“Children are naturally inquisitive” is a great quote to use to describe the students in my classroom. If I had to think of one quote this would be the thing that I would want people to know about my Kindergarten students.
From the first day that we had our open house the students rushed into the room and looked high and low at everything that was to offer in the classroom. Most of the students had questions about what we were going to do in Kindergarten and where they were going to sit. The students were also very inquisitive about the books that were in the classroom. Most of the books that we had sitting out were “About Me” themed. Some of the books were nonfiction about different races, boys and girls and other subjects about individuality.
The next set of nonfiction books that we introduced into the classroom were about fall, the leaves, pumpkins, apples and changes in the weather. These books are enjoyed by the students, and we read the books the students are asked about their feelings towards the nonfiction book. I find it very interesting when the students say that the nonfiction books are boring, and when they are asked for their reasoning, they say because there is no story.
My most interesting encounter with my students and nonfiction is the introduction of the animal and insect books. I watch in the morning as they come into the classroom and chose a book. Most of the boys and girls look for the spider or wildlife book. I then watch as the non readers look at the pictures and start to tell a story. Even though the book is a nonfiction, the students are making a fiction story with the pictures. I think that the inventive story telling is very interesting, but my students have not really been exposed to inquiry based learning, so the idea of nonfiction is not common in my classroom.
I think that inquiry based learning is very important in the classroom. I would like to see more examples of inquiry based to know what it would be like in a kindergarten classroom.
Cara Knight's Blog 