Preparing for Our Research Field Trip to the Public Library"What does the word research mean?" -CC  "I know what it (research) means. It means like study a thing.
What Questions do You have about Rats: What are we wondering about? What more do we want to know about rats?
"I don't even know if they (the library) have study books, 
SOME PRIOR WORK:
Engaging the Imagination through the languages of Dramatic Play and Construction "Why do we need a doctor's office?" -Jack  "It's because we were playing rat doctor and we didn't have a doctor's office. So we were going to play rat doctor inside the doctor's office after we make it." -Sylvie "My answer is, but when we build the rat doctor how big could it be?" -Maxon "I already told you guys. So I already told you guys so all the people who are playing rat doctor can fit in at the same time." -Sylvie
Rats on Leashes
0 Comments
We were so excited to be back together. For morning meeting, we had one of our gatherings at the low table with drawing and collaging. Before we gathered at the table, we asked them about what they did over spring break, and many of them had fantastic stories to tell. At the table, they began to draw and collage their memories! We are still collecting some of their ideas in writing about these pieces. "We could make a book [of our memories]." - Nora, 5.6 years
Nora, 5.6 years
Snapshots!
Snapshots from a lengthy morning meeting about the door bell, iPad, electricity, movement of electricity, sound waves, the movement of sound, the sun and its gas, solar panels, solar energy, volcanoes, fire and ice, the formation of islands, and more.
Rainey Room left us the gift of a big hole in the sandbox! What's inside? **hint: NOT rats!**
ChapelRat Washing and Spring Cleaning in the Sunshine "The rats need cleaning so they don't have to be washed again. ... Whipped cream on my rat!" -Nora Soak Up Some Sunshine! Happy Spring Break Everyone! Today was a beautiful and busy day in Tucker Room! All of the children were enthusiastic about the work and materials! Many of them made their first plan and then shifted to self-initiated projects! Washing the rats!There are some new rats in the Tucker Room! We ordered some rats, some plush and some plastic, and we discovered that our plastic ones were "funky" (to quote Elle). So, today we gave them a bath! They really did smell MUCH better after their baths. We'll also be bathing them during backwards day for any children who did not get a chance to do it! "I want to make a crown with jewels." - Nora, 5.4 years 
"We're making bears. Do we have paper for mulch?" |
 |  Sylvie's drawings |
Geometric Paintings
Yesterday we created circles on the easel paper and paper at the studio table. There were beautifully mixed tempera colors nearby, in addition to all of our other mark making materials. The children were invited to create anything from the circles. They had A LOT of ideas for the possibilities: pizza, rats, faces, clocks, apples, strawberries, bagels, donuts, cats, and many more. Today, we left them circles and triangles as an invitation. Here is some of their work from the past two days:
Making notebooks and story books
 Lochie made a miniature storybook! There will be more of this work to come! |  "This can be my rat notebook for the things I learn." - Jack, 5.8 years |
Fun hair with Elyse!
Chats to end the day!
 |  |
"If possible, nothing without joy!" - Loris Malaguzzi
 |  |
One of the most joyful things you can do is pull on your rain boots, raincoat, maybe grab an umbrella, and go jump in the puddles! It's such a simple pleasure in life, but it never fails to bring a smile to your face! So, that's exactly what we did!
 |  |
The large puddle on Potomac proved to be too small for all of us, so we took a walk around the block. In the alley (between Potomac and 33rd) was a goldmine of puddles!
     |     Dumping out the water! |      |
 The whole crew! |  |
"It's the greatest day ever!" - Multiple Tucker Room Children
 |  |
Make sure you check out our Instagram post about puddle jumping! @st_johns_preschool
New Mask Policies
A throwback in honor of the final in-person day of Brown Room (almost two years ago to the day) as we prepare for our upcoming policy changes!
**excuse my nostalgic nature**
**excuse my nostalgic nature**
Today we talked to the children about our upcoming change in the masking policy (and it seems many of you had already shared the news, so thank you!). We started by briefly discussing why we stayed home two years ago and why we have been wearing masks. They had so many wonderful insights, and it is incredible to hear how kind and empathetic our Tucker 16 are; though we are not surprised at all!
Starting Monday, masks will be optional. Most of us shared the choice that we have made, or our families have made together. We, as a whole Tucker Room, have agreed to respect the choices of each child and family! We're so grateful for their kind hearts and willingness to be open to the choices of others! Thank you for everything you've done, and continue to do, to keep everyone safe over these past two years!
