Early last week I noticed some students were building bridges at one of our discovery tables. I asked them to tell me about it and they excitedly told me they were building London Bridge. From there a spark ignited into a full out bridge inquiry.
Our first step was to record our wonders about bridges.
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| Please excuse the messing writing. Brainstorming isn't always pretty :) |
Then we wrote a note to Mr. Wesselius asking for books about bridges. He brought us a whole stack and even recommended a video from the
Discovery Education website.
I did a quick search on Discovery and found several more videos about bridges. So far our favourite has been a video all about the George Washington Bridge. After the video the students drew diagrams to show what they had learned.
During our Thinking and Learning Time, many students have been doing hands-on research and constructing bridges of their own. I have been documenting their learning using an app called PicCollage.
Today I announced that we would be going on a long walk to go and see a REAL bridge. The students were actually cheering!! It was super cute to see how excited they were.
Before we left we talked about how to be safe. We each packed our backpacks with a clipboard, paper, a pencil and a snack.
We walked for a really long time until we got to the bridge. We talked about why a bridge would be built there and the students looked closely all over the bridge. We were so busy that I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of the bridge. Then we took a little break from walking and did some sketching.
On the way back to school we stopped to check out some airplanes, run around, eat snack, roll down hills, read a story and say hi to people in our community.
Here's a video about our adventure!
A special thanks to Mrs. Mitchell (our classroom Educational Assistant) and K's Grandma who volunteered to come with us. You ladies were so patient, kept us safe, and taught us a lot. Days like this wouldn't be possible without such amazing helpers!
Here's what the kids said when I asked them "What was your favourite part of our adventure?"
-My favourite was when we were playing on the field and on the hill. -Charlotte
-When Keane was playing with me and rolling in the grass. -Alfonso
-Me and Justine and Jolena were playing tag. - Renee
-My favourite part was playing in the sand. -Kayden
-Going on the bridge. I liked going across it and seeing the river. - Matthew
-I was walking and I was tired and I had so much fun in the field running. -Yuan
-Having the race with Yuan and everybody. -Parker
-Having the race. -Landyn
-Watching the police car. -Brodie
-My favourite part was the car. -Justine
-My favourite part was when we watched the airplanes. - Isabella
-When we saw the police car. -Justin
-Holding hands with Landyn.-Jolena
-Me and Alfonso playing tag. -Keane
-When we played on the hills and everyone played with me. And I liked to run. -Frankie
-I liked the field. -Jaylene
-I liked running, playing, and walking. -Rachel
-I loved listening to the students talking about all the things they noticed on our walk including leaves, shadows, puddles, where our houses are, and workers in our community. I love hearing all of their wonders and seeing them make connections with their community and the environment. - Mrs. Lowe
