrich the Curriculum
Educators can enhance children’ s learning by building reciprocal relationships with families( González et al. 2005). Each Friday, Ms. Evelyn and Ms. Kelly sent family members storyboards that included digital documentation of the children’ s weekly learning experiences. In addition, the teachers welcomed them to read books to the class in their home languages( whether the book was related to frogs or not) and to send photos of frogs living around their homes.
Some of the multilingual learners and their families shared vocabulary about frogs in their home languages. Family members provided handouts of alphabets and translations of words( frog, eggs, camouflage, poisonous, and tadpole) in their various languages: Chinese, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic. With the family members’ assistance, the teachers located, printed, and laminated resources in each language for the children to refer to over time. The contributions family members shared from their funds of knowledge played an integral role in the frog project and enriched the children’ s learning( Moll 1992; NAEYC 2020).
Concluding the Project
The children’ s roles began to change as they moved from agentic learners to advocates: While engaged in learning about frogs during the weeks of phase two, they observed that children in other classes were still harming frogs. In response to Ms. Evelyn and Ms. Kelly’ s question about how they should respond, the children shared that they wanted to protect the frogs and publicize how frog species contribute to the environment. After some debate, the children
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