This week we began the second round of our Nursery Rhyme Study Stations. This time around, students will encounter different learning experiences that push their thinking and learning using the vehicle of these historic verses.
At one station, students are looking through anthologies of Nursery Rhymes to find one that is new to them or one that is familiar but with additional verses to practice memorizing it to then recite to the group. Memorizing is an important learning skill that students need to use in all subject areas so while this station gives kids exposure to a wide range of new and interesting rhymes, it also reinforces best practices for memorization. Similarly, at the Tongue Twisters station, students are discovering lots of tongue twisters meant to tangle up the speaker. They choose one to practice and memorize, then recite it to the group at share time. They say it one time through for us to hear and then repeat it a second time through as fast as they can!
Our Musical Station has shifted from dancing to singing. Kids choose a familiar or new rhyme and try out different styles of singing it. So far, we have had country/western renditions, Taylor Swift style pop, some hard rock and even rap! At our Kinesthetic Station, kids are no longer jump roping, but bringing nursery rhymes off the page through acting. The group chooses a rhyme, works out parts and actions, and then practices and performs it for the group. We have some very talented young actors who bring life, drama and humor to these rhymes.
At our Visual Spatial Station this time around, students are using colorful air-dry modeling clay to craft a favorite character from a nursery rhyme or a fairy tale. This involves a lot of fine motor skill as they need to shape many details on a small scale. And at our Mathematical Station, kids are building their cooperative skills and frustration tolerance as they try to solve some tricky riddles. They have to be good detectives to find and put together the hints and clues in the riddle. The answers are generally something in nature, a part of the body, or something we use in everyday life. While they cannot give away their answers in our group share, they dispense valuable advice such as - read the riddle through many times as well as work with a partner to talk through some possible ideas.
Our stations will conclude over the next few weeks and then we will be putting together our big presentation to share our learning with families. Some of the presentations will include each child giving a recitation of a nursery rhyme at the microphone, a "museum" of artifacts and a portfolio of their work, and small group performances to show you some of our learning that cannot be captured on the page.
We hope many of you will be able to join us! In the meantime, check out the pictures below of the work kids are doing at this new set of stations.
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