Group Project: Pedagogical Documentation

By: Dodmattie J, Noorkiran S, Tenzin Y, Rishabh D

 Snail Video Observation
Among the damp leaves and sticks outdoors, a snail moved slowly among
these materials. Child A said, "It's dying." As the snail moved slowly among the
leaves, Child A stammered while repeatedly saying: "It's coming, coming out."
Child B said, "It's a wolf." The snail moved faster, lengthwise out of its shell.
Child B eagerly said, "Look, it's, it's coming out." Child B responded, "yeah."
Child B then asked, "Where is it going?" twice. The educator asked, "Where do
you think it's going?". Then Child B said, "She's looking bigger," "Oh she's
talking, she's taking her shell off her back," as the snail started to move along
the leaves and sticks. The educator responded, "un hmm." Then Child B said,
"And she's going to this hole." Child B exclaimed, "Why, yes! Yes! Go".
 What interested/engaged children?
The movement of the snail interested the children. The children were interested
in each step of the changes to the snail and how the snail moved along. They
observed the changes that were taking place as the snail moved. They were
interested in knowing if the snail would come out of its shell as it progressed.
They were also interested in learning where the snail was moving to as it
moved from one place to the next. The environment and the materials in the
background also seemed to interest the children, as they wanted to know
where the snail was going.
 What was the idea of the child and learning?

The idea of the children is to engage in a natural place and learn about insects.
also observing and asking questions. They are seeking to ask questions related
to outdoor play. The children are also learning to use materials where they use
their gross motor skills and fine motor skills. For fine motor skills, they are using
their hands and holding gardening tools. For gross motor skills, they have
learned how to play on the playground and explore different tools.
What might be the intentional with which the adult
builds the contexts in this experience?

The educators are creating content that involves them in the natural world. The
educators also add meaning to the experience by responding to the children's
queries, such as when the educator asked the children, "What do you think is
happening?" and they responded, "She is pulling her shell off her back" as the
snail begins to move away from the leaves and twigs. "Um hmm," said the
educator in response to their questions. As a result, there is a good context for
both educators and children when it comes to snails.
 How might you, educators, empower children?
Snail videos can be teaching the children the life cycle of a snail and with the
habitat. Snails from the garden class can keep the snail as a pet. We can also
introduce a STEAM activity. The activity that we have is snail habitats, including
an Art activity where the children can create a habitat for the snail and keep it
as a class pet. Every morning the children can check up on the snail and keep
track of the paper of the food, growth, and collect on the scavenger hunt where
they can collect rocks, sticks, natural materials, grass, leaves, etc. We can also
have diagrams with the different insects. We can provide books, videos,
colouring pages for the diagrams and make them out with pipe cleaners.
 What learning processes do you notice?
Based on the observations, children are being to express their ideas and are
learning new vocabulary words. They’re showing engagement and excitement
towards learning abut snails and the environment around them; like to work
with nature. According to the ELECT document, their skills are 3 -
Communication, Language, and Literacy. Skills are 3.1 Using Verbal and
Non-Verbal Communication where they are talking in sentences with
educators about snails. According to ELECT, 3.3 Vocabulary, they are using
words that are new and long (OMEd, 2014a, p. 45).
 Reference
Ontario Ministry of Education (2014a). Excerpts from “ELECT”. Retrieved

from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/ExcerptsFromELECT.pdf