Our last week! There's just a few days left of KW for the year! we're bringing out some of our favorite experiences: collage, watercolors, and building! We're looking forward to seeing everyone who can make it at 2:30 tomorrow in Blake Hall for our last day festivities!
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"I've never made ice cream before!" CC
Process over Product!At St. John's, we emphasize the process over the product. This can be true even when the product is ice cream! A few classmates described the process through graphic representations today.
Ice Cream Party!Of course, the best part of the whole process was eating it. We invited all of the teachers, Molly, and Audrey to try our ice cream! Everyone agreed that the results were yummy! Games! There was more to this rainy inside day than just ice cream. We played lots of games! We started the after noon with "Fox and Rabbit" and "Frog Detective." Both involved playing close attention to other members of the class.
We also played Uno, High Card, and a few silly rounds of Telephone. It was a fun Friday!
Other materials and experiences....Here's the other things that filled our Friday:
Have a wonderful long weekend!"Oh... Just Making Flowers" - Nora  This week we decided to bring back a few of our favorite languages, wire and paper, and make flowers. The children have used wire throughout the year to create amazing work and continually improve their mastery of the language. With a variety of types of paper at their disposal, the children created beautiful flowers to coincide with outdoor class, whose flowers they noticed are in full bloom. Many of the children garden at home and were excited to bring that expertise to the experience.
         "We're Making Ice Cream!" - Finlay  Tuesday was a very exciting day in KW. The children decided earlier that they wanted to make ice cream from scratch and today it finally happened. We had several suggestions for flavors including cotton candy, mint chocolate and strawberry but ultimately, the children decided on... Cookies and Cream Ice Cream!! Unfortunately, it takes time for the ice cream to completely solidify. We had to wait a whole day to find out if it would be a delicious as it looked.
Wilder: I loved dumping it in. I loved mixing because my arm was jiggling like a it trying to dance or something Finlay: Mine Too!
Capers: I’m excited about eating it. We’re smelling it. It smells really (good)
 Finally: I enjoyed making the ice cream "This is more yummy than possible!" - Lucas "It's too too yummy in my tummy!" - Luke
 Our Requested Language: Hand Sewing 
The back and front of Remy's sewing project Working on the Gingko Leaves  KW decided to help Jenn with the giant gingko leaves on Wednesday. It was tall order, but we were up for the challenge. The whole school has been working on the gingko leaves and KW children were eager to help.  Wire Sculpture In keeping with our three dimensional work, the children worked with wire to create 3-D sculptures. They used a variety of techniques such as "no touch wire" to create new sculptures and expand their knowledge of the materials. The children focused on fine motor skills, plannings, sequences and stability as they worked with the materials.
"This is ultra cool!" - Lucas
"I'm going to tie the wire right here" - Wilder
A look at our week It's our last full week of Kids' Workshop! We have been promising an ice cream cooking project, so this is the week! As we asked children about possible flavors, sprinkles were and important ingredient! Whatever we create, we will make sure to include sprinkles! It looks pretty rainy this week, but if Friday is dry, the Tucker crew will take a neighborhood walk. The rest of the week will be filled with experiences that children have requested. It will be a fun-filled week! Reminder: The KW End-of-Year Celebration will take |
| Rainey has worked for weeks on the various body parts of the clay guardian. This week, they were willing to let Tucker Room assist with adding colored glaze. Remy and Bea agreed that the snake head should be blue and purple but left the remaining choices up to Tucker Room. As Jack indicated, Tucker room children were impressed with the design and work that went into the clay guardian. Elle and Jack began their work by studying the images of snakes and ceramic guardians. Elle: (Elle spends time looking over the images of the snakes) This (clay scales) look like that (snake). Jack: I bet that head is supposed to be that (snake image). Elle: The scales and be purple and blue. Jordan: You know what’s funny? Those are the colors Rainey Room chose and I didn’t even get the chance to tell you. Jack: (Jack studies the ceramic statues intensely) Maybe the skin can be green like those statues. CC joins after the skin is semi glazed CC: There’s a lot of space for the eyes. CC studies the images of the snakes CC: (The eyes can be) Black in the middle and purple on the outside. First we do purple, then let it dry, then a little black like the snake. Audrey and Nora added embellishments. Audrey takes her time and meticulously applied glaze, adding purple to each indentation of the tail . |   |
Great Games
| We brought out an old classic furor games today: Uno. Children were thrilled to give it a try. Lochie: I’ve played this at home! I'm an expert. CC: (Looking at her cards) I get confused between the 6 and the 9. Lochie: You just flip the 9 over and it’s the 6. Maxon: The circle is on the bottom (for a 6). Lochie demonstrated his expertise by talking his friend through the initial rounds of the game. Lochie: You can add a card with the color or number. See? (he plays his card on a red seven) You can play a red card or a seven. Maxon: (after winning his firs game) We learn from people who win. It’s my first time but I learned fast! |  |
Later, we brought out Jenga!
Collaborative Collage
Earlier this week, the Brown Room began to work on a huge ginkgo leaf collage. Using pieces of the beautiful materials that families had shared with us, they glued them into small spaces created by chicken wire. KW helped with the process today, making this a school-wide collaboration!
This and that...
