Friday, October 15, 2021

Clay Stories

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. 
    

Giacomo's long snake

Audrey's smiley face with Bora's Medusa.

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.  
    

George Starts with a snail.

Elle adds her rainbow.

Elle's final piece.

George's spiky house for his snail.

C.C. coiled her snakes.

Jack starts by naming an impression of his bracelet on his clay beach.

Lochie's final snail house.

Exploring the Magnetic Chalkboard

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.

A little later Giacomo and Nora  join the group.  Giacomo uses the word energy to explain how the momentum of ball can actually propel it  up a ramp.
   Giacomo: Balls only go down. They don’t go up. But if they have a lot of energy the go wooooooo (gestures into the sky.         Giacomo adds onto the ramps). That didn’t have enough energy to go up, let me show you. (Giacomo adjusts the angle of the first ramp so that the balls can rolls up the one underneath.)
    Giacomo: That ball can get energy from height, Lot’s of height. So now we can make a ramp that goes up.

Children were very enthusiastic about returning to this experience today.  The children explored how the angles of the ramps affected speed and direction.  Visibility also became a factor as children realized they couldn't always see a ball as it passed through an opaque tunnel.
   C.C. - We need the ramps.  But where will it land?  Can we use a harder ball?
   Elle - Can we have a tunnel?
   C.C. Let's try a short tunnel.
Maxon works on a new ramp.
   C.C. - Good idea, Maxon.  You have such good ideas.
The children make a new system that uses only ramps and not tunnels.
    Lochie - (Adjusting the angle of the ramp.) We have to do it like this so it's fast.
    C.C. - (Skipping two of the ramps) When we do it this way, it goes all the way, but when we start at the top it goes this way.
    Jack - (Placing a tube at a sharp angle). It goes here and all the way down and gets caught so it doesn't go too fast to see.
    Nora - Oh, this is neat!  I'm sending a ball down!
    Jack - No, wait.  I'm still testing it!

A Quick Look at Everything Else

​Children participated in a variety of other experiences today and yesterday.  C.C. and Ell made stunning creations by painting around cut-outs of flowers.  The message center was popular once again and we always love the outdoor classroom, building, and books.  Today several children played a Ninja Turtle matching game.  It took persistence and concentration as we used all the cards to make it harder (at Jack and Giacomo's request).

Our First Gallery Walk!

​Many thanks to the families who spent time checking out the Gallery Walk this morning.  It was a wonderful way to start our day!  Enjoy these images and have a wonderful weekend!