Starting Monday, masks will be optional. Most of us shared the choice that we have made, or our families have made together. We, as a whole Tucker Room, have agreed to respect the choices of each child and family! We're so grateful for their kind hearts and willingness to be open to the choices of others! Thank you for everything you've done, and continue to do, to keep everyone safe over these past two years!
"We're making another rat hole for the rats.
Because we want to be nice to the rats! So they have a new home!" -Reed
"I'm thinking that they (rat houses) look like the inside of your ear
because the inside of your ear is a maze. Their home is the entire maze." -Giacomo
It remains difficult to pinpoint when or why rats became the talk of Tucker Room. It seems as if it began with an awareness of holes or "rat holes" in the outdoor classroom. By January, the topic of rats had developed into a popular, even influential topic of our daily conversations. Little by little, the outdoor classroom (as is often the case with natural spaces) became an environment invigorating and fueling the imagination.
 | "I don't want a rat to be in a hamster wheel... because they're too big! Rats are bigger and mice are smaller and mice like cheese and rats like bugs." -Nora "Rats can actually get way fatter than mouses! There tummy, their head, their tummy can get as big as a mouse." -Giacomo "Like it ate a mouse?!" Nora "The thing is that... I'm pretty sure that rats run slower because they're heavier. Heavier things make things go slow so, if I'm like just as big as my finger I can go fast!" -Giacomo |
Eventually, the imagined rats were alive and well in the minds of the children. The boundaries of the imagined rats had increased and what was imagined outside was influencing the play inside. So, if you can't beat 'em join 'em is what we said.
 |  |
As the play rats were getting more pretend play attention we activated clay as a language to explore the technique of scoring and slipping by means of sculpting clay rats. While we knew some children would express interest in this we did not fully anticipate that the majority of the children would want to make a clay rat.
 A sneak peak at the many clay rats ready to be glazed! |  |
As influenced by the book The Pesky Rat, found in our library, by Ines, we collectively creatively drew and collaged our own rats. More to come with the rats! Consider this a teaser/trailer - we don't want to reveal the whole story!
The Interview
For Janie's interview, we (Janie, Jane, Reed, and Marley...CC would later join the committee) sat down at the studio table in the classroom with some drawing tools to brainstorm and interview our upcoming birthday girl. Janie immediately shared that she loves lions and yellow; Janie is nothing if not consistent in this area!
 | We dug into the archives to find Janie's gift from our Brown Room year, where her committee (Lochie and Cedar) sewed the head of a lion. As long as we've known Janie, we've known that she loves lions. Therefore, this was not a surprise to her committee this year! |  |
After the children worked through some of our typical questions, we began to discuss all of the birthday gifts we've created this year and all of the different ways they represent the use of paper! The children, especially Reed, recalled each and every gift that we've made. This reinvigorated the conversation and led to our big idea for Janie's gift:
“But you can't tell us what you want because then you know what you’re going to have.” - Reed, 4.11 years
“Maybe I’ll forget.” - Janie, 4.11 years
We may use her ideas, but not exactly that [unicorn house like Jane]. How can we use paper to make something for Janie. We know she likes lions… - Elyse
“Unicorns…lions…tigers…”- Janie
[to me, Elyse, it's sounding like a jungle at this point]
“I like monkeys!” - Janie
“Uhhh that’s it!” - Reed [runs over to whisper in my ear]
What’s it? - Elyse
“We can make a jungle for Janie.” - Reed
“Maybe I’ll forget.” - Janie, 4.11 years
We may use her ideas, but not exactly that [unicorn house like Jane]. How can we use paper to make something for Janie. We know she likes lions… - Elyse
“Unicorns…lions…tigers…”- Janie
[to me, Elyse, it's sounding like a jungle at this point]
“I like monkeys!” - Janie
“Uhhh that’s it!” - Reed [runs over to whisper in my ear]
What’s it? - Elyse
“We can make a jungle for Janie.” - Reed
 "A lion and unicorn. They were in a house, playing." - Janie, 4.1 |  Marley, 5.0 years |  "It's my lion and my unicorn. They are getting married." - Reed, 4.11 years |
The first meeting
Our first meeting is usually a brainstorming session. With the idea of jungle, we presented a box with a diorama in mind, but opened the conversation to the children to decide what this would look like. What do we need in the jungle? What does it look like? What kind of paper did we need?, etc.
