School News

Pattern Investigations

Students in the Adventurers Room have been demonstrating their understanding of patterns by making bracelets and clay tiles. Children naturally notice and create patterns in story books, nature, and with materials in the environment, so Pre-Primary teachers Iris Vargas and Denielle Hill began the children's classroom investigation by surveying what the children already knew. In morning meeting, students shared their answers to the question, “What is a pattern?” "It’s like green, purple, green, purple, green, purple," one child said. The class concluded a pattern is "something that keeps going the same way over and over again."

Working with this definition of a pattern, Iris and Denielle extended children’s knowledge by demonstrating various ways patterns are represented. Patterns can be created with colors, shapes, or other characteristics of objects repeated in the same way. Patterns can also be made with letters such as A-B, A-B-B, or A-B-C-A-B-C. In class, children practiced making patterns on an A-B grid using acorns, pumpkins, and leaves.

Books with stories and illustrations that reinforce a child's understanding of patterns:
Monster Knows Patterns by Lori Capote and Chip Wass
Pattern Fish and Pattern Bugs by Trudy Harris
 
Lowell School is a private PK-8th grade school located in NW Washington, DC. Our mission is to create an inclusive community of lifelong learners in which each individual is valued and respected.