Nancy had a bike stand at home and the Perdue family had a bike. They are kindly letting us borrow it. It took some mechanical skills to set it up safely and we put "Stop" signs on it until it was properly anchored. Several days went by and finally the stop signs came off. The children were eager to get on the bike. There was a lot of interest, but... waiting in line for a turn was a problem. A teacher picked up one of the timers and asked, "Would this help?" The children figured out quickly that the timer worked. It seemed the problem was solved, for a time. But the turns ended up being too short.
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| D used a calculator to time I's turn. |
Meanwhile..... Anna ordered some very cool stuff for the preschool, one of the items was a Stop Watch. The children were pleased with the new acquisition. One morning D took it over to the bike, pushed the yellow button for Start and got on the bike. Then he got off the bike and pushed a button to Stop, obviously enjoying the stop watch and the bike.
Here's where small group work in the studio with Anna supports growth and learning.
On Friday we took several children into the studio to think about the timers and the stop watch and what would work best for taking turns on the bike. Going to the studio to work with Anna gives the children an opportunity to practice collaboration, and encourages patience and flexibility. The children didn't come up with a solution that morning but they were able to slow down, listen to one another and think more deeply about taking turns and time.
The timers and stop watch are back in the classroom with the bike. Stay tuned.
Time: A Bike, Stop Watch, Timers and Imagination.
Did D note how long his turn was when he did his first experiment? What a great way to figure out a turn length. This is really such an interesting and deep exploration of this common problem.
ReplyDeleteThat's the most striking thing to me Jaqui- The children don't seem to be at all concerned with how long the turns are in relation to each other, nor does the 'fairness' problem seem to relate to how long different children take. Rather, they want the turns to be long enough, and some of the timers give too short of a turn- which is not fair.
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