Tucker Room |
The InterviewWe began preparing for Mimi's birthday by convening a birthday committee for an interview. Mimi shared a bit about herself and the committee inquired about her likes and dislikes. Mimi: Princesses. Snow White is my favorite princess... Louisa: Mimi likes unicorns, too. Mimi: They have magic! Whit: Her favorite color might be pink. Mimi: Not only pink. Louisa: Rainbow colors? Mimi: Green is a rainbow color. Isabelle: We play together. I play mermaids with Mimi. The Committee Makes a Decision During the Rainey Room year, we have seen not only the children's friendships grow deeper, but we have also seen their capacity for empathy grow. This is evident in their conversations during our birthday committee meetings. As Isabelle, Louisa and Whit, revisited the initial interview with Mimi and they also talked about the possibilities for a gift, sharing what they have learned about their friend over time. Whit: A princess crown. Or a dress. Isabelle: I saying that we make a unicorn. Louisa: A unicorn horn. Mimi likes unicorns. Isabelle: A unicorn horn for Mimi. Whit: Pink paint. A strap over her head. And sparkles and magic. Louisa: I have a pink and sparkly headband at home. And it has a horn for Mimi. And so it was settled, a unicorn horn would be created as Mimi's gift. Louisa offered to bring two different unicorn horns from home as models as well. Building A Unicorn Horn with Papier MacheMaking papier mâché required following a recipe. While reading the recipe, the children recognized letters and numerals, important early literacy and math skills. They also measured the quantities of each ingredient. Karen: Now we need to read the recipe for making papier mâché. Louisa: I can't read! Karen: Let’s look and see what we do know. Whit pointed to the recipe and the numeral one: That's the recipe there. One! Karen: ...part flour. Louisa recognized the numeral: Two! Karen: ...parts water. Isabelle read the numeral: One! Karen: ...tablespoon salt. Whit added one cup of flour and Isabelle added the first part of water. Whit: Can I whisk it? It’s white. It’s bubbly. Isabelle and Louisa looked on and made suggestions as to how to proceed. Isabelle: I think we need a little bit more water. Louisa warned: Not too much (water)! Isabelle picked up the measuring cup and poured: A little bit more water. Louisa: It’s too watery. Too much water. It looks like soap because it’s wet and bubbly. It looks like glue, too! Whit: Glue! After the children mixed the papier mâché paste, they began to cover the chicken wire frame, dragging newspaper strips through paste and placing each strip on the "unicorn horn." They carefully examined the “unicorn horn," evaluating their progress as they went. Louisa: A little bitty piece here (tearing a very small piece of newspaper). The tiniest piece in the whole world. Whit: A bigger piece here. Isabelle: The little piece goes here. Gooey, gluey, gooey. Louisa: Gooey stuff! Paint and Other MaterialsThe children entered the middle room for the next day of work and noticed the papier mâchéd unicorn horn on the table. They shared their observations and then prepared for their next steps. Louisa: It's all dried. Whit: It's cracking. Louisa: It feels normal. Karen: What do you think we need to do next? Whit: Paint it, then wait. Karen: We’re going to use acrylic paint, which stains, so we need to put on smocks. Whit: (The paint) it's going to stay on your hands. Isabelle: When you wash your hands, it's going to come off. As she painted, Isabelle sang to herself: It's Mimi's birthday committee, it's Mimi's birthday committee, it's Mimi's birthday committee. Whit: We don't need to paint the chicken wire thingy. The frame. The frame. Whit: Why does it look so shiny? The unicorn horn. Isabelle: The paint is so shiny, not the papier mâché. I'm working on the top. Louisa: I need more paint. After painting the unicorn horn, the children ventured into the Tucker Closet to search for more materials. Choosing materials was a painstaking process for the birthday committee. As they searched through the materials, they discussed and assessed each item in their collection: Were the materials the right colors? Did they provide sparkle? Did they shine enough? Louisa: Yeah, the sparkly paint, the sparkly material. Whit: You would think you would need a rainbow! Louisa: Pink sparkly pompoms. Whit: Rainbow sparkles. We only need a little bit, so we need a tiny jar. Isabelle: I’m getting a tiny jar. We need this (tile). No, because it's not sparkly. Adding the Sparkle!Now it was time to add "the sparkle" to the papier máchêd and painted unicorn horn. Using two different types of adhesives (liquid glue and hot glue) the children took inspiration from the model's provided by Louisa to add more detail to Mimi's gift. On display during the addition of "the sparkle," was the children's understanding of tools and materials, as well as the cohesiveness of their teamwork. Louisa: Make sure you don't get it (the hot glue) on you. Isabelle: You could burn yourself. Whit: You can just pinch it (the hot glue) off your skin. Isabelle: I really like it, the hot pink. I need some glue. Whit: We need the rainbow (foil). He tore the rainbow foil into small pieces: It's going to be the tiniest pieces. Louisa: Teeny tiny pieces I kinda see the rainbow. Pink ribbon now because it's sparkly. Louisa cut small pieces of pink ribbon and Whit glued it onto the “unicorn horn.” Louisa: Now the other side. There’s not that much glue. That’s a lot of sequins. Whit: I actually did that. I want more wire on it now. The wire holds things together when it’s tight! Louisa: Tiny, shiny. Isabelle: Tiny, shiny. I'm going to add some sparkly things...I first need this here. This kind of glue is not hot glue. Louisa agreed: No, it's not. Isabelle: It's pretty for Mimi. Louisa: She will love it because she loves unicorns. Everyone loves unicorns. Isabelle: I don’t love unicorns. I love mermaids, not unicorns. I love kitties…and doggies…and I guess unicorns too. Louisa: Unicorns are magic. Isabelle: Magic means you can turn something into a frog. Louisa reminded the birthday committee about the time sensitive nature of their work: Quick. Go quick, ‘cause it’s (Mimi’s birthday celebration) tomorrow! One minute! Go quick! Celebrating Mimi!The Rainey Room sang our class birthday to Mimi and then she walked around the birthday candle four times to signify her four turns around the sun. The celebration concluded when the birthday committee presented Mimi with her gift.
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