We have been fascinated with rainbows all year.  Yesterday, Jordan told the children, "We can eat a rainbow."  Naturally almost everyone was intrigued.  The idea of rainbow sandwiches was introduced.  At first, the children weren’t sure how we could make a rainbow sandwich. They thought maybe certain food would combine to make a rainbow.
    Sylvie: Maybe we are going to make a sandwich with all the colors of the rainbow!
    Giacomo: Tomatoes! They are red.
     Marley: Or apples.
     Sylvie: Oranges.
     Nora: Banana.
     George: Grapes are purple.
    Elle: Blueberries.
    Jordan: So…would you eat that sandwich?
    Everyone: Noooooooo!
The ingredients are put in front of the children and they look over everything.
     Giacomo: We are using food dye
     C.C.: Can you eat that?
     Giacomo: The dye is in food. You can eat it.
The children take turns grating the cheese into four bowls. Then, the children put on gloves and add a small amount of food coloring to eat bowl of white cheese. They experiment with the dye to make colors they thin represent a rainbow.
​     Marley: Look at mine! Look how good it is.
    Giacomo: Blue is turning out weller.
    C.C.: It feels so messy!
    Marley: I don’t mind messy.
Each child used the colored cheese to make their sandwich. Now they are ready to grill!
     Janie: It’s hot. Don’t touch it or else it will burn you.

We have been working diligently on making the body of the constellation guardian as shiny as possible.  Yesterday we worked on the head and face. 
    Sylvie:  I have an idea.  Buttons could be the eyes.  (She selects some white buttons.)
    Reed: But they aren't shiny.  Maybe these.  (She selects silver rings).
   Sylvie: (Placing the rings around the buttons) I like that.  (She selects silver pull tabs) And these can be the mouth. (She places them on the face.)  I think I'll make the eyebrows (she twists wire into an eyebrow shape).  
    George: (Picking up a gold chain). Maybe this could be hair. 

Children also continued to find shiny treasures and attach them to the guardian's body. 

"Bathe the Cat" is a new addition to our St. John's library.  The children love the silliness that takes place in the story.
   Finlay - I just love it.
   Wilder - Because it's so silly.
   Bea - I love it because they mop stuff and rock stuff and clean stuff, but they're not supposed to in real lif.
    Lucas - I like it because it says, "Dad, mow the cat!"
​    Jade - I like it when the cat messes up the letters.  
    Elle - It's SO silly!
    Sylvie - The dad does things silly and wrong.
    Reed - And the cat keeps changing the letters.
    George - It's so silly!  The dad sweeps the fish!
    

After that children could work with clay as they wished.
Jade - I’m making a snake.  I’m making a cobra.
Remy - I’m making piggy.
Frannie - I don’t know what I’m making.  It’s a secret.
Jade - Are you making a puppy, Lucas?
Lucas - No, I’m making something that’s not real.  I’m not making a monster, because monsters are real.
There’s some debate among the children about whether or not monsters are real.  
Remy - After this, I’m making a mermaid.
Lucas - I’m done!  It’s a little toy for puppy.  It’s a bobsled for puppy.
Frannie - I’m making a cake. ​

On Thursday, children continued to work on the Guardian for Shiny Things.  The task at hand was to attach the jet pack wings to the body.  The children have proven to be great problem solvers in the past and yesterday was no exception.  
Giacomo and Nora started by finding a metal piece to keep the wings in place.
   Giacomo: The problem with this one is it has metal (on the bottom). (Giacomo find a similar piece) This one doesn’t.
    Sylvie: It looks like a giant hole for a key.
Nora, Sylvie and Giacomo hot glue the metal piece but the wings are not bound tightly
   Nora: But now the wings move. We want the flat. (She makes a similar gesticulation to earlier.)
    Sylvie: If we had something like tape, we could hold the wings.
    Giacomo: We have some experience with wire. We could use wire to hold them.
     Sylvie: Strong wire so it won’t move.
They choose “steel” wire.
    Sylvie: We got steel and now we are putting it through the holes so the wings can’t move.

​Today's goal was to attach the head.  As they came together for this task, the children realized they might need a neck.
    Giacomo: What if we added a neck?
    Nora: That’s exactly what I was thinking.
    Giacomo: It needs to be long and fat
  Maxon: (showing he group a metal handle) See look! This is too long for a neck
The group plays with different material until they agree on a piece that fits. 
     Giacomo: (adding hot glue) We need to get more on the back

And one more thing.....
   Jordan: Now that the head is attached, do we need anything else? 
   C.C.: Legs.
   Jordan: The hinge we used to attach the arms is filled so if you want to add legs, we will need a new idea.
   Giacomo: We can add (the handle Maxon found) and wrap wire around it.
​   Maxon: That’s  good idea Giacomo.

Last week, children explored the idea of jet packs for the shiny things guardian.  Yesterday, Elle, Marley and Lochie were invited to use the pictures of jetpacks they drew last week as inspiration for making a “real” jetpack for the shiny guardian. The first thing they did was look at the collected materials and decide what the pieces could be.           Lochie: This rope could be buckles to hold onto the jetpack.
   Marley: (Thinking about the different types of jetpacks) There’s no water here, so it has to be the flying jetpack.
As children assessed the materials, they initially disliked the materials for wings. 
    Marley: This (shiny material) is too skinny.
    Lochie: This one is too fat. Wait. If we cut it in half, it makes two wings.
    Jordan: If we split this in half, do you think they would be the right size?
    Marley: Yea!
   Lochie: (Looking at the gas tank in the picture of the jetpack) We need tubes. They go straight and then curve and go into the jet.
    Marley: Maybe we need this paper because it's shiny and this is for the shiny guardian.
    Elle: And these (stickers) could be for the buttons.
    Marley: These are thing wings. Elle, do you want to help me?
    Elle: Sure. These can be crystal and these can be buttons (pointing to shiny materials).

​CC joins and looks at the progress. She does not like the materials.     
   C.C.: Nope. It needs more metals parts.
   Jordan: Do you see anything that would fit the idea you have?
   C.C.: No.
   Jordan: That’s ok. How about if we look in the Tucker closet and find something closer to what you were imagining.
   C.C.: Ok (CC collects hinges, bolts, and other small metal objects) This is perfect.
   C.C. spends time creating a base for the jetpack with found metal pieces and wire.

Today children worked to attach things to the jet pack wings that couldn't be attached with wire.  There was a special focus on the tubes which were a part of Lochie's drawing. 
   Marley: These are the tubes. I’m going to add some buttons.
   Lochie: These can the the tubes where the fire comes out.
Violet joins.
   Marley: Good job, Violet. Me and Voiolet need to put a few more on. Violet, you can go first.
   Lochie: This part is where the fuel comes.

Children have continued their work on the constellations guardian's body.  As they work , they put into practice a techniques that they learned while working on the constellations themselves: no- touch wire.  Instead of merely stringing beads and found objects on wire, children incorporate a twist or loop in the wire between items in order to space them out.
​   Reed: I went through it here and it did not touch.  It's very close, but it did not touch.  

Last week, the group decided that that guardian's body could be filled with reduced copies of portfolio elements.  some children selected some of their favorite pieces of work last week and Audrey, Lochie, and Nora made some additions today.