Our Rainbow-Chihuly-Waterbottle Investigation was unlike any other, in large part because it seemed to never end. One of my main goals as a teacher this year has been to pause and give the kiddos time to think, remember, extend, and reflect. Since I'm the kind of person who tends to move quickly, slowing down and reflecting does not come naturally to me. Despite that challenge, I've come to finally understand that's where the real learning happens. Yes, in many ways this investigation went on and on and on - with a few other smaller investigations even happening in the midst of it. However, the slower pace and reflective mindset (especially toward the end) that guided our work allowed for a whole new level of depth, quality, and meaning.
Our investigation all started with a rainbow obsession, but that's definitely not where it ended up! From the very beginning of the school year it was obvious that many of my kindergartners loved rainbows. Our drawing and painting and creating and building centers always seemed to be full of them.
I thought we might have worked through our love of rainbows with our Crayon Investigation earlier in the school year, but I was definitely wrong. By now we were almost halfway through the school year, and their rainbow fascination didn't appear to be going away anytime soon. So, I decided to take advantage of their interest and see where it might take us.
Since every kiddo wasn't fascinated by rainbows, I knew it would be important to take some time before diving in to build collective interest and enthusiasm for the topic. We started by sharing our thoughts about rainbows,
and then we put our fine motor skills to work making a rainbow collage to hang as a collective reminder of our interest.
We also built personal interest for the topic by illustrating and sharing stories about times we've seen real rainbows.
Looking closely at a photo is a surefire way to get kiddos' noticing and wondering about a topic. While looking carefully at a picture of a double rainbow they wondered everything from why one of the rainbows was brighter than the other to why the colors of each rainbow were in opposite order. These kiddos have grown some incredible observation and wonder muscles so far this year!
Once we had solidified a collective enthusiasm for and investment in our topic, it was time to officially start wondering. In addition to asking about their wonders, I was curious what (if any) ideas they might come up with on their own for exploring our topic. It's been a long time since I've thought to ask kindergartners about their big ideas for an investigation, but I'm sure glad I did...or there definitely wouldn't have been a rainbow movie in my future!
For this investigation their wonders and ideas both helped frame the process. One of the things I quickly noticed was that many of their ideas involved rainbow-related art projects, which got me thinking right off the bat that this might ultimately extend into a more focused art/artist investigation. One of the other things I noticed was that several kiddos who weren't as enthusiastic about rainbows seemed to be bursting with rainbow experiment ideas. We would clearly be doing a lot of projects and experiments over the next few weeks!!
The philosophy of Reggio Emilia teaches us that children explore the world around them through One Hundred Languages, so it was no surprise that we would be using many of those languages to explore the concept of rainbows.
As part of our idea brainstorm they thought of turning our playhouse into a Rainbow Everything Store, so they quickly got to work.
We created rainbows out of beads,
experimented with a variety of ways to combine color, water, and filters,
and even used our colored water to make paint.
We experimented with making rainbow colored glue creations,
and learned to make 3-d rainbows too.
Building bins offered another avenue for growing our interest and thinking about rainbows,
and rainbows even popped up during storytelling moments...
Young kiddos come to know and understand the world around them (in this case, rainbows) through play, drawing, music, storytelling, painting, building, books, and so much more. So, rainbow related stories would obviously be a great way to grow our thinking about the topic. We would eventually find our way to more fact-based rainbow books, but before we got to the meat of our topic I wanted grow their critical thinking and comprehension muscles through more creative and imaginative stories.
Since I had recently overheard my kiddos laughing hysterically as the art teacher read them The Mixed-Up Chameleon, I knew that story would be a good place to start. This year one of my big goals has been to use literature to encourage deep and critical thinking. We illustrated parts of the story, sequenced it, retold it, and then debated where in the story we each thought the main character was happiest, and more importantly WHY. We also had fun imagining which animal we would enjoy being the most and why. I knew we could go deep, but even I was surprised to discover how many days in a row we could explore the same story through a new lens.
