The magic of stripes!
Date:7th September 2016
This learning portrait explains how one child’s curiosity in a kindergarten class can beusedas an opportunity to promotechildren’s collaborative inquiry, logical reasoning andsocial development.
This incidenthappenedin thesandpitwhen Arjun observedthattheZebrain thesandpit was chocking!
Arjun:Miss, thereis somethingstuckin thezebra! Iwanttoremoveit. Then Arjun goes to hisbuddy Kairav andtells him aboutthis, Kairav is busy in his own game andhedoes notlisten to him.
Arjun:Miss Kairav is notlistening tome
Teacher:so, whatcanyou doArjun?
Arjun:Iwill getthestopsign.
Arjun runsupto class andgets thestopsign.Kairavnowpatientlylistens to him.Arjun explains thatthereis something stuckinsidethepipe.Kairav gets curious andis interestedtoseeit.
Kairav,Arjun andPrishataketurns to seewhatis stuckinside.
Prisha:Itis something pink.
Prishacalls Laeliato look.Laeliasees itandsays “It’snothing Arjun, it’s aconnection of thepipe, that’s all”
Arjun is insistentthatsomething is stuckinside.
Arjun:“Lookproperly Laelia, Ican feel it.Miss can wehaveatorch, wejustneeda torch, please”
This shows how Arjun can think of solutions to small problems. Andalso he is not hesitant to ask forhelp when needed.
Laelianowaccepts this withoutfurtherquestion andgoes withtheteacherto getatorch andthey all investigatewhatis inside. Laeliaobserves the‘pinkthing’stuckin andsheis determinedto getitout.
Guys, comeon, we needto getitout
Laelia:Let’s getabig stickandpushitout
Arjun:No,let’s dig anddig till wemakeatunnel andgetthepipeout.Ifwedig,itwill come outby itself.
Laelia:That’s agoodidea!
This shows Laelia’s willingness to reconsider andamendher initial ideas when encountering theideas andviewpoints ofher peers.This was also aconfidencebooster forArjun, as he feltproudthathis ideawas accepted.
Hiya, Laelia, Himari, Shalini andArjun startdigging thesandaroundthepipe. The excitementin theirvoicesgets all theirfriends to join in too!
Togetherthey all collaborateandmanageto getthepipeoutofthesandpit!
But, Arjun was nothappy tostophere, heinsistedongetting the‘pinkthing’outofthe pipe.
Nowthatapartofthezebrawasout, halfthegroup’s objectivewas to gettheotherpart ofthezebraout,sincethey werenotawarethatArjun wantedthethroattobecleared.
Theotherhalfoftheclass was involvedin getting thepinkthing out.
Itwas observedthatevery childhadan ideaon how to removethetoy thatwas stuck inside.
Let’s put toy by toy inside and get it out.
Then everything will get stuck inside
No, we need to remove this (pointing to the joint)
Whileall theothers weretalking anddiscussing witheachother,Arav VKwas notbudging from thetaskathand.Hesaid“leave, leaveeveryone, liftitup, everything willfall down”
This showsArav’s determination in getting things donewhether in ateam or alone.
Laelia:thatwill notcomeout Aneeka:Ihavedoneitonce, Iknow Everybody tries removing thejoint.Halfofthem holdononesideandtheotherhalfon theother.
Arjun:Miss wecan getastickto removeit
Aneeka:ya, yathatwill work
So everyonerun aroundthesandpitlooking forsticks, they findadry treeandpluckout twigs from it.
Theyuseitto removetheconnectionofthepipe.Butsoon they realizedthatthatis not working.
They then dividethemselves into 2groups.Eachgrouppulls theoppositeends.
Finally they removetheconnection.They all celebratethesuccess by dancing aroundthe sandpit!
Then they getthetoy out, only to realizethereis awhole treasureoftoys insidethe pipe.
They startshaking thewholepipeandremoveall thetoys whichwerestuck.They areover joyedoftheirsuccess. Andthis was apleasantsurpriseto them,sincenooneexpected anything to fall out.
Andfinally, they removethe‘pinkthing’andclearthezebra’s throat.
Children celebratedtheirsuccess by congratulating eachother, hugging andclapping hands.
Teacher:nowthatyou all havegotthetoys out, it’s timeto putbackthezebra.
They continuedto collaborateandputthezebrabackto whereitbelonged.
Laelia:Miss wehadso muchfun becauseofArjun!
Laeliaruns andhugs Arjun
This madeus realize that thebest successes ariseFROMthechildren andBY the children. It was wonderful to watch these5 yearolds talking, negotiating, and thinking things through together.
It was amazing to see thesight of enduring friendships specially with Arjun since hehadmissed1 month of school and conflict resolution was an area hewas finding challenging.
This one incident orratheran opportunity, has madeArjun a classroom hero! He has now built the confidenceto share his unique ideas with his peers, who also are making an effort to givethat warmth that Arjun needs!
During dispersal timetheclassroom began to fill withanimateddiscussionson the experiencein thesandpit.
Welookforwardto providethechildren withmoreopportunities to workandgrow as a learning community.