Learning More about WhitWhit’s birthday committee gathered with Whit to learn more about him. The birthday committees this year have truly demonstrated the children’s thoughtfulness for their friends. Even before the interview, they have been sharing what they might want to make for a birthday gift or what things they know their friend loves. They are considering and honoring each other's unique interests and qualities. Charlton: Whit, what do you like, lemmings? Whit: Yes, it’s my favorite animal. Isabelle: What’s your favorite animal? Whit: We already said that, a lemming. Also a bear. And a Lemming. Isabelle: How is a lemming your favorite animal? Charlton: A lemming's a real animal. Whit: How? Charlton: Remember the funny book, those white things are the lemmings. Charlton and Isabelle: What’s your favorite color? Whit: You already know. You’re wearing it (Charlton). Green. Because I like bad guys. Bad guys lemmings. Charlton: What do you like besides lemmings? Whit: Music. Charlton: What kind of music do you like? Whit: Taylor Swift Charlton: What Taylor Swift songs? Whit: Paper Rings and Mean Charlton: I’ve never heard of those. Whit: We have playlists of all my music stuff. I know one more song that I like, Flowers. My music doesn’t have bad words in it. Shortly after their conversation and Whit had returned to play, Charlton shared to Isabelle: We should make a toy lemming for him. Charlton Deciding on a GiftIt was clear that the birthday committee wanted to make Whit a Lemming from his favorite show Grizzy and the Lemmings. Emma showed the birthday committee a picture of the lemming and they decided they wanted to draw it first. We gathered drawing materials and they began.  We should draw it first. I’m drawing my lemming. I need to draw the pupils. Charlton Isabelle drawing a zig zag: Is that the letter in Mimi’s name? Charlton using a special marker: You just have to spread it carefully. Isabelle: What if Whit peeks? Charlton: Mine is sticking out his blue tongue. Can I see the picture again? I want to see what color the eyes are. Isabelle Isabelle: Look, it’s pretty. My swimming pool in Tennessee is blue. So that’s why I’m adding blue. Charlton: Lemmings live at Grizzy’s house. They’re Grizzy’s brothers and they want Nutella but he never lets them. Isabelle: This looks like a bubblegum and it looks like a mountain. It’s a rainbow lemming. Charlton: That looks like a Grizzy house for him to live in, Isabelle. Sewing and Needle Felting the GiftThe birthday committee knew that Whit loves stuffed animals and lovies. Using the drawings of the lemming they drew, they began to sew him a lemming lovey of his own.  Emma enlarged Charlton’s drawing of the lemming and printed it out. The birthday committee traced it on green felt fabric. They put two pieces of felt on top of each other and then cut the shape of the lemming out. The birthday committee carefully sewed the two pieces of felt fabric together. Their focus, dexterity, and collaboration during this process was evident. It’s gonna be like a lemming stuffy. Oh my goodness, look! It’s almost done! One, two, three, four, five… (counted to 22 stitches). I sewed that many. Isabelle Isabelle: It’s a lemming that walks and walks and walks. Isabelle after sewing the lemming together: Here Charlton, you can have a turn. Isabelle: It’s kind of funny because this needle is backwards. Isabelle: Whit has two lemmings at his house.Is this one going to be his other lemming friend? We need to stuff it. Lovies are made of stuffing. Charlton After sewing almost all the way around the lemming, we left a small space to be able to put the stuffing inside.  After we sew, we can add materials on it and then we can use sharpies for the eyes and markers. Charlton Charlton noticed we needed to add more details. Emma shared with the birthday committee a new technique called needle felting. This technique uses a special barbed needle that attaches the wool fiber or roving to the felt. It’s looking good. Whit’s not going to believe it. We need a nose. And teeth. We’re making his fur on his back. Make sure it’s thin or it won’t stick. It’s rainbow fur. Isabelle A Lemming Lovey
Whit's Birthday Celebration
The day of Whit’s birthday celebration arrived. His mom and dad joined Whit and the Rainey Room children for the birthday snack. That morning before school, Whit made one of his favorite treats: chocolate croissants. He was so excited to share them with the class. We then went to the birthday blanket where his family read a few of Whit’s favorite stories including, Ten Little Dinosaurs by Pattie L. Schnetzler, I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt, and Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman. After, we sang Whit the Rainey Room birthday song and counted while he walked around the birthday candle five times to celebrate his five rotations around the sun. Whit blew out the candle and the birthday committee presented him their gift. We hope you have a lovey fifth birthday, Whit!
