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"I'm slicing it into rhythms." Alex

1/31/2018

Friends experimented with a variety of impression-making materials and clay. Using picture frames, fabric, straw mats, papers, tools, and more, we made beautiful clay tiles.

Lucy and Mac experiment with straw matting:
Lucy - It makes it flatter.
Mac - It makes it have impressions.

Alex - I'm slicing it into rhythms.
Joci - Anything can make an impression.
Ellee - Anything? Not your face! (to Joci) Your clay impression looks like a constellation (fabric impression). Look, my hands are making an impression. (to Joci) Where did you get this (Jolly Roger fabric)? It may be scary but it's soft.

Trading Cards...

In the mini-studio, children made trading cards by drawing or painting on a small card, then placing it inside a plastic sleeve for safe-keeping, like baseball cards. (Carl inspired this project with the baseball cards he brought to school recently!) Children had the opportunity to trade cards with a friend, or to keep their cards. The picture above shows a variety of cards made by Bruno.

Ghost trading card by Bruno

Cassius and Bruno worked together at this table for a long time. Cassius made a giant snake card, and several others.

At second meeting, we took a look at the large variety of trading cards. We found out how friends were trading throughout the day. Alex traded his snowman card for Jay's bridge card. Hadley traded with both Grace and Willa. We hope to continue trading tomorrow!

The big, humongous, giant, famous instrument

1/30/2018

Our recent exploration in the studio involves this collage (right) which was originally named "The Big Humongous Workshop" (Lucy).

Today we traced components of the collage and labeled certain pieces as drums, flutes, trumpets, and more.

(While tracing...)
Alex: I’m working on this heart.
Jay: I’m working on this drum.
Ellee: I’m working on this flute.
Alex: This heart is a drum. Melanie, this is a trumpet. My cousin taught me how to draw fast... PJ. She’s like an artist.
Alex: That’s a trumpet, that’s a saxophone and that’s a tuba.
Melanie: This is the Big Humongous Workshop, right?
Ellee: But it’s not a workshop, it’s an instrument.
Melanie: So it’s not a workshop? What should we call it?
Ellee: Giant Instrument.
Bruno: Famous instrument.
Melanie: What makes it famous? Do people around the world know about it?
Bruno: Yeah. Everyone knows it.
Ellee: When you blow on it, it shoots out money.
Alex: You could spread it all around, then people would come piling into the school. Every second people would be coming to look at this instrument.
Melanie: People from all over the world?
Alex: Maybe. Even kings and queens.
Bruno: Because it’s so COOL. Because it’s so big.

Paint Mixing...

Lucy: Woooah. Yellow and white can make orange.... (keeps mixing) Light yellow and pink make light orange!

Cassius: This looks so yummy. This looks like licorice.

Mac takes care of the babies...

A classic singalong activity...

Rockin' in the boat and the tide rolls high
Rockin' in the boat and the tide rolls high
Rockin' in the boat and the tide rolls high
Catch me a pretty one by and by
Catch me a pretty one by and by

January 26th, 2018 - "I loved it more than I loved it."

1/26/2018

This morning, we found out how many Tucker Room children can fit on one couch for meeting...... Eight!

We turned the big studio into a Music Studio. There, Alex, Carl and Hadley formed a band which they named: "THE TEAMMATES". After gathering an audience, they performed. Grace and Prater joined later. After the first group of performers left for snack, Mac, Bruno, Cassius and Ellee got a chance to play the instruments.

After the first "show", they discussed...
Ellee: I'm gonna join The Teammates.
Alex: How bout anybody who wants to play, they can.
Melanie: Do you think the audience liked the performance?
Hadley: Yes! They were clapping along!
Cassius: I loved the show.
Bruno: I loved it more than I loved it.
Grace: The show was great, because I got to be in it after I watched for awhile.

In dramatic play, a small group played family. In this conversation, Lila is the Mom, Grace is the big sister, Jay is the big brother, and there is one baby doll.

Grace: Pretend every time we fall asleep, you have to say, "Wake up, wake up!"
Lila: I have to give the baby a bath. ....Baby is in bed now.
Jay: I'll make a little lemonade for her.
Lila: (on the phone) You guys are invited to a sleepover tonight.
Jay: I don't want to go, I want to sleep in mama's bed tonight.
Lila: (still on the phone) Jay doesn't want to go, but Grace does.
Grace: (gathering her stuff) I've packed up everything I need.
(Lila and Grace attend the sleepover, then Lila comes back)
Jay: Mom, was the sleepover fun?
Lila: Yes, it was fun. Grace is still there.
Jay: Mom, is the baby never going to grow up?
Lila: Yes, the baby will never grow up.

(Grace, the big sister, is still sleeping)

At second meeting, we played a new game all about keeping a beat. Our challenge was to listen to a song played on the ukulele, and play along by beating a drum or clapping to the rhythm.