"How will we make a lion and tiger out of paper?" - Jane, 5.2 years
If we put them in here, it can be a whole jungle; a scene. We can make grass.
"What do we make grass out of?" - Jane
Paper. Look around the atelier. Do you see anything that looks like grass?
"This looks like grass [green paint]." - Jane
"This paper looks like grass." - Marley, 5.0 years
[there is a board with paper grass that is an artifact from the Tucker Room 2019-2020's Thanksgiving Feast centerpieces; pictured below]
"I have an idea. We can put the grass here ["bottom" of the inside of the box], and then we can paint it a background [running finger over the back of the box]. " - Marley
What would the background be?
"It would be grass and flowers and flamingoes and trees." - Marley
If we put them in here, it can be a whole jungle; a scene. We can make grass.
"What do we make grass out of?" - Jane
Paper. Look around the atelier. Do you see anything that looks like grass?
"This looks like grass [green paint]." - Jane
"This paper looks like grass." - Marley, 5.0 years
[there is a board with paper grass that is an artifact from the Tucker Room 2019-2020's Thanksgiving Feast centerpieces; pictured below]
"I have an idea. We can put the grass here ["bottom" of the inside of the box], and then we can paint it a background [running finger over the back of the box]. " - Marley
What would the background be?
"It would be grass and flowers and flamingoes and trees." - Marley
| | |
These first days of birthday committees often involve some delayed gratification. The children typically want to begin piecing together the final gift on that day. This year, we've been discussing the idea of research, brainstorming, and creating drafts/prototypes so that we can hear everyone's ideas and layout how we want the final gift to look. On the first day of Janie's gift, we saw a lot of this brainstorming happening, and more specifically, the children were using the materials to express their ideas (e.g. the strips of paper for the sunset).
 Brainstorming the sunset. |  Marley created flowers. |  Jane began the process of making grass. |
Grass and a sunset
 Marley's initial sunset idea. | Our next day of work was dedicated primarily to the sunset, but they also worked on grass and flowers. In the back right corner you can see the grass from Tucker Room 2019-2020. CC also asked if she could join the committee, so our threesome became a very collaborative foursome. |
"Is this looking like a good sunset?" - Reed, 4.11 years
 | |  |
After they laid out their idea on the table, Reed and Marley began to assess how the sunset might fit into the box.
 | At one point, they began to debate the colors of a sunset, so Reed went to look at our previous work with the home research about night [to the right]. She then noted that she and CC had used pastels for the sunsets.  |  |
Reed brought the idea of pastels back to the group, and they loved it. For this process, we collected the colors they wanted (yellow, red, orange, pink, and purple) and some watercolor paper. They immediately noticed that the paper was too large for the box, so we had to measure it and cut it to the appropriate width.
 |  |
CC and Marley took on the challenge of creating the sunset, and they were thoughtful and attentive to the details of their work. Among the pastels there were some that had clearly been used to blend, and CC noted, "That's too dirty. We need a clean one", and then Marley began to notice this as well. This attention to the specifics of the tools and process are typical of CC and Marley.
Nearby, Jane and Reed began to create flowers.
Nearby, Jane and Reed began to create flowers.
| | | |
 | When they felt satisfied with their work, we took it to spray the fixant! They quickly learned how bad that smells, but they were thrilled to see that the pastels do not rub off the paper anymore! |
Our next committee meeting was all about adding the background and creating the grass so that they could add it to the diorama.
 | "It's coming together! Smooth it [glue] out! It's really coming together!" - Marley, 5.0 years |  |
 |  |
The children used many of the techniques we saw in the previous Tucker Room's work. They created accordion folded blades of grass, strips of grass with "feet" for it to stand on, wire grass loops, curled/quilled grass, and more. Some pieces were placed in vertical positions, while others were horizontal.
 |  |
 A sampling of their grass pieces. |  The first round of grass glued inside the diorama; other pieces were slowly added on the other days. |
Jane and Reed volunteered to add the remaining grass while also creating additional flowers for the "foreground".
 |  |
"I wanna add this [flower]. Reed's [flower] is amazing." - Marley, 5.0 years
Creating the jungle animals
"How are we going to create a lion and tiger for Janie's diorama? That's our challenge today."
