For Goodness Sakes, So Many Snakes

with Mrs. Starko's Kindergarten Class

Exploring Clay and Discovering Snakes

The children were going to do their first explorations with clay. I wanted them to manipulate the clay and discover some of its properties as they worked with it. I knew I wanted them to roll the clay with their palms and fingers to make coils and also try rolling the clay in their palms to make balls. The questions to be asked were, "Can you make a large coil, a small one, a large ball? What is the smallest coil you can make? the largest one?"

W begins to create a snake.

To add interest to this new centre and also to emphasize relationships to the children's world, I decided to call the coils snakes and the balls rocks. Then I added rocks and plastic snakes to this centre. Both boys and girls wanted to work with the clay. I added a tape recorder to the center in order to record their conversations. The children had been building sculptures for their snakes once they were formed. They were busy eating strawberries in William's case and worms. G's snakes were also eating strawberries. I asked the children what they thought a snake ate and recorded their ideas. W's strawberry idea was widely accepted, worms, mosquitoes and dragonflies were other ideas. The children drew their ideas of what a snake ate. Our first project was born.

This is W's completed snake cake, compete with lots of worms for the snake to eat. The snake is able to crawl up and down the cake, eating worms that have been placed near the bottom, top, and even in the middle.

We are now reading some snake books to find out what snakes eat. Words like carnivore, prey, hunter, venom, poisonous, constrictor, and venomous have come up. We are continuing with our look at the snake. Snakes can now be found at the water table, the sand table, and the block corner. I will now add some stuffed snakes, baby boa and Verdi, our emerald tree boa. This display will be an ongoing one as we find out more about snakes. Our snake project continues as we look at both snakes and pumpkins this month.

For Goodness Sake So Many Snakes!

There are some words that bring such a wealth of feelings with them. Spider is one such word, and so is snake. Most people tend to shudder when you say these words. The snake has had a bad reputation for a long time. Condemned to crawl forever on the ground, it slithers its way through history as the serpent that even appears in the Disney movies as the bad guy. We talk about not speaking with a 'forked tongue' and even he children think that a snake could be slimy if touched.

So what was it that captured the children's interest when snakes were combined with rocks and were introduced with clay? At first, the children were very interested in rolling the clay to create their own snakes. They had the snakes crawling over the rocks. Then sculptured forms appeared as with William's snake cake and G's flower. The following conversation occurred when William began talking about his snake cake that had many worms, his snake was going to eat. This idea spread to J and R who also joined him to work with the clay. G was in the process of leaving the table.

The majority of the conversation centres around what a snake eats and the eating of the worms, complete with sound effects. Fantasy and reality go hand in hand with this age group. J's and R's idea of the snake being plastic, but becoming real, show how their imaginations can accommodate "facts" that would be incongruous to older children and adults alike. We can talk about the realities of this as a class later on. I chose to start our look at snakes then from their interest. We therefore began with these questions. "What does a snake eat? How does one snake know to eat eggs and another fish? How do snakes hunt and kill their prey?" I also recorded what they knew about snakes.

Here then is their conversation for you to enjoy. You can see how ideas are lent and supported and how questions can extend the children's explorations ideas.

Now, W is able to 'play' with his creation, inventing the story developed in the following recorded conversation. It is very important to allow long periods of uninterrupted play to occur in order to get from the creation of something to the story behind it.

Conversation:

S: What do you think R of W's snake cake here?
R: I want to get one too.
S: So its got worms inside the cake worms on top of the cake, and if that snake is really hungry, it can come up to the top to eat a worm. (talking to W.)
W: It's eating a worm right now.
R: Hey, I want to make a cake worm thing.
S: Do you know how G made these designs in her flower? She used the plastic snake head to poke these holes. Do I still have the sticks out here? You can also use these.
J: Hey, I need a stick to make my pie. It will be a yucky pie. Okay, let's get you one.
G: Mrs. S, this flower is for you.
S: Is it okay if I leave it right here for the others to see?
W: Okay, now the snake is going to come. Look at the snake. He's eating up a worm. Gobble, gobble, gobble.
S: Do you think snakes eat worms?
W: The snake has to eat tons of worms so he can grow up like his daddy.
S: What else do you think snakes might eat?
W: People.
S: People? Is that it? People and worms?
W: And mosquitoes.
S: And mosquitoes?
W: Yes.
J: Hey, I want to play with clay now.
S: J, W made a cake here and his snake is eating worms, and we thought that the snakes might eat people and mosquitoes. What do you think snakes might eat?
J: They'll eat worms.
S: What else might a snake eat?
J: I need more clay.
S: There you go.
J: Umm, worms, mosquitoes.
S: You think snakes eat mosquitoes? Anything else?
R: My snake will eat lots of worms.
S: Lots of worms?
W: Look at what the snake did.
J: My snake is going to eat lots of worms.
R: My snake is going to eat lots of worms too.
J: My snake is going to eat lots of worms. I will put it on the rock so... My snake is going to eat a lot of worms everyday. It's going to eat it all.
R. My snake is going to eat all of mine.
W: I need some more play dough to make more worms. (singing) My snake is getting enormous, huge, enormous and huge.
R: Mine is eating all of my worms.
J: Is he eating it right now?
R: Yea, cause he took it off my pie, my cake. Cause they are bad snakes.
W: Bad, bad, bad.
J: But they're real, right? But they're real.
R: Yea, cause they're made out of rubber, cause they're real.
J: We need that bridge to be not knocking down though.
R: You better hurry, cause the snakes might be real again. Because my worm will be real after he eats it all.
J: He's taking another drink. Now he's using the bathroom. Mine is eating up all his worms.
W: This is the baby snake.
J: I need two snakes to eat. Here is one over here.
R: Here, you can use my stick, too.
W: No, I have one right here.
J: Is it ready yet?
W: Nope.
J: When's it going to be ready, Mom? This is the two sisters.
R: Hey, I need another snake.
J: I'm using this one.
R: Where's one for me?
J: I'll go get you one.
W: A strawberry. My snake is eating up all the strawberries. He likes the strawberry.
J: I'm making strawberries, blueberries.
W: My snake loves strawberries.
J: My snake loves worms.
W: My snake loves worms and strawberries and tons of _______. Yippee, strawberry cake, strawberry cake.
R: Don't worry. I am almost finished. I was your dad, right? Your dad, right? The snake is getting water. Slurp, slurp.
J: I'm making pancake and blueberries and strawberry and peach.
R: I'm making a strawberry.
J: Is he long yet?
R: This guy is going to eat my strawberry. He is long. Mine is the dad.
J: And mine is the sister and the brother.
R: I have a brother Chad.

Discovering Food Chains

The children had been very interested in the idea of what and how snakes eat. To further this idea, we learned Charlotte Diamond's song Octopus. It is essentially a food chain song. The children then had to create a snake food chain. We did one together first and then they did their individually and with the help of a friend or two. I then recorded the story taking place in their pictures. I recorded the story taking place in their pictures. There were repetitive structures similar to stories like This is the House That Jack Built. First this happened, then this came next, then this, etc. This is a common story structure that the children will hear again and again. There were also children who chose to start at the end and work their way backward to the sun that started it all. This is a reverse of the above story structure as illustrated in the book The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate The Wash. Here are a few of their stories as they explained their pictures to me. I should also add that the last snake we read about was the rat snake.

Children's Stories

C: The sun is growing the grass and trees and the mice ate them.  The
mouse got eaten by the little snake.  The little snake got eaten by the
python.  There was another snake hiding in the grass.  He was trying to
protect himself.  He was camouflaged.  The python's tongue sniffed him and
ate him.

A: The sun is helping the grass to grow.  The snake is going to eat the
mouse.  The mousse is eating the grass.  The snake hides behind the rock and
he jumps up and eats the mouse.  The owl comes and grabs the snake.  He eats
him.

K: The sun is feeding the plants.  The plants are feeding the worm, that's
feeding the snake, that's feeding the owl.

As:  The big snake was searching in the forest and he found a little snake
and he was going to eat him.  The little snake found the worm first and the
big snake found him eating the worm.  The worm ate the grass.  There was a
rain cloud and the water fell down for the grass to grow.  And the sun made
the grass dry off and gives it more sunlight so it can grow.

