TUCKER ROOM
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A Hawaiian-inspired birthday week
The word HUKILAU comes from huki, meaning pull, and lau, meaning leaves and it describes a traditional way of fishing in a bay with small boats and nets. People gather for the event and celebrate the catch together. Uncle Brad also taught us a Hula Dance that is performed during the Hukilau celebration and Jack brought beautiful white shell necklaces (puka shell lei) for our classroom celebration.       Maybe you would like to learn the Hula Dance for the Hukilau Song as well?
Jade: What’s your favorite meal? Jack: Mhh.. I’m thinking. Musubi. Jade: What is it made out of? Well, I know it’s made out of food. But what type of food? Jack: Seaweed. Jade: Oh I don’t like seaweed. Jack: And it’s made out of meat you guys. You put it in and you use water to stick it together. Jade: What kind of meat? Saul: Yeah I don’t even know what type of meat he’s talking about. My sister is vegetarian so she doesn’t eat meat. Jack: It’s chicken. Saul: Jade, do you like chicken? Jade: Yes I do. Saul: I do too. It’s one of my favorite things. Jack: You guys, why don’t you like seaweed? Saul: It’s just because my sister eats these seaweed platforms and I don’t eat them. I tried it once and it really wasn’t yummy. Ines: Did you have sushi before? Did you like it? Saul: I did! I have to say I don’t like it as much as pasta. Pasta is my favorite thing. I can say sushi is my second favorite thing. I love sushi with avocado. I love avocado. Jack: I tell you where you can pick avocados. They are green inside but you know what, I have a tree and I pick it on. Jade: I think he said there’s a little bit of water in it. Jack: To stick the seaweed together so nothing falls out. Jade: What shape is it? Is it like a triangle? Jack: It just has a puka and it has a triangle. Jade: What’s a puka? Ines: Puka is a Hawaiian word, right? What is a different word for puka? Jack: Oh, a hole. Jack: Rice. Saul: Is it like different color rice or it just like regular rice, white? Jade: There’s brown rice and white rice. Jack: White rice. Saul: Okay, so just like plain white rice. I eat that a lot. Brown rice is a tiny bit spicy for me. Jack: It starts to stick on your hands. Saul: You can’t even take it off? Jack: Yes you can. After the cooking demonstration, the children had many questions and observation to share: I feel like it's kinda like sushi. - Finlay A burrito means when you wrap up. - Michael Yes, it's kinda like a seaweed burrito. - Vlad Where does seaweed come from? The sea. - Hugh Is it salty? - Wilder It's a plant that lives in the ocean. - Jade It grows in a cactus shape. - Lucas I saw it when I went swimming to find sand dollars in the Bahamas. And it waves in the water. - Wilder How to make MUSUBI Recipe by Jade, Saul and Cape 1. Cook the chicken with sauce. (Jade) 2. Cook the rice. (Jade) 3. We have to put the seaweed flat. (Saul) 4. Put the rice on top of the seaweed. Cooked and ssticky rice. (Cape) 5. Put the chicken. (Cape) 6. We need to roll it up. It's a burrito but it's more like sushi. (Jade) 7. We need to stick the water together with the seaweed. (Cape) Before we started cooking, we created a list of ingredients we would need to cook the recipe:    
1. Cook the chicken with sauce.       2. Cook the rice.      When we cooked the rice we used the RATIO 1:2 (for every 1 cup of rice, we added 2 cups of water). For our recipe we used 2 cups of rice. So how many cups of water do we need to add? Cape: We need 4 buckets of water. If we do 3 cups of rice we need 5 cups (water). Or maybe 6. It's 6. Jade: 3 plus 3 is 6. The time counts down on it's own? So we don't have to. - Cape, noticing the rice cooker has numbers on it. After the rice was done Cape was wondering "Why did the rice get higher?" Did you know rice expands when you cook it?
3. We have to put the seaweed flat. 4. Put the rice on top of the seaweed. Cooked and ssticky rice. 5. Put the chicken. 6. We need to roll it up. It's a burrito but it's more like sushi. 7. We need to stick the water together with the seaweed. To begin the birthday committee work, Jade, Cape and Saul interviewed the birthday child about his favorite meal, colors and animals. The information they gathered during the interview gave them great ideas for possible celebration and table decorations... Jade: He likes palm trees probably because he used to live in Hawaii. Cape: He might want the Hawaiian flag like I had the Egyptian flag. Jade: Well we don’t know what it looks like. Ines: How could we find out? Jade: We can ask him what color it is. Cape: No, we can look it up. On your phone. Jade: He likes volcanoes. We could try to make like paper volcanoes or something. We could try to shape volcanoes out of clay or something. Jade: What’s your favorite color? Jack: Blue. Jade: Because when we were doing facetime with him he said blue and I just remembered. The committee decided to create paper mache volcanoes to represent the Hawaiian islands as part of Jack's table decorations. Cape: Can I make these crumpled up paper balls that look like rocks. Saul: We need to tape it. There is a rusty old volcano in the coast of Japan. Saul: We need a base. Jade: Then put the cup on it (to resemble the main vent) Cape: I crumble the paper. Saul: It needs to connect to the crater (rim of the cup) because you don’t see the lava in the real volcano. (suggesting you need to cover the main vent)  While working with the ripped pieces of newspaper, Saul thought about a very funny joke! Saul: Can I tell you a joke about paper? Ines: Yes, please! Saul: No, it’s actually tear-ible! You know, because you rip it?      
