Tucker Room |
Since Winter Break, the children have deeply invested in the Bell Investigation. As the children researched bells through various experiences including visits to the bell tower, observing bells in our community on field trips, and "testing" bells in the atelier, they shared their ideas about how the bell worked and how it could be fixed. As mentioned in a previous blog post, many of the children hypothesized that the problem with the bell was electrical in nature. The children worked in small groups to build their snap circuits to explore electricity further. The Joy of Exploration and DiscoveryThe children showed great joy when their snap circuits were successful! We’re making electricity! -Jack It (the switch/the electricity) makes it (the propeller) spin. -Whit Whoa! Whoa! -Rawls
They showed great persistence when something went awry. I got this Whit. I got this, Whit. -Charlton It’s tricky. -Rawls Critical ThinkingWe need to organize them. We need to do them like this. We need to put the 3s on the 3s, the 4s on the 4s. I’m stacking the 3s. -Charlton
Communication and Collaboration
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Thank you Sara Love!Our mystery reader this week was Whit's mom, Sara Love. The Tucker Room enjoyed hearing a couple of Whit's favorite books read aloud, including Moses the Kitten from James Herriot's Treasury for Children as well as Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman. Thank you so much, Sara Love, for sharing such heartfelt stories with us! A look at next week...We'll see you all on Monday! After completing a collaborative drawing, the children began the work of building the Bell Model. This took place over the course of several days. As the children worked, we documented their processes using written notes, photographs and videos beginning with choosing the materials. To the Tucker Closet! -Whit Whit, you know the round things in construction? We could put them together. -Ford We need to make the stairs. Paper! I know how to do that. -Ford As the children worked with the materials that they had chosen, they reflected upon their work. They realized that some of them didn't lend very well to three dimensional creations. The children decided that paper would be a more suitable material for their model. Thus the group needed some help from friends who they considered especially skillful with the material. Rawls joined in to share his knowledge. Jack and Whit read the documentation from their first day of work on the "power flower" and the "storm cloud." While Whit focused on building the "power flower," Jack spent his time working on the "storm cloud." The black makes darkness. The purple makes water. The yellow make lightness. -Whit After a discussion at morning meeting about 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional objects, and having seen a model of The Liberty Bell that Zari shared from a recent trip to Philadelphia, Ford had a new perspective on his construction. The children have been working together to assemble the model, including Whit's flower, Ford's bell, Jack's cloud and the steps which had been a collaborative effort with assistance from Rawls. Look for the completed model in the Tucker Room soon.
Learning More about AvaIsabelle: She likes Seon. Zari: I only know what her loves is me. Isabelle: Ava loves dogs. Ava: I also like cats but my mom’s allergic so I can’t have them. Zari: She likes blue, purple, and green. They’re her favorite colors. Jack: She plays freeze tag with me. Isabelle: What’s your favorite food? Ava: Strawberries, kiwis, bananas, and peaches and cherries and that’s it. Jack: Ava are you afraid of snakes? Ava: I’ve never quite seen a snake, but they’re scary. Jack: But if you attack them they won’t be scary. Isabelle: What’s your favorite thing Ava so we can draw for you? Ava: Ice cream. Vanilla ice cream. Zari: I know you like vanilla ice cream because one time we went to a restaurant and you ate the entire thing. Isabelle: What’s your favorite animal except dog, zebra, and panda? Jack: If we can only draw one? Ava: Koala is my favorite. Zari: What’s your favorite color? Ava: Purple, green and blue. Isabelle: What’s your favorite type of pasta? Ava: 100 pastas. I love pasta. The ones shaped like this. Making a shape with her fingers Ava confirmed it was the elbow macaroni pasta shape. I like it plain without sauce. Emma: What’s your favorite thing to learn about? Ava: Scientists. Because I have a scientist set. And I also want to learn about volcanoes. Because I have a volcano at my house and I haven’t erupted it yet. Isabelle: What do you do with your stuffies? Ava: Mostly I leave them in my room and hug them. I have a big big big big teddy bear. You’ve seen it Zari. Photos of Ava taken by her Birthday Committee to support with drawing her portrait. Drawing Ava's PortraitAva's Birthday Portrait in Black and White. Adding Color
The Birthday Committee's Finished Portrait of Ava. Ava's Favorite ThingsIce Cream for Ava
Celebrating AvaOn the day of her Tucker Room birthday celebration, Ava was joined by her mom, dad, grandmother, and her grandmother's friend, Suhasini. For her special birthday treat, Ava and her family brought delicious homemade banana chocolate chip muffins. They were devoured in seconds. After, we ventured to the birthday blanket to read a couple of Ava's favorite books. Ava's dad, Dan, read There is a Tiger in the Garden by Lizzy Stewart and then her mom, Amba, read The Last Rainbow Bird by Nora Brech. Ava then walked five times around the birthday candle, blew it out and we sang her our birthday song. Finally, the birthday committee presented Ava their drawings of her favorite things and her birthday portrait. I love it, I love it, I love it! Ava We hope you had a fantastic fifth birthday, Ava! Since our last field trip to Georgetown Presbyterian Church's Bell in January, the research and work surrounding fixing the St. John's broken bell has been ongoing. In one conversation following, Fay suggested that all of the children in Tucker Room go up to the bell tower to further understand what could be wrong with the bell. Shortly after, we returned to the bell tower. The children continued to notice that the "clapper" was stuck to the side of the bell and also electrical wires connected to a box inside. Whit, Charlton, and Rawls notice the electrical wires and box inside of the bell. Bringing Electricity to the Bell The visit to the bell tower motivated further discussion and the development of the children's theories for fixing the bell. Many of these theories included electricity and how to bring electricity to the bell.
