Shadow hunting? That's cool! - Betsy As we continue to explore nighttime, the qualities of light versus dark, and the sights and sounds particular to nighttime, children have continuously brought up shadows as something that is associated with nighttime. We wondered, what is a shadow? A shadow is in the dark. - Lily Maybe in the light. - Dahlia I see it on the way to the park. - Benji To give the children an opportunity to discover and identify shadows, we embarked, in partner pairs, on shadow hunts. While one partner hunted for shadows using a flashlight, the other captured the shadow on camera. If you and your child would be willing to share any special light sources (flashlights, nightlights, etc.) that you have at home with us here at school, we would be thrilled! I made paper! - NadiaOver the past couple of weeks, we (the teachers) have been working with Jen to come up with a set of materials and tools that will allow the Brown Room's vision of a coat of leaves to come to life. Leaves come in many shapes and textures (spiky, curvy, round, bumpy, soft), are light enough to dance in the wind but dense enough to cloak a tree. What could we use to represent them? We decided to try making and shaping our own paper in order to embody these very particular characteristics. We're looking forward to continued experimentation and conversation around our coat of leaves!
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In order to give the children a chance to both further reflect and continue to hone their drawing skills, we introduced a new drawing opportunity with a twist. At morning meeting, we observed the provocation, and children shared their thoughts... Dahlia: White doesn't show on paper. Lily: I don't know what black and white turn into. Elizabeth: It gets snowy. Benji: We'll have to mix it up. As children drew, some made a connection between the black paper and nighttime. This was not the first time that the topic of feeling scared versus safe and protected has come up in the classroom. As we've begun to put our baby blankets to use in our baby doll area, we've heard children chat about blankets as something to help our babies feel "safe". This, in turn, has brought thoughts around nighttime at their own homes.
Elizabeth: Sometimes we hear noises and we hide. Betsy: A lion with big big paws! Van: You can see the sounds out your windows. Thomas: Or a Paw Patrol friend could be nice to come into your bedroom! Eloise: I hide from my mama when she wakes me up. Hide in my blankie. Gus: I have a Father Bear stuffy. Nadia: I sleep with a stuffy and I feel it at night. Yaya! Yaya is like a present. Van: I have a baby beluga. It’s blue and white. William: My teddy is very big. Gus: My mom only makes me happy. Noah: If you hide under a blankie, you don’t see any noise. Over the past few days, we've been contemplating how to support this thread of inquiry in a way that feels safe and comfortable for all of our friends. Children naturally gravitate towards exploration and expression of the things that frighten them. The more they ponder them and play with them (in a safe environment), the more ownership they gain over both the object of their fear and the emotion itself. As of now, we've added new fabrics, and the overhead projector, to our construction area to encourage nighttime scenarios - and begun "shadow hunting" around St. John's. More on that later! The leaves go down, down. The wind blows it down. |
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I made tree branches. I just rolling it to make like a rainbow tree. Making little rainbows like little branches. Put the branches all the ways to the ends. - Noah Noah described his process while connecting separate coils together to build his branches. Noah compared the shape of his branches to rainbows. |
While reflecting on her work later in the day, Lily made an insightful observation. Pointing to the persimmon tree in the outdoor classroom, she explained what she was seeing - the tree branches were all "touching each other". This gave even more meaning to her decision making when adding clay branches to model tree. I putted that branch there to get it so wonderful. Because it has to be all together and touching each other. See? - Lily |
Brown Room children continue to practice planning and intentionality when approaching their work. With this in mind, we decided to introduce the concept of tiny collections, using jar lids as a base. Offering a smaller canvas than they have encountered in the past encouraged them to be thoughtful about which materials they chose. We also shared that these collections would be placed underneath our school portraits atop the mailboxes, so children could consider how the materials, and their placement, would represent them. |
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In Eloise's original blanket design, she included lots of purple because she wanted her blanket to be her favorite color. | In Van's original design, he wanted to include all colors. He also added glass beads because he wanted to include "bubbles" on his blanket. |
The baby needs the blanket because he's cold. It will be SOOO soft and tickly for the baby! - Benji I like pink and purple. - Elizabeth I like yellow. And this little bit of yellow one. - Benji (comparing the yellow felt to the golden color fabric) We can cut it smaller. - Elizabeth (considering size and scale of the fabric and the baby doll) We got to put it together. Attach it together, you know? - Benji to Elizabeth |
Nadia and William took turns selecting fabric for their blanket and sewing the pieces together. Ready to add more "soft" details to the existing sewn pieces, Nadia told William she wanted more purple. William felt that he preferred gray. Engaged in conflict resolution dialogue, William ultimately suggested, "Maybe purple and then gray?" Nadia agreed! |
Before beginning the assembly and sewing process to create the baby blankets, we decided to introduce the concept of a "draft" or "design". We feel that offering the children the opportunity to draft a design (or multiple designs) for their baby blankets allows for stronger decision making and intentionality. As they plan, arrange, and make choices about their blanket details, they have not only considered their own preferences but have also thought about what might be best for the babies. |
*Benji initially places small, colorful square pieces directly onto the baby’s torso.* This is to help the baby’s ouchie. About the blanket: It needs a fuzzy one, a blanket. Because to be warm. I drew a monster. The baby likes monsters. It could be black. Or it could be orange. Orange and fuzzy. Nina has a blanket to be warm. - Benji |
In the classroom, we've been settling back into our routine with opportunities to sew, draw the figure of familiar "empty" trees and begin designing winter gear for our babies. We also welcomed Lucille, who will be interning at St. John's for the next two weeks. | |
Look! One leaf is hanging. They losted the leaves. - Thomas There's no more leaves. - Nadia In the spring they change new leaves. - Thomas | Van points to a holly leaf. This one didn't change green. - Van Maybe when it's shivering cold they will fall off. - Thomas Or the snow can get it off. Or when Santa will come. Or the reindeer. - Van |
The tree! They (the leaves) went all on the ground. - Benji It's empty. - Dahlia Isa picks up a stick, and shows it to Benji. She then takes it over to a tree, noticing that the color and texture match. Isa, are you giving the branch back to the tree? - Tate Benji joins her with another stick. I’m trying! - Benji |
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