While Jane and Reed worked on the setting, Marley and CC asked if they could draw the animals. CC chose the tiger, and Marley enthusiastically asked if she could draw "Janie's lion".
 |  |
 |  |  |
| After the first day of drawing, we realized that the animals were too big for the diorama. We had a few options for creating smaller animals: 1. Drawing smaller versions 2. Shrinking them on the copier. Marley and CC both chose to draw smaller versions of their animals. |  |
 | "The white spots are for the white fur on his legs." - CC, 5.4 years |
For Marley, the process of creating a smaller lion proved to be frustrating, so she decided to shrink her second version (using the copier) so that it would be a good size for the diorama.
 |  |  |  |
Then, CC and Marley chose to cut out their animals to put them in the diorama. Marley made the decision that the lion should be next to the sunset, while CC wanted the tiger more in the foreground. CC discovered that her tiger was drawn on paper that did not stand up well, so she glued it to card stock, cut it out again, and folded "feet" to make it stand up.
 |  |  |  |
The Gift - The Jungle
The Celebration
"I love it so much!" - Janie, 5.0 years
Happy Birthday St. Johns!
"Maybe St Johns made the cake!" -CC
| What a wonderful 25th birthday celebration for St. John's! There has been a lot of emotional anticipation and momentum of work leading up to this day. The children have invested in the preparation and meaningfulness of the event from the start and today they were able to share in the joy of this memorable event. We, in Tucker Room, will continue to work toward creating a final portrait of St. Johns as we savor our remaining days together, this year. Thank you to all of you for your presence and participation. We could not do it without your help, your hands, and your hearts! Here's to St. John's and all of us! Cheers!! |  |
Somewhere over the rainbow...
"It (the celebration) was fun. " -Maxon
  Brown Room Hoops |
|  Rainey Room Hoops |
Tucker Room Hoops
| YELLOW  |   |
 |  |
CC
LOCHIE
JANIE
SYLVIE
MAXON
AUDREY
GREEN
 |  |
JACK
GEORGE
JANE
REED
NORA
GIACOMO
ELLE
VIOLET
MARLEY
LUCIA
THE CANDLE
 |  |
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS
In the beginning...
Back in October, we began to have intentional small groups with the children to reflect on the black and white areas (you saw much of this in our Fall Classroom Stories presentation). During those conversations, all those months ago, the children established that the black area was "night" and the white area was "day".
Why do you think we chose black and white materials?
“For night and day!!” - Nora [with enthusiasm], 5.0 years
“I feeled like that black space was in the night.” - Reed, 4.7 years
“For night and day!!” - Nora [with enthusiasm], 5.0 years
“I feeled like that black space was in the night.” - Reed, 4.7 years
Reading our documentation
Today we started our morning by doing a quick tour of the classroom (there are now some unit blocks in the black area, etc.). At the end, we stopped at our documentation of our "What is night?" journey.
 Our original "What is night?" panel. |  Our constellation and Night at School panels. |
Can you read the panel?
"No! We can't read." - George, 4.10 years
What do you see on the documentation panel?
Sometimes I see shadows at night. - George
Because of the light. There was so much light. -Lochie, 5. 4 years
Light makes shadows because you block light that makes a shadow. -Giacomo, 5.2 years
That makes the light shine on the front of you, the back of you, because you block the sunlight… It’s kind of like a dark picture behind you. -Lochie
Why do we have all of this work?
Because we were painting, we were painting night. -Reed, 4.11 years
Why do you think we chose to ask you about night?
Because we wanted to paint night. -Lochie
And was/is there anything in the classroom that made you think about night?
Yes, the black area. -Reed
And the white area. -Lochie
The white area makes me think of snow. -Reed
Day! -Lochie
So that's why we asked you about night and thinking about day. What are we going to hang? Do we remember from yesterday?
Sun! -Lochie
And our sunset and our sunrise. -Nora, 5.5 years
What else?
The moon! -George
"No! We can't read." - George, 4.10 years
What do you see on the documentation panel?
Sometimes I see shadows at night. - George
Because of the light. There was so much light. -Lochie, 5. 4 years
Light makes shadows because you block light that makes a shadow. -Giacomo, 5.2 years
That makes the light shine on the front of you, the back of you, because you block the sunlight… It’s kind of like a dark picture behind you. -Lochie
Why do we have all of this work?