 Once the paper mache volcanoes had dried, the committee mixed paint colors and painted the volcanoes: Jade: They’re sometimes gray. They’re not only black, unless they have ash on them and then they’re black. Saul: The big volcano needs ash on it. Jade: Yes, because it erupts. Cape: I think mix black and white to make mine look like it’s about to erupt. Saul: It’s very steamy and ashy. Jade: (When it erupts) The floor makes a sound and when it kinda moves. Saul: For the volcanic cracks. They have dark reddish with strips of yellow in it. They’re on the sides. Cape: I put some polka dots on to make it look like fire drops. Jade: Jack likes volcanoes because he used to live in Hawaii and there are volcanoes in Hawaii. Cape: (we need) Blue napkins (to imitate water around the volcanoes) Jade: Table cloths. We could put on blue table cloths or red table cloths. Maybe blue napkins and a red table cloth because blue is his favorite color and red for the lava. Cape: I added blue on the side like a wave washing up. Saul: The different color rocks make different color lava. I went to Fuji and saw the volcano erupting. I was very far away. I used a telescope to get a closer look. I went there last summer on summer break. I saw an orange rock before. Jade: I have seen a green rock that had red on it. I’ve seen a huge rock rock before in a park. Dumbarton Oaks. Cape: I’ve never seen a green rock before. I saw orange and blue at the beach. Saul: My favorite (volcano) is the big one. I like that it will have vinegar and baking soda. It bubbles it up. Saul: If we connect the two triangle volcanoes we have a square volcano. On Monday we celebrated Jack's 5th birthday together at school! Am I eating real seaweed from the ocean right now? - Remy The water provides really good food. - Finlay The chicken is really nice and sweet. - Wilder We put sauce on it! - Jade This is the best birthday snack ever. - Finlay I can give you the recipe if you want. - Cape
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With an intention in mind to use a variety of materials to translate our two-dimensional ideas into three-dimensional work, we have continued to build off of our recent interest in sculpture. After working with clay, we introduced paper as an additional material that can be used to construct three-dimensionally! Building Paper Houses  A wide variety of paper types were made available for the children to choose from. Before beginning their house construction, children were asked to take their time looking through the material options before selecting choices that they felt would best represent the vision they had for their house. Children made intentional choices based on different properties of the papers. This included thinking about colors, textures, shapes, and stiffness when selecting a material to use. Some materials were chosen based on personal preferences to create a visual aesthetic, other choices were made based on which paper types would best serve as strong supports while constructing. Throughout this process, we observed that children enjoyed using their creative imaginations to include aspects of their home that transformed the space into something that felt fun, playful, and almost fantastical. We have repeatedly observed this interest come to life throughout so much of our CONNECTED HOUSE work! You can read more about each child's thoughts about their finished paper house below:
You can now find these finished paper houses and our collection of clay houses in the former "Shelly Area" which has now been renamed... Mini Town While considering the new additions to “Shelly Area”, the whole class discussed ideas about renaming this classroom space and came up with some great ideas: Cate: Connected town Wilder: Connected neighborhood Hugh: Shelly’s neighborhood Saul: Shelly’s world Wilder: Mini world Cate: Mini town The group unanimously voted to choose MINI TOWN as the new name for this exciting space. It’s kind of like small world. - Wilder Shelly area is kind of like a neighborhood now! - Lily Neighborhoods are a mini town. - Hugh It’s a town, that’s mini. - Cate  We're very excited to expand on this growing interest in NEIGHBORHOODS, including learning more about our own school neighborhood in Georgetown.
It can be like a dream house! - Remy The children's strong interest in house construction inside the classroom initially focused on smaller scale buildings in our construction area. In order to promote large scale building in a collaborative way, one morning during a Backwards Day back in January the children were presented with the challenge to construct one large house in the outdoor classroom. Before beginning the challenge they critically thought about the steps they needed to take and in which order. I think we need a foundation. A foundation is what you start building a house with. - Cate
We need a blueprint - Hugh (unsure of how to start building, suggests planning) Now we have to work on the inside - Finlay additions to the interior ...
You need lots of wood so that fire won’t go out with the wind. - Jack   
A microphone. - Jack Mail slot for messages. - Wilder For receiving and letting out mail. - Capers
This looks like a bigger version of the food on our conveyor belt that we have in our cafe. - Hugh, complimenting Finlay and Michael's kitchen set-up We are decorating the house. - Remy They are very pretty. - Frannie Because spring is coming up. I decorate my room. Like there’s these Easter bunnies. They are in my room. - Remy Places for REST ...     the children worked together to dig out tree trunks to use as chairs: 
 MOOD BOARDS After multiple 3D construction explorations (e.g. with clay or paper), this week we began to shift the focus to the interior of our finished house projects: What do we want the interior to look like? What do we want to feel like when we're in our house? What kind of furniture/wallpaper/accessories would we like in our house? To further support the children in this process, we introduced the concept of design or mood boards. The children's first reactions to examples we provided focused on identifying the creator's preferences or even personality by analyzing the colors and item choices. In the slide show below you can find some of their initial reactions and thoughts around the mood board examples: Together we discussed which term we would prefer for our collages, DESIGN board or MOOD board. Design... Design means make something you really like. - Cate Like a blue print. - Hugh Design is not really like a pattern. Colors that look really good together. - Remy Like designing your own thing without help. - Wilder Mood ... ... like what are you acting like. - Remy ... angry or sad. - Wilder ... happy, joyful. - Michael After a large group discussion and a group vote, we decided we will call our collages MOOD BOARDS! When everyone hears it (the word mood board) they understand the feelings. When you look at your collage, you remember what you were thinking about and what you were feeling when you made it. - Finlay We began creating our own mood boards this week! If you happen to have any design or architecture magazines at home and would like to donate them to support the children and their work, feel free to bring them in any time. Thank you :) When searching for, collecting and deciding on pieces for their mood board, the children considered their personal preferences, such as their favorite color, favorite animals, or environments they enjoy spending time in. Many of them shared how certain textures or colors influence their mood or how they feel. Being in a cozy, yet organized and neat environment tended to make them, and especially Saul, Hugh and Frannie, feel warm and happy. We invite you to come in the classroom and check out the children's very detailed and thoughtful mood boards, which will be displayed above the studio tables.
