“The Paper Show”
An investigation from a 4-year-old class
The Paper Show emerged from the children's interest in hanging their artwork for display and their increasing familiarity with paper materials and wire.
“What does a paper show look like? I think we need more paper for our paper show…”
“Yeah we need add a lot more of these long pieces of paper for the show.”
“The paper can be high, like on the ceiling or in the middle…”
“I don’t think we should put too much paper in the space because it will be too crowded.”
“I think I want to add my paper work to the wire over here… Could I have a step stool so I can reach?”
Geometry and Spatial Reasoning
“We are getting ready for our paper show!”
The children discovered the hidden math in this new space, exploring geometry and spatial reasoning. They investigated spatial relationships - how things fit together and how moving parts operate.
We listened, observed, and asked questions incorporating spatial and geometric vocabulary. The teachers asked questions like:
“Where would like to hang this material? Above, below, or in between the other materials?”
“Why do you think your materials are moving in that direction?“
“How did you bend the wire to create that curved shape?”
Exploration of Physics
“When I let go of the paper, it moves on its own - do you see it going down?”
“Oh, can I try? I think I can make my structure move in that direction.”
“My structure that’s hanging is really heavy. It looks tiny, but it’s really, really heavy!”
Measurement
We noticed the children applying early measurement concepts. They compared and ordered materials by size and explored non-standard measurement tools such as hands or unfix cubes to estimate length.
We all incorporated Measurement Vocabulary into our conversations: higher, lower, heavier, lighter, taller, longer, shorter, big, small etc...
“Do you think I’m taller than this paper?”
“I want to hang my paper up high...”
“How can I make my paper long enough so that it touches the ground?”
Learnings
Let’s wrap up the project: what was learned, what was discovered. Why is this a good example of 2’s project?
“I think our structures are sliding because the wire is higher on that side, (points to one end) and lower on this side.”