It’s almost time for me to start thinking about my Reggio Inspired Exploring Trees Through Inquiry unit. I absolutely love teaching this unit with my kindergarten students and I’ve found that Spring is a great time to begin this unit in kindergarten. It is such a fun unit that is packed with science, reading, writing, questioning, and excitement! The unit is available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Click here to go over to the store.
Spring is a great time to start this unit because kids are more capable at this time of the year. Fall seems a bit crazy with apple and pumpkin themes, and by the time Spring rolls around, the kids are ready to really able to understand what it means to work like a kindergartner. The kids in my kindergarten class are able to focus longer, document their learning, write full sentences, label their drawings, and communicate better with their classmates.
To start this unit, I asked parents to take their kids on a nature walk and start collecting things from trees. The excitement started there, with their parents (their first and best teachers), and absolutely exploded. I let their questions guide our learning and the direction of our lessons. I documented the lessons that we did for the Teachers Pay Teachers Exploring Trees Through Inquiry Unit. Your lessons with a class or with your children at home may not be exactly like mine, but I wanted people to have a glimpse into what our unit looked like. Inquiry can be different for each child, but at least this is a starting point.
Speaking of starting points, children’s books are always a great starting point for new units of study in my classroom and with my kids at home. In my classroom, I use a display shelf where I set up all of our books. It’s right next to our nature table and it’s a favorite spot to explore . In my home, I always set up baskets of books for my kids. I’m sure you remember that saying from Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” Well, it’s true with children’s books too. If you set up a place for learning and provide them with the books, they will come. My daughter, especially, would always gravitate toward a new basket of books that was set out in the living room.
It’s time to start planning, Friends! Spring is just around the corner and the Tree Unit is a perfect place to start!