Cape's Mood Board “I want to see the weather so I know when it’s good to walk outside. I need windows. And I can spy on other people’s buildings. I want a backyard (view of the backyard behind the pool). I want this chair so I can lay down. And a lion is laying on it. ( included his favorite animal) This is Egypt (brown hills and palm trees). My house is in Egypt because it’s my favorite country and I can go to the valley of the kings and I can see if I can find more pharaohs. I need stairs. I want it to be a big house. I really like having big houses so I can run around inside it. I like to climb onto the shelves. The chain is for swinging. (interest in physical movement and open space). And I love having doggies in my house. They run, run, run and I love to pet their fur. They love me. I wanted them to be like Sweety (his lovie). I love furry things. This is the roof (top left). You can see the rest of Egypt. That is Africa. This is Egypt (marks Egypt's location on the photo of the earth).” - Cape
Saul's Mood Board (Version 1 and 2) “I have the exact same pole at my house. It’s holding things up. (wooden board) (the rainbow colors) It makes me feel like I’m outside in the rainbow. I like being outside. I chose this as a kitchen. I like that it’s organized and clean. I like clean stuff. It makes me feel that I don’t have to work and I don’t like to work. This is a house for 10 people. It’s all cozy and warm. I need a fire! I like to be cozy at home. It has a couch and another couch for kids and pillows and a cup and food on the table and a cat and a blanket and another couch for kids. Mine is in the mountains, too (like Jack’s mood board), where it’s cold so I put lots of cozy things in.” - Saul
“It makes me feel cozy. I like cozy things. I like wood. My home is full made out of wood. It makes me feel warm. I like it just brown. Brown makes me feel warm. And blue and red are my favorite colors. I have pretty browns. I really like birds. My favorite bird is an owl but my second favorite is blue jays. I want a pool because it’s warm. Warm water. It’s all cozy and warm. I like having warm stuff around me. It makes me feel good. And I like having fun (swimming in the pool). When I’m cold I don’t feel good. These pictures remind me of the universe and I like the universe (frames photos). I like bagels. Don’t you like bagels? I love them. One of my favorite things, especially with cream cheese on it. I like eating. This is making me hungry. Will we have snack soon?” - Saul
Frannie's Mood Board I like pink and I like to get my nails painted (chooses pink couch and wine bottles as nail polish bottles). I would love it. It makes me happy. Louise would love it,too because we both love pink. It reminds me of the ocean in Martha’s Vineyard (blue designs). I’m there with my cousins, Betty and Alice. Louise is the same age as Betty and I’m the same age as Alice. My house is gonna be on the beach. I like how decorated it is (light fixture). I like to dress up. It’s gonna be a bedroom (adds shelving with clothes on it). It’s a folded blanket (folds a cut out blanket in half before gluing it on top of the bed). Because it’s nice and neat. I don’t like stuff that is messy. I like this castle. I like the fancy decorations. I like gold and shiny. - Frannie
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 | Cully - Capers is drawing so many teeth. Capers - Because I have 100 teeth. Joci - Do you need teeth to blow out a candle? Capers - A little bit. The teeth have the air. There’s a crack a little bit and it let’s out air. It opens a little bit and lets the air out. |
| What if that’s a teacher coming out of the school? The mouth of the school is the door, with the teacher walking out of the mouth. - Capers  Capers begins the initial large scale tracing of the sketch of the mouth |  Lucas continues the work on a second draft, tracing added details such as the teeth. |
We're making a giant eye. The school is big so it has to be big. We can reflect it onto the school. - Remy
 | Wilder: Now I can see it. I think it looks pretty good. How do I draw the eyebrow? I want to add freckles inside the eye. *Wilder adds more detail inside the eye.* Remy - My eyes are blue. Wilder - My eyes are blue. Remy - I want the eyelashes to sparkle. I want to make them rainbow. Remy (choosing color to add) - This looks like skin color. No one has the same eye color. No one has the same skin color. We (she and Wilder) found the same color! I’m having so much fun. If something’s fun then it’s easier. Joci - Wilder, you made some of the eyelashes thick and some not. I guess that’s like our own eyelashes. Remy - I have some thick ones. Down here (pointing to lower lashes) is skinny and up here is thick. |
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The Brown Room said, “How will the school blow out a candle?” So they made a face.
Maybe the mouth would eat the teacher. Maybe she went into the mouth to see the teeth.
It’s a school so the lips need to be big. If they’re not big then it’s just a person. - Lucas
Maybe the mouth would eat the teacher. Maybe she went into the mouth to see the teeth.
It’s a school so the lips need to be big. If they’re not big then it’s just a person. - Lucas
a tasty birthday snack
In Tucker Room, we prepared a delicious birthday treat to enjoy together before celebrating with the school yesterday. Here is the recipe we used that we found in our favorite classroom cookbook:
MESSY HAPPY FACES
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a special celebration with our community
Happy 26th Birthday. We love you St. John's!
Constructing a "Bouncy Room" has remained a priority for the children since creating their original to-do list when planning the Connected House construction project.
This week we were able to successfully finish the room model!
This week we were able to successfully finish the room model!
HOW IT STARTED ...
| That's where you can jump everywhere. You bounce and you don't fall. You can jump super high! - Jack |  Jack's original blueprint for the "Bouncy Room" design |
Our friend Jack has remained invested in the Bouncy Room work since initially creating his blueprint for the design of the room months ago! After presenting his ideas to friends, Saul and Remy offered to help him construct his first draft model of the room using some of our construction area blocks.
