Paper SculpturesThroughout our year together, we have continuously returned to the concept of transformation. We observed as seasons transformed our environment, worked for months to transform our idea for a coat of leaves into a garment that would keep a favorite tree warm in chilly weather, and most recently transformed drawings of monsters into detailed clay pieces. With the intention of furthering the understanding of transformation, and offering children a new perspective on a familiar material, we introduced paper folding sculptures. After hearing that the Rainey Room children are paper folding experts, we asked if a couple could join us to demonstrate ....They're really good at that! - Lily (commenting on Adaline and Pierce's paper folding mastery) Following our crash course in paper folding, the Brown Room children were ready to try their hand at this new technique. During snacktimes and meetings, children have enjoyed sharing their sculptures with friends.
At a recent snacktime, Elizbeth shared that she had made a sculpture of Volta Park, a very familiar location to many Brown Room children.
"I made some triangles and the big slide. The golden one is the slide, " she shared. Gus pointed to a triangular shaped, and suggested, "The triangle is the sanbox." We wondered, what did our friends see in Elizabeth's sculpture? William: I think that can be the slide. Dahlia: I see a pink see-saw Benji: I see a bumpy street. Betsy: A triangle like my house is a triangle. Gus: Volta Park has hopscotch (points to pattern on paper strip). Harry: This is my house right here (yellow box). Tate: Wow, that's a tall house. Harry: I’m gonna use the stairs! Dahlia: Maybe one time I can take you guys to my house and to see volta park.
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Preparing for Visiting EducatorsYou may have read in the "5 Things" that tomorrow (Wednesday) is our last ECES day of the school year. The entire staff is involved in the presentation tomorrow afternoon, so we will be using our work time today to finish preparing together - Please look for our next formal blog post on Thursday! Stay tuned for more photos and details about a new technique introduced this week in the Brown Room.
Folding paper to create Paper Sculptures As we head into a three-day weekend, we wanted to share a summary of what's been taking place during a very busy past few days in the classroom! Springtime Explorations Clay Impressions Clay impressions makes the prints. It will help us remember the green flowers. Then they get dead. - Dahlia It was like a rainbow because it was all different colors! - Betsy Representations of beautiful blooms It smells beautiful. - William Needle Felting Friends from the Tucker Room joined us to introduce this new technique! Inspired by the "furry" and "fuzzy" texture of the wool roving, Noah and Van decided to create their own versions of the buffalo from Noah's spring break safari! Additional work inspired by spring break memories...
ArrangementsWhile observing the children exploring their springtime collections, we were reminded of our research in the fall when the children spent time collecting and investigating leaves. Thinking about the word collection, Elizabeth was also reminded of these past experiences and recalled, "Like when we collected leaves!" Similar to provocations in the past, we wanted the children to have the opportunity to explore all of their spring findings as a whole group collection. As the children took time to further investigate these objects, we noticed they began to arrange them in a way that was similar to their approach when exploring collage. Arranging the natural materials in a way that represented something completely different, they excitedly shared about their imaginative transformations! Take a look at these beautiful arrangements! What do you see? Please read the captions in the slideshow for more info :) Through both photographs and collected objects, the children have been spending time sharing some of their springtime observations and memories with one another. And have taken the time to "investigate" their findings more closely. Investigate is to look at something! - Thomas
It was like a rainbow because it was all different colors. Pink flowers and purples flower. - Betsy And magenta too! - Lily I see the leaf pattern. - William
Clay impressions makes the prints. - Dahlia Happy Birthday to Graham!In preparation for his birthday committee, Graham kindly shared some of his favorite colors with us .... Blue whales. Green alligators, green frogs, green trees, and green apples. Yellow taxi, yellow duck, yellow banana. Orange tiger, orange fish, orange fox, orange carrots. Pink cupcakes and pink flamingos. Brown bears, horses are brown. I don’t like chocolate. Such a vibrant palette gave us a chance to find and add a multitude of unique materials to Graham's weaving - and to practice our skills using the glue gun! When preparing to make Graham's birthday, we brainstormed as a class, what do we know about Graham? Eloise: You like puzzles. Lily: (He likes) all the colors! William: Graham likes animals. Elizabeth: Graham makes a zoo (in the construction area) Thomas: Graham’s symbol is a bear. Betsy: He likes brown bears! Let's Celebrate!Sharing Spring Break Memories through the language of paint mixing The children's curiosity, empathy and interpersonal connections continue to shine through sharing spring break collections and photographs. We've loved exploring the artifacts - they present such a tangible representation of adventures near and far. At a recent morning, shared with the Brown Room children that we had no more tempera paint for easel work. How might we restock our paint supply? We need to make some more! - Lily We can do mixing paint. - Van To promote their continued enthusiasm for recounting their spring break adventures, we suggested that the children mix colors inspired by their experiences last week. In order to spark memories and connections, we displayed the natural objects that many children collected over their break, pictures from their time away and both objects and photographs from spring observations here at school, prior to break. Emma has pink shoes. Red and white for pink. - NoahYellow flower! - IsaI saw the Easter bunny. I was so brave. It was raining. The Easter bunny was white. - EloiseIt was Jack and me and Uncle Bob. It was Uncle Bob's birthday. We had a cake. A chocolate cake. - NadiaI found this white seashell on the beach. The water was sort of cold. - VanWelcome back, Brown Room!It's been so wonderful welcoming everyone back to the Brown Room! We've heard exciting tales of adventures home and away, and have been so impressed by the complex dialogue, connections and active listening that has resulted. Some snippets of sharing spring break memories .....
