This week, first graders broke out the Noticing Tool for the first time! Part of our Life Tools Toolkit, the Noticing Tool challenges students to look closely and carefully at the people and world around them. Readers told me that they use it often to stop and notice how friends are feeling on the playground, how teachers are feeling when the class acts a certain way, or if a friend is feeling left out or hurt during an activity.
The Noticing Tool is also perfect for scientific observations, and we turned our noticing eyes and ears all the way up reading I Took A Walk, by Henry Cole. This engaging picture book has pages that unfold to allow readers a peek into nature behind leaves, grasses, and ferns. Once the spreads are opened, there are so many amazing details to notice on every page! From animals and bugs to plants and roots, we sharpened our observation and noticing skills to pick up even the tiniest details.
I Took a Walk set us up perfectly to take our own walk around the library, taking notes about what we noticed. What makes us curious or excited? What do we want to know more about? We gathered as a group to share the observations we made in the field, and now we have a great list of what to investigate next! Check the photos above to learn what first graders are curious about in the library.
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