October 14th, 2020

Tucker Pod B...
Adding to our Paper Sculptures

Jennifer visited our meeting to show some of her handmade paper sculptures from her ceramic studio. She explained that she uses paper folding to plan her clay projects, and she showed us how to bend the paper into a square shape.  Next, we discussed how to create a 3D circle, and a triangle or "mountain" as Aida called it!
The process of folding, bending, and creasing paper can help children build their fine motor skills, and at the same time, they use their creativity to solve problems about construction and adhesives.

Using the Message Center to Stay in Touch

Yesterday, when we were checking our mailboxes, we noticed that some mailboxes were empty, and felt a lot of sympathy for the children who had no mail!  Many of those children are in the Brown Room.  Here is a little excerpt from that conversation...
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Olivia: Uh oh. Jane only has one!
Grace: And Lily, my poor sister, has none! 
Olivia: (checking more boxes) NONE….None!!
Grace: Audrey has none.
Olivia: This one doesn’t have one, Daniel’s teacher! 
Grace: And Jessica’s doesn’t have any one.
Olivia:  Look at Jill’s, look, look at Brooke’s and Jill’s!
Grace:  Even Wilder only has two?  That’s not enough!
Aida: In my house, I’m going to make some mail for Sylvie.

(Fletcher's message for Violet)

Today, we made a list of all the people we wanted to make messages for, and methodically checked everyone off our list.  Aida made a message for Sylvie like she had planned, while Olivia made messages for Daniel and Jane, Oliver made one for Dakota, Grace made one  for Lilly, and Fletcher made one for Violet.  ​

Aida said, "My message is a surprise.  Sylvie's favorite color is blue and yellow."

Olivia said, "Since Jane loves pink, I'm going to make her some rainbow pink stripes.  I love yellow.  It's so bright.  It reminds me of the sun.  These messages are for their mailbox because they don't have any messages."
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When Rachel asked Grace what she wanted her message to Lilly to say, she responded "I hope you have sunshine today, and this is a smile, and I love you Lils."

Grace also had time to make a message for Finlay in the Brown Room!  She used a paper with a crease in it, and said, "This is Finlay nodding," while wiggling the top half back and forth.

More Adventures at "The Store"!

Here's some quick snapshots of our work at the store.  Today with the addition of some puff balls to our "Store" materials, we began to sell ice cream.

We can't wait to tell you about how we feel the "Store" is bolstering some of our relationships between the children in our small Pod B setting.  We can elaborate a little on October 29th at Classroom Stories Night!  Mark your calendars :)

Tucker Pod A
Our New Dollhouse!

Lane, “Should we put these kids to bed? We need to give them a bath, go potty, brush teeth and turn on their nightlights.”
(Bunnies have bath.)
Lane, “Let’s go sit by the fire and watch TV kiddos. It’s TV time, right Papa?”
Palmer, “Yes.”
(They go downstairs)
Lane, “Don’t get burned by the fire.”


Palmer, “We need to put the kids to bed.”
Lane, “Ok, you carry brother; I’ll carry sister.”
(They take the kids upstairs to bed.)
Palmer, “Goodnight! Sleep tight!”
(Mother and father bunny return downstairs)
Palmer, “What should we do now that the kids are asleep?”
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Cannon: This is the sister and this is the brother. All the bunnies are taking their clothes off to go to bed.

(Dakota is the mommy bunny)
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Dakota, “Im gonna put it on the table for you guys to eat. Here you go sister bunny. Here you go brother bunny. Now I’ll wash the dishes. (Makes water sound.) Ok, let’s go to bed.

(Gigi as brother bunny to Dakota the dad bunny.)
Gigi, “Didn’t you promise I could work with you after dinner?”
Dakota (as the dad), “Mother, can you give sister a bath and put her to bed?”
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(Bunnies have dinner.)
Dakota (as dad), “Brother we’re going to do work.”
(They work.)
Dakota, “Let’s go sit by the fire. Do you like it when the days are so beautiful?”
Gigi, “Yeah.”
Dakota, “Ok, let’s go to bed.”
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(Bunnies go upstairs)
Dakota, “I’ll give you a bath.”
Dakota to Gigi, “Brother you can come do work every night.”
Gigi, “Ok!”

It is so nice to have a new provocation in our room!  Thank you to the families that have donated to the school through the Book Fair Wish Tree!
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Studying Growth

Today’s small group focused on growth, specifically the connection between growth in plants and people.  This is not a complete transcription, just a summary of the big ideas our conversations.

Why do you think we decided to use plants as a birthday gift this year?
   Wolf - Because they look lovely.
   Dakota - Because the plants make you happy.
   Palmer - Plants grow and people grow.  
   Lane - It’s because plants grow and people want to grow.
   Cannon - The people want to copy plants.  
   Jill - We also noticed some people had pictures of plants in their photo album and we knew that some friends gardened at home.
   Palmer - I have a picture of my carrots in my photo album.  I grew carrots, tomatoes, pumpkins, cantaloupe, spinach.  I even grew raspberry bushes.


  Jill - Olivia said that “These (plants) ground us grow.”  Can you tell me more about that?
  Dakota - You’re body grows because you’re getting older and you’re breathing. 
  Cannon - All animals grow,
  Nora - Also grass grows.  Also seaweed.
  Gigi - I think there should be more plants in the world.  I think we should plant seeds.
  Palmer - It starts with seeds and you water them.  
  Lane - Plants need water.
  Nora - Also energy.
  Wolf - When a seed grows bigger and bigger and bigger and then the leaves grow and grow bigger and bigger and bigger and then the leaves blow off before the winter.  
  Palmer - A baby becomes a big grown-uo,  That’s different than a plant
  Lane - Humans start in a mama’s tummy.
  Nora - Big sisters, too. 
  Palmer - Will grows when he gets shots.  Shots help you grow.  
  Lane - You give them (people) food.
  Dakota - I give my brother milk and then he grows.  


   Jill - How can we tell if people or plants are growing?
   Palmer - It gets bigger
   Gigi - It gets older. Birthdays are a way to tell if you’re getting bigger.  My birthday is before Christmas.
   Palmer - My birthday is after Christmas.
  Gigi - I’m going to be five on my birthday.

Nora - I’m not going to be five yet.  Maya will be five soon.
   Palmer - I’m going to be five after Gigi and I’m going to turn five before Nora.
   Gigi - You can tell how old your by telling how big you are.
   Lane - Plants don’t have birthdays.  
   Wolf - Even at your birthday, you grow.  
   Lane - (You can tell you are growing) if you look at yourself.  If you look at your feet.  My feet are bigger than when I was a baby.  


Once again, these conversations provide many ideas for future work with the children.  
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A Fun Day Outdoors!