Eloise: I’m picking up the Easter basket and the bunny! Lily: I didn’t meet the Easter bunny. Elizabeth: I saw the Easter with Isa, but I didn't go to meet the Easter bunny. But it was nice, though. Betsy: I was a little bit afraid of the Easter bunny. Noah: I met it. The Easter bunny does not talk. Just wave. And I find chocolate eggs at my house and toys. Thomas: I saw the Easter bunny at the easter egg roll! You roll eggs to the Easter bunny. And they put them in peoples baskets. There was a chocolate alligator in my egg at my house. Nadia: I found some eggs and some chocolate in my easter basket. Thomas: My easter egg has a chocolate rabbit inside Eloise: There was chocolate in my easter basket and bunny marshmallows - pink and purple bunny marshmallows. William: I got my basket. There was Easter eggs. Marshmallows inside. There were too mushy and too sour. And I just picked eggs from the grass. Not by house. We went to a different house. Lily: I got a unicorn basket. Van: I got candy in my easter basket. I got jelly beans and chocolate. Gus: I like jelly beans, too. We're excited to share more spring happenings as the week goes on!Happy Spring EquinoxToday marks the first official day of the spring season! In our previous post, we shared some of the ways in which the Brown Room children have been researching and noticing early signs of spring. Throughout our research, we have been paying close attention to the gorgeous magnolia tree on our school's front lawn. There’s pink leaves! - Betsy It’s pink flowers. Seeds grow trees. - Lily Seeds grow something. - Gus An early bloom paired with recent cold and windy days have caused many of the petals to fall off the tree, but while in full bloom many children were excited about the idea of creating their own magnolia tree representations. As a group, Benji, Lily, and William agreed that to begin their magnolia tree drawings, they should first start with the tree trunk and branches.
Unsure how to draw the magnolia blossoms, William thought to collect a few petals from the ground and then used these to implement a tracing technique to create some of the magnolia flowers in his drawing! Magnolia Tree Illustrations the Coat of Leaves
Thank you to everyone who came to join us today as the children gifted their incredible coat of leaves to the "biggest" empty tree in front of our school. This was such a special project guided by lots of love and empathy for our beloved neighborhood trees! In spring, the leaves will come back. - WilliamOver the past couple of weeks, Brown Room children have been intrigued by the transforming tree outside of our classroom window.
We've also observed new visitors in the outdoor classroom .... To continue our research around the season of spring, we have been venturing outdoors searching for signs of growth and change, both in large groups... The cold is going away, it’s not here. - Lily We don’t need jackets. - Elizabeth The sun is shining. - William There’s so much pink outside. - Benji and in small groups ... Eloise, Lily, Noah I see something sticking out of the sticks! - Eloise Eloise notices some signs of new growth on the ginkgo tree branches. We need a giant to see those branches! - Lily While Lily attempts to look for changes in our tall neighborhood trees, she notices that are might too high to see clearly! Finding the budding hyacinth to be particularly interesting, Eloise, Lily, and Noah brought an image of the plant back to the rest of the children in the classroom. Everyone hypothesized what this plant might transform into as it continues to grow! Lily: It looks like corn. Van: Turtles. Nadia: A berry plant to grow purple berries. Eloise: I think it’s a blackberry. Gus: Tulip flower. William: It might be seeds. Into tulips. Thomas: It’s a little banana. Noah: Looks like ice cream! Thomas and Isa Yes, let’s look for signs of spring! I have my shoes on so I’m all ready to go. Maybe we’ll find a foxtail. We might see bugs! A ladybug like Betsy’s symbol. - Thomas Betsy, Gus, Harry I found little tiny flowers right here. - Gus Gus: Daffodils! Betsy: They look like carrots. Gus: They smell like soap.
That squirrel went up the magnolia tree! - Gus |
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April 2024
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