Whatever you do, keep it playful and provide children the opportunity to experience choice, wonder, and delight in their counting. Such playfulness can be found in the two stories I conclude with.
“ Slingy Dags” and“ Mourning Dove!”
If you don’ t know what Slingy Dags are, you aren’ t alone. Here is the story:
You Can Count Too
What might you take from“ The Newtowne School Critter Count”? In considering implications for your teaching, begin by asking: What do I want the children in my setting to pay attention to? What ideas and relationships do I want to grow? Your answer to these questions will drive subsequent activities. For example,
› Perhaps you want to increase children’ s awareness of plants. Focus your count on the flora that grows near your school.
› Perhaps you want children to notice seasonal changes. Undertake a count monthly or quarterly, then compare the results.
› Perhaps you are a teacher educator whose students believe there is no nature in urban areas. Challenge them to find as many critters as they can in their city and to share information about the extraordinary features of these species( e. g., pigeons are very fast flyers, and both parents care for their young).
› Perhaps you want children to take a deep dive into a particular animal. Ask them to select a critter they want to learn more about from those in your count.
› Perhaps math skills are at the top of your agenda. Involve children in the mechanics of counting, and compare the statistics among different critters.
› Perhaps you want children to make a connection to a part of their world that’ s important to their families. Partner with a school in that location, and compare notes on your counts.
During a week in April, I took groups of Green Dragonflies to the Cambridge Common to search for critters. Along with robins, starlings, and squirrels, the first group encountered a swarm of insects that would appear and disappear. At the end of the visit, I helped the children write a letter to their classmates about what they had seen, and they mentioned these“ tiny insects.”
The next group also encountered these insects( perhaps gnats, I’ m not sure) and were excited that they had seen them too. They included these appearing / disappearing critters in their drawings of what they had seen at the Common.
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