Hawk, Blue Bird, Crow, and Mapping

Blue Bird told us hawk needed sticks for a nest, so we painted sticks this past week for a nest for hawk – so that’s why that green grid was hanging over our meeting space! Here are some photos we were able to catch.

We’ve also been thinking about mapping and direction, and Blue Bird has helped with this – Crow, too. Here’s a book we read:

After we read the book, we put it into action. We split up on the way to the museum (on Wednesday, when we went there to preview for the Winter Sing). Half the class went Crow’s way to the Silver Car, and the other half went Blue Bird’s way!

Reflection:
Mapping is something that three-year-olds are trying to grasp. The first step appears to be simply gaining a sense of place by noting nearby landmarks. Sculptures provide wonderful landmarks for this purpose. While children think about mapping frequently, as they draw roads or paths on paper, in the snow, etc., truly understanding that a map expresses where one is is a sophisticated concept. Our theory is that landmark mapping (as in the above book) is key in providing scaffolding to their understanding of how maps work.