It's California!

"This is California" AD

That's how it all started.  A morning filled with deep discovery; noticings between a few friends  It was intended as an open-ended time before our "real" work began.  Your teachers hadn't placed supporting materials or even presented a "big question" But it became evident that our work was going to go on despite...or maybe because of those absences.

It was a moment in time that could have easily been overlooked in the busyness of a morning.  But because of the importance of slowing down and noticing as teacher-investigators, it wasn't overlooked.

You are telling me something about this map.  What do you know? I wondered

"This is California.  I've been to California." AD   You have?  Guess what?  I've been to California too!

You were showing me a specific symbol on the map.  And then you noticed the same symbol on a different part of the map.  They are different sizes, and you noticed that right away.

"This is another California.  This is the little California and this is the big California." AD

"This is a soccer game." ESE

Ahh, you are looking at the same symbol as your friend AD but you are telling me something different.  Hmmm...

"It's so big!" CW

You're right, CW.  The lines look SO big when you use the magnifying glass.  What else do you notice on the map?

"This is the water.  I've been to California so I'm sure." AD

That is water?  How do you know?

"It's blue." AD

You're telling me blue on a map means water?  Are there any other places where there is a water on our map?

"There's lots of little tiny waters all over the map." AD

As is so often the case when friends work alongside one another, their discoveries spark new noticings for each other.

"I found a line of water." ESE

A "line" of water?  Wow.  So, are all of the blue waters different somehow?

"This one is big big water.  It's the lake.  And all of the little waters are the splashes from where people played and the water splashed out.  And that one is the line of water." AD

Oh my goodness.  AD you made your teacher smile with your theory.  You are absolutely right that these marks of blue have different meanings.  And that blue is DEFINITELY big, big water!

After spending so much time talking about the water, we began to notice the other marks on the map.

"Where does this red line take us?" ESE

"It takes us to CALIFORNIA!" AD

"Oh no!  I'm trapped.  That's okay.  I can turn on this line.  I can go on the red lines and black lines."

You are following the lines on the map.  I wonder if you can figure out how to get from you over to CW on the map?  What lines would you follow?

It was tricky trying to visualize a spot to get to.  You teacher had an idea!  

We found tiny triangle stickers and we each put one on the map.

That was all it took!  How can we get from my triangle to your triangle?  How can I get to the next one?

With each path we discovered we had choices about where to turn!

Should we go this way or that way?  Forward or backwards?

We began navigating between places making decisions that were the best...or not!

These friends are figuring out how to read a map!

With all of these new found map skills what should we do?  The rain was the perfect excuse to push further into our map reading!

We found this map.  What do you notice?

"There are squares (RM)... and rectangles (DM)." 

"There are words." JI

What do all of these squares mean?

"They tell us what room we are going in." MT

How can we figure out what room is which?  How can we tell?

"Because the collaboratory is big!" RM

You are noticing the size of the square.

"This one is the gym.  It's SO big!" EM

"This one is the biggest." DM

Can we use these squares to find our way around the school?

"You can picture the size of them.  Picture it in your brain." RM

"We should draw the names." CG

With our new found discovery we headed out into the school to label our maps.

Here is a sneak peak of our work!

Do you have any maps in your home that we could use?

Maps from the zoo, an amusement park, a state park, a campground?  Maps from your place of business?  The Birch investigators would love to have them!

Thank you, families for helping our learning come to life.