School ecology and the learning of young children

Kappa Delta Pi Record, Spring 2002 by Lui, Ping

Supported by the school ecology, the following lesson illustrates how classroom instruction was conducted to support children's learning in a meaningful context. The lesson was taught in an advanced class where children learned to add two numbers up to a total of six.

A Colorful Lesson

To prepare the children for the targeted math concept, the teacher drew a picture of the sun in the sky, green grass and red flowers on the ground, and six colored butterflies flying in between. While drawing, the teacher said a nursery rhyme describing a typical summer scene (see Figure 1, page 122).

Beautiful is a sunny summer day, (Drew the sun.)

Flowers are nodding and grass is smiling, (Drew red flowers and green grass).

Colorful butterflies, cheerful and gay, (Drew six butterflies different in position, size, and color)

Flying around, they dance and play.

The teacher then asked questions about grouping the butterflies in different ways-by color, size, or position. As the students answered, the teacher made math diagrams on the board. To reinforce grouping and math concepts, children were asked to do the drawings for two similar problems, based on rhymes.

Throughout the 25-minute lesson, the teacher had the complete attention of all the children, despite the presence of several visitors in the room. More importantly, the six-year-olds actively participated and seemed truly to enjoy learning. This lesson clearly incorporated children's prior knowledge and the created school environment, using a re-creation of the summer scene in the lobby, a review of drawing animals while saying familiar rhymes, and an oral discussion of the scenes and characteristics of the animals studied earlier. The teacher also integrated various subjects such as social studies, math, oral language, and art in the lesson.

Coordination of Drawing, Speaking, and Thinking

The entire preschool adopted the SKONBY teaching strategy. Teachers created rhymes for all pictures based on logical thinking and imagination, considering beginning learners' characteristics. Generally, a complete drawing of a scene, animal, or object was a combination of simple parts that could be mastered by beginners. By putting the simple parts together, a more complex picture came into being, but the process of completing the picture remained manageable, even enjoyable. For instance, the shapes of slim, long leaves and melons were simple objects to draw: by putting them together appropriately, students created the image of a rabbit.

After observing the lesson, I found the rhymes extremely helpful myself. Although I previously had felt helpless in drawing, when I said a rhyme, a picture projected in my head, directing my hand to complete a task on paper. Therefore, the strategy can be applied to teaching drawing to young children as well as adult beginners. This strategy acknowledges student's learning styles, supporting their development of multiple intelligences (Gardner 1983).

However, development and coordination of multiple intelligences was not the ultimate goal of instruction, but a preparation for children's creativity development. By the time children were in advanced classes, they became artists and rhyme creators themselves, demonstrating their imagination, creativity, art talents, content knowledge, and oral language mastery. Thus, children contributed to the enrichment of teaching and learning materials at school, while continuously developing confidence and interest in learning.