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February 28th, 2022

2/28/2022

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Projections for the week of
​February 28 - March 4, 2022


We have an exciting week ahead of us, filled with joy, collaboration and friendship!
We look forward to celebrating St. John's 25th birthday together with you on Friday, March 4th with a special family workshop in Blake Hall between 11:45 - 12:30pm. 
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Friday, February 25th

2/25/2022

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Happy Friday 

Today, we had special visitor helping us in the Rainey Room. Caroline Smith! 
Caroline is the mother of two St. John's alumni and a current substitute available to help out classrooms when needed.
Thank you for your support today, Caroline. We had a lot of fun together! 

As you know, Tuesday & Thursday blog posts are often used to share detailed information about current project work in the classroom.
Therefore, we try to utilize the Friday blog post as a way to play "catch up" or summarize the other happenings of daily life in the Rainey Room.

Today, we have some special documentation to share with you that was recorded and captured by the children themselves​!
Through the eyes of Rainey Room children

Construction Work - 

"A Dragon House", constructed, altered, and enjoyed by Saul, Daniel, Luke, Hugh, Wilder, and Finlay (02/22/22 - 02/25/22)​
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Movement in Blake Hall - 

"How can we move our bodies?" (02/25/22)
Photographs taken by Finlay and Lucas using an iPod
Videos taken by Lucas using an iPod
Slo-Mo recorded by Finlay

Glimpses of upcoming surprises

As we head into our weekend, we will leave you with sneak previews into some exciting "surprises" we look forward to sharing with you soon! 

...

...


Happy Weekend! 

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February 24th, 2022

2/24/2022

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In shadow area you can tell stories - Wilder
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Recently we introduced a new area to the classroom - the shadow area, which features a shadow puppet theater. Shadows and its properties have been fascinating the children in the Rainey Room lately. After investigating our own shadows outside we began to explore the possibilities of transformation deeper. We used our imagination to interpret shapes in different ways and to expand on our ideas further. The children began to develop characteristics and action connected with their ideas and to tell a story around a character they chose.

​ Creating and telling stories opens up opportunities to explore sequencing, consequence, creativity and context. It allows the children to explore and integrate new ideas, language, thoughts, feelings and narratives. Especially when developing a story together with a partner, we have to play close attention to them, their words and actions, engage with their ideas and at times also negotiate different ideas.


How do you create your own shadow puppet?
​You could go to message center and cut out stuff like that of the people. - Bea

But what would we attach it to? - Cate
Tape! Pencils and paper and popsicles. If you cut out a paper and you want to hold it then you can just tape it on to the popsicle stick. - Bea

​We're making puppets for our next show. ​We need more characters!
​Let's get to work, Lucas! - Lily


The children worked often in pairs to create their stories collaboratively in the shadow area. We would love to share a few story examples from the past couple days with you.

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Story told by Wilder and Bea

Once upon a time there was a shark who loved his friend who was called Sharky. - Bea
And then shark saw the little turtle. - Wilder
Then the shark gasped. - Bea
And then the shark chased after the turtle and the turtle swam away and then turtle hid behind a rock. - Wilder
Then the shark saw some seaweed, he said “That would be good for my bed that I‘m making. -Bea
But the rock that the turtle was hiding behind was a undersea volcano. - Wilder
Then this unicorn happily could swim under water and saved the turtle. The end. - Bea
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storytelling_by_bea_and_wilder.m4a
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Cate and Frannie created different versions of a story with the same characters (unicorn and birdie).
Story by Frances and Cate

Once upon a time … - Frannie
A unicorn came - Cate
And then it saw the birdie. Tweet tweet. And then it was (...) And then we’re making friends. And they wanted ice cream but they couldn’t eat ice cream. They would get a belly aches (...) The end! - Frannie


