"THE PEACE BENCH" 

After several days of small social conflicts amongst the Kindergarten, we asked: Can we build a place where two children can come together to talk, solve problems, or agree to disagree?

Integrated Learning:
Emergent Curricular Unit includes research and planning, representational drawing, expressive and receptive language skills, mathematical concepts of estimation and length, emotional development, gross motor skills and hand/eye coordination.

Skills:
-Scientific research, observation and documentation
-Utilizing mathematical skills involving estimation and length
-Internalizing vocabulary associated with research and math
-Exploring conflict resolution
-Individual and collaborative work
-Engaging in woodworking
-Artistic expression
-Emotional exploration
-Songs, stories and poems associated with peace keeping

Learning activities:
- Using books, magazines, and the computer research the different ways in which benches are constructed
-Build prototypes of benches out of blocks and wood planks
-Document prototypes with representational plans
-Introduce mathematical concept of estimation. Using masking tape, children estimate how long bench needs to be to seat two children
-Introduce mathematical concept of measurement
-Explore different ways to measure tape estimations (with hand spans, feet, heads)
-Introduce rulers, and accompanying vocabulary (inches, foot)
-Practice utilizing rulers by measuring paper snakes and shoes
-Introduce tape measure, and practice measuring each other, different areas of school
-Democratically agree on length of bench
-Introduce tools. Practice hammering, sawing, using a level
-Class trip to a local hardware store to purchase wood planks
-Woodworking: saw plank, hammer onto legs
-Explore emotional concept of color in relation to what color the bench should be painted
-Represent colors and emotions through paintings and storytelling

-Introduce voting process. Hold election to determine color of bench
-Collaborate on painting bench
-Discussion, documentation, and recording of children’s emotional relationships to the concepts of giving and getting.
-Present Peach Bench as gift to school

Understandings:
Communication is often the best way to resolve social conflict