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Learning More About Zari Ellie and Ava joined Zari in the outdoor classroom for the birthday interview and get to know Zari some more. They learned about some of her favorite things.
Deciding on the GiftAfter learning more about Zari, the birthday committee discussed their ideas for a special birthday gift.
The discussion took place in the middle room, where they noticed the wooden doll house, which likely supported in providing inspiration for their gift idea. Rawls especially observed the material it was made of. "We need to build it like that. We could make it out of wood." Rawls
Their decision was clear: they would build a house for Zari's Peppa Pig. Ava and Ellie immediately wanted to get to work and requested to draw their plans for the house. Ellie: We need stairs. Ava: We need a bathroom. Ellie: Can we draw it? Ava: Is this how you draw a house? Ellie: She might need a pool. Ava: Let’s cover it so Zari won’t see. Ellie: This can be a safe Peppa Pig house. No bad guys. Rain coming down. Ava: Stairs, all stairs. And you go up and there’s a pool. It needs one more thing. Windows! And the bathtub. We need all her favorite colors. We need to paint Peppa Pig’s dress. Then we need to make George’s dress, Daddy Pig’s dress, and Momma Pig’s dress. A house with Peppa Pig.
"I'm drawing George, Mommy, and Peppa Pig. Constructing the HouseWith the children’s ideas in mind, Emma collected a variety of materials that would be conducive to building a house for Peppa Pig. The birthday committee noticed the materials and images of Peppa and Peppa’s house set out in the atelier:
"It's Peppa Pig! There's pictures of Peppa Pig for Zari. The birthday committee ‘broke ground’ on constructing Peppa’s house. They began with the walls and were very intentional about where they placed the materials. They were also especially careful about using the hot glue. Ellie: I want to do some ovals and some stars. Emma, look at the floor! Rawls: This can be the wall. Let’s put it right there. Ava: It’s so hot we have to be careful. Ellie: We added decorations and it’s lava (hot glue). Ava: It’s a rooftop. Ellie: Now this dark pink cap. Ava: I’m going to use cardboard. She can walk on top and get a ladder. A House for Peppa Pig "Zari's really gonna like this." Isabelle Zari's Birthday Celebration
The day of Zari’s birthday celebration arrived, which also happened to be the day of her actual 4th birthday! Her mom, dad, and Freddie brought Zari’s favorite treat for her birthday snack: cake pops!
We all then ventured to the birthday blanket where Zari’s mom and dad read a couple of her favorite stories: Bluey by Bob Bilby and How to Catch a Unicorn by Adam Wallace.
