When planning projects for my kindergarteners I always look for themes that are of high interest with that age group, and have lots of books and research resources about the topic and ways to integrate technology and building projects. The goal is for this to be a months-long project. For the first several months of the school year, the several times a week I see kindergarten the focus will be on this theme and projects. In the past, I have focused on the solar system, oceans and habitats. This year the idea was cities! I was hoping the topic of cities and breaking down the systems of cities would help to build a foundation for my younger students to understand all the components of a city and how essential a well designed and throughout city can be a benefit to the people who live there. This project has become one of my favorites and the students had so much fun, retained so much information and made so many great connections.
The project started by introducing the idea of cities as a system and thinking about all the different parts and systems that connect to make a city function and work together for the people who live in the city. Students would dive deep into different systems in the city, read books and do research on the different systems and then engage in a building project about that system. This format allowed for the exploration of different types of research materials and information gathering and then for students to take what they learned and make and create something new.
In the story studio of my library there is a large bulletin board that takes up almost a full wall. This wall was where I collected all of our information and added visual images of the different systems that students learned about. I started by adding green paper on the bottom half for land and blue paper on the top for the sky. I then added a large “Welcome to SK City” sign. When students entered the library on the first day they saw the sign and were super excited and curious about what they would be learning about.
Transportation:
Transportation was the first system that we explored. We started the project by reading a variety of books that featured different types of transportation. Students talked about all the different types of transportation they are familiar with and see around the city in their daily lives. We then took a walking "field trip" to the city street just outside the doors of the library. During this short walk out our front door and around the corner, students were able to identify dozens of parts of a transportation system. Students pointed out cars, buses, scooters, taxies, delivery trucks, parking meters, cross walks, stop systems, stop lights, and more. We took lots of pictures of a;; the parts of the systems that students identified. I printed out the pictures of the different parts and added them to the bulletin board along with roads, train tracks and sidewalks.
After reading The Last Stop on Market Street, students thought about the public transportation system and buses. We talked about public transportation systems in our city. Students talked about the CTA buses and the “L” train system. Then they imagined different buses they would design. Students brainstormed different bus designs and then drew out their plans for their buses. Some of their bus ideas included: a library bus so riders had books to read, a double decker bus with a glass dome and plants so people could enjoy nature on their ride, and a stuffy bus filled with stuffed animals to cuddle during the ride. The pictures of students’ buses were added to the wall. Images of CTA buses and trains and different train stations in the city were also added to our bulletin board. Students also mentioned other transportation parts to add, water taxis on the Chicago river, airplanes and O’Hare and MIdway airports, divvy bikes and scooters as well as cars.
After making connections with the transportation systems they viewed in our own neighborhood and thinking about buses they would design, senior kindergarteners worked on mapping out a transportation system using robots. Working in small groups, students had a large sheet of paper, markers and miniature traffic signs. Students talked about the different systems they needed to add when planning their transportation map. They used markers to draw out the different paths and added miniature signs to mark cross streets and add bike paths. Then they tested out their systems with Ozobot robots. The miniature robots follow the path of the markers and move around their transportation maps to test if traffic could keep flowing.
Housing:
Next students looked at housing. We talked about and learned about the different types of housing we see in the city of Chicago, including apartment buildings and houses. We shared that housing is an essential system because everyone needs a safe place to live. We read two books. The first book, Going Up, is a book about all the neighbors in an apartment building coming together to celebrate a birthday in the community. Then we read If I Built a House, a silly story about a character named Jack and the amazing, creative over-the-top house he would build. We added images of different types of houses in Chicago to our SK City board.
Parks:
Next, kindergarteners explored parks! Students started with reading two books. The first book was Water at the Park, a delightful story about all the people and animals that use the park on a hot summer day. Students noticed the families with dogs there early in the morning to get exercise, the families with young children there in the morning to play, adults on lunch breaks getting some sun and fresh air. Students also enjoyed the part in the book where families went back to the park after dinner for some play and exercise before bed, and one last visit from the dogs before the city went to sleep. The second book, Chalk, is a wordless picture book about children using their imaginations and using chalk at the playground to create amazing images that come to life. Students then shared their experiences at parks, parks around our school, parks in their neighborhoods, what they love to do at the park, and talked about why parks are important to a city or community. They made connections with the need for parks so people have open spaces to spend time in nature, places for children to play, and green spaces for animals.
The next step, students looked at images of innovative parks around the world. They explored pictures of a pirate themed park in London, England and a Godzilla themed one in Tokyo, Japan. Then, I shared a short video tour of Maggie Daley Park right here in Chicago. Students talked about how different materials were used to make fun and imaginative spaces for kids to play.