We similarly stretched our thinking muscles using Rainbow Fish stories. I've read Rainbow Fish stories aloud to kiddos countless times, but I've never considered teaching the stories through the lens of empathy and perspective taking. We considered Rainbow Fish's thoughts and feelings at the beginning, middle, and end of the story, imagined the Rainbow Fish and whale's thoughts throughout their fight, chose key words to describe the main character as he evolved through the stories,
collaborated to order the stories from first to last based on content and connections,
chose favorite stories, and then worked with partners to create a dramatic retelling of them.
A little bit of rainbow fish art was a must as well.
We also dove into another book that kindergartners usually find fascinating, A Bad Case of Stripes. This books is always a sure-fire way to stretch those wonder muscles. Check out all the things this story made them wonder!
We picked just one of their wonders (Why does she wear a rainbow colored bow at the end of the story?) to go even deeper with and used the text and our own brains to infer as many answers as possible. Check out all their great ideas!
The rainbows continued everywhere I looked...
They wanted to learn how to paint realistic looking rainbows, so we figured out how to lighten colors to the appropriate shade,
found some new rainbow art techniques to try,
experimented with several types of rainbow candy while also reinforcing the concepts of making predictions and cause and effect (based on their enthusiasm for our crayon experiments earlier in the school year, I knew there would be no such thing as too many rainbow related experiments!)
and experimented with absorption and color mixing too.
Of course they continued to create with rainbows on their own during choice time.
We experimented with making rainbow crystals (our second experiment turned out much better than our first...which turned out to be a good lesson in an of itself!),
and learned a rainbow song/poem too.
Our science teacher let us borrow a container of prisms so we could figure out what it means to break up light to form a rainbow, and boy were they fascinated. Those prisms got quite a work-out in our classroom!
Once most kiddos seemed to fully understand the rainbow formation process, I challenged them to create a project they could take home to teach the information to their family. Understanding the rainbow formation process is one thing, but being able to recreate and explain it requires a whole new level of understanding. Check out all the clever ways they came up with to explain the process...
By this point we had explored most of their wonders and had tried out many of their activity ideas, so it seemed like a good time to start working on their movie plan. We started with their big idea of making a fiction movie that also teaches (for some reason this group has loved finding fiction books that also teach facts this year!), came up with a general plot and characters, developed scenes, and then added dialogue. The story boarding process took several days of collective work, but it was fascinating to experience.
Parts were voted on and assigned, and then prop, setting, and costume creation began. At this point in the school year they just need a tiny bit of direction, and then off they go to create...
They added candy to our airplane (and yes, there was a candy airplane in our story), practiced their lines multiple times,
and then we filmed. As is so often the case when working with kindergartners, it's more about the process than the product. Our rainbow movie was no different. Nevertheless, they were very proud of their accomplishment and couldn't wait to celebrate by watching their movie together...with a popcorn snack on the side, of course.
Their realistic rainbow paintings were still sitting on the shelf in our classroom. After watching them create their movie, I was curious to see what kind of rainbow story they might tell on their own. So, during Fab Lab one day I handed out their rainbows and sent them off to plan a story. I was blown away not only by the 3-dimensional details of so many of their settings, but by the length and depth of each rainbow story. We haven't told stories aloud in a while, and it was rewarding to see how much their storytelling muscles have grown over the past several months - more interesting beginnings, thoughtful and nuanced middles, a lot of dialogue, and a variety of well planned endings.
The best part of creating a story is always sharing it with a captive audience. They have learned to be both story tellers and story listeners this year, both of which are such valuable skills!
By this point we had covered most of the ideas/wonders from their original list, except for making a "real" rainbow (a perfect activity to save for a warm spring sprinkler-friendly day). However, I didn't sense at all that their rainbow interest had waned. I reflected on their continued interest in rainbow art and decided to introduce a plot twist to possibly take us in a new direction...if there proved to be enough interest, of course.
The next day I brought in some photographs of rainbow colored artwork created by Chihuly.
We looked closely,
and chose interesting pieces to notice and draw. At first several kiddos seemed overwhelmed by the photographs they had selected, but no one gave up!