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Story by Lucas and Lily
Jade and Ines in the audience
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Once upon a time there was a little bunny named Hoppy. And then there was a woodpecker wo said “Hi” - Lily
This is not a woodpecker - Lucas
What is it? - Lily
It’s a face side head pecker - Lucas
And then a face side head … - Lily
Pecker! - Lucas
Pecker came and said “hi hoppy and then a lovely fairy came in and said “Hello, how would you like another character  in your play?” “Oh, this is not a play” Hoppy said. “Well, do you want to have another friend?” “Sure” And Hoppy kept jumping up and down and up and down until another animal came in, Sharky.  Sharky tried to eat Hoppy but Hoppy had a plan, he needed all animals. He yelled “Roger, Flodder” and then he yelled … what’s this called again (asking Lucas, holding up the "face side head pecker")  - Lily
And now this is gonna eat the shark - Lucas
And then another nice animal came in and said “I’m gonna eat the shark for you”. And then the nice animal ate the shark. And then the shark had a plan to escape but he needed Hoppy. But he needed to be a bunny. He found best friend, Roddy. - Lily

*** Ines has to leave her spot in the audience to assist a friend

Can we stop the show? - Lucas asking Lily
Why? - Lily
Cause so Ines can watch. - Lucas
Okay. Lucas, your story telling is amazing! - Lily
Yeah! - Lucas

*** Ines returns to the audience 
And then (...) Lucas, you need to talk, okay? And then his best friend Hoppy came in, Shark’s best friend and then Hoppy tried to find and find the shark. - Lily, pauses and waits for Lucas to continue the story 
I’m continuing the story. - Lucas, moving his shadow puppet across the screen quickly up and down but doesn't add any words to his actions
You need to talk, Lucas. - Lily, whispers to Lucas 
Yeah but this part is silent. This character is silent. It’s a shark that’s not nice. - Lucas, continues to move the shadow puppet across the screen
It’s trying to tell the other animals something. But I can’t understand because he’s just moving to tell what he’s trying to say. - Lily, interpreting Lucas's actions and weaving them into the story
I’m using my body (to tell them). - Lucas

*** (...) the story continues 

And let’s end the story now. - Lily
No, I don’t want to! I wanna keep going to make it even longer. - Lucas
​Okay! And then Flowery came up and said .... - Lily



​​
 Story by Jade and Cate

​This morning, Cate and Jade prepared and practiced the performance of a story they invented together. The preparation included creating their unique shadow puppets out of paper and developing characters for their story. At the end of our day they set up an area in front of the "stage" for the audience by arranging chairs and stools in rows. The audience was excited for the show and blown away by the performers enthusiastic interpretations. The show ended with standing ovations for everyone involved.
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Tuesday, February 22nd

2/22/2022

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Continuing committee work for our school's 25th birthday celebration on March 4th. 

I think I know what would make the school happy.
​A new mailbox! - Finlay

As previously mentioned in a past blog post, the Rainey Room decided to focus on three different areas of "work" in preparing for the schools upcoming birthday celebration. 
A committee in charge of caring for the school environment... ​
That’s what you have to do.
​Make it all nice in Brown Room,
then make it all nice 
in Rainey Room,
​ and then make it all nice in Tucker Room.
- Bea
A committee that will make a special treat to enjoy at the celebration...
A cake! - Finlay
And a committee that will construct a gift to present to the school on its birthday. 


Knowing that the school has its own symbol and accompanying stamp to represent that symbol, children began to wonder why the school didn't have its own mailbox?

One of the main ways children use their symbol stamps at school is to communicate with one another within the school community.

If the school now has its own stamp, should it also have a mailbox to encourage communication and message making to the school as well?


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Here are snippets of dialogue from a conversation that initiated this idea among the Rainey Room children:   
Finlay: I think I know what would make the school happy. A new mailbox! 
Ines: What made you think about that?
Finlay: I know why we should because it has a symbol. See, look at the calendar! I was wondering since there’s a birthday could we make it a message in his (the school) mailbox.
Ines: But does the school have a mailbox?
Finlay: No.
Sam: If we make the school a mailbox are there any materials we could use to make one?
Bea: Plastic. 
Remy: Ribbon to make it beautiful. 
Cape: Do you know what the wrapping paper should be? It’s symbol on.