Because we were painting, we were painting night. -Reed, 4.11 years
Why do you think we chose to ask you about night?
Because we wanted to paint night. -Lochie
And was/is there anything in the classroom that made you think about night?
Yes, the black area. -Reed
And the white area. -Lochie
The white area makes me think of snow. -Reed
Day! -Lochie
So that's why we asked you about night and thinking about day. What are we going to hang? Do we remember from yesterday?
Sun! -Lochie
And our sunset and our sunrise. -Nora, 5.5 years
What else?
The moon! -George
 |  |
 |  |
What is day?
| Just as we asked "What is night?", we wanted to ask, "What is day?" The idea that the white area is day has continued to be a part of each conversation about the black and white areas. The decision was made to approach it just as we did our initial small groups about night. Tray painting was provided, and all of the questions we asked about night were presented about day. e.g. "What does day look like?; How do you know day has started?; etc. |  We flipped these questions from our night small groups to reflect day. |
 |  |
What is day?
“There’s a sun and it’s super duper hot, and sometimes it’s freezing. Sometimes it is raining.” - Elle, 5.2 years
“I have no idea.” - Nora, 5.4 years
What is day like?
“Like the sun.” - Janie, 4.11 years
“It’s like the whole earth has light.” - Nora
What does it look like or feel like?
“So, the Earth rotates around the sun.” - Nora [showing us with the globe]
“It feels like I’m going in a circle, but I see different things.” - Janie, 4.11 years
“There’s a sun and it’s super duper hot, and sometimes it’s freezing. Sometimes it is raining.” - Elle, 5.2 years
“I have no idea.” - Nora, 5.4 years
What is day like?
“Like the sun.” - Janie, 4.11 years
“It’s like the whole earth has light.” - Nora
What does it look like or feel like?
“So, the Earth rotates around the sun.” - Nora [showing us with the globe]
“It feels like I’m going in a circle, but I see different things.” - Janie, 4.11 years
 "Two suns. The first one is 'messed up'. The dad and kid [are ] on the red bricks." - Janie, 4.11 years |  "The sunset and raincloud." - Nora, 5.4 years |
What does day look like? Or what colors do we see during the day?
“This is the sun setting.” - Nora
“Now some yellow.” - Janie
When does day start?
“In the morning.” - Janie
How do you know it’s morning?
“When you see the sun rising up.” - Janie
What about the sunset? What does that mean?
“That it’s almost turning night.” - Nora
Why does the sun rise?
“So it can do everything in the day.” - Nora
What kind of things?
“Anything you want." - Elle
“This is the sun setting.” - Nora
“Now some yellow.” - Janie
When does day start?
“In the morning.” - Janie
How do you know it’s morning?
“When you see the sun rising up.” - Janie
What about the sunset? What does that mean?
“That it’s almost turning night.” - Nora
Why does the sun rise?
“So it can do everything in the day.” - Nora
What kind of things?
“Anything you want." - Elle
 "A person on the red bricks." - Jane, 5.2 years |  An umbrella in the rain." - Jane, 5.2 years |
How long is day?
“10 hours.” - Janie, 4.11 years
“35 hours.” - Nora, 5.4 years
“I don’t know.” - Jane, 5.2 years
“Actually, I don’t know either.” - Nora
“I told Melanie this question yesterday about night and day. Is night the same time as day?” - Nora
Ask your friends. [she repeats it louder to them]
“Is night as long as day?” - Nora
“Yes.” - Janie
“No. It’s really not, Janie.” - Elle, 5.2 years
Which one is longer?
“Day.” - Elle
“Wait, I might know the answer to this. Elle is right. When it changes the year, and the fall, the summer. At summer it gets warmer, so the days are longer and the nights are shorter. And when it turns to winter, the days are shorter and the nights are longer.” - Nora
“10 hours.” - Janie, 4.11 years
“35 hours.” - Nora, 5.4 years
“I don’t know.” - Jane, 5.2 years
“Actually, I don’t know either.” - Nora
“I told Melanie this question yesterday about night and day. Is night the same time as day?” - Nora
Ask your friends. [she repeats it louder to them]
“Is night as long as day?” - Nora
“Yes.” - Janie
“No. It’s really not, Janie.” - Elle, 5.2 years
Which one is longer?
