Meet Tatum!

Tatum is a four-year old in the Saint Mary's Preschool at the Butler Lab School.   She
loves the color pink and animals.  There is a twinkle in her eye whenever horses are
involved in the conversation. Tatum is a master of building animal homes and shops
with magnet-tiles.  She loves exploring outside with her friends, as well as feeding
the chickens!  Tatum has excitement for learning new things, especially when she
knows they are catered just for her!

the power of opportunities

Literacy Goals
Through the emergent  literacy interviews and observations I made of Tatum,
Tatum will self-initiate reading familiar
I learned that she believed that reading was something to be received, and unfamiliar texts more often.
something that others were in control of. She only wanted others to read to
her, and when looking at books on her own, she would flip through them very Tatum will use language by attending
to the illustrations, naming and
quickly.  Because of those emergent literacy interviews and observations, I labeling objects and actions on each
set two literacy goals for her.  

Growth through conferring

page.

Tatum's confidence in her identity as a reader grew leaps and bounds in our first conference.  She asked me to
read to her five times before she realized she could read books by naming what was happening in the
pictures.   In our second conference, Tatum expanded upon simply describing what was happening in the
pictures, and she inferred what the characters might be feeling. After reading one book to me for that
conference, she asked if she could read another book in the stack of books I brought for her!  She ended up
reading three books in a row to me.  All previous interactions I had with her in regards to reading, she would
lose interest reading before the first book was even completed.  This was huge growth in choosing to continue
to read, rather than go off and play with other things!  Her love for reading and identity as a reader had already
grown so much! By the third conference, Tatum had no hesitation to start reading.  She grabbed a book from
the stack and started reading immediately.

Growth of Tatum's words for one page

"Horses!"
"She is laying eggs all over the place,
and soon they all catched! And then she
broke them all up and the rooster came
and he was really mad at them."
My growth thanks to Tatum
My time spent with Tatum has been a time
of much growth.  Because of her, I have
realized the importance of choice.  I would
tell her in the morning that I brought a
stack of books that I think she would love,
and then she would be in control of when

Growth through learning alongside others

In the first small group lesson focused on creating dialogue, Tatum
imagined what the characters might say when prompted with
questions like ““What is the girl doing? … What might she say when
she does that?” It wasn’t until Miss Baizer’s whole group lesson of the
same teaching point that I saw the light bulbs completely click for
Tatum imagining what the characters might say. She was so eager
and engaged during that whole group lesson, being one of the first
to participate in the active engagement. Tatum’s concept of having
control of her reading expanded during our second small group
lesson.  This is when she realized that she can choose books about
things that she loves!  She really understood this concept because
she even went further to say that she wouldn’t choose a book
about crocodiles because she doesn’t like them.
we read together.  I also learned the
importance of choice through our
conversations during conferences and mini
lessons.  I would make suggestions to her
of how I read books sometimes, leaving it
up to her if she wanted to try it out herself
or not.  I learned that even if she didn’t take
my suggestion on that page, she was still
learning something and what she said was
still extremely valuable.  Whether Tatum
took my suggestion or not, the language
she used taught me more and more about
herself and early childhood learners. 
 "How can I use documentation to provoke
meaningful inquiry from my students?"
Beginning Wonderings
For majority of the day in practicum, I explored with a variety of materials alongside the children.  I wanted to
investigate how I could listen to the students around me, in hopes to meaningfully document their ideas.  I
believe children can create complex problems and solutions, so I want to foster those concepts in them to create
innovative citizens in our world.   During my first couple days in practicum, I  felt like I asked some thought-
provoking questions, but the students really did not respond to them.  I wanted to research how I could get the
students to think deeper and really inquire about the world around them.  All children are curious; I want to do
my part in helping them explore those curiosities.  

Listening & Reflecting

Once I started really listening to the ongoing behavior and activities of
"Listening is an active verb, which
involves giving an interpretation,
the children in Mrs. Singh's preschool classroom, I realized that they giving meaning to the message and
spent majority of the day building things. I documented by recorded value to those who are being listened
videos, taking photographs, and writing down my observations. Then,  to by others."  - Carlina Rinaldi
 I reflected to give meaning to those observations.  

Observation Reflection
Likes the riskiness of
Building with tires
large materials
Creating shops/homes
Aids in role play
for their animals

Materials only lend

Building box-like creations
themselves to that style

Conferring in Play
One way that I provoked inquiry and furthered the students'
understanding of building is through conferring during play. 
One example of this is when Oscar got the idea to create a
bridge for his train tracks.  I met him where he was at and gave
him a few nudges.  He ended up creating spaces between the

A Provocation
supporting blocks, so another track could go underneath!

I wanted the children to be challenged to think of building in a new way.  I decided to deepen their understanding
by having them step away from the box-like mindset.  I set up a provocation with materials that would lend
themselves to building bridges.  I also set out photographs for inspiration.  The pictures below show the growth that
occurred across the morning due to the provocation.  This provocation caused students to take risks by thinking
of balancing longer blocks on taller blocks and exploring ideas like balance, height, length, and more.    

Findings
My biggest finding is that making meaning of documentation can lead to a plethora of growth.  Because of my
reflections on my documentation, I was able to nudge my students understanding of building to a deeper level
through conferring during play and provocations. Going forward, I wonder what growth occurs when my students
make meaning of their own work.