Is it Spring??We have enjoyed the beautiful weather during our outdoor classroom time! This week, classrooms are writing one blog as teachers prepare for Spring Conferences.
CW will post a blog on Friday this week.
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Thinking About the Letter P
Something Cool in ConstructionJen brought in six amazing golden pedestals that she had found. We've added them to the construction area. Children have been having fabric, small bats and other creatures from string suspended between the poles as they build environments for their stuffed animals. Field Trip to the CanalWhy do we go on field trips in CW? A conversation about why do we have to go on field trip during CW came up and we talked about how valuable those walks are for the children in order to explore their school 's neighborhood, and to learn how to manage field trips, it's a good practice. As we were walking down toward the canal, Gracie said : " My mommy never took me here." Brigitte : " We are in Georgetown" Gracie: "Oooh that's Georgetown, I love it." The children loved to run around the maze and look at the Potomac river. And of course, because we are in CW, we had to have a drawing breakThe weather was hotter than we expected, but we had packed up plenty of water, and everyone did a great! Our Table Setters this week were: Ellie and Ford, Adaline and Zari, Bailee and Eliza, Isabelle and Rawls.Lucile came for a visitThe Letter "O"- Metal on Metal - WillWe DO need an "O" !- WillThis week, during lunch, Will noticed that the lid from his food container was the same shape as the letter "O". "DING DING DING !~ (What a great idea) Will and Ellie found a large metal lid in the tucker closet and went to investigate our hallway documentation to see if we needed the letter "O". They figured out that we needed an "O" for our CW title, and another "O" for our alphabet chart. Metal was one the ideas CW children generated at the beginning of the project. Ellie and Pierce went to look for metal pieces in the Tucker Closet to create metal on metal collages. After gathering enough metal pieces, the children went in the atelier to work on their metal collages. We had smaller metal lids available for anyone who wanted to make a small metal collage "O". There was so much excitement among the children about the metal pieces to choose from, it was like finding treasures. Gracie - We can glue that ring on because it's made out of metal Eliza - What about this? ( a nail) Will - Look I found an old fashion key! Ellie - I found an owl! Rawls - We are making little plates Pierce - We found metal stuff and we glue them on the metal "O" Will - Yeah, like different kinds of metal, like keys, and rings Pierce - And a chain Also in the Atelier...Lots of beautiful drawings and writings are happening in the atelier. The CW children have been making beautiful "Get well cards" for Zari's grandmother "Nana" and for their family as well. This week the table setters were : Fay and Jack, Charlton and Pierce, Ava and Gracie, Will and Cal. Book MakingOn March 5th, SJEP offered a book making workshop after school, some of our friends could not come, but wanted to make books too, so we offered it in CW. Will decided to use his new book right away to write the whole alphabet in it. A Fire Alarm for the Cob House!Our recent and unexpected fire drill sparked some new ideas! Will thought that we should build a fire alarm for the Cob House outside. The new "Fire Alarm" in the Cob House has a lever you can pull down to activate it. (a coffee sleeve, a stick, 2 clips, and wire.)
Letters with Light (and Shadow)Last month, children generated a list of different ways to form letters. They mentioned using light and shadow. This week, they were definitely up for the challenge! Construction with Light and ShadowThe projector and shadow screen were also part of our construction work. It will come as no surprise that the main idea was building animal enclosures for a farm. A few other things...
Our Children's Workshop Title is taking shape...And so is our Alphabet ChartThe CW children have been working diligently on creating new letters for our CW title and Alphabet chart. This week, the children finished sewing the letter "K " and they also finish the letter "L" using the art of quilling. Sewing the letter "K"Quilling the letter "L"The CW children also love to walk back and forth from the Tucker Room to the hallway to check which letters of the alphabet need to be done, and go back in the Atelier to draw them. Eliza choose to draw the letter "Q" and Ellie choose the letter "X". We are always on the look out for letters. Whit found two "Y" in the outdoor classroom. In the construction Area, Ford, Charlton , and Whit built "Nicey Icey Land" Ford - The penguins had a shelter. The death animals (enemies) went to all the houses. Charlton - A robot arm came up and grabbed them and threw them into traps. Whit - My puppy had a little part of Icey Land. Ford - The penguins loved Icey Land. Whit - Tomorrow is going to be fire land. In the Atelier, The CW children are busy drawing and trying new paint markers. We love to play Doggy-Doggy in the outdoor Classroom. This week our Table Setters were : Ford and Zari, Adaline and Ellie, Bailee and Isabelle, Whit and Lillian. On Friday, Eva (Brigitte's daughter) was our special sub.
Paper PossibilitiesPaper exploration continued this week. Many children are thinking about printing and creating letters for our documentation. Perhaps it was inventible that children began to see letters in their paper folding. Will - It looks like an "E." While working.... Ford - I'm a master at this! This and that...
