Action in the Early Years

In the recent IB document: The Early Years in the PYP, many aspects of the programme are contextualised and unpacked specifically for early years. This includes the notion of action. Even for 3-6 year olds, action can look and sound so different and could take place in or beyond time in the learning environments in school. 

Quoting from the document (page 20): Student-initiated action occurs in response to experiences that are personally meaningful to learners, demonstrating that they have linked their learning to real-life issues and opportunities. The action may be short-term or it could be ongoing. 

The document has some very helpful categories of what action might involve and examples of what these categories might look like. This blog is a chance for me to use the same categories and find examples of Kindergarten this year taking this type of action. 

Helping self or others

Children are very kind to other children. Some children have difficulties to put on and fold away blue vests we wear each week when we go out of school to explore Paris as a classroom. Many of the children demonstrate, encourage and support others they see struggling to be successful. 

In their play, children naturally socialise and join in with one another's games and engagements. Many children naturally take the time to explain rules or protocols to help others feel included. 

Expressing feelings

Many of the children have acquired the English to name their feelings and start to explain why they are feeling that way. 

In their play, there is a keen sense of fairness. Children recognise when someone is not playing fairly and are becoming more independent to take action themselves in these situations rather then rely on teacher intervention.

Changing behaviour

Children are becoming more confident in their writing. Children who lacked experience and confidence in using letters to convey meaning are now taking risks and experimenting with sounds and words. Yesterday was Valentine's Day and some children chose to make gifts and write cards, messages and envelopes to celebrate. 

This was inside a card: For Sean I love you. 

We are lucky to have many varied resources including new literature and a wide range of loose parts. The organisation of these loose parts is key to ensuring they can be used time and time again and can be found easily by the children. Many children now understand the importance of tidying up and organising resources carefully and now take a more active role in taking care of what we have. 

Applying new attitudes

One child has shown such determination to 'crack the code' of the alphabet and its sounds. She chooses to use an app to hear the ABC song and play games. She regularly takes books home to read and is so proud to read them more independently through the practice she puts in. Last week, she chose to bring a book in from home that she wanted us to read together. Such persistence resulting in so much enthusiasm and confidence! 

Some children have learned to be more respectful of each other's constructions and not assume it should be destroyed at the end of a play session. Some children are now asking their friends questions to be sure. 

Thinking differently

The children have been so enthusiastic to apply their learning - using what they have learned and transferring it to new situations, recognising examples of concepts in different contexts. 

Today is the 100th day of school. Children have been representing the number 100 in different ways of their choice - number lines, constructions, painting, colouring. Last week, we were counting in 10s using different representations such as 10-frames, Numicon and number beads. This morning, one child applied all of this thinking and represented the counting in steps on a number strip. 

Our work on number has included looking at the form of the digits. A group of children chose to draw in their play last week. When I asked one child about her drawing, she said was thinking about the shape of the numbers and challenged herself to include some numbers in her drawing, starting with the 7 and 2. 

We have explored the language of inquiry explicitly this year and the notion of learning from mistakes and a place of not knowing or wanting to know more. Some children that were more focused on only showing what they knew have embraced the language of uncertainty and actively say "I wonder...", "Maybe..." and "My theory is..." without worrying about if they are actually correct. This shift in thinking about learning has been so powerful. 

Expressing ideas and opinions

Many children have become more active participants in whole class discussions, small group work and think-pair-share routines. They make the choice to be more involved and take more initiative. 

Part of the morning routine gives the children daily opportunities to express ideas to the classroom assistant and me individually. Many of the children choose to elaborate on the ideas they want to share, retell or ask. 

Recently, one child who chooses to speak French for most of the day (for a great number of reasons) has actively started to repeat, use and initiate phrases and ideas in English to interact with a wider range of friends. 

The table above is from the IB document and can be a useful guide to reflect on what we are doing to plan for action, without planning the actual action itself. 

Thinking about how your students engage in action, which aspects of this table do you think have helped children to take this action? Which aspects might you focus on in the coming weeks to support even more student-initiated action?