Laura left the books for us to read next week.  We can't wait to learn more about geysers!
​ Thank you, Laura,  It was amazing!

Today Olivia and Palmer organized their portfolios.  Both children were impressed by the amount of work that they had.  
 We can't wait for the children to share their many creations with you as we begin portfolio conferences next week!
     Palmer - I have a LOT of watercolors.
    Olivia - (Noticing that Melanie was labeling her work)  Good thing you wrote that, "Car."   I will have this when I'm six, and I will be able to read it.  Because I won't remember..... when I grow, grow, grow, I won't remember.

Backwards Day!
The water feature of our outdoor classroom has been of great interest all week.  Children have explored different systems of tubes, experimented with adding different amounts of water, made observations and formed theories.   Today, there was also a water fountain that was constructed by stacking big buckets.   Here’s some of their observations:
While outside:
Lane - That’s genius.  The water will go from here to there and come out there (Indicating the three tubes that the water is flowing through).
Oliver - I think we should raise this end, so it goes down like a slide. (Oliver is indicating that an incline may make the water move better)
Three children decide to add their water to the system all at once.
Palmer - It’s working!  It came through the black tube!
Reflecting back inside the classroom:
Palmer - You need a pipe, to make it flow farther in the stream.
Grace - I noticed that if you make the pipes too long, the water won’t go through.
Cannon - The water has to go down to go quickly (he demonstrates by holding his hand at an angle).
Grace - I noticed if the water goes down hill, it works better.
Palmer - And if you add more water, it can go uphill and flatten the hill.
Grace - And I noticed that the current could move the gecko or the alligator.
Children headed to backwards day with the mourning dove home.  We were  thrilled to see a mama mourning bird that seemed to be nesting above the back door to the rectory.  without disturbing the bird, we place the home near her.
Olivia - Maybe we should bring her a worm in the little house .  The bird will fly with her baby chicks to the worm and say, “I want to stay here forever.”

Every child takes a different approach.  Grace said, "This will be the keep pile, and this will be the not-keep pile."  A few minutes later she observed a painting which made her exclaim, "Gorgeous.  That's definitely going in the keep pile!"  Another piece of work prompted her to say, "Needs some more work."  She made a third pile for work that needs to be refined.  Eventually she concluded, "So far, I like my work.  I only have one thing in the not-keep pile."

Making a "Creek" with Pipes

 Grace - If you pour the water faster, the water runs better.
 Gigi - Maybe it’s a tube system.
Lane: (Noticing the water flowing downhill instead of uphill) The water is not like a human.  It can’t just walk up.  It’s liquid.
Grace: We need to make it a little higher on this side, the side that I’m on.  Because I just feel like it’s a hill.  It just rolls down here. And it just rolls into the sand.
Fletcher: We need more water!
Grace: We need a big bucket as big as the school, and Clifford could pull it.  It would be like a pool in here.
Oliver: (brings new pipe) We could use this!
Palmer: When you pour the water in, it makes the sand wetter, so it’s easier for shovels to dig. 
Cannon: (introducing Gecko) We have to make sure he gets air.
Wolf: (patting sand) I’m trying to make it strong so the water won’t get through. 

(See Also: Wolf's solar powered vehicle!!)

Wire Sculptures Inspired by Spring Flowers
Quotes From Monday:
   Lane - I’m making a flower.
   Olivia - I’m making a flower, too.  I’m gonna try.
   Grace - Me, too.   ( I’m making a swing.)  I just need one more chain.
   Olivia - I can’t do a flower.
   Lane - Don’t worry.  Just put your mind to it.  The think wire is easier to twist.  
   Grace - This needs to be small (the seat of the swing), but it’s too short to twist.  (She tries a longer piece of wire and other materials.)  I’m a little frustrated.
   Lane - You can do it! Start thinking about what Grace would do.   
   Grace - What I would do is panic.
   Lane - What Grace would do is think and try again.
   
Tuesday:
   Cannon - This (thick wire) is easy to bend.  I’m kind of copying Wolf, but not really.
    Gigi - I’m finishing the top.
    Olivia - I like to twist lots because it helps to make it tight.

Light Table Insects
     Oliver - We’re trapping the cicadas because they want to win.
     Fletcher - I found a lot of gems.
     Oliver - Now the gems are protected.  The cicadas want to get in the treasure chest.
     Wolf - Luckily, this (the treasure chest) is strong.  And the cicadas are just paper.
     Oliver - They would need a key for the treasure chest.
[a bit later…..]
     Lane - We’re ling up all the bugs in Beetle Town for the mayor.  The mayor is the scorpion.
     Oliver - We trapped the cicadas with all these bricks because he wants to get all the treasure.
      Lane - If he gets out, I’ll lock up all the treasure.  All hands on deck!

Games
Yesterday Maren taught us a dominoes game called Mexican Train that she learned from her grandparents. We played our first round yesterday in Blake hall where there was plenty of space to set out the tile trains. 
Today Nora brought in Snail’s Pace and she played a round with Maren. We look forward to learning more games and hopefully designing some of our own.

