text and photos by Lillie Pardo
The kindergarten school year began with learning about “caring,” which led to learning about “shelter” in early October. The guiding question for the whole unit was “How do family members show they care for each other?” To make a bridge from caring to shelter, each student made a sock puppet pal and gave it a name and a personality. Next, students thought about what their puppet pal would need to be cared for properly. When asked, “Where could it rest or eat?” some of the children answered, “It needs a home.”
After reading the book, “A House is a House for Me,” by Mary Ann Hoberman, students were asked to think about what they already knew about shelter, and this was documented on a chart. Next, they were asked what they wanted to know about shelter, and this was also written down. The questions they posed about shelter served as a pathway to guide inquiry for research and learning.
To further the exploration of shelter, the students worked in small groups of four to five to build tent shelters in the classroom using blankets and sheets. As they enthusiastically worked together to construct their shelter, they learned to work collaboratively and about estimation by guessing how many people could fit inside the shelter; then they tested out their guesses to see if they were correct. The students thought about their feelings while inside their shelter and what else they would need to be comfortable inside the shelter for a longer time. Students said they felt, “crowded,” “comfortable,” “great,” “soft,” “hot,” “safe”, “cozy,” and “good” while inside.
In a subsequent lesson, students thought about their own shelters and what makes a house a home. After discussion, they agreed that families, people, and love are what make a house a home. Students drew maps of their rooms and pictures of other rooms in their homes, which were made into individual shelter books. The students talked with each other about the activities that took place in different rooms of their homes and pantomimed these activities with a partner. A class graph was made showing each student’s favorite rooms in their shelters. Students discussed with each other why a certain room was their favorite and what they liked to do there.
To explore shelter construction, students became “researchers.” Armed with clipboards, paper, and pencils, they started with an exploration of their classroom and then school building—inside and out—to observe and formulate questions about different building features. Some of their questions included, “What are vents for?” “Why are there different types of floors?” “What is concrete made of?” “How was the play structure made?” “How was the school built?” An architect guest speaker, first-grade parent Kevin Mulcahy, came to talk to the students about building and helped answer their questions. He brought in building plans, scale models of houses, and samples of different building materials (concrete, ceramic tile, marble, granite, wood, metal, cork, linoleum) to share with the class.
In other lessons, students learned about animal shelters, arctic shelters, and shelters in different parts of the world. Kindergartener Ashley stated, “Shelters help keep animals safe so they can stay alive and protect their babies.” Kindergarteners learned that although many different types of shelters exist, shelters show care by protecting us and meeting our needs physically and emotionally. As a culmination to the unit on how families show caring through shelter, students used what they learned to design, build, and decorate a special shelter for their sock puppet pal.
