Early Learning Project
Video & Background
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This video shows some of the ways that early learning benchmarks may be met indirectly when teachers set up an environment that encourages children’s inquiry. In this case, teachers have given children an opportunity to observe chickens during free play, after first having arranged some activities that allowed the children to become somewhat familiar with the chickens in another setting.
The video was taken at a small school in central Illinois. The kindergarten/first-grade class has studied how chickens develop in the egg and after hatching. Children in the preschool class also were able to observe the chicks at various times. The events in this video occur at the end of the school year, when the chicks are almost adult size. The teachers have put them in an outdoor pen (weather permitting) to run, scratch, and eat insects. Children from both classrooms can observe the chicks during recess if they wish.
In this clip, we see Selena, a 4-year-old preschool girl, spending part of her outdoor recess observing the chicks in their pen and commenting to a visitor (the videographer). A teacher and two classmates (Bart and Gareth) join her there for short periods of time.
In the first part of the video, Selena walks back and forth, watching the chicks as she talks to the visitor, speculating about which chicks might be roosters. The teacher then joins them and explains that the red comb and wattle developing on the white chick indicate that it is a rooster. She comments about lack of shade in the pen, and Selena speculates that the chicks might “fight” over the small shady spot.
The second part of the video begins with Selena spontaneously describing to the visitor what the chicks are doing. Bart, a 4-year-old boy, joins her for a moment and asks if the chicks grew up. She replies that they are growing up and that “now we know” how to tell which is the rooster. She does not use either “comb” or “wattle”—specific terms used by the teacher—but instead employs a combination of words and gestures to describe the comb developing on the chick’s head.
The final part of the video shows Gareth (a 4-year-old boy) and Selena talking—first to the visitor, then to each other—about the size, shape, and contents of the chicks’ pen.
Throughout the video, children use physical movement (such as gestures and pointing) in addition to words to convey their ideas. Combining words and gestures in conversation is fairly typical among preschool-age children. Part of their conversation is parallel; although both are talking about the pen, they aren’t necessarily listening to each other. At other times, they respond to each others’ comments. Such variation in attention and response is also fairly typical of preschoolers’ conversations with peers. As the video ends, Selena and Gareth stand side by side, looking at the chicks and talking about the pen and its potential benefits for the chicks. The fact that they mention space, plants, food, and “all different kinds of stuff” suggests some awareness of at least a few of the things that the chicks need in order to thrive.
These observations and conversations take place in the context of the children’s outdoor free play. The visitor does not ask probing questions; the children direct the conversation and pay attention to those aspects of the chicks’ behavior that interest them. Their conversations suggest that at least for Selena, Bart, and Gareth, their relatively brief prior experience with the chicks has led to ongoing interest that can be expanded when they have access to the chicks during their extended outdoor time.
Transcript
Part 1
Selena: Maybe the black ones are the roosters. (She moves to the right, toward one end of the pen.)
Visitor: Oh, am I in the way? I’ll move.
Selena: Maybe there’s just one rooster.
Visitor: That’s possible.
Selena: Yup.
Visitor: I sure don’t know how to tell.
Selena: Or there could be two roosters, the two black ones. But I’m not sure that one is black. I think it’s kind of—brown. (She walks back and forth as the chickens move around in the pen.) Well, it’s, that’s redder than the black one. It looks like it’s black with a little yellow.
A door opens on the left. The head teacher from the kindergarten/first-grade classroom joins the conversation.
Visitor: We’re observing these guys.
Teacher: The, uhm, and you can tell one’s, at least one of them’s a rooster.
Visitor: We were just wondering about that. So how can we tell if it’s a rooster?
Teacher: The white one is growing a comb and a wattle. You can see the red wattle. I wish they had a little more shade than just that little spot.
Selena: That’s why they like to fight over it.
Teacher: They look hot.
Part 2
Selena: They both look really nice. I really like the way she’s trying to—maybe she’s trying to get every—the orange one is trying to get everybody’s attention. I really don’t know what the black one’s trying to do. Oh, (points) now the black one’s getting dirt.
Bart: (Off camera) Are those the—did they grow up?
Selena: Yup, they’re growing up. And now we know which one’s the rooster. The white one, with the thing (gestures with one hand over her head) on his head, the red thing on his head.
Part 3
Selena: They still have lots of fun in there, right?
Visitor: They seem to enjoy it.
Gareth: And they have more space.
Selena: (Points to parts of the pen.) So it would be better if they were straight from here to there—
Gareth: They have more space, they have more space.
Selena: (Points to the sides of the pen.) —that’s weird, just from there to there.
Gareth: They have more space!
Visitor: They have more space than they did before?
Gareth: Yeah. (He gestures with arms, indicating size and shape.) See, first they had like that much space.
Visitor: And when they’re inside—
Selena: These chicks have way more space than they had before in the little cage. I think they’re having much more fun.
Gareth: Yeah, eating the plants and the food, right?
Selena: There’s clover, and there’s all different kinds of stuff.
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Benchmark Description | How Benchmark Was Met |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics 6.D.EC |
Make comparisons of quantities. | Gareth uses arm gestures and words to show the size of the chicks’ indoor enclosure, comparing it to the size of the outdoor pen. Both Gareth and Selena talk about the chicks having “more space.” |
| Mathematics 8.D.EC |
Describe qualitative change, such as measuring to see who is growing taller. | Bart asks Selena, “Did they grow up?” She replies that the chicks are growing up. |
| Mathematics 9.A.EC |
Recognize geometric shapes and structures in the environment. | Selena talks about the shape of the pen, using a combination of gestures and words. Gareth positions his arms to represent the smaller 3-dimensional space where he saw the chicks previously. |
| Mathematics 10.B.EC |
Gather data about themselves and their surroundings. | Selena observes the chicks for several minutes at a time, physically changing her perspective several times as she does so. She remarks about specific physical features and behaviors of the chicks and comments on the possible purpose of a behavior. |
| Science 12.A.ECa |
Investigate and categorize living things in the environment. | After hearing the teacher explain what indicates that a chick is a rooster, Selena uses words and gestures to pass that information on to Bart. |
| Science 12.B.EC |
Describe and compare basic needs of living things. | After the teacher says that she wishes that the chicks had more shade available, Selena comments that the chicks may be fighting over the only available shade. Gareth and Selena comment about the plants and food available to the chicks inside the pen. Selena comments that the chicks may have “more fun” in the larger pen. |
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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