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El Trevor McKenzie es un expert en personalitzacio i indagacio a secundaria.

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El llibre Choice Time ofereix moltes ideas!

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How to Deepen Learning Through Inquiry and Play, PreK-2

By Renee Dinnerstein
Foreword by Kathy Collins

In Choice Time, Renée gives you everything you need to set up choice-time centers that promote inquiry-based, guided play in your classroom. Give your students choice time, and watch them engage in joyful, important, playful, age-appropriate work that will empower them to become lifelong learners.

Special Offer: Save 30% off our list price automatically when you buy 15 or more.

"In her inspirational, well-researched book, Renée describes the kinds of learning opportunities that all parents want for their own children. Her accessible writing style makes it easy to envision the environment, teaching, and community she describes with such clarity you'll want to get started on her ideas tomorrow." -Jennifer Serravallo

"How refreshing it is in a test-driven climate to read a book stressing the nurturing of imagination and empathy that comes from inquiry, play and children making choices." -Deborah Meier

"The bottom line is when children are at play, they're not just playing--they're learning machines, and play is the engine that drives them." -Renée Dinnerstein

How do you define play and choice time in early childhood classrooms? According to Renée Dinnerstein,"During choice time, children choose to play in a variety of centers that have been carefully designed and equipped to scaffold children's natural instinct for play."

In Choice Time, Renée gives you everything you need to set up choice-time centers that promote inquiry-based, guided play in your classroom. Renée summarizes the research, describing the different kinds of play and why they are important. Then she dives into the nitty gritty, providing:

blueprints for six proven choice-time centers, with variations

a guide to arranging your classroom space to maximize play's value and support the child's growing independence

scheduling suggestions for different grade levels

ideas to connect centers to the curriculum, giving children greater agency in designing and planning centers.

Renée reveals what can happen when you embrace a culture of inquiry, providing opportunities for children to be explorative and creative in their thinking. She believes that, "A child's engagement is the most powerful asset we have for teaching and learning." Give your students choice time, and watch them engage in joyful, important, playful, age-appropriate work that will empower them to become lifelong learners.

(click any section below to continue reading)

Contents

How to Use This Bookvi

Foreword by Kathy Collinsvii

Chapter 1 - Why Choice Time and Play Are Important1

Chapter 2 - The Classroom Speaks21

Chapter 3 - A Classroom Where Centers Thrive36

Chapter 4 - Block Center50

Chapter 5 - Science Center66

Chapter 6 - Reading Nook85

Chapter 7 - Dramatic Play Center101

Chapter 8 - Math Center117

Chapter 9 - Art Center136

Conclusion151

Appendix A Planning Tools for Centers153

Appendix B Observation and Reflection Form for Centers154

Acknowledgements155

Works Cited160

In Depth

I wrote this book with two major goals in mind: I want to show what a powerful, authentic, inquiry-based choice time could achieve when placed at the heart of an early childhood classroom. In addition, I want to give teachers everything they would need to implement choice time centers.

The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 begins with "Why Choice Time and Play Are Important." This chapter presents the research on why play is important and what children can achieve through play as well as a description of the different types of play. The second chapter, "The Classroom Speaks," gives practical ideas for classroom arrangement, lists important materials, and offers suggestions for scheduling choice time in grades preK through 2. The last chapter in Part 1, "A Classroom Where Centers Thrive," focuses on the management of choice time-how to plan for centers, implement predictable routines, and use the workshop model. I also answer some questions that teachers frequently ask.

Part 2 focuses on what I might often call the meat and potatoes of choice time. It includes six chapters that present centers that will most likely be regular centers in your classroom. I describe the reasoning behind each center, show how to set it up, and list materials you'll need to begin. I also give ideas for introducing the center, provide some helpful minilessons, and suggest useful changes to keep things fresh across the year. This section of the book provides a practical template that can be used for observing, reflecting, and planning next steps in each center.

