Another busy day in the Brown Room! There was a birthday committee, sewing, kitchen play, painting and message center creations, silly faces/words and a new hide-and-seek game outside! Ellie's birthday committee: Grace, Alexandra and Olivia were hard at work creating a beautiful plaster gift Sewing: Fletcher, Cannon and Emilia worked on sewing creations using beads and colorful fabric and thread Lollipops were being made in the kitchen today! Painting and message center work: During snack we invented silly words and made silly faces. A new version of hide-and-seek outside! When the last few friends were finishing up snack, Cannon was asking Emilia about the egg she had brought to school. She began explaining how she and her brother play a game at home where one of them hides the egg and the other one tries to find it. Once outside, Cannon asked Emilia if they could play with her egg and a new version of hide-and-seek was born.
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Obstacle Course!! Today we brought the obstacle course equipment out to make our Backwards Day more exciting and challenging (in a fun way). We got our bodies moving as we jumped across the hula hoops, stepped on carpet squares, crawled through the red tunnel, balanced on the balance beam, rock climbing, and playing catch with the dodgeballs. Among these activities were several rounds of hide-and-seek! In this video, Palmer asks Ada to hold his hand while he walks across the balance beam. They take turns helping one another across. Sewing! (Slideshow) Today we ventured into sewing, something we have only tried once only briefly earlier in the year. Coming back to this skill in the second half of the year, we talked for a while about how to use the needle to go in and out, how to apply beads to the thread, and how to make sure you pull all the way through the fabric until you reach the end of the thread. When Palmer heard about the beads, he said, "I'll go get some beads just in case anybody needs some." He brought the jar over to the table and we began looking through them. Evelyn quickly found that not all beads have holes, and not all the holes are large enough for the needle to pass through. We only spent a little time on it today and we'll plan to come back to it next week before spring break! Tidbit from Thursday: Magnetic Chalkboard The magnetic chalkboard is often an area that we walk past while going to the bathroom, so we don't often get to spend quality time there. We had some time to explore these materials on Thursday in small groups. Watch as different children approach this area with different curiosities and strategies. It reminds teachers of the values we have at St. Johns... JOY... (Olivia finding delight in the magnets falling down; Cannon smiling after a ball successfully flies off the ramp) CREATIVITY... (Ada making the "longest ever" row of letters and numbers; Wolf's idea to shift the tube vertically ) EXPLORATION... (Wolf finding the string and making a plan to wrap it around something; Palmer looking inside some of the stretchy tubes; Evelyn throwing the orange balls in the basketball hoop) RELATIONSHIPS... (Evelyn and Cannon picking up the tube that had fallen down together; Olivia helping Ada with her row of letters and numbers; Cannon saying "You can play too!") Have a great weekend!
Today we celebrated Palmer's school birthday! His actual birthday is this Sunday. Even though there were only 6 friends at school, we enjoyed the celebration. Palmer's parents joined us too. Cristian read the first half of "Stanley the Mailman" and Jennie read the second half. Palmer loves Stanley books and even read some of the pages himself! After the book, we looked at photos from when Palmer was younger. In one photo he's a newborn and is wearing a Terps sweatshirt that had belonged to his mom. There was also a photo from his 1st birthday when he got a trash truck from his grandma. Anyone who knows Palmer knows how much he LOVES vehicles. There was also a photo from his second birthday (see below) and one from the beach. Palmer will celebrate his birthday this weekend at the beach with his family. Ada gave Palmer his gift. It was created by Emilia, Lane and Fletcher. They thought a lot about what they know about Palmer and added 4 knobs to represent the 4 wheels of a truck, circular pieces to represent cookies as well as eggshells, sparkles and some party beads. Palmer walked around the candle and we sang to him. Later at snack we enjoyed brownies. And we all fit around one table because the group was so small! But even with a small group, it was a special day! HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY PALMER! We are so happy that you are a part of the Brown Room.
