What colors do you see in the outdoor classroom? I see a Cobb house color. -Pierce I see a rope swing color. -Christopher I see a sandbox color. -George We're starting to think about how to remember our outdoor classroom. What are some ways we could remember it? "We could just make our own playground," Georgia offered. How could we remember the cobb house? "We could paint it." -Georgia Days prior to mixing outdoor classroom colors, Gracie, Will, and Georgia helped take photos of the space. The images would help support our paint mixing with physical visual representation and a guide to work with to match the colors.
While we were open to mixing colors to match and represent more than the Cobb house structure. We chose to first focus on the Cobb house. Before we began paint mixing, the color of the Cobb house was determined. Some children said orange and some said brown, from which we aimed to achieve brownish orange hues. A photo of the Cobb house and a terra cotta, red clay, plant pot tray was available to compare our changing color in a shallow plastic lid and later in jars as we felt more confident that we had the recipe for the paint color to resemble and represent the Cobb house. If the Cobb house is orange, how do we make orange? We identified the three primary colors: blue, red, and yellow. Then we sourced knowledge about which two colors make orange. A few children knew and so we proceeded with only these two colors to start. for which primary colors make orange and determining and validating this with mixing the two.
After working with only two colors, mixing yellow with red to create an orange hue, Georgia added a variable of a third color with a small drop of white. She then added a fourth color variable with a drop of blue. She proceeded by adding a greater portion of yellow before mixing the different ratios of paint colors together.
Other children work to mix Cobb house color so that we have an ample amount of Cobb house hues to use at the easel. Cobb house color swatches Adaline: slide and tunnel green. Eliza: cobb house. Christopher: dark cobb house. Adeline: brick
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Gracie’s drawing: The construction area is actually behind the slack line, and Gracie said, “I don't know how to add it.” She also edited her mushroom table [bottom righthand corner] because she drew the "legs" to the table, which you cannot actually see from the bird's eye view. Adaline's Drawing: There was discussion between Elyse and Adaline about how she could not fully see the slack line because it was blocked by a tree. She noted that the tree looked like “zig zags”, so she drew the tree over the slack line. Noting these challenges, we wanted to offer different opportunities for still-life drawings to draw attention to Details/perspective, drawing what we see and not just what we know or imagine, and to consider layout and spatial awareness. Above, you can see Caroline drawing one of the plants from the Brown Room. [some still-life drawings are displayed in the room] We also asked ourselves: How many ways could they familiarize themselves with these structures that we are trying to remember/memorialize? The children suggested building it out of blocks, and you can see here that they are using images of the climber to support their work. Again, we asked them to consider the details, lines, shapes, materials, layout, etc. Please take some time to look at the drawings, conversations and brainstorming that are hanging up in the classroom. You are always welcome to take things down from the board -- the children's thoughts and work are amazing!
Scaffolding each other's learning: The Symbol Curtain Though our work with the wire/tube has been about creating our very own symbol curtain, the most interesting observations have been the ways in which the children are supporting and encouraging each other. They are using their knowledge, words, and abilities to demonstrate in order to help each other achieve their symbols. Zoe has been a leader in sharing her knowledge about wrapping and twisting wire, and how to attach pieces -- something she and Pierce worked on the day they created their own symbols. "I'm going to come and help." - Zoe If Christopher wants to connect these pieces of his symbol with that wire, how could he do it? “I know how to twist it. Pierce showed me. [he needs to] Twist it.” - Zoe [She puts the wire with his pieces, and addresses him directly] “I’ll show you how, Christopher.” - Zoe
"I kind of need help." - Caroline, 3.9 years
Wire spheres:
Stay tuned! Our symbol curtain is coming soon! Scaffolding each other's learning: Swinging with Win and Adaline We've observed that the children are beginning to support each other in many, many ways. They are kindly offering help and also approaching each other to request support. “Did you feel that? That’s what you have to do.” - Adaline Adaline and Win were pushing each other on the swing, and it took some team work to figure out how to get onto this new "swing" and to determine the best way to push the other one, but together, they did it! Scaffolding each other's learning: Clay "I'm just going to help you. I'm kind of supporting her, right? Like you and Melanie do. I'm kind of telling her what do." - Adaline, 4.4 years
Threading and SewingAs we prepared to celebrate Valentine's day, Henri shared with us that he and his mom spent time punching holes and threading string through them as part of his Valentine's prep. It inspired us to set this up as part of our Valentine's message center. Christopher and Zoe were the first to discover it and their incredible work inspired other children. You may have noticed that the low table and spool have been set up with a variety of materials for the children to challenge their fine motor skills -- it even inspired them to want to sew! Special Visitors this weekSnack hangout and readers -- Jackie and Laura
Jill!
Around the room this week:Impromptu Clay Pinch PotsValentine's Day bags with our drawn symbols on them:Lots of LOVE to all of you!
