"Look it's the same!"
Ms. DiCarlo's exploration of patterns and symmetry
Over the course of this semester, the children and I have been exploring patterns. I was first inspired to investigate patterns with the children when I noticed how prevalent they are in our daily classroom schedule. Each week, the children are surrounded by shapes, colors, and patterns without even paying attention to them. Within the first few weeks, I noticed the children creating patterns with various materials such as magna-tiles, rocks, tiles, building blocks, twigs, paint and fabrics. A large majority of the children were able to identify patterns on their own (and without my asking), which was an indication of their interest in the subject.
When building with magna-tiles, the children were able to identify the different shapes and sizes in their towers. For example, many of the children pointed out to me that their tower pattern was, “big, small, big small” or “square, triangle, square, etc.”
To build on their thinking, I provided the children with materials that enabled them to create their own pattern on paper. The children created their own sequential patterns by gluing small multi-shaped tile pieces onto black construction paper. They also explored patterning while making dot patterns on paper towel using watercolor paint and eyedroppers.
The children wanted to fold the paper up, which influenced my thinking into having them create their own fabric patterns. I will bring in various patterns that the children can observe before making their own.
