7/23/2023 0 Comments Strategies to scaffold learning![]() ![]() Teachers can create and carry out a classroom culture that either fosters or discourages engaged and active thinkers. This makes the act of thinking visible to children and invites them to reflect on it. When teachers value the thinking of early learners, they intentionally design scenarios in which children are cognitively engaged. ![]() But more recent research shows the importance of supporting children’s innate intellectual dispositions and capacities as active learners (Katz 2015). Historically, early childhood classrooms were built around the idea that children needed teacher-directed instructions and guidance to reach predetermined outcomes. What inspires children’s curiosity? What drives active and engaged thinking in children, as illustrated in the opening vignette? Philosophers, researchers, and educators have long grappled with these questions. “How does a rainbow feel?”Ĭlara thinks for a moment. “Have you ever touched a rainbow before?” Lisi asks. “But how did you connect a rainbow to what you touched in that box?” “What makes you think it’s a rainbow?” Lisi asks. She shows her drawing and says, “My hypothesis is a rainbow.” So I touched the wheels and they moved.”Ĭlara is next. “So when I touched it, the bus was clean, and wheels were yellow. “When I was little, my dad had a workshop for buses,” Lily says. “What did you connect to when you touched the object inside the box?” “Can you describe with details why you have that hypothesis?” Lisi asks. “My hypothesis is that I think it is a bus,” says Lily, holding up her drawing. Once they finish their drawings, they share and listen to each other’s ideas. Lisi gives them time to make their predictions, then asks them to sit down and draw their hypotheses. The children eagerly take turns inserting their hands into the box and touching the object. Then, you’re going to go to the table and draw what you think you felt. Second, once you touch what’s in here, your mind is going to think and make connections. “First, you are going to put your hand through this hole and feel what’s inside. “We are going to follow three simple steps,” she says as she introduces the activity. Carefully, she cuts a hole in the box’s side so her children can reach in and touch the juicer without seeing it. Lisi, a teacher of 4-year-olds at Learning Steps Learning Center in Miami, Florida, puts a manual orange squeezer in a box.
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