Resource - High/scope In The Elementary Classroom

REAL SCiENCE iN PRESCHooL
After observing the play of two of his classmates, this boy approaches the girls and asks how he might
join their activity.
He said he wasn’t sure about cakes,
but he reminded them about the time
they made apple bread and forgot to
add the cider. They said, “That loaf
was yucky — all crumbly! But the
one that Sheretta’s group made was
yummy — i bet they remembered
the cider!”
The table setters are solving a problem
with the plates: “Would we have
enough places if we used the bowls
and the little plates too? or, we could
just give everybody a paper plate or a
piece of paper towel.”
The vet’s assistant is in the process of
designing an experiment for carrying
the sick puppy: “We have to figure
out a way to carry the puppy that
won’t cause him to bounce at all
since he is very sore. i don’t think we
can carry him ‘cause we could trip
or somethin’ like that. i know — we
could try a basket or a box and put
something soft in it so that he’s all
cuddled up. That should do it!”
Predicting
As children continue to develop their
play scenarios, their predictions — their
ideas about what they think might happen
— go hand in hand with their experiments.
Let’s check back in with our
cake bakers, table setters, veterinarians,
and moms:
“i think that the cake is going to be
dry if we don’t add some milk or
water. Let’s ask José (the teacher)
what we should put in — maybe
some juice?”
“Hey guys, there is no way we’re
gonna have enough plates for everyone
at the party — whadda we do
now? Uh-oh, that means we don’t
have enough candles either.”
In developing their
play scenarios,
children’s predictions
— what they think
might happen — go
hand in hand with
their experiments.
“i think this puppy is going to feel so
bad after his operation that he won’t
be able to walk by himself — he’s
gonna need some help.”
The moms are worried about finding
a quiet place for their babies to sleep:
“There is so much noise in the house,
they’ll never sleep in there!”
Drawing Conclusions
After observing, classifying, experimenting,
and making predictions, our
young scientists add the knowledge they
have gained to that they already have
and then draw conclusions about how
things work:
“i think using all the dishes will be
enough for everyone and then we
won’t have to use the paper towels.
But that still means there aren’t
enough chairs and a lot of people
will have to sit on the ground and
they might not like that.”
“i think putting the puppy in the big
basket is a better idea, ’cause then he
won’t try to move around and get
out. The vet said he should be quiet.”
Communicating Ideas
once children have formed some
conclusions about the problem or idea
they have been working on, they seek
ways to communicate the information to
others and/or to be able to refer back to
what they have learned:
“José, we want to write down the
stuff we put in our cake so we can
make it again tomorrow. if we tell
you, will you write it down for us?
Some of the things are from in here.”
(Child points to an illustrated cookbook
they were using.)
The girls who were playing mommies
asked if the teachers could put a
message on the message board for
the next day about “being quiet while
babies are sleeping.” Carol (a teacher)
thought that might work, but
wondered if the children could think
of a way that the other kids would
remember to be quieter during work
time. Suraya suggested that they
make a sign to put up when the
babies are sleeping.
www.highscope.org ReSource Fall/Winter 2008 22