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                                      TUCKER ROOM

Friday, May 28

5/28/2021

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A (gluten free) Muffin Bake Off:


​"It's when you play a muffin game." -Sylvie
"I'm an expert muffin maker." 
"We're not experts because we don't bake that much." -Janie
"I like the green ones!" -Everyone 
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But some muffins did not turn out so good so we were thinking that a walking trip to the waterfront next week, when we return on Tuesday. We love to pretend play that we are feeding and taking care of animals so this seems like a fitting way to "bridge" pretend play with real play. (It's also a nice tie in to last year.)
"They have too much flour." -Audrey (about the coconut flour muffins with applesauce)
"They''re squishy." -Jane (about green muffins with bananas)
"Them (the ducks) will eat them." -Cedar
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Friday, May 28

5/28/2021

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Baguette, cheese and books, life does not get any better than that in Rainey A !!
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Lochie brought an interactive human anatomy figure. All the children were fascinated to learn the name of all  the different organs we have inside our body.  Lochie said : "I wish I had the book to know where all the pieces go" but we figured it out and could put the doll back together. Elle wanted to hold the heart and exclaimed" It's not a heart??" So we found out that our actual heart is not "heart" shape. Thank you Lochie, we loved it. 
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Some friends wanted to explore and interact with the light table in the entry way today.
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Jack painted a beautiful picture for his Mom.
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Lochie spent a significant amount of time on his elaborate drawing of a house surrendered by poisonous mushrooms.
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Elle, George and Marley worked very hard on their natural history museum, with statues!
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Thursday May 27

5/27/2021

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Gardening was on our mind, as we found lots of seeds on the playground. Elle wanted to plant them to watch them grow, just as we did with our apple seeds.
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Marley brought a friend to school today. Miss Cicada (it's a girl), she spent the whole day with us.
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Lately, we love to read books about gardening. Story time is one of our favorite activity in the classroom. Thank you Miss Jenny for reading us lots of books.
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We transformed our light table into a museum. We gave the children chess pieces and George said " they are statues, like at the museum!" 
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May 21st, 2021

5/21/2021

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Big thank you to everyone for joining us for portfolio conferences this week! Regular blogging will resume next week, but in meantime please enjoy some pictures from this week. 
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Big thanks to our mystery readers this week! Lochie's CeCe on Tuesday and CC's Goo-Goo and Papa today! 
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Friday, May 21

