It was a fantastic Friday for the KW crew. Today we were able to make our own pizza lunch and to take a field trip. Our pizza critics were pleased, agreeing that pizza tastes best when you make it yourself. Lucy said, "I love it," and Hadley added, "It's delicious." As you know, we have been thinking about the ducks lately. We had so many questions. Would the canal be all ice? Would the ducks be on the canal? Could they get food? It was a good time to walk to the canal and see what we could discover. As we crossed the bridge over the canal, we made our initial observations: Hadley - There's no ice. Max - And no ducks. They went to the East Coast. We walked along the canal, and we found ice. We also found puddles, which was Max's favorite part of the excursion! Once again, children started throwing rocks into the canal, or onto the ice. These were not the wishing rocks of our previous rock-throwing excursion. The purpose was to see if children could break up the ice. Ellee - (Noticing the way the rocks moved across the ice and into the water) We're getting vibrations. (This refers to knowledge gained through the Tucker Room sounds/music investigation. Ice vibrations were part of the sounds used in Star Wars music!) Hadley - I'm trying to break the ice so the ducks come back. Lucy - (After throwing a rock) I just cracked open it (the ice). Hadley -(Finding a big rock and throwing it) Yee-haw, Cowgirl! (Noticing that her rock didn't crack the ice) What? Now that is frozen solid. I'm serious. We spent several minutes locating good rocks, digging them up, and throwing them. Then Kate noticed something swimming a little further down the canal where the water was not so solidly frozen. Ducks! We took off running. Hadley - Hey ducks, I'm making a duck! Prater - Part of the water is ice and part is not ice. Hadley - (Watching a duck moving his beak along the ice) He's looking for food for his baby ducks. Kate - Do you think it's a family of ducks? Prater - Yeah, there's two mommies and two daddies. I'm glad the ducks were there. Ellee - I'm glad we found the ducks. Hadley - Goodbye ducks. I hope I see your chicks in the summer. Enjoy these images and have a great long weekend!
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We had another great day in KW today! We made the most of the somewhat milder temperatures and started our day in the outdoor classroom. Some friends worked with collage and watercolor materials and others baked a variety of "dirt cakes" for their friends. Before lunch we shared ideas regarding children's wishes for the ducks and the canal (based off of ones made earlier this school year). Jill: Do you have any new wishes for the ducks? Prater: I hope the ice breaks so that the ducks could get in the water. Cassius: I wish that the ice would be forever. Rose: I wish that the pond would never freeze, so that the ducks could be there. Prater: So it would be a happy ending. Jill: What will we notice at the canal (tomorrow)? Jay: That it was frozen. Rose: Usually the water freezes on top, it doesn't freeze underneath. Lucy: I think the ducks will be there. Cassius: Maybe the ducks will be frozen in the ice. Rose: I want to wish them a good life. Jay: I would wish them a good life, too. After lunch, we revisited some clay pieces that we made before the holiday break. The pieces were part of the clay tracings created to represent the Koi Pond water sample in the digital microscope screen. Today children used those pieces, thick card board, paint and a glue gun to create 3D images of the Koi Pond water image. Small construction, mandalas, message center and BINGO were also on offer for the latter part of our afternoon. Looking forward to DIY Pizza Pies tomorrow and (weather permitting) a trip to check in on the ducks at the Canal!
As the new year begins, we are reflecting on aspects of our nature intention that we were working on before winter break. We have been thinking about the ducks on the canal. During lunch, we showed the class the clay duck that Rose and Hadley worked on last week, and asked the children what they thought might be going on with the ducks these days. Prater - The canal is frozen. Ellee - They (the ducks) flew away. Hadley - If there's any rocks, maybe they're staying there. Mac - Maybe they are standing on the (frozen) canal. Jay - Maybe they flew south to Orlando. Kate - What do the ducks ear? Prater - Fish. Kate - If the canal is frozen, what can they eat? Prater - They can get in (to the water) two ways. They can scratch in or they can stomp in. Hadley - Birds fly south. Weather permitting, we will walk to the canal on Friday to check on the ducks, In the meantime, there was continued enthusiasm for creating a family of clay ducks. Ellee worked on a baby duck and Prater and Hadley worked on larger ducks. Building has long been a favorite activity for KW. With the new Tucker room arrangement, interest in small building has really taken off. Children not only create environments, but also make up stories as they go along. Today's story started like this: Carl - We're making a backyard for animals. Jay - And we have moss. Carl - Let's say the moss is poisonous, so it has to be off the yard. Lila - And this is the house for the seal family. The story line became more elaborate. At one point all the animals were in hot tubs! Wednesday is the day we have the most children enrolled, and the entire room was buzzing with activity today. Children spent time working on our hot glue and paint creations, the light table, Candyland, and mandalas.
After our winter break and a frigid week in temperatures last week, we felt like it had been a while since we'd been out and exploring the neighborhood. We asked children a question at the beginning of KW today: Have you noticed anything different about nature now from when we made our observations early in the school year? How has nature changed? Rose: What if we go collect nature on the ground...like leaves? Ellee: There's ice now. Kate: Is ice part of nature? Ellee: Yes, but it will melt in the bag. Cassius: Now...there's gunna be so much nature on the ground. Jay: There will be slush. Following these predictions, we set out on a neighborhood walk to partake in some observations. Rose and Ellee stumbled upon a brown plant: Rose: That was green before. Ellee: Nature dies in the winter. (Later) Rose: I found an evergreen. Ellee: (With a purplish-brown leaf) Sometimes leaves turn purple when it's winter. Friends also took notice of the snow, ice, slush and puddles present on the sidewalks, as well as some other brown plants that hadn't shed their leaves. We're wondering why some plants, like the evergreen, will keep their color all winter, and others turn brown or loose their leaves. Enjoy the slideshow from today's nature walk below!
Hadley has identified clay as her very favorite thing to do at school. All three children spent some time working with this material today. Hadley glazed some of her work from Wednesday and mad a piglet for her pig. Vivienne made Sofia the first and a very cool mushroom. Max made a clay portrait of his nanny and his nanny's home. Max also worked on another hot glue and paint creation. Enjoy these images and have a great weekend! Happy New Year!
In the studio, another big idea called for collaboration. Rose and Hadley worked to create a clay duck. Hadley was able to transfer some of her clay animal expertise as she had previously made a clay pig in the Tucker Room. Working together isn't always easy and there were some disagreements along the way. The girls soon realized they had different skills and by working to their strengths, they could accomplish the goal. As Rose observed, "Sometimes people are goober at some things." After they made the duck, they went on to individual work. Although they were now working on discreet projects, they continued to help each other. At one point, Rose said to Hadley, "Can I help you? I'll listen to your ideas." Did you know that hot glue is one of our favorite materials? Today's other studio experience was creating designs with a different types of hot glue and then adding paint. The glue provides some texture (and sometimes sparkle) to the finished work. The rest of our day included playing outside, writing messages, and talking about highlights from our winter break. |
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