Cowpoke Continued

Our week learning about cowpoke all led to our Cowboy Day Celebration. The entire school joined in and dressed up like cowgirls and cowboys with the Kindergarteners. The students had a great pretending to be cowpoke from long ago.

Throughout the week, the teacher continued to scaffold learning through a variety of sources: books, vidoes, cowboy brain breaks, math and writing lessons. Students continued their research by listening to stories and participating in group discussions. We were able to capture their knowledge through writing samples and group conversations.

Engaging Students in Research

1. Group discussion about animals

We began the week by learning about the animals cowpoke work with and what tools and equipment they used. As the teacher pulled up pictures of horses, calves, brands, horseshoes and a hammer, she asked a compelling question to begin the process of inquiry of this subject.

Teacher: What kinds of ways do you think cowpoke took care of their animals?

Students: They had to feed them. Give them water. Ride the horses around.

Teacher: What if the horse or calf got sick? Oftentimes, cowpoke needed to give them shots of medicine.

The students learned about branding calves and the need for horseshoes. Since the students had some background knowledge about these animals, their engagement increased as they learned about branding and why it was done. Further inquiry and questions came from this discussion.

2. Word Map

We added to the word map by asking the students to turn and talk about what could be added next to the chart. This was a nice way to slowly engage the students. Kindergartners really enjoy sharing what they know! This was a great opportunity for the teacher to assess what the kids remembered as the Word Map was brought out at the end of the day.

Teacher: What else have we learned about cowpoke?

Student: Tools!

Teacher: What tools do they use?

Student: Hammer!

Teacher: What do they use the hammer for?

3. Opinion Writing

In chapter 4, Kopp said 'writing about content helps students process their learning.' (Kopp, 2017, p. 81). During our writing block, the students took prior knowledge and wrote an opinion piece throughout the week entitled 'I have an opinion! I would like to be a cowboy or I would not like to be a cowboy because...' This activity paired nicely with our writing and communication standard as the students first pair-shared their opinions and then wrote about them. They used a graphic organizer to capture their thoughts with words and pictures. 

We also used our writing skills to access prior knowledge to pretend what things we would see if we were cowpoke. I see cows. I see horses. I see fancy boots.  As I facilitated this literacy center, we first brainstormed some ideas together through discussion and reviewed of our cowboy storybooks. 

4. Primary Sources

'Primary sources "Can grab students' attention, making them want to know about the past and helping them make connections to the present"' (Kopp, 2017, p. 87). The students were given an opportunity to see and hold a 100 year old branding iron. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture this in action, but the excitement and inquiry that resulted was wonderful! The teacher asked if they thought the iron was heavy or light, and then they had a chance to test out their hypothesis. Many were suprised by how heavy it was. The students also got to see a horse bridle and a boot spur. 

These items were excellent primary sources to use during our cowpoke lesson. The students were incredibly engaged and had many questions. Through observation, they drew conclusions about what it meant to use these tools. For example, some students began to think critically about what it means for the iron to be hot and also what that hot iron means for the animal! With a surprised tone, one student cried out 'but that would hurt the animal!'. We even saw students acting it out: 'I'm a cowboy and I have to brand my cows!' In all, it good to see the students engage in their learning.

5. Videos

The students learned about some of the rodeo activities cowboys and cowgirls still participate in. The teacher demonstrated on the whiteboard the track a barrel racer takes and then we watched a video on it. We also learned about Saddle bronc riding. During the videos, the teacher dialog open for questions and comments. 

6. Crafts

The students had fun making various crafts for the Cowboy day. They made horses on stick, p personal bandanas where they learned how to draw branding symbols, and of course cowboy hats. All these crafts related to their learning and engaged the students while deepening their understanding.

7. Cowboy Day Celebration

What better way to solidify learning but through fun and imagination! We dressed up, played cowboy games, made cowboy crafts, did some cowboy math and the best part, we ate like cowpoke!

On the menu:

- Baked beans

- Rattlesnake sausage (mini sausage)

- Cornbread

- Coffee (rootbeer)

The students learned why these foods were brought out on the trail-because they were stored dry and all they needed was to add water. This idea was surprising to many, so the lesson really caught their attention. Besides the fact, they had a platefood of food in front of them just waiting to be eaten!

What I didn't see in class...

One aspect of our cowboy unit that I did not see is a comparison chart between cowboys of then and now. It's possible that such a chart isn't appropriate for this age group, but since the standard is comparing people from long ago, a chart may have been an interesting addition to the lessons and possibly for learning targets.

The other thing that I did not see were any formal assessments of social studies. I don't know if we have any formal rubric for Kindergarten in Social studies? This is something I plan to talk with my mentor teacher about. Kopp talked about knowing and using learning targets so ending evaluations can be made (Kopp, 2017, p. 120), however I don't know how you would evaluate Kindergarten?

This past week, we did not have any science lessons. However, I believe we will be back working on a science about engery and force.