February 24, 2021

Where Narrative and Structure Collide

I'm visiting my exhibit! - Sylvie 

Today, Rainey Room B worked on collaboration and communication to create a cohesive narrative that combined several ideas and skills. We have talked about creating houses to protect from bears, tigers, angler fish, weather and a host of other ideas. Our job was to use the scissors, magazines, building blocks and toy animals to build out a fleshed out narrative. The first part of our challenge was creating a story that everyone agreed upon. Immediately Lucia had an idea.

What if we had a zoo in our classroom. And we could feed them with crackers. - Lucia
A house and a zoo - Jane
Every animal lives in a zoo - Sylvie 

We looked at some of the pictures from the National Geographics magazines and were inspired to create a zoo inside the classroom. Once we agreed upon the premise of our story, we talked about what the animals would need. 

We need a wall to keep animals in. And space for them to play - Jane

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We can't have sharks because we don't have an ocean. That is a hammerhead shark. His head looks like a hammer. - Janie

Cutting out the animals for our zoo was an opportunity to practice critical thinking and hand eye coordination. Each time we cut out an animal, Jordan challenged the group to see if they could cut off even more of the background, leaving only the animals we wanted to add to our story. Our perseverance was tested as we made multiple attempts to cut with accuracy.

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​Those are scuba divers. Someone who lives under the sea and feeds fish. I'm going to cut one out for Janie, too. - Jane

Jane, focused primarily on the magazines, cutting out wolves, sharks, divers and turtles to add to our story. If less is more, then more is even better. Janie and Sylvie decided to focus on creating the exhibits and homes for the animals. Crafting a safe, fun environment for the zoo was paramount.

What do we need to make? - Jordan
A fence so people can be safe - Janie
Maybe we can use the bricks - Jane
Good idea - Sylvie
Bricks stay up really good - Jane
We need a high wall to keep them in - Sylvie

Lucia joined the group and immediately set about cutting out more animals for our zoo. She realized that the animals needed food along with their new homes to be happy.

I put food inside for the beavers. Is that a good idea Sylvie? - Lucia
This is a bridge. You can walk over it and see the whale - Sylvie
I added benches for people to sit down - Jane

As our narrative grew, we created pathways for patrons, seating for the weary and a host of exhibits for everyone to enjoy. Some of the animals even escaped their homes, possibly to eat pancakes with Lucia, as she suggested. Our zoo story is not finished but we are so excited!