Saul: Wood and screws.
Finlay: Let’s wrap the mailbox in paper like we did with our photo thing.
​(referencing how we present birthday portrait gifts to each birthday child in RR)

Ines: I wonder, if we build a mailbox, where should it go?
Bea: Next to everyone else's mailboxes.
Jade: There’s not enough room.
Bea: (It should be) small like the other mailboxes. One of the teachers and you guys can
measure and the kids can tell you what measure it can be.

Cape: How will the school get the messages out of its mailbox?
Bea: Molly. 

Cape: Molly could pick them out of the mailbox and give them to the school.
Sam: If you did write a message to the school, what would you say?
Bea: Thank you for opening the school and we love the school and thank you for letting
the kids come in.
Finlay: You know how the birthday committee carries the gift. Since it was my idea I
should give it to the school.
Bea: No, the whole classrooms of the school.

Cape: And Molly could read the messages to the school.
A small group (including Finlay, Jade, Michael, Daniel, and Cape) volunteered to work on the Mailbox Committee.
Finlay: We’re making a mailbox, so we need to be by the mailboxes. 
To begin, the committee needed to assess the area near the school "post office" (where everyone's mailboxes are found) to decide if there was an existing space that might work for a permanent home for the school's mailbox to be kept. 
A plant stand sits next to the children's mailboxes and seemed to be an ideal place to house a mailbox for the school. 
Children began taking measurements and recording their data for the dimensions of the space.
That way, they would know what size to construct the final mailbox so that it would fit on the stand. 
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Cape works on the blueprint.
After gathering information about the dimensions of the space, a blueprint was created to help us better visualize the size and shape of the box. Capers designed a slot in the blueprint to include in the final design of the mailbox.
Yes the slot can fit big messages and little messages. - Cape

A Three-Dimensional Model 

We realized that drawing a blueprint on a flat surface could only support us to a certain extent of understanding the potential of our mailbox layout. Using both the plant stand and our recorded measurements as reference points, a 3D model was built. 

​Knowing that the "real" mailbox will be constructed out of wood, the committee then sketched the dimensions of the mailbox walls onto a piece of plywood and wrote a note to our friend, Victor, asking him to help us cut the wood into the correct sized pieces for our future construction project. 
Dear Victor,
We are making a mailbox. 
A mailbox for the school. 
The mailbox will be a cube shape. 
The walls will be 10 inches wide and 12 inches tall. 
Can you cut this wood for our walls?
We also need a bottom and a top piece. 
In one wall we need a mail slot hole please. 
6 inches wide and 3 inches tall. 
From, Rainey Room

Design and Decoration Ideas

The committee also discussed ideas about what the mailbox should look like as far as its decorations and colors once fully constructed. 
Sam: Are there any colors that we should be thinking about for the color of the mailbox? Does the school have favorite colors?
Finlay: Wait, like the symbol?
Cape: Like all those colors. 

Finlay: All of the colors. So what about a rainbow cake? Are we gonna add the symbol to it? (the mailbox)
Finlay: We could put the symbol on both sides?
Sam: So it sounds like our ideas so far are that we will build a mailbox, we want there to be a cake on it, and maybe it will include rainbow colors?
Cape: Yeah like we could maybe do rainbow lines. 
Daniel: Or rainbow circles. 
Finlay: Or we could paint the wood.
Jade: I have a rainbow crayon at home. 
Sam: Maybe we could make some designs of our ideas. 
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Left to Right: Finlay, Capers, Jade, Daniel

​Here are some more details of each design. Many designs incorporate "cakes" as decorative additions to represent the birthday and rainbow colors that represent the school's colors found on its rainbow gingko leaf symbol:
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Finlay
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Cape
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Cape decided to incorporate rainbow gingko leaves to match the schools symbol in his design.
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Jade 1
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Jade 2: Jade's design includes a "flap door" that covers the mail slot when closed.
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Daniel

Construction

Today's portion of the committee work was so exciting that it drew a larger crowd of volunteers to help!
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For some, this was their first experience using a hammer and nails.
​For others, they mentioned using these tools for home projects. 
Have you ever used a hammer before?
Daniel: Dad lets me fix the walls at home. (with a hammer)
Saul: No, but now I have! 
Jade: Yes. I made a bird feeder. 
Cape: Yes, with my dad. 
Frannie: Only my dad does. He was fixing the refrigerator. 

