Collections SpotlightThe children have been taking an interest in each other's collections. They are asking thoughtful questions and making profound observations and connections during our morning meeting discussions. We had three more children share their collections this week including Fay, Louisa, and Mimi. Fay's Collection of ExoskeletonsFay shared her collection which included pieces of exoskeletons from “crabs and lobster” that she found at the beach this summer. While collecting her exoskeletons, Fay set upon the beginning steps of scientific research by making observations about her environment and the creatures within, collecting specimens, and making hypotheses. The Rainey Room children shared their hypotheses about the fate of the crabs and lobsters as well.
Louisa's Collection of DinosaursLouisa brought her collection of dinosaurs to the morning meeting circle to share. She pointed to her different dinosaurs which included three small dinosaur figurines, one stuffed animal dinosaur, and one book about dinosaurs. She was feeling a little hesitant to talk about them with the whole group but did respond by either agreeing or disagreeing when her friends made observations about her collection.
Mimi's Collection of GemsMimi shared her collection of gemstone rocks which included an identification guide. She set her gems in the middle of the circle and sorted them into piles of the same kind of gem. Mimi shared the story of how she acquired the gems and made observations about their physical properties. The other children also noticed differences and similarities of the gems in Mimi’s collection including the size, color, and features.
More Rainey Room Happenings
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 While drawing our collections using primarily pencils to provide detail, we noticed that the children were curious about other mark making materials. With that in mind, the studio was set up for a mark-making exploration, first with paper covering an entire table and then with a variety of paper sizes from which children could choose. Our intention was to provide a provocation that facilitated exploration of mark-making materials and an opportunity to discover the best uses for different types of implements. With that in mind, the chidlren chose from a multitude of implements, including oil pastels, chalk pastels, and a variety of sizes and colors of sharpie markers, crayons and traditional markers.    Noticing SizeWhen examining the collection of mark-making implements, one of the attributes that children noticed first was size: the size of the actual implement and the size of the mark that it made. We encouraged children to try out a variety of implements and to compare the marks that they made with materials of different sizes. Charlton chose the Sharpie “Magnum": I wanna try a big thick marker. Ava described her marker strokes as she used a regular sharpie: A little bit skinny, a little bit. Ford: Cause it’s a little bit smally. I heard a click (as he put the cap back on the sharpie). Whit: I notice that they are shape-y. This one (the blue sharpie) is smaller and this one is bigger (the sharpie "Magnum"). Ellie experimented with a variety of sharpies. She noticed that they sharpies all made marks of similar sizes and drew colors as "neighbors" to make a rainbow. Seon chose the Sharpie “Magnum” to draw a design of thick, diagonal black lines: : I want to draw. I want to do a different one This is my own design. Then then returned to the materials table and chose a fuschia sharpie, with which she outlined the think black lines she had drawn first.   Noticing Other Properties of Mark-making ImplementsAs the children used the various implements they began to share their noticings about the physical properties of the marks they had made. Ford chose an oil pastel next and then smudged it with his finger when he finished drawing. He looked at his finger and noticed the pastel on his skin: It got glued on. Karen: If you rub the marker, do you think it would do the same thing? Ford: No, because it’s not oil pastel. Whit watched as Charlton used chalk pastels and then smudged them with his finger: I’m making a cave. He then tried the chalk pastels: It makes nothing there. Whit used the chalk pastels to add more colors to his marks: I’m making a rainbow. Charlton looked at his fingers after smudging the chalk pastels: I’m never going to use pastels again because they’re dirty. Whit looked at the “gelato” oil pastels and picked up the color called limoncello, a fluorescent yellow: This one is so light! Mimi chose a black-leaded pencil that happened to have a pink barrel. As she drew, she noticed: It doesn’t make pink. Seon joined the table and chose a pink chalk pastel first with which to experiment: It’s perfect! She then looked at her hand which was holding the pastel: My finger turned pink with this! Mark-Making Leads to and Storytelling and Emergent WritingMark-making is one of the earliest stages of of drawing and writing. The children are making marks and using those marks to illustrate their stories and communicate with their friends and loved ones through making messages. Ava: I made my name. I wrote a note to grandma. Says “I love you.” Ford then chose the Sharpie “Magnum” to write his name: F-O-R-D. Rawls chose a large piece of paper for his final drawing of the day and told us his story: This is my house, with my pet named “Frisbee” (his dog). This is a picture for my daddy. Zari used a sharpie to draw individual marks at the top of the page. As she drew each one, she gave it a name, “Mommy, Daddy, Freddy, …” Louisa drew a bunny and then began to write the letters in her name. Isabelle: The rainbow is inside the beach. Cal: A map of where to find my collection.    Due to the first Early Childhood Educator Series of the year, there will not be a blog today. Look for a new blog on Wednesday.
Collections Spotlight It has been an exciting week in Rainey Room! Children began exploring clay, beamed beautiful smiles for picture day, and continued sharing their collections at morning meeting. This week, Ford, Ava, Zari, and Seon shared. Ford’s Collection of Tickets While sharing his collection of tickets, Ford explained the meaning of each one and was able to tell the children about the special events of his summer. He recognized the print and logos on the tickets and recalled the locations he had visited, demonstrating an understanding that print carries meaning.
