Provocations are coming from Reggio Emilia Approach. They are brilliant opportunities for children to explore, learn, get new ideas, be creative and develop versatile skills.
Discover what Reggio math provocations are and how to plan and set up inviting Reggio inspired math provocations in your kindergarten or preschool classroom. You will have your children engaged with hands-on learning in no time.
A few weeks ago, a few students started to be very curious about the rocks found in our playground. During our time outside, they were constantly searching for rocks, getting great pleasure out of noting their various attributes and characteristics. They started to bring the rocks into class and share the stories with their classmates. We had many recyclable containers in class, and soon they were using them outside for their rock collecting. This created a bit of a rock frenzy, and many other students started to join in the collecting. Even Ms. Powell and I brought in some of our special rocks from home. Noticing how powerful this interest was among the students, we created a place in the classroom for our rocks. We waited to see how far this interest would last, and it didn't take long before the students mentioned that we needed an "I see, I think, I wonder" chart to place all the observations, theories, and wonders. The students loved to interact with the rocks. They felt them, studied their colours and shapes, and used a variety of art mediums to express their learning. We read two wonderful books about rocks. Both books explored the meaning of rocks to people and the qualities they hold deep. Using these two books are inspiration, some students decided to bring in their special rocks and share with us their rock stories. "Flat rocks are special because when you're sad they make you calm because you can rub your hands against them." D.S. "If it has sparkles on it it's special, just like the purple rock." P.I. "If it has a lot of different colours." D.C. "A rock is special because it has a story." E.H. "Rocks are so special because they can be anything you want!" W.E. "If the rock is a crystal or sparkly, I want to keep it. I have a pink rock that I put it under my pillow and it gives me nice dreams." C.M. "I have a special rock because it's purple and has sparkles on it. I got it from a rock store. C.D. "I like a rock because it's like jewelry. It's in my hand right now! It makes me happy." A.P. During one of our Knowledge Building Circles, the wonder question "Are rocks alive?", arose from the discussion. The students had many opinions! "I don't think rocks are alive because they don't walk around and think about stuff." A.P. "I think rocks are alive because they're outside on the ground in nature." K.W. "I say no because you can make stuff with rocks like fire, and we can't be fire." M.P. "I think rocks are not alive because they don't have heart, bones, and lungs." A.M. "I say yes, because when see a rock I use my imagination that it's alive." G.B. "I think yes, because they're friends." H.S. "I think rocks are not alive because they don't have mouths to eat. If you don't eat, you're not really alive. And if you want to breath, you need need thin skin and rocks have hard skin." B.S. "I think they're alive because creatures that were alive used to live in them, and they all turned hard after a long long time. Dinosaur bones used to be alive, then they turned to rock." E.S. "I think yes, because when I go home for lunch my mom shows me rocks and I look at them and they are alive. The sun makes them grow." G.M. "I think rocks are alive because they're alive like a friend." D.S. "I think no, because they don't have skeleton bones. They don't have everything we have." W.E. "No, because they don't talk or write, or do anything. They just sit there." E.E. "I think rocks are alive because hey have food inside them." C.M. We decided to create a survey titled "Are rocks alive?" to figure out what most people in our class thought. We then decided to investigate living and not living a little bit further. We started by looking at items in our classroom and classifying them into the two categories. It was interesting and fascinating to observe the reasoning and critical thinking skills the students were using to justify their placing on the chart. As a whole group, they reasoned, debated and learned to see others points of view. Stay tuned as we investigate this wonder question further, as well as continue to inquire further about rocks!
Assessment is a word that many educators have come to dislike, but we all know that assessment drives instruction. It is important to know where your learners are at in order to teach them effectively. My beginning literacy skills assessment is great way to see what your young learners know. Alphabet knowledge and phonological and phonemic awareness
Kids will love these fun patterning activities! They are perfect for preschool and kindergarten math centers. Patterning with Pattern Blocks
If you follow me on instagram (@raisingdavinci) you might have seen me post that we started introducing our 3 year old to the 100's place value. We took our time with the 10's and tried to
Get hands on outdoor maths activities for KS1 to help your children learn. See how they can enjoy maths through outdoor learning!
Kids will love this fun, basketball-themed addition game...Perfect for math centers and small groups! Dunk It Dominoes will give students an opportunity to practice addition and fact fluency in a hands-on activity. It also includes two printables so students can record their progress while working on this fun math game! I've added three differentiated addition practice pages that can be used as independent practice or homework. This resource includes lots of picture to help you get the game set-up in your own classroom in no time at all. Please note- actual dominoes and plastic cups are not included. :) Created by TheHappyTeacher 2012. Updated 2018.
Grab a set of marshmallow and toothpick geometry cards to print and build with your kids. It is such a fun way to learn geometric shapes!
We spent lots of time identifying, describing, and sorting three-dimensional objects. Many of our families contributed to our 3D figures museum in the classroom. During the math inquiry our goal wa…
Well, with the new school year well underway I am delighted to be working with 7 classes of students at Charlie Lake School again this year. I am fortunate to have a room to base my math lessons in…
