River Project in Center AM

By Parul Chandra, Head Teacher

"Mole thought his happiness was complete when, as he meandered aimlessly along, suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river. Never in his life had he seen a river before—this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again."

—Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

During Center AM’s river project, we observed the children’s imagination flowing as they posited questions, created amazing scenarios and learned scientific facts about rivers. Our sand area morphed into a riverbed, and like the character Mole, our children were bewitched, entranced and fascinated by the river.

The river project began during winter quarter when some of the children playing in the sand area poured water down several gutters. When they saw the water flow down and meander, they started to dig and were thrilled to see how the water always followed their digging. Soon many other children joined them, and we had an intricate web of crisscrossing waterways—some just a slow trickle and others gushing streams. With tremendous intensity, the children dug in the sand to create small and large trenches through which water could flow. As water poured into what the children called “dugouts,” it formed interwoven and increasingly intricate rivers and streams, waterways, creating what became known to the children as “river cities” that included waterfalls, dams and islands. From the very beginning, the children were motivated to share ideas, collaborate and work together to create their vision. Social interaction served as a backdrop for this project and allowed for the building of important social skills.

Two such skills were resilience and cooperation. Because the sand area was subject to both the weather and use by the afternoon class, when the Center AM children next returned to Bing the rivers were invariably changed. This fascinated them but also gave them the opportunity to work with others to build new waterways. The Center Room children interested in the river project carried clipboards to ask for help with digging rivers, and other children added their names in the “yes” or “no” columns. For example, Adam said, “Let’s sign up for people to come here. I want to dig so write ‘YES’ for me!” Some children who did not work directly in the sand area collaborated by using paper to make river blueprints, observational drawings and paintings.

The children also gained confidence in their ability to problem-solve, yet another vital social skill. They learned to articulate a problem, discuss the issues with their peers, ask teachers for help, and consider solutions. For example, the children noticed that as the river widened it was impossible to jump across. This led them to discuss the possibility of building a bridge. As islands emerged, the need for bridges came up again. That sent them to visit the shed of Wilhelm Grotheer, Bing’s carpenter, with a letter asking him to cut planks of different sizes. The children explored balance as they later crossed the plank bridges, helping each other by showing ways to cross.

The children used basic and found materials like blocks, clay and paint to express their understanding and play out their fascination with waterways. Long and short rivers emerged in the block area. Children named their block rivers and used them in their dramatic play scripts. Long pieces of fabric were integrated so children could create their own waterways, bridges and shorelines. In the redwood grove, the children created boats with the hollow blocks and used them in dramatic play revolving around river travel. Children incorporated fish and sharks in these rivers, retelling stories that we had been reading at story time.

Dramatic play superbly supported emergent literacy. The children enjoyed enacting the stories from books read in class like One Dog Canoe and Humphrey the Lost Whale. The re-creation of these tales in the sand area and throughout the classroom was rich and satisfying to these groups as they experimented with scripts, language and sequence of the storylines.

Additionally, the children learned river vocabulary both through books and by talking with teachers and peers. Their play was enlivened with words like paddle, meandering, waterfalls, dams and shoreline. These words carried deep meaning to them as they sat on the banks of their rivers, narrating stories about fishing, whale rescue and their river travels. The children enjoyed creating a lush forest along the banks of the rivers by planting fallen tree branches. Large groups of children gathered and shared the river space as they played out their scripts. For example, Chetan built the Titanic with unit blocks and later with cardboard. When he brought the cardboard boat to the river in the sand, he said, “My Titanic is going on the river. Here is the iceberg. The ship cannot go anywhere. Look, it is filling up with water. Now it is going to sink. The Titanic needs to make it through the bridge. Now it made it through the bridge.”

Teachers shared the “River Bulletin,” a daily classroom newspaper, at storytime. It documented the happenings in the sand area. Explaining what they were doing and seeing made the children’s implicit learning more explicit and aided focus and motivation. The children enjoyed hearing their own words read back to them, and felt validated for participating:

Finn: “It’s getting dry because it’s getting sponged.”

Nicolas: “Look, the sand is leaking. The water goes through when the sand breaks.”

Billy: “Are you making a down river?”

Jack E.: “No, I’m making a down waterfall.”

The children also pondered scientific concepts such as which materials float and which sink. Turner noticed that children’s boats made out of cardboard were soaked with water and were not floating. He suggested, “Water and paper do not mix.” He said that we needed metal and wood and he was reluctant to put his paper boat in the water. He thought about it and when he saw a plank that did not sink he put the plank in the water and put his boat on top of the plank. When his boat floated on the plank, his face showed joy and satisfaction. It was truly the joy of discovery.

All the young scientists in this mixed-age group (3- and 4-year-olds) confidently expressed their views about rivers. The engagement with rivers strengthened their ability to observe, reflect and hypothesize about their experiences. This is just the beginning of the scientific process, which hones critical thinking skills. As the children worked together, they enjoyed conversations that reflected their understanding about rivers. Below are a few examples of the children’s comments:

Summer: “The wind moves them.”

Coco: “A river doesn’t have waves, an ocean has waves.”

Sophie: “First snow melts and then it comes into a river and then it turns into snow again. And then it never comes back to snow again.”

Billy: “Water can’t go up because water is down low.”

Shen: “All kinds of rivers are different. Some rivers go down and up. Some go to the waterfall. Some rivers go zigzag and over. You have to swim across the river if there’s no bridge.”

David: “It’s the Nile River. If we dig up this, we’ll make the Mediterranean Sea! On one side we’ll make the pyramid. The Red Sea is over there. It’s smaller.”

Our culminating event was a field trip where the children observed a neighborhood creek and compared it to the rivers in the sand area. Different routes were discussed, and the children made predictions about the creek. Anya hypothesized that “We are going up the creek because it is getting wider. It fills up because the rain comes and fills it up.” Mia said, “This does not dry up like our river. It goes into the sand.”

The visit to the creek broadened the children’s awareness of waterways. Some very interested participants of the project were excited to share their knowledge of rivers with their families on outings.

Projects promote curiosity and learning. They bring joy and satisfaction. Children learn in different ways, and the river project provided an avenue for every kind of learner. This kind of synergetic group learning through river play enriched the children’s experiences. The excitement about this interest in rivers offered an opportunity for our group to explore a wide range of life skills that are relevant and valuable for each child’s growth such as:

• Being intellectually engaged, absorbed and challenged by recognizing their interests and taking initiative.

• Having confidence in their own thinking and questioning.

• Being involved in sustained investigations and extended interactions (e.g., conversations, exchange of views and planning).

• Encouraging others by making suggestions and expressing appreciation of their efforts and accomplishments.

• Applying their emerging literacy in purposeful ways.

• Developing feelings of belonging to a group and identifying with others.

• Knowing the satisfaction and joy that comes from finding solutions to overcome challenges and setbacks.

The river project was an in-depth investigation that enhanced collaboration both for the children and the teachers. Many children posed questions, gave suggestions and encouraged each other throughout the process. As the teachers helped facilitate this process, we also embarked upon our own journey of observing, listening and documenting, related not only to the project topic but also to how children learn. The love for rivers continues even today in Center Room as we continue to explore more possibilities!