Ava’s Collection of Rocks and GeodesAva carefully brought her collection of rocks and geodes over to the circle and held one up with blue crystals. Her collection inspired a discussion about the physical properties of her various kinds of rocks. The children made observations.
Zari’s Collection of Acorns and Rocks Zari shared her acorns from her collection and noted similarities and differences as she described each one. Her observations of her collection also inspired her friends to ask questions and make hypotheses about the origin of acorns.
Seon’s Collection of LeavesSean brought an album filled with various kinds of leaves she had collected. Seon compared, contrasted, and classified the different sizes, colors, and shapes of the leaves. She recognized that symbols carry meaning when she saw a Gingko leaf and called it the School Leaf, which happens to be the logo of our school, St. John's.
We look forward to learning more about all of the children’s collections in the coming week! Other Rainey Room HappeningsCelebrating Birthdays at St. John's At the heart of the Reggio Emilia philosophy is the concept of relationships. An integral part of building relationships at St. John's is the tradition of celebrating a child's birthday and participation on "Birthday Committees." Participating in "Birthday Committees" throughout the school year, provides each child an opportunity to develop empathy for others, as they get to know their classmates. Inspired by what the they have learned about their classmates during the interview process, the birthday committee sets about creating a personalized gift for the child being celebrated. While working on the birthday gift, children make collaborative decisions and gain experience using a variety of materials. The celebration of a child's birthday is a developmentally appropriate pathway through which we explore the passage of time. The "Birthday Calendar" in each classroom, visually represents the passage of time for children as each child's birthday is marked on the calendar as it is celebrated. The children have noticed that our Brown Room calendar, which hangs above the Rainey Room one , was not yet complete. One celebration was yet to be held for the calendar to be full. We were unable to hold Louisa's celebration in the spring, but on Friday, we welcomed her family into the Rainey Room to celebrate, completing the cycle of birthdays from last year. Getting To Know LouisaWe interviewed Louisa at morning meeting and learned a bit more about her. Ellie started the interview asking, "What you favorite color?" Louisa quietly shared that yellow and pink were her favorites. We also asked her about her favorite food or snack. To which Louisa's mom shared that she loves pineapple (which is yellow like one of her favorite colors). The interview concluded when we asked Louisa what her favorite thing to do in the Brown Room was. She enthusiastically confirmed "puzzles" as her favorite classroom experience. With that information, the birthday committee got to work with materials inspired by puzzles, pink and yellow!   Painting the Pieces of Louisa's Puzzle On our backwards day, Rawls and Isabelle were invited into the studio in the outdoor classroom and found the materials that would be used to make Louisa's gift: wooden blocks of various shapes and sizes and liquid watercolors. They set to work by first emptying the wooden pieces from the frame. Then Isabelle chose her first piece to paint, "I'm going to do this one," then she pointed to a jar of liquid watercolor, "I'm going to this (pink)." Rawls focused on covering each side of the pink rectangular piece on which he was working first, "I cover the top. Paint the whole piece." As they stained the wooden pieces of Louisa's puzzle with liquid watercolor in pink, yellow and metallic gold, Isabelle and Rawls described their work. Incorporating early math skills, Rawls recognized that he could use two colors on one block: I do 2 yellow. I going to do half this (yellow) and half purple (pink). Isabelle used her brush to push the liquid watercolor around on her chosen block: Spread, spread, spread. I'm done with this block.     On the second day, the birthday committee were presented with the painted puzzles pieces and a variety of pink and yellow materials for collage.   Collaging Pieces of Louisa's PuzzleThe birthday committee used yellow and pink materials on the second day of committee work to collage upon the blocks that had been painted on Day 1. The materials varied from beads to ribbons and sequins and even included some puzzle pieces. Ford picked up a puzzle piece from the tray of materials: Look. Puzzle. Let’s connect them. Think these go together. Ford then proceeded with a minimalist approach to his collaging, choosing to place only yellow beads on yellow blocks for his next two pieces. Charlton chose to glue yellow plastic pieces on top of yellow ribbon on pink blocks. Ford remembered some information from the birthday committee's interview earlier in the week: Louisa likes dark yellow. I like dark green and dark blue and dark yellow. They are my favorite colors. Cal: I want some glue. Choosing a 2nd block to collage upon, Cal considered his choice, "Hmmm, maybe this one."    