We are so fortunate here at Bream Bay Kindergarten to have whānau that contribute to our programme in a number of different ways.
Recently Bodhi's family brought in home-grown bunches of bananas for the tamariki to enjoy. They made an impact to our learning environment as we magically had an instant inside banana tree!
Recently Bodhi's family brought in home-grown bunches of bananas for the tamariki to enjoy. They made an impact to our learning environment as we magically had an instant inside banana tree!
I've recently been reading and learning about extending children's thinking through thoughtful and intentional questions.
Bloom's (modified) Taxonomy is a system which classifies thinking and learning by remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.
Using this system, I planned questions and used them in conjunction with spontaneous questions to develop children's knowledge, ideas, and thinking about bananas.
Children are learning "to learn with and alongside others. Over time and with guidance and encouragement, children become increasingly capable of recognising and appreciating their own ability to learn. Children demonstrate ability to use memory, perspective taking, metacognition and other cognitive strategies for thinking, and ability to make links between past, present and future." (Te Whāriki, 2017)
"What do you notice?" was a good question to lead with. Common themes emerged from the children's shared thinking, with a child starting with an observation and others adding to it.
"Look there's tiny bananas" noticed Carter.
"All of those bananas are still growing" said Jena pointing at them.
"You need to wait until they grow bigger, maybe in 5 months they be bigger. You put them in the garden and water them" said Brodie.
"We grow them on the trees and we pick them when they're bigger" said Grayson.
"We put them on the tree and magic water comes from the sky" added Eli.
"Like rain" said Grayson.
"Cause rain comes from the clouds. When January comes, they grow bigger" added Brodie.
Bodhi was able to share his first hand knowledge about the bananas. "They've grown a long, long time. They growed and growed and there was lot and they had lots of leaves on them."
"Children need to have the understanding of language and concepts and prior knowledge to move to higher level questions. A high level question is one that a child will answer in their own way, a question which encourages children to expand their thinking and perspective, and a question which is developmentally appropriate."
(Strasser & Mufson-Bresson, 2018)
Bloom's (modified) Taxonomy is a system which classifies thinking and learning by remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.
Using this system, I planned questions and used them in conjunction with spontaneous questions to develop children's knowledge, ideas, and thinking about bananas.
Children are learning "to learn with and alongside others. Over time and with guidance and encouragement, children become increasingly capable of recognising and appreciating their own ability to learn. Children demonstrate ability to use memory, perspective taking, metacognition and other cognitive strategies for thinking, and ability to make links between past, present and future." (Te Whāriki, 2017)
"What do you notice?" was a good question to lead with. Common themes emerged from the children's shared thinking, with a child starting with an observation and others adding to it.
"Look there's tiny bananas" noticed Carter.
"All of those bananas are still growing" said Jena pointing at them.
"You need to wait until they grow bigger, maybe in 5 months they be bigger. You put them in the garden and water them" said Brodie.
"We grow them on the trees and we pick them when they're bigger" said Grayson.
"We put them on the tree and magic water comes from the sky" added Eli.
"Like rain" said Grayson.
"Cause rain comes from the clouds. When January comes, they grow bigger" added Brodie.
Bodhi was able to share his first hand knowledge about the bananas. "They've grown a long, long time. They growed and growed and there was lot and they had lots of leaves on them."
"Children need to have the understanding of language and concepts and prior knowledge to move to higher level questions. A high level question is one that a child will answer in their own way, a question which encourages children to expand their thinking and perspective, and a question which is developmentally appropriate."
(Strasser & Mufson-Bresson, 2018)
The children also noticed and discussed the appearance of the bananas.
"Bananas can be yellow, and brown on the bottom" noticed Lil. And after observing the bananas for a while longer she added "they're quite old and they've just got old."
"That's an old one" Minty agreed.
"They're yellow" said Ivy-Jay.
"They're always yellow" insisted Alessia I.
"There's black here, and there's yellow here and there's more black here" said Grayson.
"Once I saw a banana under a microscope" remembered Liam J. "I saw green and yellow. They had lines and little dots."
"Creating a solid base of content knowledge is important - children need to remember information before they can understand it; they must understand it before they can apply it... Asking questions that invite them to apply what they've learned or evaluate something encourages them to express their unique ideas." (Strasser & Mufson Bresson, 2017)
All morning children added to the discussion about bananas. (Although, at one point Minty asked me to stop talking to her because she was finding it difficult to paint and talk at the same time, such was her concentration on her artwork. Sorry Minty, I'll remember next time to allow more time for thinking and painting between questions!)
All morning the children kept sharing...
"I know that bees hide inside the bananas cause I think they like eating them" said Eli.
"Monkeys like bananas" said Isabel.
"Monkeys eat them and they say 'ou ou ah ah'" added Tangaroa thumping his chest like a monkey as well.
"When I get a banana I be like a monkey" said Kaley.
Eventually the children had enough of drawing.
"You have to eat them!" Vann declared.
So eat them we did and the conversation turned to the taste of bananas, how to eat them and whether the children liked them or not.
"I don't really eat them so much. I only eat them a little bit" said Jena. (However, I'm not entirely convinced, that banana disappeared pretty quickly Jena!)
Isabel said,"Bananas are so yummy, they're good, I love it."
"Yes they are very yummy" agreed Lockie.
"I know they are so yummy" said Alessia I.
"I eat bananas at my home. I get them in the groceries... I eat them at kindy cause I like bananas" said Clara.
Liam J tried telling me that he didn't like bananas "cause of the brown bits." However after sampling a banana he slowly came around. "Well, I like the ones at kindy" he offered. And then after another mouthful he did a complete turn around admitting "Actually, I like bananas."
Bananas are "tasty, and it's got vanilla in it" Kaley told me. "I like them because they're delicious."
"Olive eats bananas" shared Ben.
"You rip them and then eat them" said Grayson.
"I like bananas cause I love them so much" said Eli.
Final words go to Tangaroa and Brodie.
I'd asked them what they did with bananas at their homes? (At this point I was getting a bit hungry myself and was starting to think of all the different ways you could cook and bake with bananas... banana muffins, pancakes with bacon and fried bananas, banana cake, banana smoothie...) Their individual replies made me realise that there are aspects of my questioning technique that still need work...
"We just eat them" said Brodie. "You pull the skin off and eat them... with your hands... and with your teeth."
"Ummm... we do this" said Tangaroa, promptly eating his banana. (Duh Sandy!)
Ngā mihi nui
Sandy
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