Transcripción

Text on screen: Investigating a Spider (3-5 years).

Logo: Count, play, explore—for early education.

Text on screen: Title card: Part A: Observing a Spider.

On screen: Three children gather around a spider on the floor that has been captured under a plastic container. Preschool Educator, Diego Lopez Diaz, slides a sheet of paper carefully under the container.

Child 1: No, open. No, open.

Child 2: That's a spider.

Diego Lopez Diaz, Preschool Educator: Okay, ready?

Child 3: Ooh, I can see him.

Diego: One of my students said, "Spider, spider, spider, there's a spider" and I was trying to find ways to catch it because it's something that the students are interested in and it's engaging to them at the moment. So, my idea is get that engaging item.

On screen: A close-up picture shows the spider in the plastic container.

Diego: At that point, I was able to get the kids to actually get closer and observe the spider.

It's a spider, look at that guys.

Child 1: Ooh. He's so big.

Diego: He is big, huh?

Child 1: Yeah, I think that's a mommy.

Diego: It's a teachable moment. So, it's one of those moments where the kids are engaged, they're interested, and that's the best time to teach them something. Because their focus is all on that spider right there. So they're willing to learn anything about the spider, especially since it's a live object.

On screen: Diego brings over an acrylic encased spider and sets it down next to the contained spider. Another child joins the observation.

Diego: Look at this spider.

Child 3: It's so big.

Diego: Now this is a big spider. How about this one?

Child 3: Small spider.

Diego: This one's a small spider.

On screen: Diego holds a light over the contained spider, then moves to the larger spider in the acrylic case.

Diego: How many legs does it have? Can you guys count them?

Children: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Diego: Eight? What?

On screen: Everyone looks at each other. As they count the next spider, one child points at each leg.

Diego: How many legs does this one have? Children: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Diego: Eight.

One of my students, he kept on staring at it. He was all focused on it. At first, we used a digital microscope to light it up because we couldn't see through the container. So, we were making it easier for the students to do that.

On screen: Diego and a child sit at a table using a light to observe the contained spider. The child observes the spider very closely.

Diego: What else can you see about it?

In my discovery area, the science area, we have some of the specimens, where there are spiders encased in acrylic or other insects encased in acrylic. And since I already have a spider, that one the kids could actually put under their microscope. And that's the one where they could actually see it even more closer. Let's look at this one.

On screen: Diego places an acrylic encased spider under a microscope and adjusts the microscope as the child observes excitedly.

Child 4: That's a bigger one.

Diego: That is a bigger one. Now, what do you see? A spider, but you know what? Describer: Diego points to the spider’s leg displayed on the microscope screen. Diego: What is that? What is that?

Child 4: The feet?

Diego: The feet? That's a leg.

Circle time, I got a picture of the spiders. Getting a picture this big. It's easier for me to identify the legs, the thorax, the abdomen, the fangs.

On screen: A close-up diagram of the parts of a spider is displayed. Then, Diego sits on a stool in front of the children sitting on a rug. He smiles as he calls on a child to share and holds up the spider diagram and points to different parts of the spider.

Child 5: The spider is camouflaged.

Diego: Oh, camouflaged?

Child 5: Yeah.

Diego: Yeah. The spider can camouflage because look, what color is it?

Children: Brown.

Diego: Brown. Now, this has eight legs. It also has something back here called a spinneret. Can you guys say spinneret?

Children: Spinneret.

Diego: Guess what comes out of there? ¿Que hace de allí, Sebastian?

Sebastian: Spiderwebs.

Diego: A spiderweb comes out right here. And then we have the abdomen. That's where the spiderweb is made. And we have the thorax. This is where the head and the upper body of the spider is.

Text on screen: Title card: Part B: Documenting and Communicating about the Spider.

Diego: After the circle time, we did move to the small groups, which we had to document the spiders. My idea was draw your spider. Let's see what we have. I want to see what the kids know already, by just that little interaction, how much their knowledge has grown. They represent what they see. They count the legs. They count the eyes. They count the head, the thorax, the body.

On screen: Video clips show a small group of children sitting at a low table drawing the spider. Moments later, Diego sits at the table and points to the spider diagram, while children look on. Then, he brings the contained spider closer to the children for a better look.

Diego: What shape is that?

Child 1: Circle.

Diego: It looks like a circle. So, you could start with a circle. So, try it and then you could add the dots for the eyes. Look at the spider.

Look at this spider. See how it looks, look at the shape.

Child 2: It’s so big.

On screen: Diego sits with a child and asks her about her drawing. He asks her questions and writes her observations next to her drawing.

Diego: Can you tell me about how many legs did you draw? Let's count them. Let's count them, ready?

Child 6: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

On screen: Diego points to each leg as they count, and then he numbers each leg. Diego: Okay. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Good. And what are these? On screen: He points to two lines coming off the spider’s head in her drawing.

Child 6: Nine, 10.

Diego: Oh, nine and 10.

Diego: Does that spider have 10 legs?

Child 6: No.

On screen: Diego brings the contained spider closer. The child uses a magnifying glass to see the spider as Diego points at each leg

Diego: Let's count them. Look, we have one … Both: … two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Child 6: Eight?

Diego: Eight legs.

On screen: Diego points to the contained spider and then the child’s drawing. He points at the lines she has drawn off the spider’s head.

Diego: You know the front ones, the ones up here, they're called fangs. Those are the fangs.

It's important to write it down, as a way to record what they're saying. I'm recording what they're saying, what their knowledge is about the topic.

Describer: As Diego speaks, finished spider drawings appear on screen, each labeled with Diego’s word-for-word notes of what the child said. Diego is then shown recording what a child is telling him about their drawing.

Diego: Every time a child says something, I write it as they say it. So, whether the sentence is broken up, I write it the way they said it. I don't add another word to it. I don't subtract another word. If they speak Spanish, I do write it as well in Spanish. We have another student that is speaking a different language. There are teachers that also speak other languages. So, we call each other to help each other write it down. We use each other as much as possible to help capture the student's knowledge.

Text on screen: A special thanks to the children, families, and staff of Sylvan Park STEAM Early Education Center, without whose help these videos would not have been possible.

Logo: Count, play, explore—for early education.