The beginning of the
day is always a busy time in the kindergarten room. Students enter the classroom with having lots
to say and are filled with energy. To
put this eagerness to good use, we now have what we call “Discovery Tables.” Now, the students are quick to undress and
can’t wait to begin exploring and learning at the tables.
Each week there are three different table
activities for the students to choose from. The same activities are used all
week. On the first day, students are
sometimes hesitant or unsure of what to do with the different materials. As the
week goes on, their ideas begin to develop and change. The students watch what
their classmates are doing and begin to share their learning. It is truly amazing to see how creative the
students are.
A lot of time and thought goes into planning the
activities for our “Discovery tables.” It is very important that the materials
and activities are open ended, engaging and can be completed independently. The materials are always displayed in an
appealing way and usually have natural materials available such as shells,
stones, wooden objects and glass beads. Also a variety
of subject areas are covered in a fun and interesting way (literacy, numeracy,
science, fine motor skills, art)
As the students are hard
at work, I always have my iPhone ready and waiting to take a quick picture of the learning that is going on.. The students are very excited to share what
they have created or learned. Lately we have been showing the pictures immediately on our SmartBoard using the "Air Play" feature on my iPhone. We also "tweet" the pictures so everyone can enjoy. (You can scroll through the tweets on the side bar off our blog to see all the different things we are doing and learning.)
Here are a few examples of some of the Discovery Tables we have enjoyed so far:
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