Hmmm, what kinds of learning experiences could I design that fulfil this approach is what was asked of us on this particular article and one example that jumps straight to mind is my classes last terms project of an Underwater World.
RELATE: All the students had visited the tourist attraction over the holidays and had enjoyed learning about different things on their visit so our task began- how would we re-create such a learning environment in our classroom?
CREATE: The ideas came thick and fast from the students- we needed a touch pool for the starfish and crabs, we needed animals, we needed a cafe... It was incredible to experience such a variety of answers and enthusiasm from such young minds. We set to task designing maps/plans of where things could go and how we would re-create them. We had to consider various elements- room size and structure and what resources we had but nothing slowed them down. It took us all many weeks to re-create our fascinating learning environment but we did and we did successfully while working together, deciding, problem solving, imaging and creating.
Assessments became dioramas, social skills, as well as links to numeracy and literacy through signage and the cafe, plus being interviewed by me (who happens to work at UWW http://www.underwaterworld.com.au/ which was not known by the students until they had started to create).
DONATE: The community involvement aspect was not huge on their behalf- inviting mum, dad or an important adult figure in their life in for a visit. They did learn about Underwater Worlds role in the community though and had various thoughts on it yet chose not to act greatly on those.
Success was achieved during this unit of work as all the students remained engaged and on task while working as a team and gaining a more in depth knowledge of their world around them.
Reference:
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved July 18th, 2009, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
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Hi Charissa,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like so much fun and it sounds like the students got a lot out of it. It sounds like a project, which is my favourite way of working in early childhood. I like how you set it out in relate, create and donate. Easy to see the learning like that.
Best,
Leonie