Ms. Alison kept documentation along the way, which serves to represent our ideas and thinking and the evolution of our inquiry over time. The photographs and audio-recorded (now transcribed) discussions made visible in this document supported the development of "next steps" during the course of our project. Both teachers and students have used this documentation to reflect on our learning journey, which has been truly emergent in the sense that none of us could have predicted the exact outcomes. Of course, we have also made connections to our written curriculum, including comparison of objects, measurement vocabulary, positional language, and non-standard measurement.
What is most important here though, of course, is the process of learning. Emergent curriculum builds on the strengths of children and directly addresses their interests and learning needs. In collaboration with their peers, children were able to engage in open-ended exploration and decision-making, while also giving careful and critical consideration to the suggestions and proposals of their teacher. In this way our inquiry has been co-constructed.
We hope you enjoy our learning journey documented below!