Children's Work - How We Organize Ourselves

Here are some examples of the work produced by the children throughout the inquiry:

Pre-assessment activity: The children made their own mini pizza by deciding what toppings they wanted.  While their pizza was cooking in the oven they thought about where all the toppings come from.  This pre-assessment task gave us a good insight into the children's prior knowledge - We were able to clearly see the depth of their understanding of the process of food production.  Shauryaa demonstrates a good understanding of the production of tomato sauce, however she does not make the link between cheese and the cow.

 Group Project: The children worked with a group to research a specific food.  They found out where in the world it comes from, other foods that can be made with it and then they decided what they wanted to make using this food and wrote a recipe. After the recipe was written they worked with a teacher to prepare the food and them shared it with their classmates.

Summative Assessment Task: For their final assessment the children visited Feldmoching Market and interviewed the people worked there.  They asked where the food comes from and how it was brought to the market.  When we returned from the market the children were given a type of food and asked to show the food process and the all the different people involved.

In addition to our class work, the children also investigated food outside of school.  One home project included finding out where the fruits and vegetables in the local supermarket come from. When the children brought their findings to school we placed it on a world map to create a visual representation of where our fruits and vegetables come from.  When exploring the map, many children came to the conclusion that most of our fruits and vegetables come from places that are in "the bottom part of our world".

Trans-disciplinary Teaching

Through trans-disciplinary teaching the children learn through concepts and develop skills rather than memorize facts.  They explore a unit through all subject areas; they gather and sort information through graphs and they use their language skills to conduct interviews and write instructions.  Check out the supporting resources for How We Organize Ourselves to discover how to teach literacy and mathematics through a unit of inquiry.  Additionally, in the supporting resources (http://jmp.sh/ZvZzF1X ) you can find my IB unit planner for How We Organize Ourselves.

How We Organize Ourselves

An exploration into the systems of people involved in the production and distribution of our food.

This is a recent unit I just completed with my kindergarten class.  Through many real-life experiences the children explored how our food changes, the connections between the people involved and our responsibility to make good food choice, which are healthy for our bodies and caring towards our environment.

As a final project the children went to a local market and interviewed the vendors; they found out where their food comes from and how it was transported to this market.  The children have been given the tools and confidence to independently ask the various vendors about their food.

 

My Inspiration

When I was in teachers college I was told a story about a Kindergarten Teacher, this teacher guided and encouraged the children in his class to question the world around them.  When the children had questions he worked with them to further explore these questions and search for answers and solutions.  He inspired one of his children to write a letter regarding whaling laws.  The letter began with one signature; it was then passed around the whole class for more signatures.  The children then decided it should be passed around the school for even more signatures.  When the letter was signed by everyone in the school the children decided to get signatures from other schools.  When the letter was signed by all the schools in the city it was sent to all the schools in the province, then all the schools in the country.  The letter eventually made it to the Supreme Court where it was used to change International Whaling Laws.  This story filled my body with chills, it truly displays what can happen when a teacher guides and encourages their students in a positive way.  I felt motivated and inspired to always encourage the children in my class to inquire, explore and take action to make a difference.