Jack shared that the room would need walls, a trampoline on the bottom, and a roof. Talking through it further, the children decided that the roof should have a hole in it so that it was possible to jump into the room from the outside and safely land on the bouncy trampoline floor!
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Keeping these original ideas in mind throughout their process, the Bouncy Room Team (Jack, Finlay, and Luke) began working together to bring the ideas to life. Having many supportive ideas to contribute to the group's work, Lily later joined in on the fun as well.
WHAT DOES A BOUNCY ROOM NEED?
Jack: You need a trampoline.
Luke: We need a house in a house! (referring to the bouncy house being "inside of" the connected house)
You could fall when you bounce so you have to have a helmet. Like football. It can help your head. You need to make it safe. Like pads. Pads mean the fabric under and something on top of fabric. It helps your body. Like for the skateboard.
Luke: We need a house in a house! (referring to the bouncy house being "inside of" the connected house)
You could fall when you bounce so you have to have a helmet. Like football. It can help your head. You need to make it safe. Like pads. Pads mean the fabric under and something on top of fabric. It helps your body. Like for the skateboard.
COLLECTING MATERIALS THAT ARE SAFE, BOUNCY, AND SOFT...
Luke: We need rubber. And foam.
Jack: A ball is soft with rubber.
Luke: I’m gonna try to find pop paper! (bubble wrap)
Jack: Round trampoline. A circle. I have one at my house. (Jack’s observation about the shape of a trampoline inspires the idea to construct the bouncy room as a round shape)
Luke: And I see on power rangers this rubber ball like the one outside (yoga ball) that has a handle and the color fabric on it and it's for bouncing like bounce bounce bounce. We need those. (hopper ball toy)
Jack: A ball is soft with rubber.
Luke: I’m gonna try to find pop paper! (bubble wrap)
Jack: Round trampoline. A circle. I have one at my house. (Jack’s observation about the shape of a trampoline inspires the idea to construct the bouncy room as a round shape)
Luke: And I see on power rangers this rubber ball like the one outside (yoga ball) that has a handle and the color fabric on it and it's for bouncing like bounce bounce bounce. We need those. (hopper ball toy)
 | Using both our recyclable materials collection and searching Tucker Closet for resources, the following items were found:
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BEGINNING CONSTRUCTION
ADDITIONAL BOUNCY CREATIONS FOR THE ROOM
 |  It’s a feather pit? Like a trampoline. So you bounce from pit to pit to pit. I did the cotton balls because they’re the bounciest. Then the feather wraps around the side. Then the pom poms to make it a little more bouncy. - Lily |
 It has bounce stuff and feathers everywhere so bounce in the feathers and bounce everywhere! It feels good because it has feathers everywhere. Feels soft. - Jack |  |
 |  So like you can sit if you’re like tired of moving your legs. It’s like a special couch because my house at home for real I can’t bounce on it because it’s not strong enough. But you can bounce on the bouncy couch. - Luke |
 I added pom poms to protect from the spiky sides (on corners). - Finlay |  |  It’s a ball jumper. There’s a little feature. A spring jumper. For a human to jump on to get up to land into the ball pit. - Finlay |
ARRANGEMENT
While sharing their work during snack time, the bouncy team also took the opportunity to consult friends about the arrangement of the "furniture" in the room.
What placement makes the most sense?
How can we best fit all of the pieces inside?
You can use paper. You can like bend it what a slide looks like. It could be a straight slide or like bend it to a curvy slide. And our shrinky dinks won’t break it! - Wilder
What placement makes the most sense?
How can we best fit all of the pieces inside?
You can use paper. You can like bend it what a slide looks like. It could be a straight slide or like bend it to a curvy slide. And our shrinky dinks won’t break it! - Wilder
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THE BOUNCY ROOM IS NOW FINISHED!
Connecting the Connected House
We have made so much progress this week when working to finally connect the rooms in our connected house.
This process has been incredibly collaborative and we are continually impressed by the children's investment. The work has involved lots of discussion, planning, and most importantly teamwork.
Please stop by the Tucker Room next week to see the structure for yourself.
It's amazing!
This process has been incredibly collaborative and we are continually impressed by the children's investment. The work has involved lots of discussion, planning, and most importantly teamwork.
Please stop by the Tucker Room next week to see the structure for yourself.
It's amazing!
CONNECTING THE BOUNCY ROOM
Today, Capers and Hugh partnered up to construct the connection between the existing structure of the home and the addition of the Bouncy Room.
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Sharing about their work:
We made a bridge. It will be a moving carpet bridge. A bridge can keep you safe.
A slide you could just fall off and a zip-line you could get too shakey.
And you can have food when you walk out of the bouncy room because it's next to the kitchen. - Capers
(reason behind elevating the bouncy room to the second level)
We made a life preserver for if you fall into the underwater room. There's a space you can dive if you want, but if you don't wanna fall in and you do fall then someone can pull you out with the life preserver.
I wanted like a little deck to hold it (the bridge) up. And the rails on the two sides (of the bridge) were also my idea so that you don't fall off... but we have the life preserver just in case. - Hugh
We made a bridge. It will be a moving carpet bridge. A bridge can keep you safe.
A slide you could just fall off and a zip-line you could get too shakey.
And you can have food when you walk out of the bouncy room because it's next to the kitchen. - Capers
(reason behind elevating the bouncy room to the second level)
We made a life preserver for if you fall into the underwater room. There's a space you can dive if you want, but if you don't wanna fall in and you do fall then someone can pull you out with the life preserver.
