by Pam Oken-Wright | Oct 11, 2016 | Uncategorized
"The Cardinal Project" is the story of a sustained investigation by four and five year old girls. Its inception was a one-sentence recollection by one of the children, an observation that resonated with other children and that led to a passionate, shared effort to...
by Pam Oken-Wright | Sep 27, 2016 | Classroom Design, Teacher Research
Of all the “one hundred languages of children,” drawing is among both the most accessible and, for some children, the most powerful. I have known many verbally gifted five-year-olds, and none of them could do justice to her biggest ideas through words. Drawing,...
by Pam Oken-Wright | Jan 1, 2015 | Teacher Research
With only a week of school under their belts, the children gave us a lovely window into the role contagion can play in first explorations of representation. Over the course of two days, we adults were witness to a flow of ideas from child to child, and from medium to...
by Pam Oken-Wright | Jan 2, 2014 | Uncategorized
Over the next several days the children continued to think about where the puddle goes when it evaporates. G articulated her theory in drawing. She explained: The puddles don’t go up in the air. They vibrate, and then they go back to the cloud, and then it rains....
by Pam Oken-Wright | Dec 27, 2013 | Uncategorized
For months the children have invented games of good vs. evil in the outdoor classroom. The "evil" may emerge as witches or pirates; it matters not, as the characters seem to exist in order to facilitate dialogue in this highly symbolic play. The play is...
