Qnet : Inquiry and Early Science Skills

1. Please update your contact info Qnet: Inquiry and Early Science Skills Those interested in connecting regarding PI34, and PDP come sit and visit! January 10, 2013 Amy Carriere cesa10.k12.wi.us/qnet

2. Session Objectives • Practice using the Teaching Cycle • Show examples of 6 Simple Ways to Assess • Practice using tools to help with Goals and Planning • Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards • Head Start Child Outcomes • Creative Curriculum Child Indicators • Explore indicators of early scientific skills and knowledge for infants and toddlers and Preschoolers • Create opportunities for how infants and toddlers and Preschoolers acquire those concepts embedded within outdoor times

3. The Teaching Cycle

4. Simple Ways to Assess • Parent Interviews • Self Portraits • Anecdotal Records • Scribbling Drawing Writing Samples • Developmental Checklists • Audio or Video Recordings

5. The Teaching Cycle

6. Take your observations and lets apply them… • Digging deeper into Planning and Curriculum Goals

7. The Teaching Cycle

8. Learning AboutScientific Skills • Problem Solving • Reasoning • Communication • Connections • Representation

9. So this is what it looks like in young children… • raising questions about objects and events around them; • exploring objects, materials, and events by acting upon them and noticing what happens; • making careful observation of objects, organisms, and events using all of their senses; • describing, comparing, sorting, classifying, and ordering in terms of observable characteristics and properties; • using a variety of simple tools to extend their observations; • engaging in simple investigations in which they make predictions, gather and interpret data, recognize simple patterns, and draw conclusions; • recording observations, explanations, and ideas through multiple forms of representation including drawings, simple graphs, writing, and movement; • working collaboratively with others; and sharing and discussing ideas and listening to new perspectives. (Worth & Grollman 2003, 18)

10. "Traditional ECE training does not include thinking about the outdoors as a classroom space.  So your first, and probably most important, step should be to drop old notions about the outdoors as simply a space for children to use during recess.  Think instead about indoor and outdoor classrooms as different only in their floors, walls, and ceilings. • "You don't have to remove your teacher's hat when you move outdoors.  Continue to be a teacher, and work with just as much focus as you did indoors.  Your role is not to become a playground monitor, and outdoor time is not simply a break from more important matters.  Outdoor activities promote just as much learning as indoor ones, and require just as much of your thought and attention."

11. Q-Net Learning Outside the Walls of Our Classroom January 10, 2013

12. Activity: What are the resources in MY community? • Activity • Gather together in groups from same towns/cities. • Brainstorm a list of resources that are within your communities that you can access that would promote science and inquiry (local parks, landmarks, museums, beaches, rivers, manufacturing companies, farms, trails, experts, etc) • Where can we take kids to learn, explore, and ask questions

13. Activity-Part One Scavenger Hunt • You have 10 min • Form a group of 5 • Take an Outdoor Hunt and Find Walk card • Grab some scavenging tools: Flashlights, Magnifying Glasses, Tweezers, Collection bucket, camera, paper/pencil to draw • Record what you find

14. Activity-Part Two Productive Questions • Take your artifacts, drawings, photos, and memories from your shortened experience and think about how you can promote inquiry and further learning • Use your handout “Productive Questions” to come up with possible questions under each of the 6 categories that could have extended the experience if you were doing it with kids

20. Local Opportunities to Share • Saturday, January 19, 2013Brunet Island State Park, Cornell, 715) 239-6888 or email - • Candlelight Ski and Sledding Event. Come to Brunet Island for some sledding in the afternoon, followed by skiing and snowshoeing by candlelight! Skis and snowshoes will be available for loan. Refreshments and hot dogs available. Start at the park pavilion, overlooking the beach. Sponsored by Cornell Lions Club and Cornell Community Education. This event is weather permitting. Please call the park office for updates. Sledding 3-5 p.m. Candlelight activities 5-7 p.m.

21. Friday, January 25, 2013Chippewa Moraine State Recreation Area, New Auburn, 715-967-2800 or email - • Snowshoeing by Moonlight. Take a guided 1-hour night snowshoe hike by moonlight (2-hour option available) at the Chippewa Moraine. Over 50 pairs of snowshoes for all ages will be available for those without them (please call ahead to reserve, there is no charge for renting them). Visitor Center will be open and there will be a blazing fire going in the fireplace. Cocoa, cider and cookies available. Two outside fires will also be roaring. Hang out, roast hot dogs (bring your own), make smores. A program about snowshoes and snowshoeing will be presented at 6:30 p.m. Come early, hike departure is promptly at 7 p.m. (if turnout is large, a separate, simultaneous hike will be led for the first hour). Meet at the David R. Obey Ice Age Interpretive Center. The center is about 10 miles north of Bloomer on Highway 40 and about 2 miles east on County Highway M. Call 715-967-2800

22. Red Cedar State Trail, Menomonie, 715-232-1242 or email - • Candlelight Ski and Snowshoe. Please join us at the depot visitor trailhead in Menomonie for a night of cross-country skiing and hot chocolate around a warming fire. There will be a lit snowshoe trail in River Side Park and a lit trail for walkers on the north side of the Red Cedar Trail. Please call 715-232-1242 for further information. Meet at the depot visitor center. 6-9 p.m.

23. Saturday, January 26, 2013Lake Wissota State Park, Chippewa Falls, 715-382-4574 or email - • Candlelight Ski, Snowshoe and Hike. Enjoy candlelit ski, snowshoe and walking trails at Lake Wissota State Park! There will be a guided snowshoe hike led by the park naturalist from 6-7 p.m. Refreshments and warming fires available. Sponsored by the Friends of Lake Wissota. Event runs 5-8 p.m.