Portfolio Review
Each day one child is reviewing and organizing all the work from her/his portfolio draw. Maren did it yesterday and Aida went today. It’s a lot of fun to review the work and discover pieces from ‘long ago.’ The children are looking forward to sharing their work with you in the upcoming weeks. Here are few quotes from Aida today:
Looking at her plaster work she said “I remember this! This is SO long ago.”
Finding a booklet of drawings she paused, “I’m just gonna look at this for a second.”
Of her large pile of drawings she noted, “I can’t believe I drew all of this.”
Of the process, “I’m having so many things….I love it.”

Outside
Yesterday, Pod A told us about a trench they dug outside and suggested we use it too. It turned out to be A LOT of fun! Today the children played with it for the entire hour they were outside. Today they imagined that the trench was hot chocolate river instead of just water.

Clay
Last week, when we went outside, Jen was cleaning up from a clay experience she was having with the Rainey Room and showed Maren a clay technique that she has been using in her own practice where she layers slabs of different colors. Today Jen shared this technique with our pod and the children started their own pieces. Jen rolled some slabs and the children also rolled some, then they stacked them, cut pieces and made designs with them. Tomorrow each child will arrange and attach her/his creations to a slab.

Enthusiasm for invented games continued today!  Olivia and Fletcher started developing games while Grace, Gigi, and Lane enhanced their games from yesterday.  Here's some of their thoughts:
      Olivia - They hop on space like this: 1, 2, 3.....Put all these numbers...... Now, it's blue's turn and blue is going to win.  Woooo, blue is the winner!
         Grace - This is the pretend timer.  They have forty seconds.
       Lane - There's three teams.  Team red, team blue, and team white.  You know what?  You roll the dice..... whatever it lands on , you go to, and whoever gets to the finish line wins.
         Olivia - I'm going play it and see if it works.  I'm going to put them on the white, and they roll.  Okay red wins.
        Grace- (Adding orange paper) It's a lava pit!  If your  dice falls on here, that's okay, it's a bridge.  I'm gonna make a little boat.
         Fletcher -  There's three starts and three ends.  And whoever gets a dead end, has to go back to the start.  I always win the game.
         Lane - These are the racing stables.  Gigi and I are doing teamwork for this game.   
         Gigi - I love being blue (using the blue dice). 
        

As we went through the pajama planning process, we explored screen printing and gelatin printing.  Today we used printer's ink between two sheets of glass to create dendritic mono prints.   To apply pressure to the glass, some children stood on the top piece of glass.  After separating the glass pieces, children used a brayer to make their print on paper.  Here's some of their thoughts as they went through the process:
    Wolf - It looks like veins.
    Olivia - (Using the brayer) Yeah, this is fun.
   Lane - Red, copper, purple, red, copper, purple.  Now, I'm just going to do dots like Grace did.  And it's going to be a pattern, too.
     Gigi - I thought standing on it was the fun part.

Invented Games
Yesterday, some children sorted materials with Jen.  When they saw the enormous amount of dice available, they started to invent games.  We brought that idea back today and children were enthusiastic about getting started.  It was important to organize the game in such a fashion that it could be easy for another person to understand the way to play the game.  Here’s a quick look:
Grace’s Game 
These (small figures) are the racers.  Pink racer, a red racer, and a blue racer.  And this is the finish line.  Actually, two racers.  (Putting down squares of paper)  And these are an invisible race path and when you get to the pink (square), you finish.

Palmer’s Game
You roll this blue dice and if you get  1, 2, 3, or 5, you have to start over.  And if it’s at a white space, you basically have to go back.  The light green square on the end is the finish.  You are trying to get rid of the whiie dice and the red dice by knocking them off with the dice you are using.  It’s not hard to win and it’s not hard to lose.

Wolf’s Game 
You roll the dice and if you get the wrong thing, you have to start all over.  If you land on the blue dice, you have to hop, hop, hop (from dice to dice).  If you get to these dice (in a row) you win.  But if you get to this blue dice, you have to start over.

Lane and Gigi’s Game
Lane - It’s like soccer.  We start here and do some warm-ups with some flips.  When I say go, you send the dice (soccer ball) all the way through the path.  Whoever jumps in the nest first wins.
Jill - How do you know how to move down the path?
Lane - Give us a second to figure that out.
The girls decide to roll the dice to move.
Gigi - And you land on whatever space. 
​
Later, Grace and Olivia successful played Grace’s game.  Palmer and Cannon tried to play Palmers game, but found it “a little confusing,” according to Palmer.

Easel Extravaganza
Pod B has been exploring spray bottle painting. Naturally, Pod A was eager to join in.  The children painted with newly mixed colors and then used the spray bottles on top.  Here’s their reflections on the experience:
    Palmer - Me and Olivia were painting the solar system. I made Earth.
    Grace - It looks perfectly perfect!
    Cannon - I am the orange forehead zombie (reflecting that some of the orange spray landed on his forehead). 
    Oliver - I sprayed a dot with orange.  
    Wolf - I sprayed with different colors.   
    Palmer - Spraying was the most fun.  It got all over my hands.
    Melanie - What happened when the spray went onto the paper?
    Palmer - It dripped.
    Melanie - Why do you think that happened?
    Lane -Because its’ very liquid.
    Gigi - I like that me and Cannon worked together.