Hurry, Hurry!

What a great study of fire safety we have had this year at ALG. We have ridden in many fire trucks, both real and pretend; we have chopped the doors down and we have saved and tended to babies big and small.

As in all studies, we start with a little gentle information gathering to see what children already know about the topic. We sing songs, read books and ask children questions on the topic. Here, and throughout any study, there is great variety of quantity and depth of knowledge. The oldest children were able to draw upon past experiences and make clear connections to further their understanding; "Last year, I remember the firetruck left in the middle of our trip. That happens because you never know when there is an emergency for them to go and help." The red group was also able to generate more complex questions to ponder like, "Why does smoke always go up?" The oldest children wrote and illustrated a book about life in the firehouse and shared it with the whole school.  Some of the youngest children, on the other hand, simply said, "Firetruck." in response to any question. Each child is encouraged to make meaning and to explore the topic through the materials and experiences appropriate for them. All children can represent their experiences with fire safety. The oldest children are able to draw accurate pictures and write words to represent their experience and the youngest children talk, sing and engage in simple dramatic play. The middle children have a foot and both worlds and while many are not yet writing (nor should they be!) their dramatic play and block building represent their increasingly complex thoughts, language and motor skills. Each group has had an extended play experience with the book Fireman Small. The Blue group read the book and the reconstructed the various settings out of blocks and played the story. Here Andrea and Warona work on a scene with the rabbit falling down the well. As always the meta skills at play here are the real drivers of the work going on: children are learning to share space and materials, to exchange ideas, communicate clearly, take turns, execute a vision, and more! Those habits of mind are the meat of our work here at school. 

Soon we moved into the next phase of our study: investigation. Here we continued to read books, engage in dramatic play and sing songs to generate knowledge. We also engaged in two kinds of fieldwork. One was our trip to the firehouse. Here we got to meet real firefighters, see the beloved red fire engines and learn more about how to keep ourselves safe in a fire and what life in the firehouse is like. Our young purples had an extra special trip where the firefighters actually brought out the hose and squirted the street! It was pretty fabulous but not quite enough to appease the half that were crying. Next year those children will have another chance to encounter the same firehouse with their nearly four year old selves and they will forge a new experience. Also for fieldwork, we were able to interview our very own ALG FireFighter: Rachel Henighan! She regaled us with tales of firefighting and how she would have to spring into action every time the loud bell rung. We also got to investigate with genuine artifacts as we tried on her hemet and coat. Later the children also took a walk around our neighborhood searching for fire hydrants. We brought our own rope hose and fabric fire and children were able to play out again and again saving the day using tools like the real firefighters.

After all these experiences, it was then time to synthesize and represent our learnings in the final stage of the study: representation. Children were given many opportunities to talk about their experiences and to represent them through discussions, drawings, writing, block building and dramatic play.  All groups wrote thank-you cards to the firefighters we had visited and once again got to talk about their experience there. Blocks are an especially rich material and children got many opportunities to work in the block area representing their ideas and experiences.  Children drew upon their fieldwork and books and songs to build a firehouse of our own. Teachers facilitated the building by posing questions and problems for the children to tackle; "Where do the firefighters eat? How do they cook their food?" And yes, even firefighters need to use the bathroom! One child built a garage for a fire truck but left no opening. "How will the truck get out?" asked a teacher and the child spent the next chunk of time redesigning their garage with a door and a ramp. 

In block play children are learning how to tackle problems through planning, trial and error and constructing flexible solutions. 

At ALG we are developing a unique approach to representation through dramatic play. Children are able to demonstrate their knowledge and skills as the play out different scenarios: rescue, life in the firehouse, etc.  For our final formal play on fire safety, the three o'clockers again played out Fireman Small. Repetition is key to learning here, as any parent knows having read the same picture book one million times; each experience brings a new and different layer to the learning. After first using unit blocks to play out Fireman Small, we brought out our large hollow blocks from hiding and children designed the various settings in the story.  After reading the book again, children were guided to use letters and numbers to represent an outline of the story and to delineate the different settings we would need to build.  Then children split into smaller groups and each group built a different setting and got the props needed for their character. In every building there are so many opportunities for dissonance and then equilibrium; children try to build one way and it usually doesn't work at first and they have to adjust and recalibrate until they find a way that works. Then, settings built and actors assigned, we began to play out the story.  They must change their actions and body language to embody their pretend persona. Here, Poplar is a sad kitten stuck in a tree.    And Valerie, as Fireman Small, kicks the door down to a burning bakery.  Through this kind of dramatic play, children are literacy incarnate: they are narrative, plot and dialogue. They speak using an expanded vocabulary not available to them in regular day to day conversation and they curb their impulses and practice self-control as they follow a story line which is naturally embedded with constrictions.
     

All in all, we had a great time as we puzzled our way around issues both large and (Fireman) small. We learned lots about how to work on our own and in a group and how to persist through challenges. We might even remember what to do if our pants catch on fire! See you next time. Love, ALG