The Plans: An Evolution of a Universal Classroom Language

Planning is an important part of our life. We plan for what is going to happen during our day, weekends, and trips. Children closely observe adults planning or making plans. Plans are important to our classroom life as well.

What began as a small moment with one child bringing a notepad and pen to the group meeting to take notes of our plans for the day caused us to pause and validate the intentionality of this action. In doing so, this small moment — an ordinary classroom ritual — exploded into a powerful, extraordinary learning encounter for our classroom of learners.

The children’s planning processes have transformed each day. Initially, the teachers regarded the plans as a scaffolding tool, which provided a symbolic mental map for the children’s day. The plans provided the children with a tool that helped organize their thinking and their intentions for their work.

In observing the children’s work, we watched as the plans validated their thinking processes as a means for communicating with each other their day.We observed children working together making matching plans. We watched as children would assist others or share symbols with one another. Why? What was occurring?

Upon closer observation of the work of the plans, it soon became evident that the children were on the threshold of something important and unique to this learning community — they were becoming the authors of a common symbolic classroom language! The birth of a language! The planning process enabled the children to share or lend symbols to their peers in order to make their intentions clear and to communicate with one another. Some symbols used by two or three children, such as for the loft or Legos, were soon adopted by other children. Through this process of sharing symbolic representations, we find the children creating a universal classroom language that supports our diverse classroom community and cuts across cultures. Each day we await the birth of another new word that is being added to this universal classroom language.
                                                      
                                          An Evolving Universal Classroom Language

                           There are approximately nine symbols that many of the children are sharing.

                                                                         Cockroach
   

                                                                              Cats  


                                                                    Dramatic play/Loft


                                                                           Race cars
 

                                                                      Excerbug (scooter)


                                                                             Snack


                                                                         Paint brush
 

                                                                             Legos
 

                                                                         Everything

                                                    
                                                             The Birth of a Symbol

Throughout the planning process, we observe as each child works to develop a graphic “word” that expresses her or her intentions for the day. Trying to find symbolic representations for such words as blocks, Legos, dress-up area, loft area, snack, atelier, etc. become learning knots that push the children into thinking intrinsically as well thinking about how the audience (another child or adult) will be able to make sense of her intention.  The child now has to make the graphic representation readable.

                                                
                                                                AR’s Provocation

AR struggles to find the best representational symbol for dramatic play.

AR's first symbolic representation for dramatic play, which was in the loft area where this play occurs. Notice that she represents/draws a ladder going up to the loft. We speculated as to why she added the A and the heart in the loft area. We know from last year that her friend LN's symbol was a heart. Was she perhaps wanting to indicate in her plan that she and LN would be playing in the loft together?
  
                                                               
AR abandons the use of the previous symbol for this one. Why? Does she liken this to arrows on a street sign, which indicates in what direction one needs to go?

                                                                   
Later the arrow is embedded within the written words dramatic play. Why does she make this choice? Perhaps AR is inwardly struggling between the written word and the graphic symbol. Perhaps this is a compromise on her part.
 
                                                                 
A few days later, we notice LJ, LN and AR huddled together at the table.

L J asks, “What are you making, A?” As if she is unaware of their presence, A. remains engaged in her work. LN, too, becomes curious. Does she wonder whether AR is on the verge of something new?

                                                            
Suddenly we find out what it is that is keeping AR busy. A new symbol! AR gives us a small view into her thinking. "I made this one because this is me. I’m going up and down the loft for dramatic play. That’s [arrow] what my body feels like going up and down.”
                                  
                                                              
Teacher Reflection:   
                                        
Revisiting the plans daily causes the child to rethink each “plan” and the graphic representations used. Within this process, one clearly can observe AR’s transformation in her thinking as it unfolds over time.

In the first graphic representation, AR clearly represents the loft but something isn’t right to her. It is missing the idea of going up and down the loft, for this clearly is how this space and the play in this space occurs each day for her.

Trying to untie this learning knot, she shifts to the up-and-down directional arrow. Again we find that she isn’t satisfied with this graphic symbol because it still isn’t clearly communicating her intentions to herself or in her thinking process. 

In the next representation, AR shifts her thinking by embedding the arrow within the word “Dramat LPA” (dramatic play). AR is trying to tie the idea of going up and down to the dramatic play area even tighter. Perhaps sensing that this still isn’t getting her idea across to the viewer, we find her rethinking this.

In the last representation, AR draws an image of herself, then places an arrow inside herself. This powerful symbolic representation fully embraces the idea of going up and down the loft, and she leaves room for little doubt by including the words dramatic play above her head, as this helps in making this understandable to the audience as well. She is able to confirm this for us when she verbally articulates to us the meaning of her representation and the reason for the use of this symbol.

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