Thursday, May 2, 2019

Shelly's House:  Indoor and Outdoor Interpretations

As we began KW today, Grace, Louise, and Lou Lou worked on decorating Shelly's house outside.  This was a perfect introduction to our day, as we had planned to use Shelly's house for a construction provocation.  Some of the same ideas, especially using a lot of color, were evident in both building experiences.  Here's a little bit of the conversation as children worked inside:
   Louise - It has to be perfect for Shelly.  And she likes so many colorful things.
   Tommy - This, on the roof, is to catch electricity.
    James - This looks like a palace with so many colorful things.
    Louise - I would like to have a house like this.  I do have a house like this!
    Grace  - I did the purple and pink (blocks).
   Tommy - This is for sunbathing.
   James - There's two sunbathing areas.

Clay Sewing Continued

More children had the opportunity to sew on their clay slabs today.  Children  thought carefully about their color choice and where they wanted to stitch.   The principles that children had learned from fabric sewing  to this new material, such as where and when to tie the knots.  We will continue more sewing experiences tomorrow!

Journal Reflections

Grace, Dagny, Tegan, James, and Lou Lou all took time to reflect on their art journals today.  Children shared memories and feelings, told stories, described their work, and made plans for future journal ideas. For example, many children have already borrowed the idea of having a book within their book, and others are looking forward to including one.  We have often noticed that children are enthusiastic about adding to their journals when they have taken the time to reflect on their work with peers.  Here's some highlights from today's conversations:
   Grace - (Noticing that some of her pages contain letters and "writing")  This is just a note.  (And later...) Look what I did!
   Dagny - I like all of these pages.  I like this page because it has a lot of different feels (textures) and colors.
   James - I like the pages with paintings.... I think of it like abstract art like my sister does.  (When asked about how he felt about his journal...) Happy.  Just like Maisie said, it's like having an imaginary friend.
   Tegan - I didn't know that would happen, but I still like it.  (Coming up with a strategy for Lou Lou's stuck together page...) Lou Lou I think we can make a page, a secret page that only you and me can see.
    Lou Lou - (Coming up with stories and representations for her work...) It looks cool.  It's kind of like this is the sand and this is the water.   This is the fairy lights.