January 25th, 2018

1/25/2018

Today we had an exciting new experience - a Snap Circuit board with lights and music. It was a fun challenge for us to closely inspect the diagram, read the letters on each piece, and match them up accurately. When all the pieces are added according to the diagram, the board has a strobe light that can light up different colors, a speaker that can play scratchy noises and songs from an iPhone, and a fan that spins around. We will continue to experiment with what it can do!

A small group worked collaboratively choosing, cutting, and gluing favorite pieces from their friends' previous work to create an instrument collage. Ellee said, "It looks like an instrument from The Cat in the Hat."

Lucy - It's a musical door (pink piece at the bottom). This is where you come in to the Instrument Humongous Workshop!

In this clip, you can see Rose and Ellee are discussing where to put different pieces, and really listening to each other well.

We learned a few new songs at second meeting today, including "If I Had a Hammer" by Peter Paul and Mary.

Chapel and More Design Work

1/24/2018

Thank you, Gini, for a lovely chapel service today. She shared with us how candles remind her of people.
"Every person has a light inside. Some candles are rough and rocky, not smooth on the outside. But they all have a light inside of them. This alabaster candle has cracks that make it look beautiful. This candle reminds me of you all. It's glass. Your light is visible all the time. You don't have to look deep inside. You can’t see inside this one (opaque). It's serious, self important. It tries to be covered up but it has the same light inside. This one is fancy and pretty and it says look at me on the outside. It has the same light as the others. And this one is so old and curled up inside. It's like the 100 year old lady in church. She's beautiful and crinkly but has light inside. No matter how curled up and sunk down the wax gets, they still have light."

For the second day, friends worked collaboratively designing a giant instrument at the chalk board. Using individual drawings and paintings, they chose elements from these designs and problem solved - how can use all of our ideas in this new design?

Brown Room children joined us for another day of painting.

Taking a closer look at our wind chime mobile...

January 23rd, 2018

1/23/2018

At the chalkboard today, a small group met with their recent instrument drawings in hand. Together, they combined the instruments they have invented into one large multi-faceted sound-maker. The whole chalkboard was covered with drawings!

On the playground today... Pirates!!

Cassius steers the ship, while Carl is a lookout.

Jay and Prater must have walked off the plank - they're in the water, being rescued by Alex!

Today, Mac, Cassius and Jay began their day as "spies". They built a "mailbox" which soon turned into a container for their "credit cards".

Mac typing, pointing to the "purple spot"

Jay puts mail in the "mailbox"

Cassius: This is the mailbox. (referring to their construction)
Mac: (typing) This is Virginia, this purple spot. We have to fly all the way to Mexico.
Jay: That's a lot of mail there.
Cassius: I'm gonna get one of the credit cards from our house real quick.
Mac: We landed... get your stuff! If you want one of these, you have to give me one of your credit card papers. It's different credit cards for wherever we need to go. One's for Target.
Cassius: I'm making one for Walgreens.
Mac: I'm making one for my granddad... and Uncle Charlie. He's in real life now. He's Jay's uncle. He's invisible.

Alex and Carl drew their credit cards, shown below. Carl's includes a picture of himself with Axel, his brother.

Liquid Watercolors and Drawing Instruments

1/19/2018

While Ellee was removing the tape (border) from her watercolor, the pink paint jar spilled everywhere! Ellee took it all in stride and said, "I wanted a pink background anyway." That's what we call a "Happy Accident!"

Ellee - It’s a drum for one person.
She painted decorations on the outside of the drum and added drum sticks on either side.

Prater – If you press all of these they make sound all together. They are the notes. All of them are soft.
Ellee – Color makes different noises.
Joci - What color would a loud sound be?
Lucy – dark green
Grace – red
What about a beautiful, soft sound?
All - yellow

Alex – It’s a house that can play instruments. The house plays a trumpet. The sound comes out the windows. Anything in the house can play.

(PRATER)

(ALEX)

Lucy shared her watercolor with friends at second meeting.

Lucy – It's for 55 people. They can whistle or play drums.

Grace shares her work at meeting.

It's a Tucker Room original song! Instead of the Acorn Song, we now sing the Coconut Song. We even taught it to the rest of the school at our singalong today. Check it out!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND, EVERYONE!

Soccer in the Snow

1/18/2018

Despite the icy cold weather today, we got a chance to warm up with some SNOW SOCCER!

Thanks to Carola, Rose's mom, we have the opportunity to use some terrific sound equipment, including a microphone that plugs into the computer and records straight to Garageband. The tracks we record, we can then edit with different "effects". Here, Hadley records her own guitar playing.

Lucy, Mac, and Alex set up snack today completely on their own, without any help from a teacher. They put the chips and cranberries in bowls; they set up the napkins; they set up number cards for how many chips and cranberries to eat; and they set up the water - not to mention the water cups!!

Lila and Grace played family with the animals in construction. It was Lila's really birthday today! Happy birthday Lila!

