Clay WorkshopIn clay, children had the opportunity for open clay exploration as well as preparing slabs of clay for a future sewing experience. For those preparing slabs, they did so by putting holes through the clay using straws. In open clay, Maren and Lane worked together (see photos in top row of the following grid): Lane: "This is the baby tiger being baptized." Maren: "Now we have to make the grown up (tiger) house." Lane: "Do you want to connect them at the tippy top?" Maren: "Yes." The children combined their pieces of clay. Lane: "How do you like our church?" Community of ConstructionDuring construction, children worked off of one another's ideas, chose to work close in proximity to one another, and gradually combined ideas as they continued to work. In the end, they built individual constructions which were connected both physically (with materials) and in story. Read the captions in the following slideshow for more of their process.
During meeting, Sam shared about the house he had built in KW yesterday: Sam: "So, this is my house...and all the people I know. This is the back, (pointing at the rooms built in the back of the house) so there are people in the back." (Pointing at cracks between the curved design on the front of the house.) "In these little cracks are sharks." "Right in the back is my bedroom and I'm sharing my bedroom..." Jack: "With me!" Sam: "Yes, and Clare is sharing her bedroom with Austin." Sam seems to use his constructed house as a symbol of his close relationships and as a tool for his emotions. He talked about the building of his house, explaining he built the house because he was missing his mom and it made him forget about that. While Lane, Maren, and Lou Lou build together, they have moments of celebration about their ideas. Including a spontaneous group hug (second two photos). They shout: "Hug and jump!" Getting ready for a photo with their construction work, Lane calls to everyone: "Let's all hug together!"
Continuing next week...Maren and Lane began drilling holes in pieces of wood for future sewing work today. Our drill unexpectedly ran out of charge so we're looking forward to continuing this and other work next week.  
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From our email edition of the blog...Sewing, Fashion Design, Construction, |
| Sewing headbands (with the option of open sewing) continued today and more children chose to work on headband designs using ribbons. Maren laid out materials she'll continue with later, Grace D. continued her headband from yesterday, Ellie sewed: "I'm making a blanket," and Lane and Lou Lou chose to work on a collaborative sewing piece and then made each other headbands. Some words from them as they worked: Lou Lou: "We're going to make a new portfolio that's just Lou Lou and Laney." Lane: "Lou Lou, do you want to come to my house today?" Lou Lou: "If it works out."  |  "Don't cry happy tears, Lou Lou!" (Lane responding to Lou Lou's delight) |
| Fashion Design Evelyn focused on thinking about what different materials could be used for and imagining what she needed. She sought out and then worked with a silver fabric, carefully wrapping it around a figure. When it didn't work, she accepted help from Sally. Sally and Grace M. also worked together. Sally: "We did it together." Grace: "Look at her beautiful bracelet." | |
Construction
Jack, Gigi, and Sam chose to build with blocks.
Jack continued working on a structure he had started in the morning.
Gigi built a structure with varied design features including curved lines going in different directions.
Sam, possibly working off of Gigi's varied lines, built a large house with swoop-like blocks on the outside and several individual rooms on the inside. "It's my house. Everybody I know lives there, that's why there's so many people ."
Jack, Gigi, and Sam chose to build with blocks.
Jack continued working on a structure he had started in the morning.
Gigi built a structure with varied design features including curved lines going in different directions.
Sam, possibly working off of Gigi's varied lines, built a large house with swoop-like blocks on the outside and several individual rooms on the inside. "It's my house. Everybody I know lives there, that's why there's so many people ."
| | Clay As Maren had presented the idea of building with clay, we offered clay slabs. Children also had the options of adding impressions to slabs, or holes for future sewing (through the slabs.) Open clay was also an option. Maren & Grace D. built houses out of clay slabs, Maren also prepared a slab for future sewing and Austin made impressions in a clay slab. Several children worked in open clay including Austin and Jack who made a volcano together. |
Togetherness
As usual, a big theme of the afternoon was togetherness; children and adults enjoying being together whether working collaboratively, playing in pairs or groups, or cuddling up for a group-read at the end of the day.