I wanted like a little deck to hold it (the bridge) up. And the rails on the two sides (of the bridge) were also my idea so that you don't fall off... but we have the life preserver just in case. - Hugh
Portraiture in Tucker Room
| A recent focus on facial features, like eyes and mouths, connected to preparations for St. John's birthday celebration next week, inspired us to take a closer look at our faces. With the use of mirrors, the children created self-portraits using markers and water color. In the process we noticed the children's strong attention to detail and impressive observation skills (e.g. the difference in length of their lower and upper eyelashes, position of eyelids or the length and orientation of eyebrow hairs). The mirror helped me looking at my face. It was hard trying to make it perfect. We made them to show grown-ups the hard work we've done. I like my bow the best because I always wear a big bow. - Remy |  |
I just maked my face and I just add eye and hair and then my chest. You just draw a circle and put a dot in. That's how you make an eye. Eyes are usually round shaped like a circle. And there's a dot on your eye. The color of your eyes. That's the color dot in your eye. And there's a white thing under it . That's usually an eye. I remember making my portrait. Like my face or maybe half a body, or maybe a face, a neck or a chest connected. - Michael
Taking a closer look at our eyes...
It's a sideways oval. There's a little dot in your eye. My eyes are blue. - Cape
And kind of green. - Michael
Yeah greenish blue. - Cape
There's some black in the middle. I saw Capers eyes. - Michael
There's eyebrows. They can close and open (eye lashes). Some lines. - Cape
Eyes are actually not just green. They have all different colors. There's like dots in your eyes that are other colors. Probably that's what makes you see, those dots in your eye. They could be like sensors. But if you wanna know, you should ask a scientist. There's skin and eyebrows. There's also veins in your eyes. Because everything in your body needs blood vessels. In the deep sea you don't really need eyes because there's nothing to see. That's because shrimp in the deep see they see heat. They eat bacteria of the hot smokers. When water goes down to the earth it goes into the hot lava and burst out in hot smoke. - Hugh
We are proudly presenting the children's finished self-portraits! We invite you to also check out their colorful portraits in the studio window :)
a focus on scale
| We can make mini figures so we can go in it! - Finlay, wondering how we can best engage with the rooms we created for our Connected House Project You can take pictures of us and cut them out. - Hugh | |
This sparked the idea of exploring and using a new material, Shrinky Dink paper, in order to create "minifigures" of ourselves.
We got take the picture of us and then we cut it out and then we printed it and then it came perfect. We did it (the poses chosen by the children) different because we are different. We got the Shrinky Dink paper, we got the sharpie, the markers and then we traced the papers. We were on the paper and then we put them in the oven to get small. Because it was getting hot and it moved around. It got smaller, they shrink. Shrinky Dink. We made them because we wanted to put someone on our dream house. Us.
- Frannie
The children were very intentional about their body position, poses and possibly props they added, considering what their "minifigure" might need in the Connected House.
I wanna make a flying one like Cate. How did she do it? - Cape
I drawed the cape. - Cate
But the pose, how did you do the pose? - Cape
I'm lying down. - Cate
I want it to look like I'm flying upside down and Sweetie can sit on my belly. (flipping his printed out pose upside down) - Cape
You need to outline it so it attaches. You trace around your body. - Cate
I drawed the cape. - Cate
But the pose, how did you do the pose? - Cape
I'm lying down. - Cate
I want it to look like I'm flying upside down and Sweetie can sit on my belly. (flipping his printed out pose upside down) - Cape
You need to outline it so it attaches. You trace around your body. - Cate
I added a cape, a helmet. These are gloves to fly in the flying room. So if I fall I won't get hurt because I have a helmet and gloves. - Lucas
Wow! Lucas looks like a super hero. - Wilder
Wow! Lucas looks like a super hero. - Wilder
...and one of the most exciting parts was when they finally come out of the oven!
Going from small "minifigures" for our Connected House to large scale projections and tracings of the children's self-portraits provided another wonderful opportunity to explore scale and proportions.
| What color is my skin? When choosing colors for their skin color from a variety of markers and watercolors, the children displayed a great intentionality. Golden because it's the same as my skin color. - Frannie |  |
(middle and right: large scale self-portraits by Frannie and Saul)
  | I think I look old kinda. I look like Gram. But I like it. - Luke |
A virtual Expert Visit...
We feel so lucky that we are part of such a creative, talented and inspiring community here at St. John's! Over the years we have welcomed many "Experts" from our school community and we were very excited that Sharon, Wilder's grandma, was able to join us virtually together with her co-worker "Smiley" to tell us more about their profession and the way they work.
Wilder describes his grandmother’s (Meemaw) job (architect):
“She draws like little maps that like show what it should look like and there’s arrows to show which way to do it and then it like tells directions.”
Children discuss what they might see in the architect’s presentation: What is a presentation?
Finlay: It’s like why we should build. Like she’s showing us.
Saul: When someone shows them what they do. And talk about what she can do (at her job).
Remy: Like she does building.
Wilder: They (architects) draw things and design things.
Hugh: Like blueprints. Oh! Like digital drawing. (referring to a copy of blueprints found in our classroom)
Hugh: But a long time ago they just drawed with their hands and not the computer.
Luke: Because there was no electric lines. (a long time ago)
“She draws like little maps that like show what it should look like and there’s arrows to show which way to do it and then it like tells directions.”
Children discuss what they might see in the architect’s presentation: What is a presentation?
Finlay: It’s like why we should build. Like she’s showing us.
Saul: When someone shows them what they do. And talk about what she can do (at her job).
Remy: Like she does building.
Wilder: They (architects) draw things and design things.
Hugh: Like blueprints. Oh! Like digital drawing. (referring to a copy of blueprints found in our classroom)
Hugh: But a long time ago they just drawed with their hands and not the computer.
