worms are wonderful

 "Ms Lisa look!  I found a worm!" LB

This simple discovery prompted a morning filled with the most beautiful child-led learning!

LB you ran right out to the playscape and over to a BIG log.  I have seen you do this before several times so I knew you had a plan.

This time, your friends were eager to join you.  The warming up and the hint of spring has not only lifted our spirits in the Birch room, but apparently it has make all creatures great and small wake up too!

As soon as that big log was flipped I heard cries of discovery again and again.

"I found a roly poly!"

"Look!!!  A BIG worm!"

"It's a curled up roly poly!"

"It's a snail!!!!"

As you looked at your worm, LB you told me,

"He made an 'S'!"

He sure did!

"Now he made an 'O'!" LB

What?!  Your worm is a letter-maker!

What other letters can he make?

"He can't make a 'T'." LB

He can't?  Why not?

"You need two worms to make a 'T'!"

We started laughing and talking all about worm-letters!  How many worms do we need to make other letters?

JA while your friends were carrying their worms around to show others you went back to search some more.  It wasn't long before I heard...

"I found a baby snail!" JA

     

Though we were discovering several creatures beneath this log, it was the worms that held our attention.  We were looking closely at them and noticing so many things.

What do you know about worms? I asked.

"I know I like worms!" LB

That is something about YOU!  What is something you know about WORMS?

And then our conversation began.  We went back and forth talking about what you noticed, what you wondered, what you thought.

You were observing.  You were making predictions.  You were even feeling compassion!

"I think he wants to be in the mud with his friends." LB

"Why is the worm not moving?  Is he sleeping?" LB
"I think worms stay under the log and they go to sleep." LB

Your thoughtfulness towards the worms led your friends to think about how they were treating these living creatures.  It is easy to think about ways to be kind to our classmates.  But, what does it look like to be kind to a worm?  How can we even do that?

"You said he likes to be in the dirt so I gave him some dirt so he will be happy in my hand." JB

Yes!  That is exactly what it looks like to care for living things in nature.  

As much as we love them and want to carry those amazing worms around, worms like to be in the mud!

We had been looking under our log for quite some time now and we couldn't find any new worms.  Hmmm...Is there any place else on our playscape that worms might like to live?

LB you ran immediately over to these stumps and rolled them over.

"They like to live under a log!" LB

Almost instantly you walked away shaking your head no.

"There's no worms there." LB

Hmmmm...No worms there? But you said worms like to live under a log.  This is a log.   Why don't you think the worms live under here?

"It's too dry!" LB

OH!  So worms need a log that is WET underneath!

Well, is there any place like THAT on our playscape?  

These friends immediately ran over to this VERY big stump.  

Pushing

Grunting

Pulling

Nothing!

What can we do?

"We need a pry bar!" HW

Wow!  What a great plan.  But, I don't have a pry bar.  

"We can use this stick!" HW

How does it work?

And you showed us that we need to put the stick at the bottom.

"How do we get the stick under the stump?" LB

Another excellent question.  The stick is fat and it won't fit.  What can we do?

"You need to lift it Ms Lisa!" HW

And so, with teamwork, the log was lifted JUST enough to fit the stick pry-bars underneath.

Pushing

Tugging

Grunting

Lifting

Rolling

SUCCESS!

This little group of Birch friends may have appeared to be digging for worms.

But what they were doing was really so, so much more.

They showed interest in nature.

They became aware of the changes the warmer temperatures were making.

They looked closely and observed.

They thought about what they knew and conducted scientific experiments.

They connected to the feelings of others...even worms!

They shared in the joy of learning...all because of a worm!

No learning happens in isolation, and we are always excited to follow the amazing leads of our children.  So when we headed back inside your teachers go out floam and letter cards.  Can your floam-worms make letters?

They sure can!