As usual, a big theme of the afternoon was togetherness; children and adults enjoying being together whether working collaboratively, playing in pairs or groups, or cuddling up for a group-read at the end of the day.
Welcome, Ellie!We are thrilled that Ellie has joined our KW program! She had a great day yesterday, and today was much the same. One of our KW experts, Lou Lou, introduced her to our table setting routine. From there, she participated in most of our planned experiences: baking, sewing, and watercolors.  |  |
"It's not brownies yet, because it hasn't been in the oven" Ellie
Children enthusiastically made brownies for tomorrow night's Winter Potluck. Many thanks to Sam's family for bringing in the ingredients. The only disappointing element of this experience was that children couldn't taste the results. Grace D. commented, "We're the KW dessert makers, not healthy food makers. And we're healthy food makers, but this is chocolate."
"I want to be a famous designer like Coco Chanel." Louise
Yesterday children started working on fashion design for the drawing figures. Children's creativity was on full display as that work continued today. While designing:
Jossie - Do you think it's fancy enough?
Louise - (Gasps, nods excitedly) Yes!
Louise and others set up a stage on a low white table. Bottle caps and tiny candles lined the runway, as Louise said, "We need candles to light up the stage." Meanwhile, Jossie brought some paper tickets.
Jossie - I have tickets for the show. We have to make ticket bags to sell at the shows.
Grace and Grace help assemble the ticket bags.
Jossie - We need two tickets inside the bags, okay guys?
Grace and Grace agree.
Grace D. - But the people who are in the show don't need a ticket. If people are bad don't get a ticket.
Jossie - No, even if people are bad, they get a ticket to go to the show because that's what shows are all about.... to get money. (Realizing that there are three children making bags, Jossie does some quick mather in her head....) We need to do just three more bags of tickets. We each need to do just one more bag.
Jossie - Do you think it's fancy enough?
Louise - (Gasps, nods excitedly) Yes!
Louise and others set up a stage on a low white table. Bottle caps and tiny candles lined the runway, as Louise said, "We need candles to light up the stage." Meanwhile, Jossie brought some paper tickets.
Jossie - I have tickets for the show. We have to make ticket bags to sell at the shows.
Grace and Grace help assemble the ticket bags.
Jossie - We need two tickets inside the bags, okay guys?
Grace and Grace agree.
Grace D. - But the people who are in the show don't need a ticket. If people are bad don't get a ticket.
Jossie - No, even if people are bad, they get a ticket to go to the show because that's what shows are all about.... to get money. (Realizing that there are three children making bags, Jossie does some quick mather in her head....) We need to do just three more bags of tickets. We each need to do just one more bag.
"I Like Everyone's (Paintings)" Lou Lou
Liquid watercolors were offered again today. Some children turned out a number of paintings, and many featured mermaids. Grace M. discussed her mermaid, "This mermaid is a little fat because she is having ice cream. And she's staying still and thinking about what she likes.....rainbows. She's thinking about every color that she likes."
Headbands
When we asked children about their ideas for workshop possibilities, there was definite interest for sewing headbands. That work began today by embellishing ribbons by hand sewing. Grace D. sewed on tiny bells, saying, "My headband is jingly so everyone notices me." Stay tuned as this work with continue in the coming days and weeks.
A Quick Look at Our Day!
Today is officially a no-blog day, as teachers were involved with the presentation for visiting educators. The children had a fun day with two terrific subs: Brigitte and Jennie Lopez. Opportunities included building, fashion design, and watercolors.
Many thank to Jennie for substituting for us!
Many thank to Jennie for substituting for us!
We would also like to thank Helen Sale, Katherine Nix, Sarah Hou, and Jess Bieligk for supporting our program by attending today's presentation!
Visiting Lantern Books
| We had a sweet afternoon in KW reading books together at Lantern Books. Children perused the books, looked on their own and in groups. The favorite choice seemed to be cozying up for group reads of several books with Jill and Jessica. |  |
Enjoy the slideshow of our time together today and have a great weekend!
Wood: Our Observations and Ideas for Building
During meeting, we revisited some of our wood reflections as we presented the day's experiences. Austin and Evelyn added some thoughts about the lines and grain observed in wood.
