Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/teachers-and-children-together-constructing-new-learning/5010843/
A StoryWe find two teachers intent on placing on a large table many samples of different papers they had been collecting. They are trying to divide them according to weight from lightest to heaviest.
Now they realize that it is difficult to ignore the differences in color, which gets in the way of their first attempt to categorize by weight. As a solution, they decide to work at first just with white paper.
Immediately, as they proceed to touch and handle their selections, they notice how the pieces of white paper - tissue, rice paper, parchment, tracing paper, typing paper, newsprint, packing paper - are distinct and differ not only in weight, of course, but also in texture, pliability, and feel. As they move them around, some seem to catch the breeze, while others remain flat and rigid. "Look, they also have different ways to show the light if you hold the pieces up to it." Now they start to place the white papers on the windowpanes. "Oh, look at the shadow of that tree on the paper; it's working as a screen."
This selection and exploration takes a long time and gives much pleasure. The teachers ...