A Peek Into Our History Project

Our People: A look into history through the stories of our ancestors from Sabot at Stony Point on Vimeo.
A class of third graders learned about ancestors who immigrated to America. They did historical research to fill in unknown details. The truth about their ancestors, mixed with their research, helped form new characters. While their stories are part fact and part fiction, it may surprise you which parts are true (one child's ancestor did actually get captured by Algerian pirates and another's ancestor was split up from his brother when their ship sank and they were rescued by different boats passing by). There are other pieces that are completely fictional, like the characters' stories intersecting, because obviously our ancestors didn't know each other ... or did they? While individual stories may be hard to follow, I hope this video can be a glimpse into the knowledge and understanding the children gained and the power of taking on a character for the purpose of learning



A few teacher reflections on the project this year

• Taking on a character: There is something magical about becoming someone else for a moment. It is the natural way that children make sense of things and try the world out. We think about this a lot in very young children, but it is still very alive as the children grow older. Making room for that way of learning to be part of the official classroom work and not just saved for the playground has been important. We harnessed the power of their natural way of thinking to help accomplish the goal of learning how to do historical research. I heard one student, new to Sabot, stop to think about how much the playfulness of our project helped her to learn. While all previous years lead to strong investigations about immigration, the years in which the children created characters have been more compelling. The children are just that much more invested in their work when the development of their character depends on it.
• What they know vs. what they show: I've noticed over the years that there is often a large gap between the level of conversation and discourse during class and what ends up on the pages of something like the scrapbooks we made this year. When looking at the books alone it can be underwhelming. I know how much the children have learned. I see how far they have come in both their understanding of periods in history and in research skills. One of our ongoing goals is to help the children communicate what they know more effectively. That is a major part of an education. I also continue to ponder how to help reveal all that I've seen and trust about the work for others to marvel and enjoy with me. I suppose that is the Reggio way, to try to unlock the process, the thinking, and share it with the world. I'd been thinking about how to share more about this project when Cat (our math specialist) came for a visit. Listening to the children talk to her about the story of their characters revealed the depth of ownership and understanding. That conversation inspired this video as a supplement to the scrapbooks-- a window into just how well the children have come to know the character and their context.

Confronting Our Misconceptions

When I look back over this conversation, I can guess about things children may have heard. I imagine somewhere somehow (from a book or a parent or a friend) one of these children heard about shadows disappearing at noon.

I'm guessing the initial intent of the comment was to say that when a light source is directly over an object, the shadow is hidden under that object rather than being visible on the ground next to it.

In a effort to make sense a new idea, the children created their own understandings of what it means to not have a shadow at noon. Children.... no, humans do this all of the time. It is how we make sense of the world around us. We build our knowledge. We take new information and try to connect it what we already know in a way that makes sense to us in that moment.

It takes an event that does not match our current understanding of the world to get us to confront misunderstandings. Cat, the math lady, told me a cool phrase for those moments-- discrepant events!

As adults, we can step in a tell children the answers. Alternatively, we can provide room to experiment, room for children to challenge their own thinking after gathering their own evidence. Which is more likely to change their minds in a lasting way?

Andrea: The other day when we were in the forest, Henry said that the 2:40 shadow would always be in the same place. What do you think? Are shadows in the same place at the same time each day?

Giovanni: If the thing that is making the shadow doesn’t move, then I agree.

Emeline: If you did it in the morning it might be in a different place. You would have to record it at the same time every day.

Kirby: It could move a millimeter past that place. It could move so small. It depends on where the sun is.

Giovanni: It would move during different seasons because the sun is at different angles during different seasons.

Andrea: So if it is that last day of winter [the shadow] would be in the same place that it had been and then right when it becomes spring, the first day of spring, it would be in a new place?

Giovanni: Yes. Except noon shadows do not exist.

Rose: At the strike of noon there are no shadows…. or at midnight.

Cameron: There are shadows at noon but they always point north.

Emeline: At midnight they are hard to see because it is so dark they blend in.

Giovanni: I agree and disagree with the shadows of noon pointing north. One second before noon there are shadows pointing north and one second after noon there are shadows pointing north. But at exactly noon the shadows disappear.

Cameron: I say it wouldn’t be pointed exactly north, it would be a tiny slant off. The slant is so tiny it would be too hard to see so it would look like it was pointing north.

Kirby: How does that work that at 11:59 there would be shadows and then they just disappear and then at 12:01…

Rose: We were talking about high noon. At 11:59. the split second it strikes twelve there are no shadows and then there are shadows after that.

A few students give eye witness accounts of this phenomenon.

Ellie: This is something that I want to do an experiment on.

Andrea: Ooooo and experiment!

Ellie: It’s not like you take this gas and this gas and put it together like a scientist. It’s that I want to test at exactly 12:00 what happens.

Andrea: Well we do happen to be at school at noon. So what do you want to do at noon, Ellie?

Ellie: We could just like put a stick in the ground and it has a shadow and then at exactly 12 it might go away and then it will come right back.

Aliza: There is another way. We eat at this… well there is a table on the blacktop and it has this shadow that we eat in every day. It has a big shadow. We could come to lunch a little bit early and then we can see if the shadow goes away because it has a really big shadow.

We go out at noon to watch the shadow.
Does it disappear at the strike of noon?