Austin: "There's lines because there's lines in the tree."
Evelyn: "It looks like a rainbow."
In fact, later Evelyn painted the rainbow she observed in the wood:
Austin: "There's lines because there's lines in the tree."
Evelyn: "It looks like a rainbow."
In fact, later Evelyn painted the rainbow she observed in the wood:
 |  |
Lane and Maren drew and painted representations of wood grain as well:
| Meanwhile Austin and Jack worked with pieces of wood to build models of their building ideas. Jack: "I know what I want to build. A dog house." As they worked, the children communicated about each other's need for specific pieces of wood. Jack: "Do you need this board, Austin?" Austin: "No." Jack, having checked with Austin first, decided to use the board. Jack selects another piece: "Do you need this log?" Austin: "Yeah, let me see it. Do you have a wooden log?" (in your design) Jack: "No, I don't have a wooden log." Austin: "I need one right here." While working, Austin expresses another workshop idea he is thinking about: "I know...how things are made. Like clocks and stuff. Like you open it and learn about it." Jack explains a section of his dog house (see photo of Jack lowering the piece of wood): "This is like a door and it lowers and closes." |     |
Sanding Wood
Austin and Jack move on to sand some pieces of wood. Gigi joins them, and later Evelyn. As the children work, they make note of certain properties of the materials they are working with.
Austin describes the texture of the sandpaper: "There's little teeth on this."
Jack going through wood observes a clue about which wood needs or doesn't need sanding: "This one is smooth now already." He moves on to sand another piece of wood.
Gigi picks up a piece of wood to sand: "And this is heavy."
As children make these observations and discoveries about materials, they are building an understanding and language about these materials that they will utilize in these and other experiences later.
Austin describes the texture of the sandpaper: "There's little teeth on this."
Jack going through wood observes a clue about which wood needs or doesn't need sanding: "This one is smooth now already." He moves on to sand another piece of wood.
Gigi picks up a piece of wood to sand: "And this is heavy."
As children make these observations and discoveries about materials, they are building an understanding and language about these materials that they will utilize in these and other experiences later.
Message Delivery & Discovery
 | Creating and delivering messages to the homeless continues to be such an important experience for the children. Today another group brought more messages to Blake Hall. During the delivery, Rachael who was also with the group, discovered a list of names our visitors left for us! |
Knowing the children have been asking about the names of our visitors, Rachael read the names to the children. The children were excited and this information served as a way of building connection and relationship to the people staying in our building overnight.
Making More Messages
Sewing
Sewing was also available today. As it sometimes happens, we ran into some technical difficulties with our sewing machine (possibly as it has seen A LOT of use across classrooms lately!) So the biggest takeaway from our sewing time today was patience. Patience to wait and see if we could get the machine working again, patience to try a variety of solutions, and patience for a turn.
Lane, who was waiting for a turn, had a great response and invited other friends, "Let's make another plan while we wait." Grace D. made the plan of working on her shiny hand-sewing piece. In the end, only Maren had a chance with the machine today but our magic list continues making sure we'll all get to work on our sewing projects.
Lane, who was waiting for a turn, had a great response and invited other friends, "Let's make another plan while we wait." Grace D. made the plan of working on her shiny hand-sewing piece. In the end, only Maren had a chance with the machine today but our magic list continues making sure we'll all get to work on our sewing projects.
Outdoor Classroom
During our outdoor time Austin, Grace M., and Jack created a game of swinging and landing. They had a challenge going to see who could land and reach the farthest. Other friends created a store selling delicious food.