Luke: Because there was no electric lines. (a long time ago)
Sharon and Smiley explained to us how an architect works and what kinds of tools they use in their job to (digitally) create 2 dimensional and even 3 dimensional designs of differnet kinds of buildings (e.g. homes or hospitals) for their clients. During the presentation we got to virtually "walk through" a model of a house that combined living areas as well as commercial areas (a restaurant). It reminded many children of their own connected house, like the cafe and the underwater room.
| The presentation began with a BIG surprise for our Tucker Room friends: we suddenly saw our own Connected House rooms on the screen! This gave us many wonderful ideas on how to possibly connect them in real life as well. |  |
Questions asked by children at end of presentation:
Finlay: How do you build what you think about?
- Collaborate with contractors/builders. Provide drawings to the builders and help each other through the process.
- Use special tools on the computer program.
- Measurement. Smiley teaches a trick about using the length between thumb and pinky finger to compare scale.
- Sharon wanted to help create buildings that we need to help people: hospitals, schools
- Smiley when to college to learn how to use the program. When he was a little kid, he loved to draw and did lots of drawings of ideas he had. Thought it would be fun to draw something that could be built for real.
Thank you to Sharon and Smiley for an amazing presentation and conversation!
It was truly inspiring and encouraging. We are excited to keep working on our Connected House and incorporate some of these new ideas into our designs.
exploration of 2D to 3D
The expert visit inspired us to explore other ways to create 3 dimensional work in the classroom. In the past week we introduced a new tool, a 3D pen, and also worked with a very familiar material, clay, to create different 3D designs.
. . . . . .
Drawing is a language the children have become very familiar with during their time at St. John's and it is often used as a way to illustrate and share their thoughts and ideas. But when drawing and reflecting on their blue prints and design ideas, we noticed that it can be challenging to represent sculptural ideas through 2 dimensional drawings on paper.
Together we explored a new medium: a 3D pen!
Drawing is a language the children have become very familiar with during their time at St. John's and it is often used as a way to illustrate and share their thoughts and ideas. But when drawing and reflecting on their blue prints and design ideas, we noticed that it can be challenging to represent sculptural ideas through 2 dimensional drawings on paper.
Together we explored a new medium: a 3D pen!
Using the 3D pen, children created rollercoasters (Cate and Finlay), an obstacle course (Lucas), a hill with trees and grass (Remy), a cave (Lily), a racetrack (Hugh) and a catcher for fish (Cape).
Clay - a sculptural medium
The children used precut clay slabs and clay tools like a fettling knives, scoring tools and brushes to construct incredible houses, either independently or together with a partner. The house construction process often included creating multiple levels which prompted critical thinking about how to best connect the different levels with each other. Some of their ideas included slides, ramps or bars for climbing. One thing that every house created so far has in common is the usage of STAIRS as a way to connect parts of the house. Many houses got created over the duration of multiple days and got thoughtfully enhanced and decorated with underglazes.
We make the skeleton of the house. Kinda like the body of the house. - Lily
It's kinda an exoskeleton. - Hugh
What is an exoskeleton? - Cape
It's the outside of a body. - Hugh
It's kinda an exoskeleton. - Hugh
What is an exoskeleton? - Cape
It's the outside of a body. - Hugh
What do you need to connect pieces of clay when building with them?
Clay mixed with water. I remembered it. Remembering is when you remember something. When you mix, it’s a new name. Slip. Like slipping down a hill.
- Michael, describing slip, which is used when connecting clay pieces together
Scoring is when you scrape clay. - Michael
You gotta scratch, glue, add. Scratch, glue, add. - Lily, describing the technique used to attach or connect clay pieces called "Score and Slip"
Clay mixed with water. I remembered it. Remembering is when you remember something. When you mix, it’s a new name. Slip. Like slipping down a hill.
- Michael, describing slip, which is used when connecting clay pieces together
Scoring is when you scrape clay. - Michael
You gotta scratch, glue, add. Scratch, glue, add. - Lily, describing the technique used to attach or connect clay pieces called "Score and Slip"
STAIRS
another form of connection
We would like to highlight some of the amazing stair creations from this week's clay work. We noticed that even though stairs were a common feature in the children's houses, no stair looked the same. While working next to each other, the children shared about their experiences, challenges and observations around creating stairs and encouraged each other to try out different techniques.
Square by square. I connected them and I did all different level squares. So, step step step step. - Cape
Square by square. I connected them and I did all different level squares. So, step step step step. - Cape
Actually I changed my mind. I made a ramp. So things can drive up and down. So you can drive food carts up. - Cape, as he proceeded to smooth the top of the stairs into a ramp
| Saul: We make another level. Ours is a cottage. Frannie to Saul: You need stairs!  | Saul: I’m gonna cut tiny tiny pieces to make stairs.  | Luke: I’m making more support for something. The stairs and stuff. We need a lot of levels so we need lots of support.   |
 | I'm making squares to make the steps, steps, steps. It's kinda like a chocolate bar. - Hugh, using a fettling knife to cut smaller clay pieces It's curved because so it's not hard to get to the stairs. Because it would bump you (into the wall they connect to). You would have to do a huge step. - Hugh, adding an additional step on the side of the original last step of his staircase. Like when they go on the level where Blake Hall is (comparison to staircases at school). They are more squiggly than curved. Squiggly stairs has many curves. And curved stairs only has one (direction change). - Lily |  |
 | I cut a little piece off. I’m gonna use them to connect to the house to make stairs. You put a post. The post holds it up. - Lucas |
 | It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. This (last step on her initial staircase leading up towards the wall of her house) wasn't big enough to hold another piece on top. So I goed sideways. - Lily By the way, in the end you might want to add rails. So they (people) don't fall off. - Hugh |  |
How many different kinds of staircases do you have in your house?
What kind of stairs do we have at St. John's?
We will continue this work in the upcoming week and are planning on offering other materials, such as paper and wire, to further encourage 3 dimensional exploration and construction.
Once the houses are decorated with underglaze and fully dry, we will begin the firing process and can't wait to present the final pieces to you soon!
