Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Pod B

Building with Paper

After exploring and manipulating paper yesterday, children took on the challenge of building with paper today.  Through this process, children gained understanding about the properties of the paper.  They used various sizes and dimensions of the material as they created.  Here's some of their ideas.
​Nora: This can be a bed *gasps* A bed with a triangle on top! This is the children's playhouse and this is their treehouse. 
Palmer: What is this, Nora?
Nora: Well, I was thinking I would make a treehouse.
Palmer: I bet we could do it!
Palmer sees a large white roll of paper and picks it up.
Palmer: I know what this could be--the water!
Nora: Yeah! Good idea!
Nora leaves to baking, and Gigi and Lane come to construction. Palmer introduces Gigi and Lane to his idea.
Palmer: The sea can be made of different pieces. The water is going to be SO deep. 
A few moments later...
Palmer: I made the sea, Gigi. Your boat can now sail. Ahoy!
Gigi: We're still fixing up the boat.
Lane: Yeah, it's not ready to sail. We're decorating it. 
Palmer finds accordion folds. 
Palmer: This can be the spiral staircase. It goes nowhere because when you go up, you go down!
Cannon joins. 
Palmer: Cannon, we're making the sea! A dangerous place of the sea!
Gigi: I remodeled the boat. This (accordion fold) is to make sure people can get across faster.
Later...
Gigi to Lane: I'm sorry, we have to go to the grocery store. 
Lane: That's okay. Will you be back by sunset?
Gigi: Yup. 

Palmer builds a toy machine:
Palmer: This is the North Pole. It makes toys for all the good girls and boys. It takes forever! 

​Persimmon Bread

Yesterday we harvested the last of the persimmons.   Today, everyone chopped, measured , and mixed to make persimmon bread.   Both Tucker groups will eat it for snack tomorrow.  
    Nora - (After tasting a piece of the persimmon)  The persimmon tastes sweet.  I think adding more persimmon will make the bread sweet.

Many thanks to Zeina for being our first mystery reader!  She read "Theres No Such Thing as a Dragon" and "Horton Hatches an Egg."  The children loved the surprise and both of the stories.  We look forward to our upcoming mystery guest readers!

Pod A  started with Backwards Day!

Some children started building a plane out of hollow blocks. Different children flowed in and out of the play. At points, everyone was involved.
Dakota: Guys we need to make it bigger. Captain (Oliver) we need to make it big. (Because Maren and Grace had joined the play)
Oliver: Good? Ready to fly yet?
Grace: Not yet.
Dakota: We need to make it enough for Fletcher.
Grace: Are we driving to a cottage?
Oliver: No we’re going to a dangerous cottage.
Andy: We got to pack up.
Dakota: Guys, look our luggage is coming through. 
(They used the large wire basket where the pod stores our outside toys.)
Fletcher: The jet is supposed to go 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grace: Let’s make the car wider.
Maren: It’s not a car; it’s a plane!
Oliver: Ok, let’s make it a minivan Honda.
Fletcher: How are we going to make space for 2 more? 
(So all the children could fit)
Dakota: They could go on the wings.
Fletcher: Have any of you seen an RV? You travel in an RV.
Grace: We’re here!
Dakota: Get the luggage out. 
(She and Andy move it to the Cobb house.)
Grace: It’s messy in this house.
Dakota: We need to clean it before we move in.
Grace: We need to sweep.
Dakota: This is hard work.
Grace: It will probably take hours.
(After cleaning they return to the vehicle.)
Dakota: Will you please drive us in the RV?
Oliver: Ok, I’ll open the door. (Dakota gets in). Andy get in the trunk. How are you guys doing? You all buckled in?
Andy: It’s an SUV.
Oliver: Andy it’s an RV.
(Maren gets in)
Maren (to Oliver): Can I drive sometime?
Oliver: You could drive the kids to school and I’ll tell you when to pick me up from work.
Dakota: I’ll be the mom, Oliver you be the dad. Maren you’re the sister.
Maren: But I can drive!
Dakota: You’re the big sister who can drive. Andy is the baby.
(Andy makes gurgling baby noises)
Oliver: The carseat is in the trunk.
Fletcher: Don’t forget about me! I know what an RV looks like.
Andy: Like this.
Fletcher: An RV is HUUUGE. And it’s powered by gas.

​Colorful Paper Continued!

Check out the cool papers that children made yesterday!  
Children continued this work today, demonstrating their growing expertise with this process.

Snow Theories and Ideas

Following our discussion about winter yesterday, teachers asked children to illustrate their ideas about where snow comes from.  One helpful resource we utilized was a book full of pictures of snowflakes up-close.  We were very inspired!​

​Dakota drew a wintery scene complete with a Christmas tree.  She said, “That’s the cloud, and those are the snowflakes.”

Maren drew a scene including her big sister and little brother Ford building snowmen outside while “the snow and the snowflakes” are coming down from the clouds.

Grace had a similar plan, making two drawings of snow falling on a house and a Christmas tree.  She said, “Look, all the snowflakes, they’re flying.”  We reminded her about her theory that rain and snow come from God.  We asked her to draw the world where God lives.  She said, “At God’s world, there’s puffy clouds.  Heaven is another world.  They’re up in heaven, that means up through the clouds.”

Aida had a specific detail she shared with us yesterday about being able to see the “frosty air” in the car on the way to school, so we asked if she would draw that scene for us.  She said, “I’m drawing me in the car with mom and dad.”  To show the cold air, she drew little squiggly lines inside the car, “like smoke”.  We also reminded her about her idea that rain climbs up a ladder to the clouds.  She drew that too, saying, “…Here’s the little rains dripping up.  Drip, drip, drip.”

Fletcher had a memory from Story Bots regarding the cycle of rain and precipitation.  He was able to recall how the droplets travel up, across, and back down. He said,” Here’s a droplet.  It goes up to the clouds.  (Points) This is where a plane goes.”
Melanie:  “Is that the ocean at the bottom?”
Fletcher:  “Yeah, it’s a little stream in the forest.  This is the droplet going down, and this is the droplet going up!  The water makes it float.  It goes up in a straight line all the way to the clouds.”

Andy studied the snowflakes book very closely and was inspired to draw “a curly wind.”  Then he drew three separate snowflakes, taking inspiration from specific pages of the book, paying close attention to the symmetrical patterns.