Stay tuned for the final reveal of the mailbox at the celebration for the school on Friday, March 4th! 
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Weekly Projections

2/22/2022

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February 21st - 25th, 2022

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Friday, February 18th

2/18/2022

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Shadow Story Telling 

Earlier this week, children worked with photographs that they had captured during last week's "shadow walk" to create cutout images of the shadows.
Many children expressed interest in using the cutouts as "shadow puppets". 
Today, during morning meeting, we incorporated the shadow cutouts into a story telling experience.
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Each child had a turn to choose a shadow image and imagine how that image could support the storyline.
To help you better understand the process of our work today, here is a clip of Wilder having a turn to add his input to the story. 
We're making a pretty good story very fast. - Wilder
Where is this story gonna go? - Bea
There's a lot of words in this book. - Wilder
Please enjoy todays shadow story!
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Once upon a time...
1. There was a big eagle. (Wilder)
2. The eagle had his wings up in the air. (Bea)
3. The eagle landed on the ground. (Remy)
4. The eagle sees food and the food is a rabbit. (Wilder)
5. The eagle tries to eat the mouse and it does. (Lucas)
6. The eagle tries to chase the frog. (Cate)
7. The eagle chases the snake. (Capers)
8. The eagle is in the high tree and decides to eat one leaf. (Daniel) 
9. A fish comes and the eagle eats the fish. (Jade)
10. The eagle bonked its head on turtle's shell. The eagle is dizzy. (Lily)
11. Somebody from the Navy comes and protects the eagle. (Finlay)

The End! 
This is a very good story. - Lily

Enjoy the long weekend! We will see you on Tuesday. 
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February 17th, 2022

2/17/2022

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Luke's drawing of a vacuum with trash inside of it as well as around it
This week the birthday committee, that focuses on taking care of the environment at St. John's, worked on multiple projects this week, from vacuuming to repairing broken artifacts around the school. We were busy this week!

Remy, Lily, Bea and Luke were excited to use the vacuum to clean the Middle Room, which they identified on our previous walk around the school as an area that would need some extra care.
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"There's paper on the floor!" - Lily
​

It turned out, vacuuming is a 4 person job when you're making sure to not accidentally vacuum in the cord...
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It's easy but it was kinda hard when you turn it. - Lily
Cleaning and redesigning the school's ball run
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Did you know we have a large magnetic ball run in the hallway, right outside the Rainey Room? The children enjoy interacting with this ever changing installation daily. It was imagined, designed and created by a parent-teacher work group a few years ago and has inspired children to create intricate pathways ever since. 

As part of our birthday committee work we decided to dedicate time to cleaning and redesigning the area. We removed and organized all magnetic items prior to washing the chalk board. 

​Don't look at this loop-dee-loop surprise! - Remy
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Once the board was all clean and dry, Remy, Bea and Lily used the ball run materials, such as tubes, pipes or gears, to create their own ball run design. Their idea was to keep it a surprise for everyone else in the school.  Among other things, during this process they explored the properties of movement, consequence, directionality, speed,  gravity ("They keep falling down!" - Remy) and sequencing ("It goes up and then it spins." - Lily).
Then when it comes back, there's a loopy (adds a spinning gear to the end of a pipe) and (...) then four more spins. And then it's gonna get a spinny spin. - Lily

Ooh! It's gonna be so exciting! - Remy
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Collaborative drawing by Lily and Bea of their ball run design
The children took great pride in creating a unique surprise for the school and the people inside the school. This interactive creation was immediately noticed by other classrooms in the school. As Tucker Room walked down the hallway, passing the ball run, they noticed the changes and engaged with the new set-up.