Once the houses are decorated with underglaze and fully dry, we will begin the firing process and can't wait to present the final pieces to you soon!
Connection: the action of linking one thing with another.
In addition to the ongoing CONNECTED HOUSE project work happening in the Tucker Room, we have also been exploring other ways to foster the children's strong interest in connection.
This week our blog posts will highlight some of the ways in which we have explored this concept in different areas of the classroom, through the use of different types of materials, and through our social relationships.
In addition to the ongoing CONNECTED HOUSE project work happening in the Tucker Room, we have also been exploring other ways to foster the children's strong interest in connection.
This week our blog posts will highlight some of the ways in which we have explored this concept in different areas of the classroom, through the use of different types of materials, and through our social relationships.
Construction Challenges:
Can we create a connection to help one friend reach the other?
Last week, a new provocation was offered to the children each day in the construction area. These provocations provided "challenges" that encouraged small groups of children to work together to solve the existing problem. The challenges involved assisting some of our small classroom lovies to help them overcome obstacles in order to reunite them with a friend, family member, or help them reach their home.
Day 1: Helping Snorty (Piggie) and Carol (Alpaca) get back home. | |
Various strategies were used and different methods of connection were constructed to overcome the obstacles (mountains, river) involved in the challenge!
Children thought about staircases, bridges, and ladders as ways to navigate the challenge until a strong path/connection was formed between Snorty and Carol's homes!
Children thought about staircases, bridges, and ladders as ways to navigate the challenge until a strong path/connection was formed between Snorty and Carol's homes!
Day 2: Snorty and Carol need to get to Grandpa (Donkey) to visit him on his birthday. Before beginning the challenge, children gathered to brainstorm how to approach the situation. |  |
Some strategies from the previous day were utilized again in their approach and new ways to create connections between spaces were also invented. These ideas included ziplines, tunnels, and ramps!
| | |
Day 3: Ducky is stuck and needs help getting back to Snorty!
One thing we could do is a zipline. - Hugh
* Children compare different types of string and compare lengths, width, and strength *
Even if we do that, Ducky can reach the zipline. - Lily
* Hugh and Michael invent a harness to keep Ducky secure on the zipline *
* Frannie has the idea to add weights to the zipline to secure it. Lily suggests adding tape to be sure it stays *
* Children compare different types of string and compare lengths, width, and strength *
Even if we do that, Ducky can reach the zipline. - Lily
* Hugh and Michael invent a harness to keep Ducky secure on the zipline *
* Frannie has the idea to add weights to the zipline to secure it. Lily suggests adding tape to be sure it stays *
 | Day 4: Bob |  |
We're making a bridge for Bob that goes all the way to Snorty and Grandpa. - Cate
Bridges, ladders, telephone lines...
| Hugh considered a new concept around connection. What if the tiny stuffy friends wanted to call each other? Phones are an excellent source for communication and connecting with others! | |
Making connections between the rooms we have created for our "Connected House"
Now that the children have completed the construction of multiple rooms for our Tucker Room Connected House, they have started exploring ways in which they can create a permanent structure to connect the home together.
When discussing the permanent design and structure for the home, children have recalled information from books we have read about homes around the world, reflected on our trip to the National Building Museum, and incorporated information they have learned through talking with expert architects.
Children are exploring this process through trial and error while working with different types of materials that might best serve as the "foundation" of the home.
We have observed strong negotiation, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and a ton of resiliency as we continue to experiment. We will keep you posted on our progress!
 |  |
Connected Home Design : Prototype #1
Happy Valentine's Day!
We had an awesome day celebrating our friendship with one another.
We hope that you enjoy sharing in your child's joy as they read through all of their special messages from friends!
We hope that you enjoy sharing in your child's joy as they read through all of their special messages from friends!
What is so special about Valentine's Day?
Remy: My mom and dad got me a squishmallow.
Capers: Giving things. To my best friends. And when they send things to me it makes me happy.
Wilder: Making messages for everyone in the classroom.
Finlay. Love. And being with your family.
Cate: I like getting valentines.
Hugh: My favorite part of Valentine's Day is getting valentines from my friends.
Finlay: To show them that we love them.
Saul: I love them. (friends)
Wilder: I like everyone in this class.
Remy: My mom and dad got me a squishmallow.
Capers: Giving things. To my best friends. And when they send things to me it makes me happy.
Wilder: Making messages for everyone in the classroom.
Finlay. Love. And being with your family.
Cate: I like getting valentines.
Hugh: My favorite part of Valentine's Day is getting valentines from my friends.
Finlay: To show them that we love them.
Saul: I love them. (friends)
Wilder: I like everyone in this class.
 |    |
As we continue our work on the Tucker Room Connected House project, the third team just finished their work on the SPA ROOM. Lily, Remy and Frannie created a thoughtful space to relax, recharge and get pampered. During the construction process we noticed a few reoccurring themes that we would like to highlight in today's blog. We also want to invite you to come into the classroom and check out the new addition to our connected house. Lily, Frannie and Remy would be more than happy to give you a tour of their special Spa Room :)
Measuring
Many aspects of their work required measuring and using measuring tools in order to create precise details, such as a shower curtains who was carefully created to fit the asymmetrical shower walls. This process involved counting, considering the height, width and depth of objects, as well as translating the measurements of 3D objects into 2D drawings.
The idea of a shower curtain ...
Frannie: We need a door to close it because right now the water can spray everywhere.
Lily: There’s a bar and little hoops that are silver and you can move them.
Remy, drawing the outline of the shower curtain on fabric:
It’s like an angled brush. One side is longer and one side is shorter.
Frannie: We need a door to close it because right now the water can spray everywhere.
Lily: There’s a bar and little hoops that are silver and you can move them.
