A previous group had gone on a walk to collect natural materials to distribute throughout the school. Cookie, Micah, and Dex sorted some of the materials for the sensory table in the East Wing. After the materials were categorized, I gathered the broken pieces and put them into a pile to throw away.
Cookie: ”What are you doing, Silvana?”
Silvana: “I’m going to throw it away.”
Cookie: “Why?”
Silvana: “I don’t know. What do you think we can do with it?”
Cookie and Micah instinctively smell the pile.
Cookie: “Can we crush it, Silvana?”
Silvana: “Yes.”
Cookie: “Micah, please smell it. I crushed it.”
Micah: “The more you crunch it, the stronger it smells.”
Teacher Reflection
My intention was to encourage social relationships while facilitating opportunities for the children to practice classification, comparison, and cooperation to complete a task (i.e. sorting the natural materials by specific characteristics). However, what I thought was trash, was a treasure that fostered a more natural and stronger connection: Cookie sharing an experience with Micah, built on previous knowledge and interest.
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