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“Elyse! Look! It comes out.” - Pierce [observing that the wooden shapes slide out of the newspaper] Will, what do we do if the block comes out? Do we need it to come out first? - Elyse “No. You put it around it.” - Will What do you put around it? “Clay.” - Will Is this enough clay for Win or does she need more? - Elyse “If she’s using this one [small piece of armature] I think she would need more. That looks like it’s not that much [clay].” - Will “You need to roll it into a big slab so that it will fit around [the armature piece]. You need to make it a big slab, Henri and Pierce, so that it will fit around the armature.” - Will [Elyse and Henri are “stumped” - Henri’s clay isn’t going all the way around the armature] Ask Will. He may know. - Elyse [Henri approaches Will] “Will, how do you shape the clay?” - Henri “You could get a little bit more clay and put it like that.” - Will “Elyse, am I done yet?” - Pierce I don’t know. Ask Will, maybe he knows. - Elyse “Will, am I done?” - Pierce “Try it on your cone, but if it doesn’t fit, you probably need to roll it more.” - Will [Pierce picks up his rolling pin] How do you know if you need to roll it more? Ask Will. - Elyse [to Win] “I don’t know because I don’t think she choosed an armature.” - Will Have you chosen an armature? - Elyse [to Win] [Win begins to roll the clay around a piece of armature - cylinder] “To make it stay together, you probably need to score and slip it.” - Will “Where’s the score and slipping?” - Henri “I think it’s on the shelf.” - Will Will, what is Henri’s next step? - Elyse “I think that’s already an armature.” - Will But, is the block still in there? - Elyse “Yes.” - Henri How does he remove the block? - Elyse “Take it out of the part he didn’t cover.” - Will [Henri begins removing it] “You might unwrap it.” - Will How will you get the block out? - Elyse “I don’t know. By dumping?” - Henri Does you clay still stand up? - Elyse “Yeah.” - Henri “The first piece of armature that Henri made!” - Will “Will, is this enough [clay]?” - Pierce “You have to try it.” - Will “Will, does it need to reach the bottom?” - Pierce “Try rolling it around. Putting it around.” - Will How are you doing Pierce? - Elyse “It’s not the right size yet.” - Pierce Why not? - Elyse “Because it’s not going to go to the top.” - Pierce Let’s give it a try.” - Elyse |
| This work offered Pierce a chance to scaffold other children's work with wire just as Will had supported him the week before with clay. Pierce and Zoe both have stars as their symbol, and encountered similar difficulties. After Pierce problem solved how to twist the ends of his wire/tube together, he moved over to support Zoe with this same step in the process. “I kind of like did it. I tied it. Zoe, look how I tied it.” - Pierce Pierce moved closer to her, speaking directly to her with a calm, kind voice. Zoe watched him and started following his guidance. “Elyse, she doesn’t have any V’s. I only see these.” - Pierce [Zoe begins bending her wire again to reshape the points of the star] Zoe, let’s think about the length of yours. What did you do when yours was too long, Pierce? - Elyse “Cut it. And then the way I connect it is to tie it.” - Pierce How can you support her in twisting it together? - Elyse “Hmm…where’s my star. Let me get my star.” - Pierce “Zoe do you want to twist it how I did it?” - Pierce “Yes.” - Zoe [Pierce begins showing her, and Zoe is attentive to his words and actions] Pierce also offered to support Henri with his dragonfly. “Henri you need to twist it. Here, let me get my star. I tied it. You can tie it how I did. Henri, do you want to do that like I did?” - Pierce Pierce, you’re being such a supportive friend. - Elyse |
We have all had our turn with our "drawing game" of "closed eyes portraits." What a blast and a joyful delight it was overall despite some reservations and the inherent difficulty. When asked if it was hard, Christopher shared, "It was a little bit hard." And rightfully so, considering the drawing process of this game requires that the drawer does not look at pen, hand, or paper while drawing. Not to mention how holding the clipboard upright and subsequently holding the pen differently to approach the act of drawing is a mental and physical novelty and upside down way of drawing. While for some, the act of looking away or keeping eyes closed presents its own cognitive and bilateral coordination challenge. Knowing that the final result was not going to look anything like the person drawing it was perhaps the easiest aspect of the game. The collective, shared experience in just being together was worth the challenges. |
George began his work in the atelier with Jen and Pierce. He made two versions of his symbol. He and Jen discussed strengthening his clay at the different points of intersection because if the coils and connections are too thin, the clay will come apart or crack. George was patient with the process and editing his symbol as he worked. **Pieces of both versions have been fired and we will invite him to help us problem solve** |
"The trees, the rope swing, the mushroom table and chairs, the sandbox, and the sky, sun, and clouds. The clouds are purple because you can't see white pencil on white paper." - Gracie, 4.3 years | "The slide [left], green tunnel with a person inside, and the shed." - Eliza, 4.3 years | "The slide, and I added a design. That is the rope ladder [left]." - Adaline, 4.4 years |
"The slackline and the cob house." - Adaline, 4.4 years | The outdoor classroom renovation will be a major shift for the current Brown and Rainey room children when they return to school in the fall. This space is special to our school, and we want to honor the children's relationship with the space and their memories of being there with their friends. We know that the new equipment will be exciting, but we are embarking on a journey to remember (memorialize?) the space as it is now. In the coming weeks and months, our intention is to collaborate within the Rainey Room and with other classrooms, parents, and admin to "remember" the outdoor classroom. We are starting with the children's suggestions to draw and photograph the space. Stay tuned! |
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