“Day.” - Elle
“Wait, I might know the answer to this. Elle is right. When it changes the year, and the fall, the summer. At summer it gets warmer, so the days are longer and the nights are shorter. And when it turns to winter, the days are shorter and the nights are longer.” - Nora
 "Thunder clouds." - Janie, 4.11 years |  A variety of rainclouds and the milky way. by Marley, 4.11 years |
When we were thinking about night we asked, “Can there be light at night?” My new question is, “Can there be darkness during the day?”
“No.” - Nora
“Sometimes. When the lights are off in my room.” - Elle
“When it’s cloudy and about to rain or snow.” - Nora
“When you’re under your blanket, or under the pillows.” - Janie
“Or just at night.” - Nora
How do you know it’s daytime?
“When the sun is rising.” - Janie
But you said that there can be darkness during the day. Is that true?
Janie and Nora start saying yes and no.
What are the colors of night?
“Black, navy.” - Nora
“Navy gray!” - Janie
So, what are the colors of day?
“Yellow. Blue.” - Nora
“Red.” - Janie
“Seriously? Red?” - Nora
“Orange.” - Janie
“In daytime, the sky is round.” - Nora
Is it round at night?
“Yes.” - Nora
Tell me more about it being round.
“It’s like I kind of notice that we are in Earth, and look out. It’s round. It goes up and then to the side and down. So, it’s like I see the earth.” - Nora [who also had her hand on the globe, but was looking outside]
Jane and Elle asked if they could represent night as well.
“No.” - Nora
“Sometimes. When the lights are off in my room.” - Elle
“When it’s cloudy and about to rain or snow.” - Nora
“When you’re under your blanket, or under the pillows.” - Janie
“Or just at night.” - Nora
How do you know it’s daytime?
“When the sun is rising.” - Janie
But you said that there can be darkness during the day. Is that true?
Janie and Nora start saying yes and no.
What are the colors of night?
“Black, navy.” - Nora
“Navy gray!” - Janie
So, what are the colors of day?
“Yellow. Blue.” - Nora
“Red.” - Janie
“Seriously? Red?” - Nora
“Orange.” - Janie
“In daytime, the sky is round.” - Nora
Is it round at night?
“Yes.” - Nora
Tell me more about it being round.
“It’s like I kind of notice that we are in Earth, and look out. It’s round. It goes up and then to the side and down. So, it’s like I see the earth.” - Nora [who also had her hand on the globe, but was looking outside]
Jane and Elle asked if they could represent night as well.
 "A night sky with the yellow house." - Jane, 5.2 years |  "First I'm doing red for the sky. Then, I'm going to cover it. It's bricks and the night sky. The red brick sidewalk." - Elle, 5.2 years |
During our team meeting, as we reflected on the small group and their paintings, we began to notice a few patterns:
1. Day inspired a greater number or colors and a brighter color palette.
2. There were more people included in the paintings and conversation.
3. Weather played a role in their thoughts and paintings.
1. Day inspired a greater number or colors and a brighter color palette.
2. There were more people included in the paintings and conversation.
3. Weather played a role in their thoughts and paintings.
The Sun
During most discussions about night, the black and white areas, day, etc., the children have mentioned creating a sun for the white area and a moon for the black area. To encourage more thought around "day", we are beginning the process of creating a sun for the white area. It has also been mentioned by the children that we need a sun set that moves across the ceiling and a sun rise that can be moved with a pulley system to reflect the movement of the sun. These are all "on the horizon" (pun intended).
Yesterday, our morning meeting was a brainstorming session about the design of our sun. The low table was set up with drawing tools (pens, colored pencils, pastels, oil pastels, markers, and sharpies), collaging materials (paper, scissors, glue sticks, tissue paper, etc.), and some tools to assist with the shape and size of their circles (protractors and compasses).
We started by reading a book about the sun and discussing what we know. We learned that the sun is not the biggest star nor is it the oldest, but it is very important for us.
Then, we opened up the table for drawing their ideas about the sun. We asked for them to think about the shape, colors, size, movement, etc. They also mentioned the light that shines from it and the fact that it is made of gas.
Then, we opened up the table for drawing their ideas about the sun. We asked for them to think about the shape, colors, size, movement, etc. They also mentioned the light that shines from it and the fact that it is made of gas.
