Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Drawing Bodies and Movement, Revisited.

Over the last few weeks, children have been drawing their bodies from still photos.  While these isolate the body in one position, they don't capture the movement of the body.  Today we offered a drawing challenge: can you make sequential drawings that would depict movement?   Children used the jointed drawing figures to think about the positions their bodies would take in each step.

Jumping or Flying by Joslin

Jumping by Grace D. She made sure to include her tongue in each step!

Jumping with a tricky landing by Sally

Curtsy and Flaying curtsy by Louise.

Playing on the see-saw by Grace M.

Jumping by Lou Lou

Projections and Playgrounds

In the construction area, children were encouraged to build a playground in front of a projection image of a playground.  Evelyn worked on a merry-go-round while Grace D. used ramp pieces to form a slide.  Later, Lou Lou and Louise worked on a pool.  The children also added the drawing figures to make shadows with the playground projection.

Visiting the Light Table with a New Material

While the classroom was bussing with the above experiences, children went in small groups to the entryway light table to explore India Ink.  Sam and Austin went first with the intention of representing Sam's cars with the medium.  The ink proved difficult to control, thus making representational work challenging.  Using brushes and sponges, the children made discoveries as they interacted with the ink.  
    Joslin - (Pressing ink with a sponge) It kind of makes it lighter.
    Austin - When I spin, it's dark and when I stop it's white.
    Joslin - It makes white lines when you're moving and it doesn't when you stop.  
We will continue to create with ink and examine its properties over the coming days.

A Look at our Thinking and Planning

Last week, we mentioned that children are giving us new ideas for classroom work each day.  As we planned yesterday, we began a list of the big ideas that are coming from the children and the experiences that we hope and plan to include based on their thoughts and theories.  The list is far from complete, but here's some of the things we intend to include in October!