Bailee picked up a pink butterfly. She carefully applied glue on a rectangular pink block using a brush. She added two puzzle pieces to the block and then layered a pink butterfly with a pink bead on top of one of the puzzle pieces. Bailee added a sequin piece to her block and then picked up another shiny material and identified it as "A seashell." Win: I pick this. A butterfly. She then drizzled glue on a pink block, "I want puzzle piece. I need more (glue)." After Win had brushed enough glue on the yellow block, she picked up a pink oval and placed it. She added yellow pieces next adding dimension by layering a seashell on top of the pink oval, then a yellow sequined ball and finally a starburst next to it. Win then chose a pink block with gold accents and added three yellow pieces, a gold button, a shiny yellow butterfly and a matte yellow swoosh. Celebrating Louisa's BirthdayAfter a delicious snack of dinosaur cupcakes and muffins, Louisa's mom and dad, Danica and Greg, joined us in the Rainey Room to celebrate. Her mom, Danica shared two books with us. The children were eager to learn about horses and ponies (one of Louisa's favorite subjects) from Danica's first reading. Danica shared a story familiar to all of us, What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night for the second book. Next, the children enthusiastically sang "It's Your Birthday and You Know It," before Louisa walked around the birthday candle. Assisted by her dinosaur figurine and mom, she blew out her candle. To conclude the celebration, members of the final birthday committee from our Brown Room year, presented Louisa with her gift, a pink and yellow puzzle made from wooden pieces, painted with liquid watercolors and collaged with pink and yellow materials of a variety of sizes, shapes and textures.  Louisa's Puzzle The Purpose of Collections In the Spring, when the children were in Brown Room, we read two storybooks: The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds and The Puddle Pail by Elisa Kleven, which are about creating different types of collections. The rich discussions that arose from these stories inspired our summer research in which we asked each child to curate a collection of special objects to share with their friends. We defined a collection as any group of objects, often having a common theme, that they gathered during the summer months. Children have been very excited to bring their collections to school and have already begun to investigate them by classifying & sorting as well as drawing & painting what they observe. Over the next month, one blog each week will be featuring the children's collections as they share. Ultimately, the questions, investigations and discoveries about these collections will inform what we will share during Classroom Stories Night! Weekly Collections SpotlightDuring Morning Meeting everyday, one child is invited to share their collection. The other children are encouraged to share what they notice and ask any questions they may have about their friend's collection. The children who shared this week were: Cal, Charlton, Ellie, and Whit. Cal's Beach Treasures Collection
Charlton’s Star Wars Drawings Collection
Ellie’s Seed Collection
Whit’s Rock Collection
Ford and Charlton Explain Symbols at Morning Meeting
Karen asked the children, "What are symbols and how do we use them?" Charlton - They’re stamps! You press them on the ink and put them on the paper. Ford - So the people we send it to know it’s us. Ava, Whit and Zari Choose Their Symbols Ava, Whit and Zari joined Karen in the studio to begin the process of choosing their symbols. Karen displayed the St. John’s symbol stamp, the ginkgo leaf, for the children and explained, "This is the symbol of St. John’s, our school. Now, today you are going to get a chance to choose your symbols. We have lots of different symbols and a lot of different colors of ink that we can try out." Karen placed a box of symbols on the studio table for the children to examine: "So friends, you can choose any of these symbols and try them out on your paper. You can try out different ones as much as you like." The children set about exploring the symbols.  Ava picked up a symbol: Look at this one! Karen: Do you want to try it out? Whit: Look at this one! Karen: Here, press your stamp here (on the ink pad) once and then press it on your paper. Ava: It’s supposed to be black. Karen: Press it on your paper and see if it is. Ava: It is black. She held up a stamp of an envelope: I tried the message! Karen: Oh, a message. Did you stamp it on here and see what it looks like? Whit placed a stamp on the ink pad and then stamped it onto his paper: I made it! Karen: Let’s keep working on them friends! Ava: Can I try again? Whit: This one (the St. John’s symbol) doesn’t work pretty good. Whit tried another symbol: That one worked out well! Karen: It did work well, didn’t it? What is that one Whit? Whit: It’s footprints. Karen: Zari, which one are you trying now? Zari: I’m trying the footprints. Um, this one. Karen: Look at it and tell me about it. Zari: The people (child symbol). Zari tried another stamp and explained: Fishies. When they swim. People pick the fish up when they’re dead at the supermarket and eat them. Karen: Zari, have you ever gone fishing? Maybe with mommy or daddy? Zari: I need to be bigger to go to fish like my daddy. Karen: Well, where do the people pick the fish up from? Zari: At the supermarket, they pick up the fish. Zari pointed to her paper: I tried out that one. Karen: Which one did you try, Zari? Zari: Um, a turtle now. She tried another symbol stamp: A fish! Whit picked up another stamp to test: Um, seaweed! He then used the “seaweed” stamp two more times before picking up another stamp: I like this one. The magnifying glass for seeing stuff. I see through it. Whit continued trying other stamps: I like the bubbles. The butterfly. He looked closer at the stamp he was holding, which he had called “the butterfly” at first: No, the lightning bug. Ava picked up the bubbles stamp: Because, I have bubbles at home. Whit tried the lightning bug stamp: Because I see them at Gibson Island and we catch them.    After a time exploring the selection of symbols, final decisions were made by all three children. Zari chose the fish. Whit chose the lightning. bug. Ava chose the bubbles. After choosing their symbols, the children placed them in the symbol box in the message center. During snack, they shared the symbols that they chose with their friends and gave their reasons. Whit: Lightning (bug) because I catch them at Gibson Island. Zari: Fishie. Because I like them. Ava: Bubbles. At home.
 Big News! Our new Rainey Room friends, Ava, Whit and Zari have chosen their symbols! Look for the story of their symbols on Tuesday's blog!
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