Since they continued to talk about Chihuly and seem interested in his art work (his eye patch was a huge topic of conversation for some reason!), we explored him a bit further using a series of videos. With each video we charted new information we learned about glassmaking and glassblowing, about his life, and about one of his most famous structures in the Indianapolis Children's Museum...
We also experimented with creating different types of Chihuly inspired artwork...
The final video we watched about Chihuly introduced us to a group of fifth graders who used water bottles to create a replica of his artwork (Fireworks of Glass) from the Children's Museum. We began to wonder if kindergartners could possibly create some large scale Chihuly inspired artwork as well? Many kiddos jumped at the idea, although several admittedly expressed their skepticism that kindergartners could create something grand. So, we decided to mull over the idea for a bit.
In the meantime we looked closely and wondered about several other types of Chihuly inspired water bottle projects...
By that point our remaining skeptics had come around to the conclusion that yes, kindergartners could work together to create something awesome...as long as we agreed to make it reasonable in size. They decided it should be as tall as a kindergartner, so we lined up in order based on size, measured the "average" kindergartner (44 inches), and used that size as our guide.
In order to tackle our big project we knew we would need some water bottles. One day I randomly mentioned how exciting it was going to be to save water bottles from the trash by using them in our project. That comment unknowingly struck a chord with the kiddos and started us on a whole new segment of our investigation. Together we began to wonder, where do water bottles go?
In the meantime, the kindergartners made signs to deliver around the school asking teachers to bring in their empty water bottles.
They each took a copy of their sign home to their families,
and we set up bottle collection bins in the kindergarten commons and faculty lounge.
As our box gradually began to fill up, we started to explore our big wonder about water bottles. First we discovered that most water bottles (9 out of every 10) end up in the trash. They were shocked to see pictures and videos showing where trash ends up and were very curious about landfills. They wondered if most people think about that each time they throw something away. To reinforce the newly learned concept, we created our own mini landfill together. There's nothing quite like trash art :)
Next we discovered that most of the water bottles (and other trash) that don't make it into trash cans end up in our rivers and oceans.
This was NOT okay with the kindergartners, and immediately they wanted to go out and find trash they could save.
We used that trash to create a mural showing how trash affects animals in our ocean.
We also began learning via books and videos how plastic gets recycled (did you know plastic can be recycled into clothing?!!),
we worked together to document the recycling process,
and we also looked closely at photographs online to discover clever ways plastic can be reused. We found out that water bottles can become everything from piggy banks to bird feeders to marker holders to slippers to boats. Amazing!
Since we were quickly running out of room in our classroom to hang our documentation, we decided to move it to the bulletin board in the commons area so people could learn about water bottles as they walked down the hall each day. Kindergartners love any opportunity to become the "teacher!"
Several kiddos wanted to add a stop sign next to the board so passersby would STOP and check out our important information.
We included the three big water bottle facts/sayings they had learned because they wanted to make sure everyone who looked at the board knew that...
Voila...our teaching-bulletin board was complete.
Spring break usually provides a perfect ending for our current investigation topic, but not this year. There was still a lot of momentum heading into our big project, so we stayed the course.
After returning from break I knew it would take a few days to re-immurse ourselves in our topic. Looking closely at water bottles got us thinking all about our investigation again. It also turned out to be a great way for the kiddos to merge their new knowledge about recycling with the symbols they discovered on the bottom of each bottle.
I also brought in some photographs of an impressive display I'd seen at the Museum of Natural History and challenged them to look closely and figure out what it had to do with our investigation. It took a few minutes, but eventually they discovered it was art made out of trash from our oceans. Clearly we were in the midst of learning about an important and universal topic!
The week before break one of the kiddos suggested we write a story about a water bottle's life. I had recently read the book Neuroteach and learned about the importance of spacing and recall, so preparing to write our story seemed like a great opportunity to recall our knowledge about what happens to water bottles.
There was no consensus about which path our water bottle would take. Half the kiddos wanted a happy ending (reuse or recycle) and half wanted a sad (landfill or ocean) one, so we decided to split into groups and write both versions. Recalling information and then USING it for a real purpose is the true pinnacle of learning.