If you are a teacher new to choice time, you might want to use the centers just as I've described them and eventually take off on your own. If you've been using choice time already, I hope that this book gives you some new ideas for variations on your existing centers. In either case, I hope that you will heed the central lesson of this book, which is to tailor the centers to the interests of the children in your classroom. A child's engagement is the most powerful asset we have for teaching and learning.
- From 'How to use this book'

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By Renee Dinnerstein Foreword by Kathy Collins In Choice Time, Renée gives you everything you need to set up choice-time centers that promote inquiry-based, guided play in your classroom. Give your students choice time, and watch them engage in joyful, important, playful, age-appropriate work that will empower them to become lifelong learners.

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Com acolliu al professorat nou, en aquest context de confiança?

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Com acolliu al professorat nou, en aquest context de confiança?

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Article del blog de la Kath Murdoch on explica com personalitzar l'aprenentatge amb el que ella anomena iTime (el meu temps)

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As many readers of this blog know, I have been busy exploring various approaches to personalized inquiry in schools. This has been one of my own significant 'inquiries' over the last few years. Providing more personalized inquiry opportunities for students is certainly gaining in popularity and momentum and happens in various ways through such approaches as genius hour, innovation days, itime, etc. Each year, I learn many new lessons about how to make these opportunities work more effectively to ensure high quality, rigorous learning while providing choice and flexibility. Two comments in recent times have given me pause for thought. The first came from a child - not from a school I have worked in - but one that is obviously making efforts to personalize learning. The children have all been given the opportunity to do a 'passion project'. They have 4 weeks and are using some class time and some homework time to complete it. They have simply been told to 'investigate their passion' To be fair, the school does not seem to have a strong, explicit inquiry program so she may well felt more equipped and connected if it had. Regardless, it's not the first time I have heard a child say... "But I don't really HAVE a passion, I don't know what to do!" Far from being excited by the prospect of investigating something of her choice, this 11 year old was floundering - grasping at random 'topics' her teacher had selected and shrugging at any suggestions I made related to some of her (admittedly limited) interests outside of school.

The second comment I heard was from a parent following a talk I gave recently where the focus was on 'wandering and wondering' with your child and the delight and power of young children's questions. At the end of the talk she said her own child asked lots of questions and was a keen, curious learner at home...but when it came to "discovery time" at her son's school, he was often 'stuck' and did not know what to do - he also felt rushed to pick something to work on for the session and expected to suddenly 'switch on' his curiosity. I sensed a few problems with the way these sessions may have been run but did not take that further. What I DID say was that like all learners, we can't expect kids to be curious 'on demand' .

Passion, strong interest, curiosity, a desire to find out or learn to do something new or better....these are the driving dispositions of personalized inquiry. Some children almost spill over with enthusiasm and an eagerness to pursue something while others - well not so much. So, what do they need? What do the 'shoulder-shruggers', the 'I dunno's', the "I'll do what he's doing" kids need ... in order to be more authentically engaged in experience of personalized inquiry?

Time. Rather than seeing the foci for itime/genius hour as something to work on in dedicated sessions - encourage kids to build a bank of possibilities throughout the year. Researcher's notebooks, wonderwalls, ideas boards, etc. allow the learner to collect their own questions and interests as they arise - rather than 'on demand'. Gradually building a collection of possibilities gives the students something to 'dip into' when they have an opportunity to launch into a new journey of inquiry. Curiosity - even passion - as dispositions that need to be nurtured as part of a wider classroom culture.

Inspiration. Part of the teacher's role is to be ever on the look out for stimulating, interesting questions/issues/events that might pique interest and be worth pursuing...share these with the children and create a bank of wonders for those students who might need that extra support. Websites like www.wonderopolis.org are excellent resources. Ted talks, short video clips, articles - can all provide great springboards for interest. Teachers who consistently model their OWN enthusiasm for learning, finding things out and who show excitement about the range of things kids themselves are interested in go a long way to providing an inspiring atmosphere for inquiry. And while we encourage children to become passionate learners - let's not shoot ourselves in the foot by making children feel that if they are not PASSIONATE about it, it's not worthy! A thoughtful, even reserved interest may be enough to provoke a quality investigation. Once underway, itime or its equivalent can generate its own energy as children gain ideas from each other. Have students share their investigations in small groups, conduct gallery walks, keep public lists and charts of the ideas they have explored - peers inspiring peers.