Next, students took a virtual field trip to Millennium Park in Chicago. I found 360 virtual reality videos tours of Millennium Park including the famous Bean statue and ice skating on the ribbon in Maggie Daley Park. The videos were short and students used the Google VR viewers for a short period of time. This was a fun and new experience for kindergarten students to gather information and learn about a park and to take a field trip, something we would not have been able to do physically.
After exploring and learning about existing parks in Chicago and around the world. Kindergarteners took on the challenge of designing the parks of the future! Working in small groups, students planned, designed and built prototypes for new parks. They collaborated and used all different materials, from cardboard to egg cartons, pipe cleaners to streamers to build amazing prototypes of parks that had climbing walls, ropes, water features, and more for kids to play. They also designed rest spaces for people to take a break and plenty of green spaces and trees for all the animals that live in the city. The park prototype designs were put on display in the library for people to see.
Business:
Students explored businesses and how important businesses and services are to a community. I started by reading three books. The first book, Top Job, follows the story of classmates sharing the jobs their grownups have, including one child whose parent changes the light bulbs at the top of the Empire State Building. The next book, All Through the Night: Important Jobs that Happen at Night, shares the story of all the jobs that happen when many of us are sleeping, and how those jobs are essential to keep a city working. The final book, How Did That Get In My Lunchbox? A Story of Food, follows items in a lunchbox from farm to factory to store, and all the jobs and people that are necessary to fill up our lunchbox. Senior Kindergarteners kept a list of all the jobs they noticed in the books and then added to it to all of the jobs their family members have, all the different jobs they notice at the school, and jobs they see in their neighborhood.
Next, students thought about what job they would have in SK City. Students drew pictures of their job in the city. I found images based on each student's job. Then, using the green screen and the green screen app Do Ink, each student recorded a short video sharing where they work. Pictures of SK students and QR code links to their videos were also added to the SK CIty bulletin board in the Story studio.
Schools and Libraries:
Kindergarteners explored libraries and schools next. We started with reading two books: No Cats in the Library and Splat the Cat. In the first book, a cat finds its way into the library and keeps getting sent back outside. Soon the librarian realizes that the cat is a wonderful listener and is invited to stay and be the library cat. The next book follows the story of Splat the cat who is very nervous for his first day of school, but soon learns so many amazing things and has such a fun day at school that he cannot wait to go back.
Students then talked about why libraries and schools are important for communities. They shared that libraries are important places to get books and learn new things. Students pointed out that schools help students learn math and reading. They also shared that both schools and libraries are places to meet new people and share ideas.
Students used the coding app Scratch Jr to create stories about schools and libraries. They coded characters to start in a classroom and then coded characters to move to the library to find new books. During this project Kers built on their knowledge of coding. They learned new blocks including how to send messages between characters to trigger new code, how to make characters disappear and reappear, and how to use end blocks to move from one scene to the next. Students learned how to add multiple lines of code on one character and how to add code loops. This was a great way for students to make connections with what they read about and make connections with new code blocks.
City Planning and Map Making:
The final step of this project was city planning! Now that senior kindergarteners spent months thinking about cities and systems that cities need to be healthy, safe and welcoming spaces for people, it was time for them to be city planners.
I started with reading the book Mapping Penny's World. In the book, the main character learns all about the different maps and the different parts of a map, including the map key.
After reading the book, students did a short map making activity. Working with a partner, students spread out in the library ro make simple maps with a key to different spaces in the library.
After reading the book and practicing their skills with map making, students worked in small groups to map out and create their neighborhood in SK City. They started with roads, sidewalks, train tracks, water and parks. Then using different colored cardboard cylinders for the different buildings, students created wonderful SK City maps. All of the neighborhoods were placed together and are on display in the Story Studio in the library for everyone to enjoy.
This project went so well and made so many great connections. Kindergarteners were able to think more deeply about the world around them and understand how systems work and need to work together. They were also able to think about how to think about how systems need to work for the people living in cities and how they can design with other in mind. This project also made great connections with books, databases, virtual reality and other resources as way to learn and collect new information. Students were also given many opportunities to learn with and from each other. They made connections with what their classmates said during discussions and then in many of the small group building and designing opportunities in this project. Technology was woven into many parts of this project. The stages and steps of the project were shared with the larger community through displays in the library as well as website that was shared with parents. So many of the AASL collaboration standards were woven into this months long project with great success.