Here are their initial drawings:
 Violet |  Elle |  "A fire person, fire, milky way, and a happy sun." - Maxon, 4.11 years |
 "The sun with fire." - Jane, 5.2 years |  Audrey |  "I drew the rest of the spikes." - Giacomo, 5.2 years |
 "The sun with light spreading." - Nora, 5.5 years |  "The milky way, planet, fire from the sun, the sun, and Earth." - George, 4.10 years |  "The sun, and the black stuff is space." - Lochie, 5.4 years |
 Jane |  Audrey |  Jack |
 Jack |  CC |
 Marley and Elle |  "The sun and the solar system." - Lochie, 5.4 years |
 Lucia "The earth." - Janie, 5.0 years |  Sylvie and Reed |
The sun: circle vs. sphere
As part of our process for creating a sun for the white area, our morning meeting was a challenge to create a sphere out of wire. First, what is the difference between a circle and a sphere? Many of them used their fingers to draw a circle "in the air" or on the table. Then, they used their hands to show what a sphere might look like!
 |  |
What shape is the sun?
A circle! - Tucker children
Do you know what it is called when a circle is a 3-D shape?
A sphere! -Nora, 5.4 years
This is a sphere. -Nora (holding blue wooden sphere)
But flat circles are called… -Lochie, 5.4 years
I think you are trying to say that when it is two dimensional it’s a circle but when you add more dimensions to the circle then what it becomes is a sphere.
That’s also a sphere (points to a globe)— the planet. -Lochie
So here is our challenge: Can we make a sphere, not a circle, out of wire?
You can definitely do it!
I can do it! -George, 4.9 years
I’m starting with a circle and then I’m going to turn it into a sphere. -Jack, 5.8 years
A circle! - Tucker children
Do you know what it is called when a circle is a 3-D shape?
A sphere! -Nora, 5.4 years
This is a sphere. -Nora (holding blue wooden sphere)
But flat circles are called… -Lochie, 5.4 years
I think you are trying to say that when it is two dimensional it’s a circle but when you add more dimensions to the circle then what it becomes is a sphere.
That’s also a sphere (points to a globe)— the planet. -Lochie
So here is our challenge: Can we make a sphere, not a circle, out of wire?
You can definitely do it!
I can do it! -George, 4.9 years
I’m starting with a circle and then I’m going to turn it into a sphere. -Jack, 5.8 years
 |  |
 | Another way to make a sphere. You can make a circle and put another piece of wire over the other way. … You don’t tie it to here, you tie it to here and you take it all the way around. -Lochie, 5.4 years |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 | |
This was not a simple challenge, and many of the children started by making the familiar shape of a circle. As they worked, we encouraged them to use multiple pieces of wire to add dimension to their work. There were a few spheres on the table for them to feel and observe as they worked, but none of them chose to wrap the wire around them to achieve their shape. They did, however, continue to use their hands, and occasionally the pliers, to achieve 3D shapes. Every child had a different approach to their work.
Jack started by making a small wire sphere and then wrapped many layers around that to create a large, somewhat heavy sphere.
Lochie and Jordan connected pieces of wire at two points to create a sphere that was a bit more "open".
Other children twisted and shaped singular pieces of wire to achieve a 3D shape, while others twisted together multiple pieces and then shaped them into spheres.
This morning meeting challenge/work lasted for approximately 45 minutes. The children were focused and collaborative. They were passing around materials, supporting each other's ideas, and asking questions of each other and the teachers. They shared their processes with the children around them who might have been struggling a bit to get started, and in the end, there was a great deal of pride and excitement about what they had achieved.
Jack started by making a small wire sphere and then wrapped many layers around that to create a large, somewhat heavy sphere.
Lochie and Jordan connected pieces of wire at two points to create a sphere that was a bit more "open".
Other children twisted and shaped singular pieces of wire to achieve a 3D shape, while others twisted together multiple pieces and then shaped them into spheres.
This morning meeting challenge/work lasted for approximately 45 minutes. The children were focused and collaborative. They were passing around materials, supporting each other's ideas, and asking questions of each other and the teachers. They shared their processes with the children around them who might have been struggling a bit to get started, and in the end, there was a great deal of pride and excitement about what they had achieved.
"Our challenges are fun!" - Sylvie, 5.1 years
 |  |
 |  |
Next up: a large chicken wire sphere for our sun!
Archives
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
RSS Feed