The video below shows Grace playing an "introduction" on the bugle.

Carl, Jay, and several others began a structure in the small stuff area today, cleverly using the table as a support. By the time the group had finished their work in KW, it looked like a beautiful castle.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY, GRACE!

1/17/2018

Aaron, Suzanne, and Grace shared with us the "five things that Grace loves."
1. Animals especially lions
2. Sweets especially ice cream and chocolate
3. She loves to be super active - running around, gymnastics, rollerskating, and biking.
4. Music, both listening and dancing with her little brother, Jacob. "Jacob just likes jumping." Suzanne added, "When Grace sits down Jacob pulls her up to dance again."
5. Stories
Then Aaron read a book called, Grace's Royal Birthday Adventure. "Teresa gave this book to me. Celia got a fairy one." Grace especially liked the unicorn, dragon, castle, and cake in her story.

Friends worked with Photoshop designing a giant instrument. Combining elements from various drawings, children began developing new ideas.

GRACE, LUCY, AND HADLEY CREATED A SONG WITH THE ABOVE ELEMENTS.

CASSIUS - THESE ARE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. THEY'RE CONNECTED TO MAKE ONE. THERE ARE DRUMS, FLUTE, TRUMPET AND PIANO AND NOTES.

Children were invited to make clay models of their instrument drawings. We discussed how we'll be making models in preparation for making our instruments. "A model is a model for something else." Jay

(left to right) Prater, Ellee, Rose

THANK YOU, ROSE, FOR SHARING WITH US HOW YOU PLAY TWINKLE, TWINKLE ON THE KEYBOARD

An Instrument for the Whole World

1/16/2018

At morning meeting today, we continued our recent discussion about a giant instrument that the whole school can play at once.

Bruno - Maybe we put something on top of the school and it will play it forever.
Alex - Only Marley can turn it on - once at night she turns it off and in the daytime she turns it on.
Bruno - At the end of school there will be a BIG SOUND. It will be HUGE.
Grace - Let’s make it so long that it will stick out so people walking on the sidewalk can play it.
Bruno - We can play it inside and out.
Grace - It will be so wide.
Alex - But we leave in the fall . . . and we only have like eight months.
Melanie - We still have a lot of time. We could work on it everyday.
Alex - Yeah, that would really keep us busy. We would need like nine people at a day. If we only had like six people to do it, it wouldn’t be enough. We wouldn’t have enough time . . . then Rainey Room would have to work on it.
Melanie - Maybe we can get their help . . . maybe even the Brown Room.
Alex - I saw them build some stuff when I was down there and they’re pretty good. I think they’re a little better than the Rainey Room.

We continued the conversation in a small group downstairs.

Melanie: Grace said we should make an instrument that extends outside the school with tubes so that people on the street can play it.
Grace: And all around the world. The whole world can play it. Even animals.

Melanie: How are we gonna make an instrument that big?
Cassius: We can make one that fills up our hallway.
Prater: How bout houses even can play it.
Melanie: So will it connect to the other houses in Georgetown?
Prater: Yeah, then people can play it like my mom, and dad…
Grace: And my mom and dad and my sister and my Marley and my baby.
Melanie: Where around the school, or in the school, will this instrument go?
Cassius: Everywhere.
Melanie: Would it go around, like in a circle?
Bruno: Yeah. Around the Earth.

As the group continued brainstorming, they came up with the idea to make the instrument accessible for babies to play:

Alex: We could just make little rattles for them and they could play along like, chikka chikka choo choo, chikka chikka choo choo.

Once they were ready to draw their ideas, they huddled up closely to discuss how to break into two groups.

Cassius: So hey, what about, there’s a boys group and a girls group!! Because there’s one two three boys, and one two three girls. Hey guys - hey girls and boys. What do you think about this - there’s a boys group and a girls group.
Grace: Let me count how many people there are.
Bruno: (pointing) One two three, one two three.

Work by Cassius, Bruno, and Alex

Work by Prater, Willa, and Grace (the small lines with the balls on the end are the baby rattles!)

Rose's birthday committee (Lila, Jay, and Ellee) worked with precision on their gift for Rose, which involves a sleeping unicorn. Above, Jay cuts through the clay to create skinny, long legs. Lila and Ellee carefully craft the unicorn's torso. Mac worked independently, painting his clay minion yellow.

In the message center, Prater and Rose worked on messages for Rudolph. In this picture, they examine the bandaid on Rudolph's back.

Rose: He's having surgery.
Prater: He has to get the bandaids off.
Rose: I'm putting a reindeer on this message.
Prater: This is for his doorknobs. So anybody doesn't know where he lives and where he sleeps. Only me and Rose.
Rose: (whispering in teacher's ear) Under her bed.

At the computer today, Hadley and several others experimented with a digital drawing program called Sketchpad. Here is a link if you'd like to try it at home.

By Hadley

"Swirls" by Lucy