Dancing Like a Scientist

Title: Dancing Like a Scientist

Date: April 8, 2014

Website: http://www.wolftrap.org/Education/Institute_Professional_Development.aspx

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What I Learned:

·         There are definitive connections between movement and the process of scientific inquiry.

·         Children learn on many different levels when you combine their scientific, analytical, creative, and kinesthetic sides. This provides unique challenges which heightens their creativity and critical thinking.

·       When you allow children to express themselves freely, through movement, inquiry, etc., you are letting them think for themselves, beyond the norm or expectation.

How It Is Applicable to Me & In Other Libraries

This workshop was eye-opening and full of great ways to incorporate movement and the process of scientific inquiry in children's programming. Gaining a better understanding of the connections between these two topics has inspired me to include more movement and STEM activities and higher order (critical thinking) questions in my story times. I am able to more successfully plan both STEM and regular story times so that they are more beneficial to the children I am serving. Also, things that I learned have been particularly helpful in planning my science-themed story times for our Summer Reading Club: Fizz, Boom, Read!