- blocks and other materials children use in the Block Center for building
- build
- materials
- structure
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.
MA Draft Standards:
Physical Sciences/Matter and Its Interactions: Structure and Properties of Matter/PS1.A Describe, compare, sort and classify objects based on observable physical characteristics, uses, and whether it is manufactured as part of their classroom play and investigations of the natural and human-made world.
Head Start Outcomes:
Science Knowledge/Scientific Skills and Method Observes and discusses common properties, differences, and comparisons among objects.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
Science and Technology/Technology and Engineering 23 Explore and describe a wide variety of natural and man-made materials through sensory experiences.
Mathematics/Patterns and Relations 8 Sort, categorize, or classify objects by more than one attribute.
Talk Together: Building Materials
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: Different materials are useful for making different structures and different parts of structures
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Gather children in a circle around the materials. Open a discussion about the materials and ask children to recall anything that they have built using the materials. Have children talk about what they built and how they used the materials to build it. Talk with children about why they chose the materials to help them make connections. Ask,
- Why did you decide to use those kinds of blocks to build your structure?
- How did those blocks help you make your building strong/tall?
Invite children to explore the materials by touching, feeling, and comparing their properties. Ask, What do you notice about how heavy/how light they are? What do you notice about their shape? Encourage children to describe the materials using any terms they’ve learned so far, such as light, heavy, square, etc. Then ask children to think about what new structures they might build with the materials and how.
English Language Learners: Reinforce the meanings of descriptive words to describe the materials using body language. Hold up each material as you say a word to describe the material (light, heavy, smooth, etc.). Have children repeat the terms after you as you use body language to demonstrate the meanings of the terms.