Creative Curriculum Interest Area Adapted from Creative Curriculum, 2010

Creating an Environment for Discovery, Sand/Water Location Near natural light Furnishings Table to hold displays and collections Shelf to store discovery materials Bin under table for props Materials Sand, rice, beans, natural items (seeds, rocks, leaves), magnets, water, cotton balls, ice, etc. Tools (e.g., magnifying lenses, eyedroppers, tweezers, and tongs, shovels, scoops) Books, magazines, and posters related to displays Containers for sorting, classifying, mixing, measuring, and planting Paper and writing tools Seeds, plants, and soil

What children learn in the Discovery, Sand/Water Area Social-Emotional Cooperation Sharing Turn-taking Physical Hand-eye coordination Fine motor skills Language/Literacy Label, explain, describe, compare, contrast Cognitive Sorting, matching, counting, patterning, classifying

What children learn in the Discovery, Sand/Water Area Literacy – vocabulary, writing Mathematics – numbers, measuring, weighing Science – characteristics, growing Social Studies – origin of items, how used The Arts – painting, sculpting, taking pictures Technology - research

Focus on: how children learn (process skills) what they learn (content skills) Observe Reflect Respond What teachers can do to expand learning opportunities in Discovery/Sand & Water

Use open-ended questions to encourage problem solving: What will happen if…? I wonder why… Why did that happen…? Tell me about… How are ____ and ____ alike?

Ask yourself.... What can you do to help each child progress?