Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Construction Collaboration

Inspired by the small monster figures that are used in table setting, children decided that they wanted to build a haunted house.  The Rainey Room children were also eager as that group is all about spooky things and Halloween.

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While building:
   Ford - When they walk in the front door, Hedgehog presses a button.  The people get dizzy and fall in the black hole. 
    Charlton - The white team are the good guys (referring to the chess pieces)  they can't go in.
     Whit - And there's zombies.
     Seon - (As she passed by) That looks scary to me.

This was a great start.  However, collaborating on a big group endeavor requires communication.  Several children were adding pieces to the structure without sharing their ideas.  Some children stayed for awhile, but weren't sure where the building  was headed and left.  We wondered,  how could we support children in making the process more collaborative?

Today, several people were interested in building a haunted house again.  We started by talking together and agreed that it might work best to build the structure with bigger blocks first and add the small materials or "decorations' later.  
    Ellie - We need wall, and a creaky door.
    Ford - We need a graveyard.  
    Will - And a clogged toilet.
    Ford - We need these numbers.  We need radar, so we can close the door so nobody can get out.
    Cal - I put some people in there.  They're trapped in there with zombies and skeletons.
    Ellie - This wolf will bite people.
    Charlton - Yeah, because it's a werewolf.
    Zari - This looks really scary.
​   Cal - (With a spooky figure) They're going trick or treating in the Palisades.
 

This haunted house featured stable construction and enough space for all the children to play with it when it was completed.  The group was delighted when Emma and Karen said it could remain in Tucker Room for the morning program to play with and possibly enhance!

Solo Building

On Tuesday, Bailee focused on building a house for her puppy near the haunted house.  

Introducing the Environment

Here's a little look behind the scenes.  During Monday afternoon' s staff meeting, the staff toured the classroom environments to talk about intentions and receive peer feedback.  In Tucker Room, Karen and Emma mentioned that the light table had been underused during the first week or so of school.  In spite of the Tucker teachers providing inviting materials in the area, the CW program also had not used the space very much.  

All four teachers (Tucker and CW) decided to clear the light table and invite children to the space.  Yesterday in CW, we suggested children could make use watercolors to depict flower arrangements.  There was interest in the area throughout the afternoon.  
   Seon - These are colorful flowers that bloom in the spring and even in the fall.
    Ellie - Mine are summer flowers,

A little bit of everything else...

 We are really coming together as a group!

•  We always have a great time outside, playing in the sand, playing group games, and working on mazes and drawings. 
• Children are creating beautiful and thoughtful arrangements as they set the table.
• We finished our placemats!
• Children always find time for small world and messages.