The small group for the clay guardian started by looking at their previous work and deciding what the best aspects of the drawings were.

(Looking at Cate’s) Thats the coolest one - Capers
I want to make one like Cate’s. We need to have it break fire - Bea
I agree - Capers
(Looking at the mythology book) This is too scary. If people see if, they’ll go’ahhhhhh’ and run away and won’t know its not real. - Bea

Jade - We could put markers together and tape them or tie them (to form the legs).
The first task was to equally divide the legs.  Lucas and Wilder worked together while Jade and Remy formed the other group.  They all took markers and counted the number that was in each set.  Initially, Wilder and Lucas had 11 markers while Jade and Remy had 7.  The boys passed a few markers to the girls.  Now the girls’ set contained 10, while the boys had 8.
Wilder - Maybe you should share some of your markers.
Jade - We will. 

 
​ Next up was the skirt.  Frannie and Lily selected  material and cut it.  
     Lily - I helped make the skirt.  So we got some wire and put the fabric on it, over and over again.  And then it was done.  
    Remy - We sewed the wire in out, in out, in out.  It made ruffles.  
    Brigitte - That's big skirt!
    Remy - Because it's a big fairy!
 Later Lucas came over and sewed additional flower embellishments on the skirt.  
      

Children started by examining the work that has been done on the body of the guardian.  
    Frannie - He looks like “Clink.” (Frannie is referring to a book we have read about a robot named “Clink.”)
    Jade - I know what his name should be, “Goldfish.”
    Cate - Maybe his name should be “Messages.”
    Cape - (Noticing a dot of hot glue in the center of the body). That looks like his belly button
    Jill - So today, we can either work on the head or the legs.
    Several children - The head!
    Jill - You have selected this box for the head.  Last week, we were trying to decide if the head should be blue or yellow?     
    Cate - Can we vote?
    Jill - Sure.  
Children unanimously vote for blue.  They begin to think about the eyes.
      Wilder - Maybe buttons for the eyes.
  Jill - Can you think about why the eyes would be important for a guardian?
  Finlay - Because if a bad guy comes in and he (guardian) doesn’t have eyes, the bad guys would think it was just a decoration and keep walking.
    Cape - So he can see the bad guys coming.
    Jade - So he can see the really bad bad guys.
The children work on the eyes, choosing “O” stickers with google eyes in the middle.  
    Jade - Those eyes are pretty scary.
    Lucas - it will stop the bad guys by eating them and the scissors (arms) will be fore hurting them.
    Jill - I remember in Finlay’s drawing, the guardian had antennae. 
    Finlay - Yes!  Antennae!
The group decides that old marker caps would be the perfect antennae.  After reviewing all the marker cap possibilities, they begin gluing them on to the top of the head.

Finlay: He looks like Batman
Jill: You think because of the ears?
​Wilder: Yea!

Wilder: They have lots of sharp things on their bodies. There's lots of silver.

Jade: There's a key on the bottom. That's where you put the fuel in so they can move.

Cate: Look inside! There's another transformer inside (the house).

​We often refer to the famous Loris Malaguzzi phrase, "nothing without joy."  In our recent conversations with Amelia Gambetti, she has pointed out that this phrase implies that the joy comes with effort.  In other words, it's not only about having fun and being joyful, it is about the joy that comes from trying new things, solving some problems, collaborating with others, etc.  (NOTE:  Amelia Gambetti is a lifelong educator with the Reggio Amelia schools.  We are fortunate that she has collaborated with our school for over 10 years.). Last week, children thought about the guardian for shiny things, and drew their ideas.  This week, the work and pleasure of construction could begin.   
Marley explores the materials and makes a pile of what she thinks will be the most useful.
    Marley: These (gems) could be for the outline. I'll add them to the pile.
Marley collects shiny papers and examines it
    C.C.: Definitely these,  Marley
   Marley: Definitely
   Jack: You can't just use little stuff. Then you can't build big.
The group finds cardboard boxes but they are not shiny. 
    Jordan: Have you tried the tin foil. You can bend and move it around things.
C.C.experiments with the cardboard boxes and foil.
    C.C.: Wrap it up like a present!!
C.C. wraps a medium size box in tin foil and the other members of her group attempt to do the same on other boxes.
    Reed: What if we make more boxes then glue them together and make a huge body?
    C.C.: Yea! But wait. We need more boxes.
Reed, C.C. and Marley collect more boxes. Jack stays behind and wraps tin foil balls in wire to make eyes. Marley and Reed begin working on the head.
    Marley: I want to make a square head.
    Reed: My idea was we could make a head like a robot
    Marley: I want this (box) to be the head
    Reed: OK. We can add these (gems)
The girls take turns adding materials onto the head
    Marley: I'm putting eyeballs in the middle
    Reed: Can we put on the gems?
    Marley: They can be the mouth.
    C.C.: No, No! Not there! (CC points to a different spot)
    Marley: Oh, that's a good place.