We sang the Rainey Room birthday song and counted as Zari walked around the birthday candle four times to signify her four rotations around the sun. And finally, the birthday committee presented Zari their gift. We hope you had a pig-ture perfect birthday, Zari!  The birthday committee gathered in the outdoor studio with Karen to interview Louisa as the first step in planning for her birthday celebration. Mimi: Louisa loves dinosaurs! Louisa: Not anymore, I don’t like dinosaurs anymore. Zari: What do you like? Cal: Maybe horses? Louisa: I love horses alot. Mimi: A horse-y mask for Louisa! Louisa, what's your favorite color? Louisa: My favorite colors are rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, blue. Red, red, red  When Cal, Mimi and Zari entered the atelier they were met with a collection of fabric and materials to make a horse for Louisa. Amongst the materials they noticed some animal puppets. In unison, they three called out, "Puppets!" So Louisa likes to pretend to be a horsey sometimes. Do you think we could make her a horsey puppet to play with? -Karen  The children excitedly began to explore the materials. This could be the hair. Cal, as he picked up some leather laces. I can make ears! Mimi What about the nose? Zari And so the work began. Cal began to wrap small leather laces around thicker leather strips and Mimi drew "ears" onto a piece of fabric before cutting them out. Zari picked out google-y eyes, buttons for the horse's nose and a string of pearl-like beads to cut for the its mouth. I’m a hot glue expert. I can teach you. Cal You have to be careful. Mimi I got the noses! Zari   Cal got to work making the "horsey's hair." I wrap, wrap, wrap. My mommy showed me how to wrap so, so fast. Cal Buttons for the noses. Zari Eyes, google-ly eyes. Mimi Louisa's family, including her sisters Ellie and Iris, joined us for her celebration. Everyone enjoyed the celebratory cupcakes. Her mom, Danica shared two of her favorite books, The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak and a non-fiction book about how to take care of horses, her favorite animals, on a farm. We sang the Rainey Room birthday song and then Louisa walked around the birthday candle 5 times to signify her 5 turns around the sun. After blowing out her candle, the birthday committee, presented her with her gift, a horse sock puppet.     The birthday committee gathered in the outdoor studio after Ford warned them: "You will need to listen for a long, long, long, long time, because I have a lot of ideas!" What do you want for your birthday, Ford? Charlton I don’t know yet. Well, maybe a Captain America Shield or a Hawkeye Bow and Arrow. I also want a new helmet. A new helmet for my scooter because my head is getting bigger and you can’t have any more stickers on it. Ford What color is a Captain America Shield? Bailee It is blue! Charlton How big should it be? Cal Ford drew a circle on the ground with his finger to demonstrate the size. It’s red on the outside, some white next to it. A white star in the middle. Ford Creating Captain America's Shield Cal and Charlton recognized that we had to make circles on Ford's Captain America shield. This gave us an opportunity to introduce a new tool for drawing, a compass. I have a compass at home! It helps me find where to go. Charlton After drawing concentric circles using the compass, Cal and Charlton painted the shield. White, blue and red because it’s the real Captain America shield. Charlton It looks like a real Captain America, because I see blue and red. Oh no, the red got some of the white on it. Cal I’m doing it so carefully. Charlton Then this will dry. Cal And he (Ford’s dad) will say oh my gosh! Charlton
Bailee and Zari ventured into the Atelier and Tucker Closet to gather materials. The star in the middle. We need a little light to make the star. Zari But there’s no star in the middle now. Bailee Red and gold. Zari We need some silver. I don’t know which one to choose (looking at all the spools of wire). This spool is very heavy. Bailee The yellow. The golden looks shiny. Zari It used to be a necklace (noticing red beads in Tucker Closet). I don’t want to waste things. Bailee It (the beads) needs a string to hold it around your neck. Zari
Adding Materials to the Painted ShieldCal looked at the “shield” that he had helped to paint the day before. Circle, circle, circle, circle, circle. Cal We used a special tool. Charlton That’s right, a compass. Karen Like Compass Coffee. Bailee We started on the inside. We didn’t want to get the red (paint) on the white (paint). Charlton Oh white on white. White on white. Red on red. White on white. Blue on blue. Cal I’m going to add the Captain America materials. I’m going to use this. Charlton If it dries over the weekend, it won’t all fly off. Zari