Wood Reflections
    | Yesterday our wood building preparations including sanding pieces of wood. Today, we took time to reflect on the properties of wood through conversations. Here are some of the things children already know about wood: Joslin - It gets cut in shapes. Leigh - In the fireplace, there was black wood and Prater dropped it and black dust went everywhere. Grace D. - (Wood is) in straight lines. (Noting that almost all the wood we use has straight edges.) Joslin - (Examining a piece of bark) I notice that there's little tiny pieces in the bark.... bumpy rough stuff that's not supposed to be there. Trees are supposed to be smooth. Grace D. - (Looking at round pieces of wood.) This is like a round circle..... I don't know where it came from. This is like a stump. Lou Lou - Wood comes from trees. Grace M. - The wood is inside of the bark because the bark protects the tree. Lou Lou - Trees can change over the years. The wood can change color a little bit. (Remembering building with wood last year) We builded super strong with wood. The wood is super strong. We pushed the nails in super far. Children worked with drawing and watercolors to represent wood, trees, and their ideas. |
Sewing and Relationships
Once again, children were sewing, both by hand and with the machine. We are often struck by the collaborative nature of sewing, even as children work on their individual pieces. Although Gigi has sewn with the Rainey Room, this was her first time sewing with the machine in KW. Joslin sat with her and chatted with her through the sewing process. Here's some bits of the conversations:
Joslin - Which are you going to sew first?
Gigi - (After selecting her first piece) I know how to pedal nice and slow... it depends how you press.
Joslin showed Gigi how to lift the foot and turn the fabric in oder to turn a corner and sew around another edge.
While Joslin had a turn to sew....
Gigi - What is the white button for?
Joslin - That makes it go backwards to sew the other direction, I'll show you.
Joslin - Which are you going to sew first?
Gigi - (After selecting her first piece) I know how to pedal nice and slow... it depends how you press.
Joslin showed Gigi how to lift the foot and turn the fabric in oder to turn a corner and sew around another edge.
While Joslin had a turn to sew....
Gigi - What is the white button for?
Joslin - That makes it go backwards to sew the other direction, I'll show you.
Other experiences for the day included making more messages for our Blake Hall guests.... and top secret work with Lisa on Sam's birthday gift!
"We get to know people when we send them cards." Lou Lou
 Louise points to a message she made last week | The enthusiasm for preparing messages for our Blake Hall guests continued. Children prepared messages and then went to deliver them. We were surprised and happy to see that some of the people had saved their message and left them near their beds as a decoration. When Louise saw a message that she made last week, she said, "I think they loved it." |
Planning Ahead... Future Workshop Possibilities
Children have generated many unique workshop possibilities. We asked them to represent their ideas with drawing and buildings today. Children have mentioned making headbands and there was a lot of interest in drawing these ideas today. According to their drawings, some headbands will be decorated with butterflies, flowers or unicorn horns. As Sam drew his head band possibility, he said, "This is for my baby sister.... it's going to be the tiniest headband ever." Austin picked up on the idea of making a headband for his baby sister saying, "Her head is like this big." He held his hands together in a circle to demonstrate.
Last week, Louise proposed the idea of a workshop for design, sayin that she would like..."a fashion show workshop. get dolls and put designs on them.." Today she worked on building a representation of that idea with a few of her friends.
It's been very clear that children are interested in using wood and tools. Today children did some initial prep work by sanding some slightly rough wood. Children spent a good portion of their day on this important task.
And of course.... Sewing
Children continued their ongoing work with the sewing machine today. As they gain experience, we have been impressed with how children remember the process and carefully implement the necessary steps. Rainey Room has also been sewing a lot lately, providing time for children to reinforce their skills. We also love how this mixed-age group continues to learn from each other.
Evelyn - Why are going slow?
Joslin - Because I don't want to cut myself.
Evelyn - Why are you putting your hand on it?
Joslin - So I can direct it.
As they sew, children are also picking up information on how the machine works. Today Evelyn noticed that there were two threads, one from the needle and one from the bobbin. Another discovery was the reverse button. After asking, "What does this do?," Joslin experimented with switching direction in order to stitch the edges of the foil paper she was attaching to her fabric.
Evelyn - Why are going slow?
Joslin - Because I don't want to cut myself.
Evelyn - Why are you putting your hand on it?
Joslin - So I can direct it.
As they sew, children are also picking up information on how the machine works. Today Evelyn noticed that there were two threads, one from the needle and one from the bobbin. Another discovery was the reverse button. After asking, "What does this do?," Joslin experimented with switching direction in order to stitch the edges of the foil paper she was attaching to her fabric.
