In the Clouds...

2/7/2023

Projections as Provocations

Weather and its various components continue to be a hot topic in the Rainey Room. While at Montrose Park, the children saw mud and hypothesized that it must have rained. After our exploration of the park, we held a class meeting, during which the children felt a strong gust of wind and shared their ideas about its directionality. Inspired by the many changes in the weather during our time at Montrose Park, we used projections of different types of weather as provocations in different venues back at St. John's, including a BIG experience in Blake Hall and weather projections as provocations in the Construction Area. In Blake Hall, the children observed and interacted with the various projections. Returning to the Rainey Room, the weather projections inspired imaginative play and building in the construction area.

Cal and Rawls review their pirate maps in front of the projection of a storm at sea.

Fay, Isabelle and Seon construct beachfront residences.

Talking About Clouds

These provocations led to some lively conversations amongst the children, during which we noticed their attention had turned to the clouds in the sky. In a small group conversation, Emma asked, "What are clouds made of?"

Whit: Wind.
Fay: Clouds are made of clouds. Clouds have clouds inside them.
Ava looked at the sky: There’s no clouds now.
Fay: When the blue is in the sky that means the clouds are asleep.
Ava: I only see white. Not too much blue. It means that nothing’s going to happen right now like rain.

In the outdoor classroom, the children talked with Karen about how they thought clouds might feel and how they might make clouds.

Bailee: They feel soft.
Whit: They are fluffy like my dog.
Seon: They (the cotton balls) remind me of clouds. They looks like clouds and they feel like clouds. Clouds can only be white. Hmmm. They look dark in a thunderstorm.
Bailee: They look black and they have lighting in a thunderstorm.
Karen: Do you think we could make clouds? What materials could we use?
Bailee: We could use clay!

Clouds of Clay?

So we set to the work of making clouds out of clay on a damp and rainy day in the outdoor classroom. While the children worked, they discussed the properties of clay and they came to the conclusion that it might not be the best material to use.

Whit: Clouds feel fluffy like a fluff ball, like a cute puppy.
Bailee: Fluffy like a blanket or a dog.
Seon: The clouds feel soft, but clay is cold.
Bailee: We could use blankets.
Seon: Pompoms and pipe cleaners to make the clouds.
Whit: A fluff ball. Something that’s fluffy to make clouds.

Clouds at the Light Table

Following some of the suggestions from the outdoor classroom, the children made "clouds" at the light table using liquid watercolors, pipettes and cotton balls.

Charlton: A storm cloud.
Rawls: A sunny cloud.
Seon: It’s called a storm cloud. It makes so much thunder.
Charlton: It gets drippy, drippy like it rains.
Ford: Cause it’s a rainy day.
Cal: This is the Rainbow cloud. It’s just a rainbow. It’s after the sun.
Seon: The rainbow comes after the rain.
Fay: The rainbow only comes out after the rain and only when it’s sunny.
Seon: The cloud is dripping rain.

Sewing Clouds

As the children worked, they made observations of the different materials at the studio table. Sharing their thoughts with one another, they also made connections to their lives outside of the Rainey Room.
Bailee: The one (cloud) I made yesterday is a hurricane. And the one I make today is a hurricane too. It’s the one in Florida.

Cal: I have been to Florida too.

Bailee: I love hurricanes. I never had a hurricane. I know what the hurricane did. It’s just the stairs (talking about the damage at her family’s house from a hurricane).

Seon: This came from a towel. It reminds me of a towel. It’s fluffy. I’m going to keep adding materials.
Ford: It looks puffy...This is the palm tree cloud. It’s a pillow cloud. Pillow clouds are in your dreams.
Ellie: It feels like a cottontail, like bunny.
Ford: Like cotton candy.

The Science of Clouds

As the children shared their hypotheses, we got a glimpse of their understanding of the weather phenomenon of clouds.

Zari: I used a lot of purple...Sometimes clouds get really soft and wind comes down it (the cloud), then they get white.

Ellie - It’s a rainy morning cloud. It’s big. The rain is coming up. It’s a snow cloud.

Seon held up her cloud: That’s the clouds and it’s rain falling down. A rainy morning cloud. That’s the rest of the rain. I’m filling up the top of the cloud with rain.

Fay - It’s a snow cloud. That’s the snow coming down. Rain is coming down.

Can You Tell Me A Story About Your Cloud? (Literacy)

When each child was satisfied with their sewing, we asked them to use their imaginations to tell us a story about the cloud they had created. The children wove elaborate tales.

Isabelle: There was a cloud named Sarah. It rained. She lived in the forest and she had a feather.

Louisa - A rain cloud. It’s plain. It’s a fishy cloud. It’s an underwater cloud. There’s fishies inside. The fishies are swimming with their friends. They’re playing, making music. Now he lost his friends because he was in a trap. Then they ate the trap.

Ava: A rainbow with a fish on it and one cloud. A rainbow fish. It’s like this is to go up and open it then the people go inside and each lunch and play on the field. And the rainbow fish is a pillow cloud with all the fluff.

Whit: It’s an angel cloud. It makes sound. (has paper inside). It’s pillowland. You can only bring pillows and squishmellow and stuffies. There’s only allowed necklaces and jewelry and dresses. You sleep and watch shows. You have to make crafts and stuff. You have to bring materials for messages. Feel it (his cloud). It feels like a land. Some that is serious.

Charlton: Once upon a time, a little dog, a little snake, and a little lizard. Their names were blue, the snake and the dog, and white, the lizard. They saw the angel cloud and then they run away because they were scared.

Rawls: There’s an angel cloud and a puppy. There’s a purple string.