Breadth. Beware the dreaded 'topic'... itime investigations do not have to involve students inquiring into a random topic (eg: panda bears, formula 1 racing) ...they certainly may...but they may also be an opportunity to improve a skill or learn a new skill, to work on an action plan, to canvas people's opinions about an important issue, to create make and build. If students think of a 'project' the way many of their parents experienced a 'project' it is no wonder they can't get past simply choosing a topic. The best personalized inquiries are also seen by students and teachers as an opportunity to 'build their learning muscle' - it's so much more than the content.

Forethought. Many of the more successful personalised inquiry programs I see, really scaffold students thinking before, during and after their investigations. Students complete proposals (careful not to make them too arduous!), or keep researcher's notebooks, and conference with peers and teachers to gain support and advice rather than simply 'coming up with a topic'.

Trust: One of the struggles we have as teachers is our own tendency to judge the choices that children make. We give them a choice - but we can also make it pretty clear when we disapprove of the choice! Perhaps this is why some are tentative to say what they want to explore. Of course there will be some things that won't be appropriate for investigation - and criteria for that can be worked out with the class. But we need to be mindful not to shoot down their interests because we might not judge it worthy of spending time on. The best teachers I see know how to take that child's desire to learn about (eg soccer) and help them develop a question or a focus for investigation that stretches thinking without devaluing their interest (eg: How has the game of soccer changed in the last 50 years - is it a better game now than it was?Why?). Spending time in thoughtful conversation with children who need that extra support is vital. Just as we conference with students about their reading and writing - so too should we about their researching. This is not 'teacher free' learning!

Providing opportunities for true, personalized inquiry as part of our classroom program can be a wonderful way to support the growth of the learner. But if we expect them to 'turn on the curiosity' for one session a week without a broader culture of inquiry and the necessary time for reflection and inspiration, well...I guess we can expect our fair share of 'cut and paste' posters and half-hearted powerpoint presentations.

How do you encourage and sustain authentic passion and curiosity in your classroom?
Just wondering...

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As many readers of this blog know, I have been busy exploring various approaches to personalized inquiry in schools. This has been one of my own significant 'inquiries' over the last few years. Providing more personalized inquiry opportunities for students is certainly gaining in popularity and momentum and happens in various ways through such approaches as genius hour, innovation days, itime, etc.

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El Lifebook és tot? El pla de treball, els plans d'acció...

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El Lifebook és tot? El pla de treball, els plans d'acció...

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Ho treballeu en un sites?
Carpeta digital?
Silvia

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Serà tota la sessió teòrica? Hi haurà exemples pràctics?

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Serà tota la sessió teòrica? Hi haurà exemples pràctics?

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A Primària també són viables els itineraris? com els adapteu?

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A Primària també són viables els itineraris? com els adapteu?

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Com s'ha de fer el trànsit des d'un centre "tradicional" cap a un que tingui en compte les necessitats de l'alumnat i el seu protagonisme? Em sembla difícil que l'alumnat es transformi de subjecte passiu a subjecte que decideix què vol aprendre i per què ho vol aprendre. Hi ha algun model de transició?

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En Ramon Grau diu que hem d'escoltar l'alumnat per veure quins són els seus interessos; d'aquesta manera l'aprenentatge estarà contextualitzat i serà més profund.
Però, no podem caure en l'utilitarisme i deixar de treballar aspectes que potser no seran demanats per l'alumnat com el gust per la lectura, per meravellar-se davant d'una obra d'art o per conèixer i aplicar les normes ortogràfiques?

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Com evitar desigualtats segons el context sociofamiliar?
Quina formació cal a la comunitat educativa?
Escenari  per poder desenvolupar-lo? Ratio, recursos humans, implicació diferents institucions...
Rosa.

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Que penseu sobre la introducción del móbil en els itineraris personalizats d'aprenentatge?
Gràcies
Mar

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Com iniciar-los? Des de quin nivell? Com fer un pla personalitzat? Com fer el seguiment d'aquest pla? 

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Com iniciar-los? Des de quin nivell? Com fer un pla personalitzat? Com fer el seguiment d'aquest pla? 

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Carme Florit

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Què els preguntaries als investigadors i investigadores especialistes en metodologies d'indagació i treball per projectes?