​Today the guardian for shiny things gained a body.  As this involved gluing gems, there was a lot of enthusiasm for the process.  Audrey joined in, even though she had previously worked on two other guardian groups.  It was noted that the gems were not sticking to the foil with regular glue.  It was time to bring in the big guns!
   Violet: That's a hot glue gun. My mommy helped me use it at home.
   C.C.: We need more (gems for the body).  Remember when we looked at the transformers. There was a circle on the body
   Reed: Oh I remember.
   Maxon: (holding up a circle) This could be a perfect circle.
   C.C.: That's what I was thinking.
   Marley: That's what I was thinking.
C.C. and Violet find a metal circle. They hot glue it to the chest of their guardian.  While exploring the materials, the group comes across a door hinge
    C.C.: It's a door thingy.
    Maxon: It holds a door.
    Audrey: It looks like a book.
    Violet: (examining a rusted gold piece) It looks burnt.  (Examining the glue for the hot glue gun) Is this glue?
    Audrey: Yea. This (the glue stick) gets hot and it comes out here
    Marley: So that's dry glue?
    C.C.: Yes. 

As children began to work on the portfolio guardian, collaboration, problem solving, effort and joy were once again on display.  However, we were also struck with the children's knowledge of and ability with wire.  The Tucker Room has recently used this material for the constellations, and their expertise was evident during KW. 

Today the group needed to think about legs and other details.  We started by thinking of things that are in our portfolio basket.  
   George- Drawings.
   Nora - Messages.  Wire.
    Giacomo - Clay.
   Lochie - Sewing.
   Elle - Watercolors.  Paintings.  
Would any of these materials work for legs?  The group concluded that cardboard tubes would be the best choice.
     Lochie - The tubes could be wrapped in wire.
The group agreed with this, and spent time wrapping some tubes with wire.  Again, their dexterity with this materials has grown due to their work with wire on the constellations.  

Yesterday, Sylvie gathered a group of classmates to flesh out the ideas for the Constellation Guardian.  George, Nora, Audrey, and Reed world along with Sylvie to generate more ideas.  We reminded the group that last week Lochie had suggested two guardians: one that hang from the ceiling near the constellations and one that guards from the floor.  
     Sylvie - Make sure it (the guardain) covers both sides (of the constellation) so it can protect it.  
     Reed - Are you saying there should be eyes on every side of the guardian.  
 It was decided that there could be eyes on the front and the back.  
    Sylvie - It can hang from the ceiling and connect to the floor.  
    Jill -  How can we make sure everyone knows that his guardian is for the constellation.
    Sylvie - I have an idea of how people could know it's for the constellation.  We could use the same materials we used for the constellation.  Like beads and wire.  Then people would know it's for the constellation.  
    Audrey - We should have stars on the guardian.  
    Reed - Like maybe add a paper star.
    Sylvie - Or make a star shape out of wire.  I know how to make it a powerful guardian.  Maybe it should have weapons.  
    Nora - We could use static electricity.  Jack knows a lot about static electricity.
    Reed - It could have paper airplanes that it shoots at the bad guys.  (You can see that Reed is thinking about something that could be in the sky...airplanes...as well as something that KW has made before... paper airplanes.)

   Reed - He has yellow teeth because he never brushed his teeth.  And it's going to have music.  It will be scary music and there will be paper airplanes flying down.  All the paper airplanes are pink.  

Sylvie - Mine is turning all green because he ate all the green food.  

Audrey - Mine is also turning different colors.  Sylvie's is all green and mine is different colors.  

Nora - This (the green streak in the upper right) is the power going into the guardian.  This (the blue speckled area). is the water and it gets into the eyes of a bad guy.  

George's idea is designed to stand on the floor under the constellations.  If you look closely you can see guardian figures climbing to the top.  

Giacomo uses a wire basket to demonstrate that it would be a good size for the guardian's body.  

C.C. strikes a pose to show how the portfolio guardian should stand. 

The group came up with this model for the portfolio guardian.  

Marley adds sparkles on top of her design.  "His heart is on the outside."

Maxon added blue tubes to his drawing.  "There are tubes because he's a robot."

Violet used orange to indicate the "shiny things" on her guardian. 

Maxon's second drawing.