Transcripción

Text on screen: Documenting and Communicating about the Garden (3-5 years).

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

On screen: Children pick tomatoes in an outdoor garden.

Luscinda Silva, Preschool Educator: How do we know the tomatoes are ready to be harvested?

Ruth: Because they're red.

On screen: As Luscinda speaks, video clips show children picking tomatoes.

Luscinda: The garden lends itself to a lot of STEAM activities. Having this nature explore yard, it lends itself to just so many domains, all in one lesson. The children have been learning the life cycle of a zucchini plant.

Can you look under those leaves right there and tell me what's under there?

On screen: Luscinda points at a plant with large green leaves, and the children move closer to see. She moves a leaf so children can see a large zucchini that has grown. The children gather around to look at the zucchini.

Aliyah: My God, it got big!

All: Wow.

Luscinda: Look at that.

Children: That's ready?

Luscinda: The students will come out and use their digital cameras and take the photos of their observations, what they saw in the garden.

Aliyah, you want to harvest the zucchini?

On screen: Aliyah grabs onto the zucchini and begins to harvest it by twisting and pulling. Luscinda offers a helping hand.

Educator 1: Take a picture, take a picture of her.

Luscinda: Twist it. Twist it.

All: Wow.

Luscinda: Look at that.

Describer: Luscinda and Aliyah hold up the zucchini, and the children take pictures with their digital cameras. Luscinda holds it higher so all the children can see it.

Luscinda: This one is huge. We're going to have to measure this zucchini. How many inches do you think this is?

Ruth: I don't know.

Luscinda: What do you think?

Child 1: 10?

Luscinda: 10? Oh, that's a great estimate.

Describer: Another child holds up a different zucchini. Luscinda holds up the first harvested zucchini next to the child’s zucchini.

Child 1: Put them together.

Luscinda: Put them together? You want to compare the sizes?

Then we take them to the table and they start drawing their observations.

On screen: As Luscinda speaks, video clips show the children at an outdoor table with various garden vegetables. They use measuring tapes to measure the vegetables and balance scales to weigh them, and then they document with paper and markers. Educators work with the children as they draw and measure the vegetables. A child’s drawing of the zucchini appears on the screen, which he has colored green and labeled “13 inches”.

Luscinda: When children document, we try to emphasize the differences in the vegetables and the fruit that they pick so they can compare and contrast the different vegetables. And it might be the same vegetable, but we're comparing the sizes, the weight, of each vegetable or fruit.

A lot of the kids understand inches now. They're writing the numbers, they're writing the word “inches.” The older students are able to write yellow squash or zucchini or tomato. So it incorporates a lot of different domains.

On screen: An educator helps two children use a measuring tape to measure the large zucchini. As they count out loud, they point at the numbers on the measuring tape.

Child 1: I'm ready to measure.

Educator 1: Okay, what are you going to measure? You want to measure this one? The yellow squash? You could draw it. Draw it.

Educator 2: How big is it?

Child 2: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Educator 1: Look at the numbers. How big do you think it is?

Child 1: 13 inches.

Educator 1: 13 inches. Do you want to write it down?

On screen: A child concentrates as he uses a pencil to trace a large zucchini on his paper. When he finishes, he picks up the zucchini and observes its size.

Child 4: Wow! That one is bigger.

On screen: As Luscinda speaks, video clips show children presenting their drawings.

Luscinda: After the documentation, the children get a chance to present their drawings, their observations. I allow them to express themselves and talk about their drawing. I try to ask questions to get more information regarding their documentation. If they have two drawings, compare the two drawings, or similarities or differences.

On screen: Video clips show Luscinda helping children hold up their drawings to share with the others.

Luscinda: Okay, Ruth. what do you want to share?

Ruth: I got a tomato and a zucchini.

Luscinda: It's a zucchini. What did you document?

Child 5: I drew a zucchini and a tomato.

Luscinda: A zucchini and a tomato. Okay. And I see a number here. What number is that?

Child 5: Five inches.

On screen: Luscinda points to the numbers that the child wrote on the page.

Luscinda: One and three is? 13.

Child 5: 13.

Luscinda: So your zucchini was 13 inches. So 13 inches, was that the small zucchini or the large zucchini?

Child 5: The large zucchini.

Luscinda: The large one.

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

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