In the beginning of the school year, a few children began to notice rainbows during naptime. Teachers overheard some quiet conversations and intently listened for more discussions on this topic. However, as the school year progressed and children settled into sleeping during naptime, the conversations of rainbows appeared to fade.
Interestingly, after the end of Daylight Savings Time the children began to notice rainbows again while waking up after naptime.
Sasha T.: “There is a rainbow on Sona.”
In the children’s work, rainbows emerged in drawings, paintings, wire sculptures, and they also incorporated them in their stories while constructing in the Block Area. The teachers met and made a decision to further understand the children’s theories of rainbows. A small group was formed.
Teacher Cindy: “What is a rainbow?”
Sasha F.: “A rainbow is a color in the sky.”
“ROYGVIB.” Asha related the scientific progression of the colors of a rainbow: Red Orange, Yellow, Green, Violet, Indigo, Blue.
Charlie S.: “There are a million in my bedroom. They are all over.”
Sona: “It’s purple and blue.”
Charlie L.: “They look like a shape.”
Sasha T.: “Like an arch or they go around and around and then back up.”
Charlie S.: “No.”
The group debated over whether a rainbow is something with colors or if it is a shape. Can it be both? We searched for rainbows around the school.
We found some with lots of color but were not in the shape of the arch. Is it a rainbow? “Yes”, the children responded.
Some are in the shape of an arch but have no color. Are they a rainbow? “Yes,” the children said.
The teachers wonder if the children will reach a consensus between shape and color, or remain certain that an arch is a rainbow and a rainbow has color progression, but it’s not necessary to define a rainbow as an arched color progression. And what will be their response when we ask: “What does rain have to do with it, anyway?”