D: The worms ate the leaves on the tree and the ground.  The sun is helping
everything grow.  It is helping the flower grow.  It needs sun too.  It's
growing and growing and growing.  Then the worms got eaten.  They got caught
in the snake's tongue.  Then the snake ate the bird.

J:  The sun is going to the grass to make it grow bigger.  The grass goes to
the mouse.  The mouse eats the grass.  The small snake eats the mouse.  S is
for snake.  Then the squibbly cobra snake eats the flat snake.

Am: This is an attack story.  The snake attacked the mouse and he liked it.
 The mouse ate the grass.  Some went into his mouth.  The sun grew the
grass.  The sun goes to the grass and the grass grew and no one saw the
snake attacking the mouse and bee.

S:  The mouse is going to eat the grass that the sun is helping to grow.
The mouse is going to get eaten from the small snake.  But the small snake
is going to get eaten by the big snake.

Children hear a great many story structures when you read to them. They incorporate those story structures quite easily and are then able to use them in their own work. This what we want to see and marvel at and appreciate. These are indications of their growing mastery of their language. Children are quite proud of their work thus far as we explore the world of snakes.

A new idea emerges still linked to the children's interests concerning what a snake eats. A wanted to draw what the inside of a fang looked like. You can see the venom within the fang. We will revisit this idea again and draw more of our ideas. Still looking at food, we attempt to draw snake food chains.

Drawing Snakes

In answering the question of what a snake eats, the children asked a new question, "How do I draw a snake?" The children share ways and media of possibilities.

Drawing snakes using liquid watercolor on parchment on the light table.

Watercolor on a light table. This is a second attempt.

David wanted to make a water snake, after asking, "Do snakes live in water?"

Making a Friend for Baby Boa

A new provocation is offered to the children with the introduction of our baby boa - our stuffed snake.

This snake was large enough to wrap around willing children to see what it felt like to be 'constricted' or squeezed by our boa constrictor. This experience will be revisited when we learn the song I'm Being Eaten by a Boa Constrictor.

Resulting Provocation: Would you like to make a friend for baby boa?

The children work with me to make a large venomous snake - the yellow cape cobra.

Where Does a Snake Live? Looking at Habitats

The children are still talking about providing the snakes with food. Then a move was made as the children played with the snakes in the sand/rock and block areas. Where were their snakes going to live? Houses were set up in the block area and the word cave being used. To help this new idea of the home, cardboard box and was brought in to make a cave for the huge boa we had in the classroom. The children pile the snakes in the cave and add many blocks with them. They have added rocks with felt markers on the inside, N organized that. J added the small hollow blocks inside for walls that the snake could crawl on, and then had to solve the problem of some falling blocks as the outside of the box was leaned against. The box continues to function as a snake home and fort each day.

Snakes were added to the sand table. The word habitat began to be used.

Automatically, the children moved some of the snakes to the water table. Questions about sea snakes were asked. A sea snake was added that had a paddle tail and the children had a discussion about how the tail helped the snake swim in the water.

A small aquarium, tree, some tortoises and a fence was put out with the snakes on a separate table to capture this ideas of the home being in an environment like the zoo. "Do your snakes live in a zoo? Or do they live in the wild? Where can we find snakes?" were the questions we wanted next. Moms and dads and baby snakes were mentioned as the idea of family was applied to our snakes in their homes. These are important topics of the kindergarten child. Home and family are acted out in many ways in the classroom. These human characteristics are given to our plastic snakes.

Just as children learned new vocabulary words as adults repeated words to them, or phrased a sentence correctly when they couldn't quite say what they meant, so too, are vocabulary words introduced and used by modeling in the classroom. Now you will hear the word habitat being used by the children. It begins with a few at first and spreads to the others as they share their work.

The children were asked to sketch a snake in a place that they thought the snake lived, in its habitat. Many children chose the water or ocean as that particular kind of snake held much interest with the children in our class. Another favorite is the Boa Constrictor with its tree or jungle habitat. The snakes are still eating to stay alive in the homes constructed by the children.

It is worth spending some time to read through your child's story of their snake habitat, as well as to share the other children's stories. Their stories show how they are gradually constructing ideas and incorporating facts about snakes in their pictures. You can see how they use the words poison, teeth, venomous, constrictor, fangs to describe their snakes. The idea of how the snake swallows his food whole also comes up a lot. These are are the facts that the children have constructed and are now able to show you in their drawings and stories. Did you know that a snake's eyes are round? You can begin to see round eyes on our snakes too as we try to draw what we learn.