- Both yesterday and today, children worked on name tags that will be used for the bags containing their KW portfolio work. As you can imagine, some children were delighted to discover a wide selection of gems to bedazzle their names.
- Messages were also on offer both days.
- Our buildings took on a collaborative element. Violet started by building her own house, but that was later incorporated into the home of Lochie and Jack.
- And... puzzles!
Enjoy the images and have a wonderful weekend!
Counting Down the Days!
In the last few days of school, we are preparing some end-of year gifts. Last week, a clay serving plate made by KW was given to a retiring Board member. We are also working with Tucker Room to create portraits of Victor and Lucila, who clean are school and help in so many other ways!
 Lucila by Remy |  Victor by Luke |  Lucila by Jade |  Victor by Cate |
 Lucila by Janie |  Victor by Audrey |  Lucila by Audrey |  Victor by Jade |
 Victor and Lucila by Reed |  Mom by Audrey |  Mom by Reed |
While some children worked on portraits, others worked with watercolor designs of their own choosing.
Bon Voyage, Jade and Elle! We've loved having you in KW!
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Going on an Adventure
It was beautiful day in Georgetown and KW decided to go on a walk to the canals in search of animals to feed. Thank you Audrey for coming with us and making a great trip even better. It is always great to travel around Georgetown and enjoy being in the community. The children were excited to explain how to get to the canal and theorize what types of animals we might encounter. Baby ducks, mice, alligators and dinosaurs were all excited suggestions. Before we made it to the canals, we decided to climb and explore the area.
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At the canals, we came across a surprise. TURTLES!!
"There's an alligator too!" - Wilder
"He's so cute!" - Frannie
"He's so cute!" - Frannie
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KW proceeded further into Georgetown and made its way to the river where we challenged the maze and continued our search for animals to feed.
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Adding Color to the Clay Guardian
Inspiration for the clay guardian
After meticulous planning, the clay guardian has been fired and is ready to be glazed. We are so excited to get to the final steps to complete the clay guardian. KW children studied images of the animals they based the guardian off of and ceramic guardians from Thailand, China and Japan to come up with a palette for their guardian.
"The middle is going to be a different color (than the scales)" - Bea
  | Jordan: What should we work on first? Bea: The body Luke: I remember when we made that (the body) Capers: I see the tail I made Bea: The middle is going to be a different color Jordan: What color are the scales going to be? Luke: Red Capers: Green. That's like a Christmas guardian. Bea: But it's for clay. Capers: When the whole is done, it's going to look good |
Careful! It is hollow! - Lily
| Bea: The horns can be green Remy: And black Bea: Ok you paint this one black and I'll paint on green. |  |
| As we worked on the guardian, we observed the images of guardians from other countries: Bea: I like the Japan one because the fire comes out. It looks like half dragon and half... Remy: Reindeer! Bea: Yea. Reindeer. Jordan: Did you know that's actually a unicorn? Unicorns look different in different cultures. Everyone: Whoa! Remy: I think they (the sculptures in the images) are made of glass Lily: I think they are made from clay. |  |
Our Ongoing Work:
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This Week in KW
Good news! The clay guardian has been fired and is still intact! We will work on glazing it this week, before its final firing. Other experiences this week reflect the end of the year: we will prepare name tags for our portfolio bags, work on some end-of-the year gifts, and finish our letter to the owner of the transformer statues. We're starting the week with a walk to the canal!
Save the Date!
Our KW end-of-year celebration and slideshow will be on Wednesday, June 1st at 2:30.
All KW children (Both Tucker and Rainey groups) are invited to attend KW on that day.
All KW children (Both Tucker and Rainey groups) are invited to attend KW on that day.
We will send out an email soon to make sure that everyone gets the word!
Paper Sculpture
This week, both KW groups have been creating a new kind of collage...paper sculpture. As they work, children explore the properties of paper and glue. How can they fold and crease the paper to make it stand upright? How long do they have to hold the pieces together to allow the glue to adhere? At what point will a pair structure become unstable? Children put their previous knowledge of paper folding into practice as they made their sculptures. Giacomo - You can make one (sculpture) on top of another one.
Marley - (Building vertically) Look at mine!
Nora - Wow! Marleys is sooo tall.
Giacomo - Mine is almost as tall as Marley’s.
Sylvie - I like the way mine bends. I like how it's twisted. It curls like a race track.
Nora - I like this piece. It's like grass.
Marley - I like this green part that's hanging.
Marley - (Building vertically) Look at mine!
Nora - Wow! Marleys is sooo tall.
Giacomo - Mine is almost as tall as Marley’s.
Sylvie - I like the way mine bends. I like how it's twisted. It curls like a race track.
Nora - I like this piece. It's like grass.
Marley - I like this green part that's hanging.
More Messages!
The KW children have been very prolific at making welcoming messages for new children. These messages will be sent home with parents at the New Parent Reception tonight. Today, we worked on the last of the collection.
 |  Just a sampling of the messages that KW has created for new children! |
Portfolio Preparation
Each morning, children and teachers can be found organizing the portfolios. KW preparation has included starting to make name tags for their portfolio bags.
| |  Jack chose to include the Ukrainian flag on his name tag. |
Of course, there was also time for building and high card!
Have a wonderful weekend!
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