It was a beautiful afternoon to go outside and fly some paper airplanes.  The process began with a series of folds, encouraging children to pay attention to different aspects of the paper and firmly creasing each fold they made.   
    Lucas- I pulled really hard to get a good crease.
    Finlay - Take these pieces and push them in.  
    Jade - I did it!
    Wilder - How do you do it?  
Finlay hold up his plane and repeats the fold to demonstrate the process.

Next, it was time to fly the airplanes.  There was a lot to think about for this process as well.  Where do you hold the airplane before launching it?  Are the folds that you made secure?  Are the wings sticking out from the plane?  Can you step into your throw, almost like a baseball pitcher?  Is there a difference between throwing a plane through a target and dropping or pushing it through a target?  Our form and our successes improved the more we practiced!
   Lily - I got it through the blue (hula hoop).
Bea, Cate, and Lily measure how far their planes fly by counting the steps between the starting point and where the plane landed.
    Lily - Six steps!
    Cate - Seven steps!
    Bea- I got eight steps!
    Lily - I got ten steps! 
The children were told that last week Giacomo felt that the plane flew higher if he stood higher.  Children quickly climbed to give their planes and added advantage.   Wilder and Finlay threw from the climber.
   Finlay - Mine went farther.
   Cate - (Standing on top off the slide) Mine went all the way to the bench.
   Jade - It works better that way (being up high).
   Wilder - You know what's a great place to throw?  The slide.  (He climbs up to the top of the slide and throws his plane.)
   Lucas - The wind helped.
   Wilder - Mine worked better when I climbed up high.
   Cape - I made a spooky airplane because it was white like a ghost. 
 

Children are starting to notice the changes in the world around them related to fall.  At lunch Cape said, "I love fall.  Because I see pumpkins and Halloween decorations."   At the light table today children were offered leaves and materials with fall colors.  Their compositions were stunning.

Recently, Lochie and George  spent part of the afternoon making and flying paper airplanes.  We brought this experience to our time in the outdoor classroom today.  Before we got started, we had several questions:

• Would the size of the paper airplane affect how well it flew?
• Would paper or cardstock make a better airplane?
• Would the design of the airplane affect how well it flew?
• Would adding weight (like a paper clip) to the plane affect the flight of the airplane?

As it turned out, all children chose to use the paper for their airplanes.  There didn't seem to be notable differences between the various design methods when it came to the flight of the plane.  the group thoroughly enjoyed folding, decorating, flaying their planes.  
         Maxon - We can fly them through the hula hoops.
      Giacomo - The higher you are, the higher it goes.  (He then stands on the tunnel to gain additional height.)
      Maxon - (Adding a paper clip to his plane) I want to make it strong.
        C.C. - (Adjusts the hula hoops to be parallel). See!  I can go through both (hoops).
      Lochie - (Using the cardboard target) I got it through 100.
        C.C. - I got it through 100.
       George - I got 100 points.  (He repeats the process, over and over).   200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 10 hundred.  I got 10 hundred points.  
        Lochie - Mine through the double hula hoops.
      

On occasion, Maxon has mentioned how much he loves the sea and sea animals.  Today children had the opportunity to transform the light table to an undersea world.  Maxon, Elle, Marley and C.C. worked in this area.  The scenario they developed primarily involved an aggressive crocodile that wanted to eat the other sea animals.  Luckily, the sting ray was there to protect the smaller sea creatures.  

​Like today, yesterday was a beautiful day to be outside.  Children took a scenic route to Volta Park, checking out the halloween decorations along the way.  The group seemed to agree that the "girl in the bushes" and the "girl on the swing" were pretty creepy.  In addition, the yard with "steam" rising from the ground make a big impression.

Jack was probably referring to the fact that there are a lot of rules when we are on a walking field trip, and hoping that he could do whatever he wanted once we arrived.   Indeed, the fun continued at the park as children climbed, ran, and went on the spinners and swings.  We noticed that children challenged themselves physically, taking pride when they accomplished various goals.  
 Thank you, Molly for walking with us!

KW decided to split into two group to cover the things we thought Sam likes the most, her dog and blue sparkles. The first ground focused on the her Corgi. We used pictures Sam send to us so that we knew what he dog looks like.

Lily: I want to try to draw him
Bea: Me too.

Lily uses the picture as a reference while Bea draws a dog from her imagination.

Lily: I chose this color because it's the closest to white. White doesn't show up on the paper.
Bea: Look, I made dogs for Sam

Aschildren work with clay, they are frequently talking with each other.  Even though they may be working on individual creations, they find a way to make connections with each other.  This was true on Thursday, as each child in attendance took a turn at the clay table.  Here's some of their ideas:
    Nora - I'm making a birthday cake.
 Audrey - Me too!  (Counting the candles). My birthday cake has ten candles.
    Janie - I made a birthday cake.
  Giacomo - I made a lot of snakes.  I'm going to connect them.
    Nora - I'm making a Medusa.
    Janie - I'm making a lot of snakes, too.  
  Nora - I'm making so many snakes on Medusa's hair.
    Giacomo - My snake goes everywhere.  
  Nora - (Referring to Giacomo's snake). It's like a coil.
    Audrey - I made a smiley face.
   Janie - I'm going to make a hot dog.  It's a hot dog for snakes.
​   Audrey - (Working on the other side of her cube of clay). Now, it's a mean face. 
    

The next clay group was similarly engaged with each other's ideas.  At times, children were leaning over the table to make connections between their clay work.  Here's some of their thoughts as they worked:
    C.C. - I'm making a snake.
    George - Look what I made!  A snail.
    Lochie - Look at my Mr. Snail.  I'm going to make a chair for him to sit on.
 Elle and Jack begin making beaches.
    C.C. - I'm making a lot of snakes.  A party of snakes at the beach.
    Elle - I made a rainbow.
   Jack - I have a mommy snail and a baby snail the beach.  They are being protected by the worm.
    C.C. - (Rolling her snake). It's all rolled up.
    George - It's sleeping.  That's what snakes look like when they're sleeping.
 George builds a spike house around his snail.
   Jack _ I made a snail house, but it's made out of coral.
     Elle - Mine is the same as Jack's It has some spikes to protect it.  The spikes are much taller.  They are really sharp on the top.  
    Lochie - (Also adding a fence to protect his snail). My spikes are poisonous.  
    

On Thursday, two small groups worked at the hallway magnetic chalkboard.  As they did so, they engaged in trial and error as they made changes to the ramps.  They also discovered that different balls react in different ways.
​   George: Let’s make a trap.
 Lochie and George build a ramp to start.
   George: Look! It landed in the bucket.
   Lochie: Let’s try two balls.
   George: No, let’s try three.
   Jordan: What is the device that your are making?
   George: The “triple shot.”
The triple shot path lands balls into the metal bucket occasionally but misses more than it hits. The children experiment with different types of balls to see if they can get the ball to land in the bucket.
   Jordan: Hmmm. Which type of ball works better?
Lochie tries the wooden ball which bounces into the bucket.
   Lochie: The wooden one because we are practicing.
   George: I think the yellow ones because they are not as slippy.
   Lochie: it goes right into the tank!
   George: Some made it and some didn’t.
Lochie noticed a change in the speed of the ball as they adjust the ramps.
  Lochie: The more tipped up it (the ramp) is, the faster it (the ball) goes. (Jack creates a systems where one ramp catches the ball before it starts to roll again).
   George: It goes up the slide then down.