5/21/2021

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Classroom Stories Night

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"Ideas fly, bounce around, accumulate, rise up, fall apart, and spread, until one of them
​takes a decisive hold, flies higher and conquers the entire group."  -Loris Malaguzzi
Embarking on a year with inquisitive and capable children dictates enormous potential with ample uncertainty.  We begin with a progettazione or a projection that tethers us to the exploration of a variety of materials and to exposing the children to new and familiar languages or means by which they can express their thoughts and ideas to foster learning. Referencing Malaguzzi, as written above, the initial idea takes flight, and from their more ideas gets tossed and along the way, going back and forth between us, until we arrive at a place that determines the denouement of our journey together.
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"And then houses on the other hand, they were created by builder men. But when people want to make something inside of one you use materials." -Giacomo
"I was at home because ​there was a virus." -Janie
Interestingly enough, but not too surprisingly considering the relevance and significance of our work, we arrived where we began -- at home. We also went full circle with bridges, back to our point of departure last year where our work with bridges was gaining momentum. 
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Sharing an Abbreviated Version of the Presentation with the Children:
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Giacomo: So you gave the moms and dads a tour?
​Cedar: My mommy was watching you, the adults, on the computer, and I was watching a movie when I was sleeping on the sofa. And it was so funny! 
Melanie: We told your moms and dads all about building houses. Why have we been building houses?
Sylvie: Because people have to live in them. 
Jane: You know, Sylvie we can't fit in the houses that we made!
Cedar: The monsters are scary. Them only wake up in the midnight zone. And then tickle, tickle, tickle...
"Janie said we can build together!" -Jane
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"I remember!" (sharing the dramatic play w/ boxes video)
Cedar: We were building a house and it's raining now. And then the food. 
Maxon: Can we do that (watch the box video) again!
Giacomo: What's that song?
Melanie: You like the song?
Sylvie: Me too?
Melanie: The song is called "Shelter From the Storm."
Cedar: Why is Sylvie laying down? Why is Maxon lying down? hhhh...
Maxon: Because I was sleeping from the rain! Silly!
"Let's watch it aaagaaain!"
Cedar: Audrey and Me! Maxon with all those teddies!
Maxon: You know why I have all those animals? To keep me warm and the animals stay with me because all you guys are... I'm babysitting the animals.
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Upon finishing our viewing of the presentation, it was as if the children were unanimously positioned to give Tree World a rest and continue their work and play in the hospital taking care of the wounded and sick people and animals. Everyone on their own time eventually announced: "Can I go to the doctor?" Evidence again of the children's connectedness, empathy, exploration of the world around them along with more simply but no less meaningfully their simpatico and desire to be together, play together, and continue their classroom stories, together. 
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Cedar: Can I go the the building and go to the doctor?
Jane: Can I please go with Cedar?
Audrey: Can I go to the doctor?
Melanie: What do you need to do at the doctor?
Cedar: We need to take the bandaids off! And Jane's the doctor.
Maxon: Um, Melanie, actually the other sick people were just get sick from the germies.
Jane: Maxon it's not germies!
Lucia: I'm giving the medicine.
Maria: It looks like you could also be a vet (given all the animals).
Maxon: You know what Jane? You know what Turltley ate? A monster.
Audrey: I'm a kitty of Jane's. I'm the doctor's kitty.
Sylvie: I'm a nurse. ... (later) This squirrel got born. 
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"Tree World" expands to include "Sick Station" and a hospital for people and animals 
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And the Mystery Reader Goes to...  

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Yesterday, we were greeted on the front lawn by another surprise guest as our mystery reader! Mike, Lucia's dad, read three great books: The Tree House that Jack Built, Papa Bring Me the Moon, and The Book With No Pictures (a new book for almost all of us!) We enjoyed them all, especially the silliness of "blurf!"  Thank you for being our Mystery Reader!
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Looking forward to Portfolio Review next week!
It's so wonderful having the children take the lead showcasing and sharing about their work.
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May 20, 2020

5/20/2021

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Preparing for Parents Arrival like...

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Hey everyone! We are looking forward to seeing you all this evening for Classroom Story Night! We we will starting at 6:30 PM in Blake Hall. If you are unable to make it in person, you can use the Zoom link below. We can't wait to see you!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/95918136957?pwd=VVpOenVIK3VXbllEQUFiTGppMWU4Zz09

Meeting ID: 959 1813 6957
Passcode: AC0TH0

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May 18th, 2021

5/18/2021

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Hi! There's no official blog on the days we have portfolio meetings. That said, please enjoy a couple of photos from glazing our clay today!
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Tuesday, May 18

5/18/2021

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUCIA!

"Did you see what color is on top of my cupcakes?" -Lucia
​"Turquoise! It's her favorite color." -Audrey
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Lucia's family gave her a wonderful celebration full of stories, memories, and lots of love including air hugs! Lucia was all smiles there was so much joy.
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Lucia loved her flower bouquet! She promptly took it to be next to the other bouquets in our "garden" of flowers.
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WE ARE ALL FOUR YEARS OLD NOW!!!!

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Happy birthday again, Lucia! Lots of love and light to you!

