Thanksgiving Feast

In early November, we began having conversations about our upcoming Thanksgiving Feast.  Their memories of our past feasts (yes, we do have memories from Brown Room -- "When all of the stuff was on the tables down there.") and their experience with table settings (particularly in KW), led them to create a Thanksgiving Feast of their own in between the low table and black and white area.  Materials and loose parts from both of those areas of the classroom came together to create our original Tucker Room Thanksgiving Feast. 

In the beginning they selected our black bowls and other loose parts to fill them. 

​There were a lot of baguettes and persimmons.

November 3, 2021


As the time passed, they filled the bowls quite full; a feast indeed.

An invitation to recreate the feast

November 5, 2021

After observing the children's work to create their Thanksgiving Feast, we decided to set up the large, low table as an invitation to create a feast with plates, loose parts, fabric, and more.  We intentionally provided only a few things as suggestions and encouraged them to look around the classroom for things that they might want to use. 

"We need it to be beautiful." - Jane, 4.11 years

One of the goals for this day was to really hear from the children (orally and through their actions and decisions) what they would want and need for a full, Thanksgiving feast.  ​Jane really took the lead as the children began to work.  She immediately assessed the materials situation and rallied all of the children to begin looking for materials that could serve as napkins, silverware, food, ice, butter, etc. 

The collaboration and collective decision making were beautiful to observe.  They were willing to listen to each child's idea for set up, the food that was served, and when "dinner" would start. 

Jane, Reed, Violet, and Janie were initially working on the set up when Sylvie and Maxon decided to join.  Together, they had each place setting ready before sitting down.  Then, a new idea was introduced (at the end of this video):

One of the beautiful things about our school is that the children develop a relationship with the environment and materials in a way that they feel comfortable moving about and seeking out what they need. 

​Based on Jane's idea to make the chairs beautiful with fabric, the children went to the white area to collect some pieces that might work.  They quickly realized that there wasn't enough for each chair, so we went to the hallway to collect some more.  

​Other materials for the feast (e.g. silverware and drinking glasses) were collected from the Tucker cabinets and the pantry.

As you will undoubtably hear, Persimmon jam was a popular condiment being served at our feast.  Therefore, we plan to make persimmon jam as part of our Tucker Room feast for next week. 

What did we miss? What steps do we need to take? 

Sylvie's observation (heard in the video above) that we had forgotten a table cloth made us (as the teachers) stop and think about how we can revisit this feast process; how could we slow down a bit and make a plan so that perhaps we didn't forget something the next time.  This also offered us an opportunity to expand on a conversation we've been having with the children about revisiting, revising, and adding complexity and layers to our work.  

​So, the very next day, we started by talking through the steps we needed to go through to recreate our Thanksgiving feast.  An intentional small group was chosen from the group of children that had been working on the feast the day before or expressed interest in continuing that work.  

As I (Elyse) began to write down their list, they were drawing each step of the process.  This required a bit of patience, as they were very eager to get started with the actual set up.  However, they did agree later that the list was nice because "We didn't forget anything." 

Reed

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Maxon

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Jane

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Lucia

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Janie

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The drawings also opened up a conversation about layering our drawings.  Reed was concerned that if she drew plates on top of her colorful table cloth, you might not be able to see them.  We decided that perhaps a darker color for the plates might allow her to add them on top.  

As we began to put our plan into action, reminders to slow down and focus on the details of their plan were needed.  For example, they decided that simply placing the fork, spoon, and knife on top of the napkin was not to their liking; they wanted to roll them up into the fabric.  This needed to be completed for each place setting before moving on to the next step.  

"Roll the napkin up with the forks and spoon." - Jane, 4.11 years

The children used so many materials and once again, truly collaborated on each piece of their Thanksgiving Feast arrangement.  Then, with some encouragement from Melanie, they began to carefully arrange the food on the plates for "feast arrangements" inspired by our snack time work. 

Plating our food (making arrangements)

Setting the feast for the parents

Most days, the feast has been cleaned up to some extent.  The Tuesday before parent teacher conferences, KW needed the low table for some work they were doing that afternoon.  This presented us with a wonderful opportunity to revisit our set up once again, while also thinking about how we could make a beautiful feast for the parents to see when they visited the classroom (they were  so excited to hear about this).  

New table cloths were selected, additional loose parts, and writing tools were nearby for signs to identify the food being served.  

The work of the past week (or so) was evident in their careful arrangement of the plates, silverware, drinking glasses (with ice of course), serving dishes, etc.  Their signs only enhanced their work.  

The Thanksgiving Feast is an ongoing process in our classroom (even as of today, the 16th).  The children find joy each day in setting it up, sharing the space, inviting family to eat, and more.  It has also been a time to observe the leadership of children who seem to love this kind of work.  Jane has been very vocal and taking on a strong leadership role throughout this journey.  Along with Janie and Reed, they have drawn in almost all of the children in Tucker Room.  It has been a really beautiful journey to this point.  We cannot wait to see how they arrange the tables for our Thanksgiving Feast next week.