Early Learning Project
Video & Background
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This video shows preschool children engaged in mathematical thinking and in complex use of language as they watch chickens in a pen on their school playground.
The chickens hatched from eggs in the kindergarten/first-grade classroom’s incubator at a small school in Illinois. The children in the school’s prekindergarten classroom were also given a number of opportunities to become familiar with the chicks as they grew indoors.
This is the first time the teachers have put the chickens, which are now half-grown, outdoors to scratch and forage. They have not told the children about the chickens being outdoors, but within a few minutes, some of the children noticed them.
The first section of the clip shows several preschoolers who have gathered spontaneously at the pen to observe and talk about the chickens, which they have not seen for several weeks. When an adult visitor asks how many there are, a disagreement arises. Catherine says, “4.” Reggie says, “No” and then counts the chickens, pointing at each one as he says the number. When he finds that there are in fact 4, Catherine says vehemently, “I said 4!”
The visitor then asks how the chicks got where they are. Several children answer at the same time. For some, the response includes pointing to the window of the K-1 classroom. For others, such as Serena, the reply is almost entirely verbal. Serena’s explanation reveals her awareness of both sequence and location; she starts by talking about the farm (the source of the eggs), then mentions the K-1 class, and ends the sequence by saying that the chickens are now “in this little pen.”
In the second part of the clip, some children comment on the size of the chickens. Reggie, Kyle, and Len respond to one another’s ideas in a brief conversation during which they make predictions about the chickens’ future growth. Serena wonders aloud about why there seem to be fewer chickens now than when she last saw them.
This video clip illustrates some ways that early learning benchmarks may be met without direct instruction when teachers create an environment that encourages children to observe and investigate things around them. In their spontaneous conversations about the chickens, these preschoolers have used counting, made comparisons, made predictions, answered questions, and responded to (and sometimes challenged) their peers’ ideas.Transcript
Part 1
Visitor: So how many of them are there?
Reggie: Uh, 1—
Catherine: There’s 4!
Reggie: No, there’s 1, 2, 3, 4 (points as he counts).
Catherine: I, I said 4!
Visitor: I’m wondering where they came from. Did you guys have them in your classroom?
Serena: No—
Len: They were in the K-1 class.
Serena: No, they came, they came from a person in the K-1 class’s farm—
Visitor: Oh, the person had a, okay—
Kyle: Whoa, look at them stand on the other one! (Points at chickens.)
Serena: —and they were raising them in the K-1 class, and now they’re outside in this little pen.
Visitor: Oh, okay.
Part 2
Alphonso: And one there—
Len: They’re so big!
Reggie: They’re not SO big.
Serena: I wonder why there’s only like 3 left.
Kyle: Yeah, they’re gonna be like this big when they’re growed up.
Alphonso: They gonna be like THIS big.
Reggie: And they’re gonna be a mommy or a daddy.
Kyle: Yeah. (Reggie says something else to Kyle, but his words are unintelligible.)
Serena: I won—, I wonder why, I wonder why there’s not so much of them left.
Visitor: How many were there to start with, do you know? (Pauses.) Were there more than 4 to start with?
Serena: (Nods.) Yes, I think so.
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Benchmark Description | How Benchmark Was Met |
|---|---|---|
| Language Arts 5.B.EC |
Relate prior knowledge to new information. | Several children explain to the visitor that the chicks came from “the K-1 class.” Serena provides detailed information. Serena seems to be mentally comparing the number of chicks she saw previously with the number that she sees now (“There’s not so much of them left.”) |
| Mathematics 6.A.ECa |
Use concepts that include number recognition, counting, and one-to-one correspondence. | Reggie points at each chicken as he counts it. |
| Mathematics 6.A.ECb |
Count with understanding and recognize "how many" in sets of objects. | Reggie and Serena initially disagree about whether there are 4 chickens; he counts them aloud and asserts “There’s 4.” |
| Mathematics 6.D.EC |
Make comparisons of quantities. | Len, Alphonso, Kyle, and Reggie use the terms “big” and “so big” to compare the past, current, and possible future sizes of the chickens. Serena wonders aloud why there are “not so much” chicks now as when she saw them before. |
| Mathematics 10.A.ECb |
Make predictions about what will happen next. | Reggie, Len, and Alfonso state their ideas about how large the chickens might become. Reggie mentions that the chickens are “gonna be a mommy or a daddy.” |
This section of the Illinois Early Learning Web site links to activities related to the Benchmarks in the Illinois Early Learning Standards. We expect that early childhood professionals and parents will use these ideas in ways appropriate to their children and their setting. We are sure that you will find many ways to adapt these activities into themes, projects, and units in your program or at home.
An Illinois Early Learning link to a Web site does not imply an endorsement by the Illinois Early Learning Project or the Illinois State Board of Education of any product, resource, or service on that Web site.
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Spanish: Contando pollos
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