A Relaxing Afternoon of
Sewing Workshops
,Lane, Leigh, and Lou Lou worked on shiny hand sewing. Leigh set out perimeters for herself, explaining she was only using black and silver materials. Lou Lou used some shiny wrappers she saved from her lunch the last couple of days. She cut them into pieces before sewing them on. Jack, who was nearby selecting materials for machine sewing, asked to use some of the wrappers. Lou Lou happily obliged, sharing pieces she had cut.
At the machine, Jack, Maren, Lou Lou, and Lane took turns sewing. Sam drew at a nearby table and checked in frequently watching the work children were doing. He called over, "You know I love sewing."
Check out the slideshow for more on each child's process at the machine.
Check out the slideshow for more on each child's process at the machine.
Other Highlights
While the table was being set, Jessica asked the children how many people are here today so she could put out enough chairs for lunch.
Maren: "I will count, (pointing at each child) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6."
Jessica held up six fingers: "Six children plus how many adults?"
Jack seeming to already have added 6 children and 2 adults in his head, "Eight!"
Jill: "You didn't count on your fingers."
Jack paused as if thinking about how he had added the numbers: "I feel it in my body."
Maren: "I will count, (pointing at each child) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6."
Jessica held up six fingers: "Six children plus how many adults?"
Jack seeming to already have added 6 children and 2 adults in his head, "Eight!"
Jill: "You didn't count on your fingers."
Jack paused as if thinking about how he had added the numbers: "I feel it in my body."
Messages for our Blake Hall VisitorsChildren were excited to have completed enough messages to deliver to our guests downstairs today. They excitedly delivered the messages, one per bed in Blake Hall. |  |
Afterward, some children chose to continue making messages for the homeless in hopes to reach enough for a second round to be delivered on another day.
Messages were also made for family members, teachers with recent birthdays, and friends. Lane made a message for Jack because he has been out sick. Children showed their developing empathy and care for others through these thoughtful and heart-warming messages.
Messages were also made for family members, teachers with recent birthdays, and friends. Lane made a message for Jack because he has been out sick. Children showed their developing empathy and care for others through these thoughtful and heart-warming messages.
Representing Workshop Ideas
In reviewing recent drawings of children's workshop ideas we realized we have some workshops children have yet to represent visually. We also knew Gigi, having started KW just yesterday, hadn't had an opportunity to show her ideas. So drawing workshop ideas was a choice for today. Maren drew a sewing machine to illustrate our Sewing Workshop (she also worked on her hand sewing!), Gigi drew a Light Workshop, and Evelyn began with the idea of a Building Workshop.
Completed Drawings
(Hover for descriptions of the children's illustrations.)
| In thinking about the way children understand and communicate what they know through multiple "languages," we wondered if any children would want to represent their workshop ideas through the language of building with blocks and other materials. We also wondered if this building would give us further insight into the children's ideas, in other words, further our own understanding of what the children know already. Austin and Sam were the first to arrive at the building table. Austin chose to represent part of his Sports Workshop ideas in the form of a football field. "I'm doing sports." Sam said, "I'm going to build the Toy Workshop where people make toys and take them home." As other children showed interest in building, they were invited to support Austin and Sam with their work already in progress. Sam, possibly inspired by the green football field, built an outdoor play space on green paper. Grace D. and Lane helped him by adding people. Grace, Lane, Maren, and Gigi also added various found objects to represent toys in the toy workshop. Austin used bricks to represent the football players and people in the stadium. |      |
At the end of the day, the children asked Lisa and Rachael if it would be OK to leave the building up for Tucker children to see the next day. The teachers said yes which thrilled all of the proud and hardworking builders! Grace D. said she would even bring some of her Rainey friends to see what they had made.
We can't wait to find out the response of the other children tomorrow!!
We can't wait to find out the response of the other children tomorrow!!
Other Moments Together
Our time in the outdoor classroom this afternoon could not have been timed better with the weather. We enjoyed a break in the sun and from the wind while we lived up the moments together. Enjoy these photos of joyful times making an "ice cream sandwich" out of friends on the slide, a "rice krispie treat store," partner swinging, and other fun. Not pictured: Sally, Sam, and Austin who were such speedy runners nearly the entire time outside in chasing games full of laughter!
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