On Friday, the children began to construct snakes using a new medium, soft wire and beads. We then worked with our cross-age buddies as they work together in small groups to develop four habitats for their beaded snakes and other snake drawings. We have also discussed the idea of doing a small snake report that we could share with the other children so that we can learn even more about snakes.

Where Does A Snake Live? Looking at Habitats

The children are still talking about providing the snakes with food. Then a move was made as the children played with the snakes in the sand/rock and block areas. Where were their snakes going to live? Houses were set up in the block area and the word cave was being used. To help this new idea of the home, a small aquarium, tree, some tortoises and a fence was put out with the snakes to capture this idea of the home. Do your snakes live in a zoo, or do they live in the wild? "Where can we find snakes?" was the question we wanted answered next. Moms and dads and baby snakes were mentioned as the idea of family was applied to our snakes in their homes. These are important topics in the classroom. These human characteristics are given to our plastic snakes.

We hear the word habitat being used by the children. It begins with a few at first and then spread to the others as they share their work.

K and J began to use the word when they first created habitats in the sand. K was also the first to use the small plastic container to make a complete habitat for her snakes. This was of great interest and the girls made habitats for many days. Because learning is shared, D, too, became involved and began to create habitats with J in K's absence. By sharing their habitats with the other children, habitats began to be made in the block corner not only for our snakes but for our dinosaurs too.

After drawing snake in its habitat, the children decided to add their wire sculpture snakes as friends.

There were many conversations as to were the snakes lived. We looked at some cards that D brought in and then drew where we thought snakes lived. The children had to work hard on these pictures as they were learning how to shade a background and make sure they did not lose their snakes in the foreground.

I have included below, the conversation I had with J and D. S also had a hand in creating this habitat, but had left when I came at D's request to see their work.

Conversation:

J: We put some snakes in here, right?
D: It is a desert/jungle thing.
S: What is living in your habitat?
J: Snakes and a bird.
D: Actually, it's called a peacock. Some plants, sticks and some trees, and we made this home too.
J: There is a danger, a cobra snake is trying to get into the home but we can flick him.
D: This is a lizard playground. D and J have also built a habitat in the sand area for the lizards, D refers to as the lizard playground.
J: The cobra can slide down the sand.
D: There are two slides and this is our desert. Can you take a picture of our habitats?

I have taken pictures of their work at their request. After recording their work by taking photographs, I then asked them to make a drawing of their habitat.

Now I have included in our ongoing study of snakes, the children's pictures of their snake habitat, the habitats created by J, K, S and D.

It is worth spending some time to read through your child's story of their snake habitat, as well as, to share the other children's stories. You can begin to see their understanding of what a snake is. You can see how they use the words poison, teeth, venomous, constrictor, fangs to describe their snakes. The idea of how the snake swallows his food whole also comes up. These are the facts that the children have constructed and are now able to show you in their drawings and stories. Did you know that a snake's eyes are round? You can begin to see round eyes on our snakes too as we try to draw what we learn.

Our large boa had a sore throat the other day that D, A, Ash, and E were looking after in the house corner. They had wrapped his neck up and were getting it a hot water bottle to make his head feel better. "He can't eat for 17 days. He doesn't drink," E tells me. I point out the doctor tools in the house corner and ask them if they would like to be veterinarians taking care of the snakes. "Are there any other sick snakes or animals you can care for?" I asked.

We are hoping to make bigger habitats for our snakes with our cross-age buddies, so that our wire and bead snakes have a habitat too. Then to help us get to know even more about snakes, we may be doing a small snake report that each child can share with the class, before the dinosaurs take over.

With the help of our cross-age buddies, four habitats were created - grasslands, forest/jungle, desert and ocean.

Closing Comments:

Each year there are special words that take on some significance with the children. This year snow and habitat were just two of the words that held some special interest for our class. Surprisingly, it was the word habitat that stayed with us the entire year. In questioning why this should happen, I wondered if perhaps the events of September 11 had influenced the children and created a need for them to create safe homes for their animals and in turn for themselves.

Terry Starko