canadian animals

Documenting Learning

Canadian Animals

Peer Teaching

For my documenting learning component I chose to focus on Peer educating and how children learn from each other. I believe that children have so much information to share and that especially at the kindergarten level they want to tell you about everything they know and have learned and all 25 children at the same time. I wanted to channel this energy and give the children the opportunity to teach each other.

In a kindergarten day we have 2 and a half hours to fit everything into our day therefore I sent home an optional research project for children to learn about Canadian animals. We had been reading stories and learning about where certain Canadian animals live and how they adapt to their environment and why? We talked about hibernation, migration, defenses, habitat, food and babies and how animals camouflage themselves to protect them from enemies. The children became very interested and I chose to take their learning further by giving them an at home project to do.

This project was optional but almost every child completed one to present to the class. The idea was to gather, collect, learn, interpret, organize and present their information to their peers. The format of the project was in a book form but there are a number of ways that the children could present their information. They could make a diorama, poster, book, power point, puppet show or orally present the information. Because this was probably their first research assignment I kept it simple and consistent. Here was the format:

Optional Canadian Animal Research Project
Due date: February 19th or earlier

The Objective of this project is for children to learn about Canadian animals and to share their information with other children.

1. Read non-fiction books, search the internet or go to the library to find information about a Canadian animal or your child's choice.
2. Help your child organize and record their information in the book provided.
3. The book your child creates should have a picture and writing on each page.
4. There are a number of ways you and your child can record the information
   - You can write the words dictated by your child and he/she can do the illustrations
   - Your child can use pictures from magazines or internet and he/she can print words under the pictures with your help.
   - Your child can create the illustrations and print words with your guidance on each page.
   - Your child can use the computer to create the text and glue it in the book.
5. Please let your child have as much input as possible, the book should be written in your child's words.
   - Create the book over time, first gather the information, read many different books, look on the internet and then ask your child what information they would like to share with their classmates.
6. Information gathered can be:
   - Food
   - Habitat
   - Defenses
   - Appearance
   - Babies
   - Other facts
7. Here is a possible sample page

Wolves look for food in packs.

The children were so motivated by this project. The parents were amazed at how interested the children were in Canadian animals. The projects started coming back almost the next day and once the children saw their peers presenting, that motivated them to finish their projects so that they would have the opportunity to present.

At the beginning of the presentation I would put up a blank sheet of white paper and write the following information on each project. The name of the animal, what we know about the animal and what the presenter has taught us. I would also talk to the children about appropriate behavior during a presentation. The children need to establish mutual respect when presenting.

Every day we would present 2-3 projects and document our prior knowledge as well as what new information we had learned about Canadian animals. The most amazing progression for me was that after a few days we would present an animal that had been presented already and when I was recording their prior knowledge they would add some facts that they had learned from one of the previous projects. Every day our background knowledge would increase and I would have to write really small to input all of their information. The children were so excited as their knowledge began to extend and expand.

Here are some sample of the information the children learned from their peers:

Beavers by Bryce

What we Know:
-They chew wood and make their house out of wood
- They build dams and their houses
- They slap their tails when there is danger

What Bryce taught us:
- Baby beavers are called Kitts
- They eat apples, water lillies and plants
- They build their dams at night
- Beavers have fur and flat tails

Weasels by Jessica

What we know:
- A weasel has soft fur

What Jessica taught us:
-They have sharp teeth and sharp claws
- They eat mice, frogs, rats and squirrels
- They have between 2 and 10 babies at one time
- They have their babies in April
- They camouflage, they are brown in the summer and white in the winter.

Cougars by Aaron

What we know:
- They have sharp teeth
- They live in the forest
- They hunt
- They are part of the cat family

What Aaron taught us:
- They are smart
- They eat deer
- They teach their babies how to hunt
- They sneak up and jump on their food

Beavers

What we know:
- The dad gets the food
- Beavers splash their tails when there is danger
- They build their homes out of sticks, rocks and mud.

What Maya taught us:
- They have 3 to 4 babies at one time
- They are on the nickel, the nickel is worth 5 cents
- They live in lakes
- Their teeth are very sharp to cut down trees

Coyotes by Halle

What we know:
- They live in Phoenix
- They live in grassy fields

What Halle taught us:
- That a coyote can run as fast as a car
- They eat mice, dead animals, birds, insects and squirrels
- Coyotes look both ways before crossing the road
- Their babies are called pups
- They live in Canada
- They are bigger than a fox and smaller than a wolf

Killer Whales

What we Know:
- Whales swim together with their own families or groups called pods
- Whales eat other fish
- Whales eat dolphins

What Patricia taught us:
- They breathe air at the water surface
- They never eat people in the wild
- They live under water in the ocean
- They eat other fish

Beavers by Samantha

What we know:
- They have a flat tail
- They chew trees
- they build dams

What Samantha taught us:
- Beavers have brown and red fur with scales on their tails
- They use sticks and mud to build their lodge
- They have 3 or 4 babies at a time
- The dad brings food for mom and the babies
- A beaver is the animal on the nickel

Canadian Sharks by Madison

What we know:
- They swim in water
- They have sharp teeth
- They swim deep
- They have fins
- Sharks do not eat people
- A shark is smaller than a whale

What Madison taught us:
- They have 2 pectoral fins, one on each side
- Whale sharks are the largest fish in the whole world
- Whales are larger than fish
- Sharks eat small fish, octopus and squid
- Canadian sharks are found in the Atlantic Ocean

All of the information that was gathered came from the children. They listened to their peers teach them about a Canadian animal and then in turn had to process the information and tell me what they had learned.
The students in my class had the confidence to stand up in front of the class and teach their peers about their animal. The children respected each other and were able to verbalize what each student taught them. I was astounded at their courage, motivation and desire to learn.

Submitted by Michelle Bezubiak at St. Monica school