Using Individual Drawings as Inspiration for Collaborative Work After looking at each other's drawings, a small group of children including Charlton, Jack, Ford, Isabelle, and Whit, worked together to combine their ideas for fixing the bell into one large drawing. The following conversation provides an insight into their process:
The finished collaborative drawing of how to bring electricity to the bell. Field trip to Christ ChurchAfter collectively theorizing solutions for the malfunctioning St. John's bell, we were informed about another church's bell to research. Thanks to Ford's mom, Jess, who facilitated the connection, we embarked on a field trip to Christ Church Georgetown to observe another bell, this time operated by a push-button mechanism. There we met with Dwayne who provided thorough information about the CCG bell and their stained glass! Thank you again, Jess, for facilitating the connection and to all those families who joined us on the trip! The Bell Project continues as does our interest in stained glass... Mystery ReaderOn Wednesday, Cal's mom, Kate Kegan, was our Mystery Reader! The Tucker children voted on two books to read, but they just couldn't get enough and ended up reading all three of the books Kate brought including: The Adventures of Max the Minnow by William Boniface, Find Fergus by Mike Boldt, and Pete the Cat's Groovy Imagination by James and Kimberly Dean. Thanks so much, Kate!! A Look at Next Week..Have a wonderful weekend, we'll see you all on Monday! What do we know about our friend, Isabelle?
The first meeting concluded with the photo shoot by the blue door. and with all of this information, the Birthday Committee set to work the next day.
The children carefully chose colors from the watercolor palettes to complete their work. I’m mixing two colors for her hair, because her hair is mixed of two colors. -Ellie Her hair needs to be like wavy over her ear. -Fay I need to mix the grass colors. Grass, grass, grass. I thought she (Dagny) was blind, but she has eyes. Brown for her eyes. I’m filling this all in. No white spots, Go away white spots. -Charlton Celebrating IsabelleAfter a special birthday snack of Ring Pops, Isabelle's mom Jessie shared one of her favorite stories, A House in the Woods by Inga Moore and the children had a dance party to her one of her favorite songs, Lease on Life by Andy Grammar. To conclude the celebration, Bailee, Charlton and Ellie presented Isabelle with her gift: her portrait and drawings of her favorite things.
When We ReturnWe hope you all have a joy-filled and beautiful spring break! We'll see you Monday, April 1st 🌸 Jack's Favorite ThingsJack's birthday committee, Ford, Ava, and Cal, gathered in the outdoor classroom to ask Jack about his favorite things and take his birthday portrait photos.
Drawing Jack's PortraitHis head should be an oval. Ford
He has a point on his nose. Ford
Jack's Birthday Portrait in Black and White Drawing Jack's Favorite Things
Adding Color to Jack's PortraitWe need that color for his skin. We don’t have the exact color. Ford Cal: Jack is definitely gonna love this. Do not get the eyes. I almost got paint in the eyes. Ford: What about the nose? Cal: How about we do blue red blue red? (For the background) We worked very hard on it. Ava Jack's Finished Birthday Portrait Adding Color to Jack's Favorite Things Ford: I need a lot of water. I’m going to Jack’s birthday party this weekend. Ava: You can also sharpen colored pencils with a knife. My daddy’s done it before. Ford: You scrape it and it makes fire. Ava: Only grownups can do that. Ford: Look what I’m doing. I’m doing the outside first. I need brown and green. Ava: I’ll add a little bit of red here. Blue shorts, blue shorts, blue shorts (referring to the hockey player). Ava notices the letters on the hockey player’s jersey Ava: I don’t know my letters yet, I’m learning in a book with games in it that’s fun. Jack's Birthday CelebrationThe eagerly awaited day of Jack's birthday celebration arrived. His mom, dad, and sister Nadia, affectionately known as "Tita," were all there to join in the festivities. Jack shared his birthday treat: delicious brownies. As we savored the tasty snack, the room was filled with the sounds of one of Jack's favorite songs from Hawaii, "Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai" by Hapa, which is about collecting seaweed from the ocean. Then we all gathered around the birthday blanket and listened as Jack's mom read a favorite book from Jack's collection, The Shark Man of Hana by U'i Goldsberry. Finally, it was time to light the birthday candle. The Tucker children counted as Jack walked six laps around, symbolizing his six years of life and orbits around the sun, cheering as he blew out the flame. With smiles and laughter, we sang our special Tucker Room birthday song for Jack, followed by the presentation of his birthday gift from the birthday committee. What do you love about Jack? Isabelle: He has a pretty shirt. Cal: I like his bowtie. Ford: I like his shoes. Ava: I like when he plays freeze tag. Bailee: I like to build with Jack. We hope you had the happiest of birthdays, Jack! Mystery ReaderThis week's mystery reader was Jack's Dad, Vlad! The Tucker Children enjoyed playing "Guess The Mystery Reader" during snack – a few of them even predicted correctly after narrowing down the different options! Vlad read Punky Aloha by Shar Tuiasoa and Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty. Jack shared that he has banana trees growing in his backyard in Hawaii, just like in Punky Aloha. Thank you, Vlad! Next Week's ProjectionsHope you all enjoy the blossoms this weekend, we'll see you Monday! |
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