I have thought of many wonderings/questions in the past three weeks. So far, I have experienced several different activities in my classroom. Each one of the activities has a story, from which, I have developed many questions and ideas. One of the main activities my kindergarten students participate in every morning is circle time. During circle time, they review the days of the week, months, weather, birthdays, and important events. This is a routine that all of the students are very familiar with.
After observing the morning routines several times, I have formulated several questions and ideas about exactly how educational this activity is. One important aspect of the routine is that it is something consistent and familiar that the students can relate to. Another important aspect is that the students get to review the material several times. Even though the students are consistently reviewing the material, I feel that it may not be very educational since the students typically rely on the peers who are the loudest and most sure of their answers to respond. Also, I do not see the students connecting the information they are learning in circle time to any other school related activity or their daily lives.
I think a good story involves an interesting topic and leaves listeners formulating their own wonderings about the story. A story should get readers to visualize and internalize the main messages of the story. Listeners should be interested enough in the story to formulate their own wonderings and ideas. A great way to help listeners understand the main message of the story is to actually show them through technology. Using technology to show images or video of the experiences that are related to the story can help listeners have a deeper connection and interest.
