September 17th, 2021

9/17/2021

Note: Due to the wet conditions, we postponed our neighborhood walk to the Koi Pond. We hope to reschedule for next week.

Ginkgo Explorations

Inspired by the school's new logo, children have been working on their own ginkgo transformations. Both today and yesterday, children used drawing, collage, and painting for their creations. The work was engaging and even a little whimsical, at times. We will continue working with ginkgo leaves next week.

Audrey stacked "log" pieces to form a tree trunk. She placed the leaves on top of the trunk.

Jack and George both work with a bird theme.
Jack _ I'm going to do a bird's nest.
George -My birds are flying near the tree.
Jack - I'm doing a beautiful tree with branches.

Reed - I'm going to add flowers because I think Ginkgoes are a plant. (Later) I have a plan. My plan is to cover the drops of glue that are already out.

C.C. demonstrated her expertise with cutting.
C.C. - I'm going to cut off this big piece so it's easier to cut.

Nora worked to personify her ginkgo leaf by adding human body images.

Maxon - I'll take blue. Blue is my favorite color. I'll get this manta ray. And this seal. This is the sea. I love the sea.

C.C. continued her work today.
C.C. - I want to da a rainbow because I love rainbows so much.

Today, Nora and Giacomo used the overhead projector to make large ginkgoes on the easel. They then painted in the shapes.
Giacomo - It's much bigger here (Noticing that the leaf is much bigger on the paper than on the glass of the projector. I'm mixing some colors together. It's making a yellow.

Audrey's second collage.
Audrey - That's a ball and that's a person kicking the ball.

George's collage

Jack's collage

Reed's collage

Maxon's collage

Nora's collage

Middle Room Adventures

Yesterday and today, some children went to the middle room to build. Once there, they were delighted to see large hollow blocks and unit blocks. Yesterday's group was inspired to build BIG. Here's some of the conversation from yesterday.
Jordan - What are you creating?
CC - A circle that I'm going to put blow hole (a stuffed dolphin) in.
Giacomo - This is different classroom. Can we even do that?
CC - This is my old classroom, but it looks different.
CC builds a circular structure with rectangular blocks. It's challenging to keep the blocks upright on the carpet.
   CC - Some of these blocks aren't stable! There's a bump in the carpet. I can't get this one to stand up. (She rearranges the blocks.)
   Janie - (Watching CC and trying to help) We are girl builders.
Giacomo - That's not a circle, that's an oval.
   CC - What's an oval?
   Giacomo - An oval. It's an egg shape. It's like a circle, but a bit up.

After CC and Janie move away, Giacomo decides to add to the work. He uses large blocks. He builds two columns, but struggles to find blocks long enough to connect the wall.
   Giacomo - Here's the question, are these long enough? (He tries the medium length blocks, but they do not make a bridge. ) There's only one solution. One of these super mega-blocks. (With assistance from Jordan, he finds long blocks to add to his structure.) We can use this long one because it's longer than the base.

After finish his building, Giacomo puts his whole body on the structure.
   Giacomo - Jordan, it's stronger than muscle! It can hold my whole body!

Today's middle room work began with children noticing the work from yesterday and thinking again for the home for the dolphin. As is often the case with construction, there were more opportunities for collaboration. They also incorporated the dollhouse into their play.
   Jack - (Noticing the building) It's so strong because I'm sitting on it with my knees.
   Lochie - If we put these side on now, we can't get the bottom. it will fall through.
   Jack - Lochie, do you need more?
   Lochie - Look, we made a house for Blowhole.
   Elle - I added slides, waterslides. (Later...) Here's a diving board and another diving board.
   Reed - (Building nearby). It's a castle.
   Jack - This is a backyard with all the trees. This is stove. The stove goes downstairs. Can you help me get all this stuff out and we can organize it?
   Elle - You can all play, but first we are all organizing it.

Have you noticed that this group loves to build? There was smaller scale building for animals taking place in the classroom both days!

Tablesetting

There has been a lot of enthusiasm for table setting. Each child is eagerly waiting for his or her turn to design an interesting arrangement. Today we were excited to add to the experience by using our place cards.