Our First Week Investigating Collections

The Purpose of Collections ​

In the Spring, when the children were in Brown Room, we read two storybooks: The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds and The Puddle Pail by Elisa Kleven, which are about creating different types of collections. The rich discussions that arose from these stories inspired our summer research in which we asked each child to curate a collection of special objects to share with their friends.

We defined a collection as any group of objects, often having a common theme, that they gathered during the summer months. Children have been very excited to bring their collections to school and have already begun to investigate them by classifying & sorting as well as drawing & painting what they observe. Over the next month, one blog each week will be featuring the children's collections as they share. Ultimately, the questions, investigations and discoveries about these collections will inform what we will share during Classroom Stories Night!

Weekly Collections Spotlight

During Morning Meeting everyday, one child is invited to share their collection. The other children are encouraged to share what they notice and ask any questions they may have about their friend's collection.
​The children who shared this week were: Cal, Charlton, Ellie, and Whit.

Cal's Beach Treasures Collection

Karen: Cal, can you tell us about your collection?What did you collect?
Cal: Crystals!
Karen: They do sorta look like crystals. What are those?
Cal: Shark teeth.
Mimi: My brother has these (shark teeth). 
Karen: What else do you have?
Cal: Sea glass.
Karen: Cal has shark teeth and sea glass in his collection. What else? There are things in your collection that look a bit different than what you’ve already showed us. Can you tell us what that might be?
Cal: (Picking up the item Karen was pointing to) Um, I think it might be coral.
Karen: Has anyone ever seen coral like in a coral reef?
Whit: My mom sees coral in the coral reef when she was swimming in the ocean.
Karen: Whit just said that his mom saw coral in the ocean. Cal when you look at your collection, what do your items have in common? Where did you find your collection?
Cal: At the beach. 
Whit: I did too. At the beach. 
Karen: Cal, do you like the beach?
​Cal: Yeah!

Charlton’s Star Wars Drawings Collection

(Charlton brings his collection of Star Wars drawings to the Morning Meeting circle)
Ford: Boba-fat? (Star Wars Character)
Charlton: It’s Mandalorian, Ford. I still need to draw this one.
Karen: Tell us about your collection, Charlton.
Charlton: Mandalorian is a person in Star Wars, but there’s all the Mandalorians. He (Baby Yoda) is a tiny brother.
Emma: How did you make them Charlton?
Charlton: I drew them. I used some pencils and crayons.
Ellie: I know that they’re red.
Mimi: I notice yellow.
Charlton: You mean the yellow is like green.

Ellie’s Seed Collection ​

Emma: Ellie, Can you tell us about what you collected?
Ellie: Seeds! This one is a peach.
(Ellie spreads her seeds out on a tray to display them. She points to the seeds and describes them.)
Ellie: Big, tiny, big, tiny. I found them from a pepper. I just had to pick them.
Emma: How did you collect the seeds, Ellie?
Mimi: When you cut them (peppers), you see seeds.
Ellie: They’re rocket ship seeds because they’re big!
Mimi: Sometimes, little kids can’t cut the seed.
Rawls: How did you get them seeds?
Ellie: I get them from a nectarine.

Whit’s Rock Collection

Emma: Can you tell us about your collection, Whit? 
Whit: I collect rocks. 
Emma: Where did you collect these rocks?
Whit: At Gibson Island.
Emma: What kinds of rocks did you collect?
Whit: This is the volcano rock. There are volcanoes in Greece.
Whit: This is the pink rock. That’s a volcano rock.
Charlton: So there’s a volcano at Gibson Island?
Whit: There is no volcano on Gibson Island. The volcano rock came from Greece. My sister told me about it.