Sewing a Letter for our CW TitleAlphabet ChartThe CW children are also creating an alphabet chart with all the extra letters they created out of various materials. Ava wanted to sew an "F" and Bailee sew an "S", and Gracie sew her letter "G". Noticing letters in Nature
Making Letters with Wood BlocksWhit, Bailee, and Rawls had so much fun figuring out together how to make letters with wood blocks . The letter CAs the CW children go back and forth between the hallway and the Tucker room to look at our documentation and alphabet chart, Charlton decided that he wanted to paint the letter "C" of Children for our "Children's Workshop" title. Meanwhile in the Atelier, The CW friends still love to draw together around the table, and use the microscope. On Thursday, in the Construction Area, Whit, Ford, and Jack Built an elaborate 6 rooms building with a pool for their lovies. Whit - We had guards in the building. Ford - And sadly the guards died. Whit - We had funerals, but one guard survived, only one. Ford - And his name was Snake! On Friday: Rawls - I am making a pizzeria, and there delicious salmon. Whit - Today we have 11 rooms. Ford - It's a zoo house. If the bad guys go through here, they get scanned. Whit - And the bad guys bounce into my house, and my dog bite them, and they go to jail! This week the table setters were: Gracie and Fay, Rawls and Pierce, Ava and Jack, Will and Isabelle. Goodbye Seon! We love you and we will miss you so much!Paper PossibilitiesWe use paper in so many ways at St. John's. The quality and quantity of paper that we have on hand is impressive. This week, we have had parent volunteers organizing a small portion of our collection for an upcoming alumni worksop. Many thanks to Roxanne, Katie, Shigeno, and Zoe for supporting our work in this way!
This week, children have been been folding, rolling, and otherwise manipulating strips of paper. These individual pieces are glued together in small boxes or on bases. This work will probably continue all week. While working: Seon - It's time to roll! It's like a colorful sushi roll. Eliza - I'm going to get a wider one (paper), so there's more room (for the glue). Lillian - So much stickiness! Gracie - My hands are so gluey. Seon - That's part of the fun! Will - Mine is so cool because it's a bridge. Construction for Critters
On Wednesday, A Construction ChallengeToday children were asked to build a structure that had four separate rooms or pens for animals. Children greeted this challenge with a certain amount of hesitation. They didn't seem sure that they could do it. Charlton - It's a zoo mansion. So Much Sunshine!We are enjoying these sunny, warm days in our outdoor classroom! A Community CenterpieceOne characteristic of the CW children is that they are excellent table setters and really know how to create a centerpiece! Recently, they worked on a special centerpiece for the unhoused guests that are eating dinner at St. John's. Molly and Sarah Maitre provided chili, the Brown Room made muffins, Tucker Room decorated with additional centerpieces, Ben Werschkul and Katie Alberts brought in cornbread, and Jackie Coombe and Katherine Boone provided dessert. At 4:00 Molly, Cece, and Sarah served the food.
Can we make a letter with sticks and wire?Challenge accepted!
It wasn't even tricky for me! - Zari Zari - I wasn't thinking about a letter, I was just twisting. I connected another stick, then it made a T! Fay - I didn't have it in my head, and I just made something. A random "A". My mom and Karen don't know what random means! because I just asked them and they said they don't know. I also made a random "T." Ava - I made the letter A with sticks, then I wrap the sticks with wire! Bailee - I made the letter B. I made the two bumps with wire attach to the stick. I made also made a small "b". Seon and Ellie made the Letter D out of wire and crystal beads. Construction AreaIn Construction Area Whit and Charlton built New York City. Charlton - I have an idea for construction. I have an iron Man, so we can build New York City. Whit - And I can have a park for my bunny. Both boys begin to build tall buildings. Charlton - This building is as tall as me. Whit and Charlton get stools to build taller. Whit - Mine is a little tall. Charlton - I'm making an elevator. Whit - I am making walls. Charlton - (adding a block) Here 's the tallest part. Whit walks around to inspect the building. Whit - Charlton, that's a little not stable... one block is a little off. Charlton - This is the Avengers' tower. Whit - This is the Hoppy Tower, because my bunny lives there. ❤️ MessagesThis week our table setters were: Adaline and Whit, Lillian and Eliza, Charlton and Bailee, and Cal.Riding on the back of a crocodile, like our favorite song!The Love of Letters!Throughout the day, we see children thinking about letters and printing in a variety of ways. Their joy as they create words or names is evident. Children use these names and words to label their work and to send messages, making fun discoveries along the way. Ellie - Cece's name is a pattern. C - E -C -E!
Crystals!When children were generating the list of materials that could be included in our title, Whit suggested crystals. In the next week (or so), crystals will be an option for one of the letters. In the meantime, we decided to make some crystals of our own! Because the process involved heating water, Jill referred to it as "cooking." Seon - This is not normal cooking! We have crystals! We were surprised and delighted to find that our crystals grew overnight. We spent time looking at them, touching them and checking them out with the digital microscope! Construction: The Year of the DragonAs we begin the year of the dragon, we included dragons in our construction area. Initially, teacher's thought that dragons would be the only animals in these structures. Some children clearly wanted to include their beloved stuffed animals, so they soon joined the dragons. After all.... Whit - This is a place for everyone. A quick look at everything else...
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March 2024
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