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May 13th, 2021

5/13/2021

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Observations of Living Things
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Today began with a rousing dialogue about what makes something alive. Stemming from a joke about whether or not our fish, Mr. Grumps, has feet and needs shoes, our dialogue continued  into a conversation about the differences between humans and fish. We then brought in a book “What’s Alive” to help answer some of our questions.  We identified things in the classroom, the school and our lives that fit the needing water, food and growth criteria.  Then we took the opportunity to use clay to model some living and nonliving things. Because Mr. Grumps  was on the brain, many children opted to create fish or ocean creatures, but there were still a couple moons, pizzas and self portraits that made it onto the glazing tray!

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​Elena: What might you use feet for?

Elle: Running
Marley and CC: Walking 
Lochie: No, no, no for swimming!
Elena: Does Mr. Grumps use feet for swimming?
CC: Yes!
Lochie: No, no a fin!
CC: A fin, on his back!
Lochie: I can see from above he doesn’t have any feet on his head, but he had fins on his back! 
CC: Did you know he’s actually swimming fast but watching him it looks slow.

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CC: I’m making a fish, actually it's an ocean. It’s Mr. Grumps!
Violet: Look what I made. I made a castle , I made the fish’s eyes. How can I make the tail?
Elle: I made the moon and a heart for Jack 
Lochie: I’m making Mr. Grump’s fish friend. My fish has the same grumpy smile as Mr. Grumps!
Jack: I’m making a star fish and a squid. 
Lochie: I’m making a pizza for Mr. Grumps.  
George: I made a car and a wrecking ball. 
Marley: Look, I made my face!

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Just a reminder no school tomorrow, May 14. We will see you all back on Monday!

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Thursday, May 13

5/13/2021

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Who said snack time was just for eating?

A discussion during snack time about what was happening in Tree World today led to Giacomo suggesting we need a boat and a broader and longer discussion about what kind of materials we would need in order to make a boat. 
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​"We were saving people from the monster who fell in the water. They broke their arm and leg." -Sylvie

"Where's the hospital?" -Jordan
"Lucia build it." -Sylvie
"It's there. You see that brown tube?" -Lucia
"That's the hospital?" -Jordan
"No. That's the hospital beds. It (the hospital) is arounded it." -Lucia
"What about the panda and the penguin?" -Cedar
"Those are the rescuers. ... And under the boards, that is their home." -Lucia
 "What are the rings, the beads on the arms of the wooden person? Why are they there?" -Melanie
​"The arms are broken." -Sylvie
"And what happened to the drawing doll, the person, with a black ring on it's leg?" -Melanie
"That's broken. Because a foot came off." -Lucia
"It's a cast." -Sylvie
"What are they (the people) doing in the water? Next to each other." -Cedar
"We need a big boat." -Giacomo
"What would we need to make the boat?" -Melanie
"Paper." -Giacomo
​"But would paper hold up in water?" -Melanie
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"It would if we shape it into some kind of boat, it will stay above water." -Giacomo
"If we just put in real water it will tear up, but if we make one out of wood and put it in real water we can get in." -Lucia
"It's sinking!"-Cedar
That's because we didn't shape it into the right kind of boat." -Giacomo
"Our hypothesis was that it would float. Were we correct?" -Jordan
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"Paper made a little bit good. Because it floated and then it sank." -Cedar

And the Mystery Reader is...

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Carola read the book, Blizzard, which is one of Giacomo's favorite story books.
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Giacomo helps Carola read by narrating the character's path through the thick blanket of snow to finally arrive at Bill's Market.

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Thank you, Carola, for being our mystery reader on this beautiful spring day!  
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A Science Surprise Prior to Our Mystery Reader:

Arriving out front just before noon, we were greeted and welcomed by some Tucker Room friends, teachers, and Laura Rodriguez who were learning about the chemical reaction made by adding Mentos to Coca-Cola (suggesting new non-ingestive uses for sugar), which results in an impressive upward propulsion. Wow! Thanks for letting us be a part of this TR!
"If you put 100 mentos in it would reach the clouds." -Giacomo. 
"It would reach space." -Janie
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