Picnic Grace announced that she was having a picnic! When her friends heard, they hurried over to help spread the picnic blanket. Then, they began to prepare different kinds of food and bring it over to this blanket. Palmer brought chicken nuggets, Wolf made pudding, Grace prepared pancakes and lettuce, and Emilia provided coffee, tea, and cookies. Strategies with Magnet Tiles
Other stories from today
There were many things happening in the Brown Room today: glazing, painting, building, light table arrangements, and photography. In the studio: The children are honing their painting skills through a new painting challenge. The idea is to fill large shapes by using intentional brush strokes and trying the technique of starting around the edge. The recent clay creations were fired in the kiln after the children painted them with colorful underglaze. Today, most opted to add shiny glaze on top. The pieces will then be fired again. In the classroom:There was building! There was photography! A sampling of photos the children took. (They like close-ups and are still learning how to hold the camera's steady.) There was light table arranging! Snack Time:The children are practicing serving themselves snack. It takes patience and precision. Outside:Children enjoyed walking across bridges built by yesterday's alumni visitors. The were a number of tasks at hand for the Brown Room today: taking our Thank You book to Christophe's, making a birthday cake for the school's upcoming birthday celebration and researching how many of pieces of cake we would actually need for the birthday. There were other wonderings and observations too.... The New Crane....During morning meeting Wolf noticed a new crane out the window. We had some discussion about it: Wolf: The crane's bigger. How they make it big? Ada: They just build and build and build... Wolf: Why it's new now?
The Thank You book....Cannon, Ellie, Wolf and Gigi were the friends who took the thank you book to Christophe's. Unfortunately, Ben, our favorite French baker, was not working today. However, the staff were delighted by the gift and said they would pass it along on our behalf. Baking the cake...All the friends had an opportunity to help prepare the birthday cake. It was a big responsibility and there were many steps in the recipe. It was extra fun because Jack was able to help out. Counting: How many pieces of cake do we need?During morning meeting we asked the Brown Room friends how many pieces of cake we would need to have at the school's birthday celebration next week. When asked about the number of friends at St. John's, there were a variety of answers: Maren: One hundred. Ada: There's ten. Wolf: One. Olivia: Three. Cannon: No, five. Ada: (counting) Eight. In reference to this discussion, Olivia used a strategy: she looked through the Brown Room's birthday calendar (photos along the wall). Olivia named each friend and if they were or were not at school: Olivia: Evelyn is not here. Lane is not here. Maren is here. Grace is not here. (keeps going and concludes...) But all the friends are not here. We're missing friends. Having a strategy - something to reference - would come in handy later as a few friends tried to answer the very difficult question about the number of pieces of birthday cake. Watch the video below to see how Ada, Maren and Olivia attempt to count the Tucker Room friends. * The goal of this challenge was not to necessarily to answer the question accurately but more to think about how to approach it and practice numeracy skills like counting and one-to-one correspondence.*
Thank you for our lovely gifts, Wolf and family! It's wonderful to have you back with us again!!
Under-Glazing With every new skill the children learn in the studio, there is almost always the element of perseverance. When children paint their clay with underglaze, it can be tempting to just paint a little and then be done. Teachers have been encouraging children who began glazing last week to come back and add to the same work, maybe more than once, so their work can really feel finished. At the end of the year, when it's time to look through portfolios with their parents, children will feel so proud of all the hard work they accomplished. Chocolate & Coconut Juice....
A surprise during morning meeting....The Rainey Room friends shared a bit of their family tradition learning with us today. Charlie's family celebrates Mardi Gras so the Rainey Room brought in beads to share with us. It was a fun way to start our Tuesday! In the classroom....We were busy thinking about how to welcome back Wolf, who will return to school tomorrow after 6 weeks in Kenya. The children made watercolor paintings and created arrangements with blocks and natural materials which we will show Wolf tomorrow. We are looking forward to having him back and sharing stories. Maren worked hard to make a beautiful arrangement which she then covered with fabric so that it would be a surprise. Lane made 2 bunnies out of blocks and was sure to add fur and eyes. Grace, Emilia and Maren also created a zoo. In the studio....We continued glazing our pottery. First we are painting with colorful underglaze. Next, we will add shiny overglaze. Then the pieces will be ready to be fired in the kiln. More fun with intern Jack....Seventh grade student, Jack Lapham, from The Field School, has been completing a 2 week internship at St. John's. Last week he spent Tuesday and Friday with the Brown Room and he was back again today. The children loved playing with him! Today in class he helped with watercolor painting and also read a book. Outside he pushed friends on the swing and make hide-and-seek extra exciting! Thanks for spending time with us Jack!
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