Remy, drawing the outline of the shower curtain on fabric:
It’s like an angled brush. One side is longer and one side is shorter.
Lily: We need shelves for the bath bombs. But we need walls first. Because where would the shelves go without walls? (sequencing the needed steps based on practicality)
Ines: What kind of walls do we need?
Remy: A white, plain, straight and smooth sides. It needs to be this tall. We can measure it. (comparing it to the height of the stained glass window wall)
Lily: How do we measure it?
Frannie: In the old classroom we used to have measures. (rulers)
Frannie: This one is long enough? Let’s measure.
Remy, using a ruler to measure the length
of a board they would like to use for the wall: We start at 0. It’s 25!
 |  |
Considering proportions and scale when choosing the size of the "reclining chair" and expressing the interest in being able to share the space with their friends, using their mini-figures as a tool for scale.
Lily: We should do the bigger one. Bigger so that everyone can sit.
Frannie: 2 shrinky dinks can fit on this chair.
Lily: Probably 3 shrinky dink people.
Remy: Yes, let's do that one.
 |
Surface Area
When "tiling" the shower using small bricks and hot glue, Remy, Lily and Frannie
considered the best possible way to fill the space or surface of the shower walls and floor most effectively.
considered the best possible way to fill the space or surface of the shower walls and floor most effectively.
Frannie, about her system of laying out the blocks to fill the space:
I used them this way. The way, the front. The horizontal way. I just did them so they connect. I placed them like people who are sleeping.
I used them this way. The way, the front. The horizontal way. I just did them so they connect. I placed them like people who are sleeping.
the team encountered a small problem:
It was such a tiny space but we got it to work with a tiny block. It was working really well. We just knowed. I looked at it. At both of them. We test it and it worked. - Frannie
Using inspiration from the school environment
Stained glass windows
The team expressed interest in installing windows as part of the spa room and thought about the best way to include them, considering their need for personal privacy in the space.
Frannie: The windows will be fancy. You get to see stuff. But people will probably see you in the bath. But you could wear a bathing suit because no one wants to see you naked of course. We could make shades.
Lily: But if you put curtains you wouldn’t see. We want to but we want nobody else to see. (walking over to the window above our cozy area) I can see the outside just in different color. How about one side could be maybe pink and the other side could be purple.
Lily: Every window is different. We’re gonna arrange it first. We need to cut first.
Remy: We need (counting) 24 pieces. We need this because windows really have glass in them.
Frannie: We need windows. Because people don’t want to be seen when they’re taking baths.
Lily: Don’t we have stained glass windows in the church? There’s different types in different countries, some of them don’t have color.
Remy: Lily is just the smartest person I know. It’s kinda like a collage but you don’t put them on top of each other.
We’re just gonna put them on because it looks beautiful any way.
Lily: Just put it on the rims (considering the best placement of glue).
Frannie: The windows will be fancy. You get to see stuff. But people will probably see you in the bath. But you could wear a bathing suit because no one wants to see you naked of course. We could make shades.
Lily: But if you put curtains you wouldn’t see. We want to but we want nobody else to see. (walking over to the window above our cozy area) I can see the outside just in different color. How about one side could be maybe pink and the other side could be purple.
Lily: Every window is different. We’re gonna arrange it first. We need to cut first.
Remy: We need (counting) 24 pieces. We need this because windows really have glass in them.
Frannie: We need windows. Because people don’t want to be seen when they’re taking baths.
Lily: Don’t we have stained glass windows in the church? There’s different types in different countries, some of them don’t have color.
Remy: Lily is just the smartest person I know. It’s kinda like a collage but you don’t put them on top of each other.
We’re just gonna put them on because it looks beautiful any way.
Lily: Just put it on the rims (considering the best placement of glue).
 |  |
Using observational drawing to further study techniques connected to shelving around the school
What kind of shelf do we want for the spa room?
How can we build a shelf for the spa room?
What kinds of shelves can we find around the classroom?
How can our observations support us in our construction process?
Closer look at shelves around the classroom and school
Frannie: Why are there little notes in tucker closet?
Lily: To tell what they are. Wood is over here What the shelves are. Maybe I can write some things that I can see on the shelves. Tags.
Frannie: It needs words. Notes. These Shelves have little feet (supportive beams on the side)
Lily: In the classroom we see shelves every day. This one is connected to the wall. That’s the kind I want to make (corner shelf in construction area). You gotta make the inside. It’s tricky. It’s triangle. Something like that.
Lily: This is kinda like it. It’s a semicircle. A semicircle is kinda like a D.
Frannie: Why are there little notes in tucker closet?
Lily: To tell what they are. Wood is over here What the shelves are. Maybe I can write some things that I can see on the shelves. Tags.
Frannie: It needs words. Notes. These Shelves have little feet (supportive beams on the side)
Lily: In the classroom we see shelves every day. This one is connected to the wall. That’s the kind I want to make (corner shelf in construction area). You gotta make the inside. It’s tricky. It’s triangle. Something like that.
Lily: This is kinda like it. It’s a semicircle. A semicircle is kinda like a D.
 | “The peg technique” - Frannie Frannie: They are deep into the wall. Remy: These are way different shelves. Frannie: They pushed in the wall with something (peg) and they put the boards on top. It holds it up with the pegs. |
 |  |
Together the group decided on using the "Peg Technique" to hold the shelves up
Lily: We need pegs! To hold it up.
Remy: Hot glue it. What if we do glue and pegs.
Lily: They can only be 4cm. (measuring width of shelf background)
Lily: We need pegs! To hold it up.
Remy: Hot glue it. What if we do glue and pegs.
Lily: They can only be 4cm. (measuring width of shelf background)
The next team to begin their work is the BOUNCY ROOM team, consisting of Jack, Luke, Finlay. And we are excited to learn more about their unique process soon !
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