We drafted, illustrated, shared our stories,
and then added more details to make each one even better. The idea of making things better has been an ongoing theme in our classroom this year. In fact, it's such a common phrase in our room that they assume it's a natural part of the creation process...no questions asked!
Our collection bins were beginning to overflow, so it was time to get to work.
Along with help from the other kindergarten class, we removed all the labels,
started painting and painting,
and then added second coats.
Next up it was time to cut the bottles, which was no easy task. Talk about a fine motor workout! Despite the challenge involved they cut without stopping for over 30 minutes. Luckily we had a lot of cutting helpers in Ms. Taylor's classroom too!
We sorted the bottles and spread them out according to color. Then they wanted to check and make sure we had achieved our height goal.
Stapling was by far the most challenging part of the process, but several kindergartners were determined to get some staples into the wood on their own. Love that determination!
We added more pieces to fill in the empty spots (and make it even better),
and voila, our masterpiece was complete. What a wonderful and colorful way to save some water bottles!
I couldn't bare the thought of throwing away the leftover water bottles, so during Fab Lab I challenged the kiddos to reuse a water bottle and turn into something new. We always start big projects with a reminder about our design cycle,
and then they got right to work. They created everything from mom and baby piggy banks to a flower vase to a pacifier holder for a little brother to a double marker and pencil holder. It didn't go without notice that many of their creations involved some form of a rainbow!
Our reusing project along with the completion of our Chihuly masterpiece was almost the end of our investigation. This year, though, I've been realizing that so much of the real learning happens in the moments of reflection. Remembering this step is HARD, especially when engaged in fast paced work with young kiddos. Thankfully, though, this time I paused to ask the kiddos what big lessons they'd learned from our investigation. Are you as impressed as I was?
At one point during our conversation one of the kiddos pointed out that reducing, reusing, and recycling water bottles can help our world in the future, but it doesn't fix the problem that's already there. Together we wondered if scientists might be able to come up with solutions for reducing the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Maybe, we thought, kindergartners could even help with a big problem like that!
We watched some introductory videos about a teenager tackling the very same problem, and then we tried our hand at creating our own garbage removing inventions.
As they shared the details of their inventions with each other we used sticky notes to record the smartest part(s) of each one. Perhaps if we combined all our best ideas we could come up with something brilliant!
We compiled their idea into a single saving-trash-from-the-ocean invention,
and added labels...
We learned the word prototype from one of the videos about Boyan Slat's The Ocean Project, so we were inspired to build a prototype of our design. Originally I was going to have partners each build their own. The class revolted pretty quickly and assured me they could do a much better job if they all worked together. They've clearly taken the concept of teamwork to heart!
We learned that Boyan Slat was asking for name suggestions for one of his prototypes, so we were similarly inspired to come up with some of our own name ideas. They filled the board with suggestions, we narrowed it down to our top two, and eventually we settled on Thunderblade.
At one point we watched a movie that depicts (in fast forward) much of the process Boyan Slat went through to create his invention. We stopped periodically to notice and reflect on many of the tools, skills, and mindsets he used along the way...
And then we took even more time to reflect on the connections between his process and ours.
They were admittedly bummed they couldn't test out their prototype, but they agreed they'd learned a lot of invaluable skills through the process. When asked if one of them might design a prototype they could actually test out one day to solve a big problem, most all of their hands went up!
There was so much going on in our classroom during the final portions of this investigation (we had just completed a mini-moon investigation and the kiddos were in the midst of their own investigations about topics of the choosing), that there was a pretty sizable lag between the final steps of our project. By the time we got around to making a movie explaining our invention, a few of their clever details had been forgotten. However, their general ideas (along with little windows into each of their personalities) definitely came through.
You can check out our video by clicking on the link below...
Wow. I'm exhausted just rereading all of that! I think I might have to save any further reflections for over the summer...
In the meantime, I've noticed the kiddos have been talking about games again. Our moon investigation, Earth day, and the incredible story we just finished titled One Plastic Bag seemed to have sparked an interest and curiosity in our world as well.
I think I might have just dreamed up a clever way to merge their game and world interests...and start developing their global mindset along the way. Stay tuned!
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