Friday, December 3, 2021

Mosaic Work Continues

There is more to the children's mosaic work than may be readily evident.  It does involve working with materials to create something new.  However, it also provides us a chance to look at the learning opportunities that are present as children work in groups.  Below, we share some of the children's conversation as they work, as well as the teachers' analysis of the process.  

From Mosaics to Monoprints

We've had two days of messy and engaging work with materials.   While some children worked on mosaics, others were using printers ink to create mono prints.  The process involves spreading the ink on glass, placing a paper on top, and rolling it with a brayer.  The results are always something of a surprise, as the paper doesn't always pick up the ink in a predictable way.  The texture of the ink was also notable to children:
    Giacomo - This doesn't spread so well.  It's sticky.  
    Marley - This is so hard (spreading the ink)!
    George - Mine is smooth.  I'm using red and green.
    Marley - (Upon completing her first print). That was fun.  I want to do another one.  I want to do red for Christmas. 

Today, children who didn't print yesterday joined in:
   Giacomo - (Explaining the process) So, we have this glass thing and we paint on the glass and then we put paper on it.  And then we roll with all our strength.
While printing:
    Jack - I was thinking about Christmas colors and holiday colors.
  Reed - I was thinking about a rainbow.  I like green because green make me think of a Christmas tree.
   

"It's origami world!"

That was what Janie said when she saw all of the origami on display in the middle room.  It's an impressive collection and it also represents true hands-on learning.  As children use their fine motor skills to fold and crease the paper into animals, shapes and structures, they are using spatial reasoning, using their ability to follow directions in a sequence, as well as building understanding of part-whole relationships (fractions) and geometry (shapes and angles).  Did we mention it's also a lot of fun?

Pegs and Patterns

Children have been working with the pegboards in both Tucker Room and KW.  There have been interesting discoveries along the way.  This week, we noticed a lot of patterns in their work.  Patterns are often described as the language of mathematics.  The KW crew is adept at pattern recognition, pattern creation, pattern description, pattern extension, and pattern reproduction.  Here's some examples:

   George - I did layers and layers of rubber bands.  And I did a pattern.
   Reed - I did another pattern: red, purple, orange, red, purple orange.
   Audrey - Me and Reed are working together.  (I the next row of pegs they create a repeating pattern of yellow, green, blue.)

A Quick Look at Everything Else

We filled out our two days with time in the outdoor classroom, memory games, small building and building at the light table, and stories with Molly!

Happy Birthday, Jordan!

Here's a look at the dozens (maybe hundreds?) messages Jordan received for his birthday!   He also receive the generous gift from KW parents at dismissal today.  We wish Jordan has a great birthday weekend!  We wish you a wonderful weekend as well!