Next, Zari and Cal set about making the star for the middle of the shield.  Is everything dry? Cal Over time, the glue get drier and dries. Zari Do you see materials that we could use to make the star? Karen The sparkly paper. Cal You could do this and this to make a triangle (as she folded a paper square). Smaller like mine. And it becomes medium like mine. Zari Like this? Mini? Cal 1, 2, 3, 4…we need one more. Zari counted the silver paper triangle to make the points of the star. Charlton and Bailee had the final task, adding an array of materials in red, white and blue to adorn the shield. During this stage of the process, Charlton and Bailee had an opportunity to use yet another new tool. Hot glue because it sticks really hard. Charlton Emery burned herself once, when she was cooking. You can’t touch hot glue. Bailee Does hot glue dry very quick? Charlton To make it beautiful. Charlton, as he added a few clear jewels to the star as a final touch
Celebrating Ford!Ford's mom and dad, Jess and Wes joined us in the Rainey Room to celebrate his 5th birthday. Ford shared homemade chocolate chip banana bread muffins, which he made himself, with everyone. Then Ford read two of his favorite storybooks to his classmates, before Wes concluded by reading a favorite from The Little Blue Truck series. Following the class birthday song, Ford walked around the birthday candle 5 times before he was presented with his gift, his very own Captain America shield, from the birthday committee. Ford showed his happiness with the gift, by giving a thumbs up to mom! A Conversation with BaileeDeciding on Bailee's GiftI love doing clay. We could find clay and we could make the puppy tongue. She will laugh. Whit After learning more about Bailee during her birthday interview, the birthday committee decided on what we would make her. They really listened to what Bailee shared and were thoughtful in incorporating her interests into their decision. What did we learn about Bailee yesterday? Emma She likes red, turquoise and blue. Ford She also said pink and she likes puppies. Fay And apple trees. Whit We should make a puppy dog made out of clay. Ford Do we all like that idea? Emma I love doing clay. Whit We could find clay and we could make the puppy tongue. She will laugh. Whit She loves paw patrol. Ford The decision was clear: the birthday committee would create a puppy from clay for Bailee. A Puppy for Bailee
The next day we got to work on Bailee’s puppy sculpture. The birthday committee looked closely at books of puppies and small puppy toys to see the features and details we would need to add.
We’re making a puppy out of clay. Fay It needs a nose and eyes. I can make the eyes with my fingers. Ford Here’s the nose. How can we attach it? Ford We can score it. I'll show you how. Emma We need the tongue too. Whit We need to make the eyes. Two eyes. We can use this (a clay tool). Ford Whit scored the puppy's tongue to securely attach it to the sculpture. The birthday committee added even more details. Look at what I’m doing. I’m adding the whiskers. I’m adding fur all around. Whit Don’t do it on the ears, Ford. They don’t have fur inside their ears. Whit Let’s make more fur. Ford After the birthday committee finished the form and details of the puppy sculpture, they let it dry to leather hard. A few days later, they glazed using Bailee’s favorite colors. What if we put glaze all over? Ford When it’s Bailee’s birthday are we gonna give it to her? Ford Don’t paint over the blue. Whit That is so satisfying. Whit Can I please have a different brush? Ford It’s turquoise and red. Whit Bailee’s favorite colors. Ford And pink. Fay The glazing part. We’re almost done, right guys? Ford We’re covering the whole thing so it’s so shiny. Whit I think Bailee’s gonna cry. Whit I think she’s gonna laugh because the tongue is sticking out. Ford We’re trying to make it look like a dog. Whit Okay we’re all done. It’s her favorite colors. Ford It’s for Bailee. Fay The birthday committee then brought the glazed sculpture to the kiln. They couldn't wait to see the puppy sculpture fired and shiny!
The Finished SculptureWhile they were glazing, Ford, Whit and Fay shared a few of their favorite things about Bailee. Bailee always plays with friends a lot  The CelebrationFinally, the day arrived to celebrate Bailee’s birthday in the Rainey Room with her family. Bailee’s mom, Courtney and her dad, Matt joined us for the birthday snack and brought Bailee’s favorite treat Dunkin’ Donuts Munchkins. After snack, we all went to the birthday blanket. Bailee’s parents read a few of Bailee’s favorite books including, Peppa’s Busy Day by Mark Baker and The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak. Then, we sang Bailee the Rainey Room birthday song and she walked around the birthday candle four times to symbolize her four rotations on earth around the sun. She blew out her birthday candle and the birthday committee presented their gift. We hope you had a paw-fect birthday, Bailee!  |
