6: Not A Stick

Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, 

making mistakes, and having fun.”

-Mary Lou Cook

The process of experimentation begins with a wondering or a burning question that simply needs to be answered.  For new discoveries and inventions to take place, someone first asked a question and then thought outside of the box to find out the answer. This is why scientists are known to be natural inquirers and creative thinkers. 

This week, the kindergarteners put their scientists hats back on and began learning the art of asking questions. Using what we know about the materials around us, the children picked one thing that is made of matter that interests them. They then learned that questions begin with the words what, why, where, who, and how. I asked them, 

What would like to find out about the one thing that you have picked?

Have a look at their wonderings and curiosities.

To find out the answers to our questions -- especially the difficult ones -- a creative mind that knows how to think outside the box is an essential tool to have.  We used this week to sharpen the minds of the children and help them use their imagination for their scientific discovery and exploration. 

We began by reading a book called Not A Stick by Antoinette Portis. The story revolves around the main character, a creative pig, who insists that what he has isn't a stick. According to him, he has a fishing rod that caught a shark, a paintbrush that made Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and even a sword that captured dragons! 

It was the perfect story to connect with the materials that we gathered from our giving tree exploration last week, and use them to unleash our creativity. 

We got the not-a-sticks we collected and I asked the children, 

If it's not a stick, then what is it?  

Louis said that it is a sword. 

Daniel said that it's a sword.

YiChen said that it's a motorbike.

Veronica said that it's the tail of an animal.

Kai said that it's a spatula for baking.

Suzu said that it's a fishing rod.

Aiki said that it's a flower.

Luna said that it's a frying pan for cooking.

Amaru said that it's a magic wand.

Tamaki said that it's a tree.

Emma said that it's a flower.

We also looked at different ways that we can use the stick for learning and fun.

We used them to make our letters.

We used them to create messy art and to develop our fine motor skills.

We used them for counting.

We used them for play.

And we used them to tell our stories.

Daniel

This is a butterfly. It is yellow. I saw it on the tree. It flies very high. 

Tamaki
These  are cookies. The flavor is vanilla and chocolate. 

I baked them for everyone in the classroom.

Kai

This is an airplane. I rode the airplane with Mommy, Daddy and my brother. We were going to Canada to visit grandpa and grandma. I went on the stairs of the plane. There was TV in the plane. We watched it so that we will not be bored.

Louis

This is a castle. It is big. It is blue and red. 

My daddy and mommy, Antoine and me live there. We see my toys in the castle. 

I also have a sword. I use it to fight the dragon to keep my family safe. 

Veronica

It’s a shrine. It’s decorated. It has flowers that's rainbow color. 

It’s in my house. It’s beautiful. 

Amaru

It’s a fish house. There  are 10 fish inside.

Emma

This is my house. It is color pink and blue. It has glitters. Mommy and daddy and me live in the house. I love our house.  

Luna, Yichen, Aiki, Suzu

This is a big house. We all live here. Everyone has their own room. The house has a lot of rooms.

Side note:

The Story Workshop is approach in writing that utilizes loose parts and creating stories out of them. A piece of string, a rock, playdough, or anything tangible in the room has a story in them waiting to unfold. Our not-a-sticks were perfect for it.

This week is also the last week that Aiki was with Kindergarten 2. We celebrated his last day with him by throwing a going away party filled with things he loved and heartfelt messages from his teachers. It was a beautiful celebration of friendship and love. 

We will all miss Aiki very much, and we wish him and his family well in their next adventure.

It was a week of honoring our curiosity, wonderings, and questions. We highlighted its importance not just in our experiments and investigations, but also in navigating our daily life and developing our passion for learning. We also unleashed our creativity and imagination to help us come up with solutions that arise from out of the box thinking. 

This week, we may have put on our scientists hats but what came out of it are lifelong learners in the making.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Your Kindergarten teacher, 

Pam