Mo Willems

Why I loved the Mo Willems project!

This project allowed for so many different pedagogies to become alive and authentic!

1. Children and teachers were engaged learners who were able to be both active and passive in their learning experiences. They read a book; later, after a process of discovery, they were able to see the “Pigeon pattern of behavior” and construct a story that reflected the same pattern of behavior.

“Connections” and words like “patterns” are part of an arsenal of words used to describe effective lower school learning experiences. This unit of study really allowed for children to experience and make connections in literature to discover patterns of behavior.

Once this process was complete the children were given opportunities to be creative both in their ideas (while they brainstormed ideas for the story) and then in their written, age appropriate expression of creating the pages of the book.

2. Another word I often hear is “differentiated” as in learning. Since each child made one page of their book (which was connected to the rest of the story) theirs was truly was an active opportunity for differentiation.

3. As a technology teacher I am constantly frustrated by teachers who take over tech projects eliminating the child but for a small drawing or a few photographs or words. I purposely decided against having the children make “electronic” drawings for the slide show. After viewing their “Pigeon pages” strung across their classroom, I thought the cut-outs were much more individual and visually alive and suggested the kids stick to scissors, paper, glue and markers. The teachers then wanted to scan the images but instead I suggested a photograph of the drawings. Something the kids could actively participate in doing. Something they already know and understand!

Once the photos were made and downloaded, I put the images into slides. We set up a mini-recording station and gathered together. As each child recorded their voice to their slide, sounding the words that the pigeon says on the page, the class was exceptionally cheerful and full of pride. The kids remained as much a part of the process as possible and that made it “their” slideshow… ownership was retained by the kids!

4. What truly was amazing about this project was the level of collaboration between EVERYONE involved. The teachers modeled this behavior and there were real results- a book and a slideshow. The kids worked together in a positive and tender fashion which ultimately led to their obvious feelings of success and unity as a group.