​Rainey Room did it. They cleaned it. For the school's birthday. - Sylvie

This is my favorite! You have to drop 6,8,12 balls and then they fall down. But you have to pick them up. - Remy about her ball run/ball drop design
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We need to clean the outside, too. It's so sandy! - Cate
The birthday committee works happens throughout the day, often spontaneous, as the children's awareness of their surroundings is growing. Cate and Remy took the initiative to sweep the platform in the outdoor classroom. Thank you!
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What does repair mean? Maybe fixing it. - Daniel
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As we begin our day at St. John's, walking up the stairs to school, the children often stop and inspect, reflect on or discuss the clay number line next to the stairs, that counts up to the school's age (currently the last number is 24). Daniel noticed that the number 6 fell off and broke.  We expressed concern about it an interest in repairing it. 
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​ "The six is broken! We need to fix it!" 
​- Daniel
​
How do you make a number 6? - Daniel

While exploring ideas on how to create the needed shape out of clay, Daniel reflected on some of his previous experiences with clay. "I did it with, I just rolled it" - Daniel, remembering the coiling technique he used to shape a femur/thigh bone. 

​It looks like a P. But you have to make a little curve. - Jade

It looks just like a 6! And when you turn it over it looks like a 9! - Daniel
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Tuesday, February 15th

2/15/2022

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Backwards Day

Stories from the Outdoor Classroom
Today we thought that we would share some stories with you that took place during our outside time.
​Although the outdoor classroom may not be as frequently "highlighted" in our blog, it is a truly valuable space in our school environment where valuable learning, exploring, collaborating, and expression take place. 
Children adore "Backwards Day" and the opportunity for extended outdoor time that it provides as we begin our day together!

​Do you want to make a house for Blue Blue and Mousy?
​They could be neighbors. - Wilder
Wilder and Hugh construct a house for their lovies. With some help from Finlay too!
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Creating a cone perimeter around the drawn "blueprint" outline for the house.
"Blue Blue needs a perch" - Hugh
"How about we make the house out of wood?" - Wilder
"We need cement." - Hugh
"I know how to make walls." - Finlay
"Cement so the walls can stick." - Wilder
"We need a water pipe in case there's a fire so we can get the water in the house." - Hugh
"We made a bowl for Blue Blue's food. It's protein for them to eat." - Hugh
"Maybe it (large planks) could go across for a ceiling." - Wilder
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​I'm making a house too. For Sweetie. I can make a house out of sand. - Capers
When his initial idea to draw a picture of Sweetie Dog in the sand house proved to be quite challenging because of the sand's consistency, Cape improvised and found a different solution. He created a person out of materials instead!
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"The sand is the house and the wood is the roof." - Capers
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"There's a rock for the head and a big piece for the body and sticks for the legs and mulch for the arms." - Capers

I'm so comfortable! - Frannie
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Frannie "invents" her own cozy place to relax.

Celebrating a birthday. 
Remy and Bea decide to create a birthday setup for Dena the bear (Remy's lovie). Lucas joins the party!
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Chairs are arranged, plates are set, food is prepared.
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Cake is baked and served.

​Selling Ice Cream. 
Cate and Lily have an idea to create an ice cream store. 

First, an area of the outdoor classroom has to be cleaned before the store can be set up. 

​It's too slippery. - Cate
So we have to clean it. - Lily

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"The ice cream is banana cream. But it's rainbow too." - Cate

Moments of Reflection

When we transition indoors into our classroom we sit down for snack together.
Snack time often provides a great opportunity for large group discussion, information sharing, and reflection. 
​Today, we asked everyone to take a moment to reflect on their time outside and to think about any moments when they felt proud of themselves.
​We practiced intentionally taking a moment (perhaps with our eyes closed) to think about our experiences outside and our feelings around them. 
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Did you feel proud of yourself while working outside today?

​Finlay
: When I was building that huge structure. Blue Blue and Mousy's house. 
Cape: When I made my house. Because Sweetie was in it but it was too tricky so I made a person in the house. I just collected some stuff and made it. 
Bea: When I was making a cake. It was for myself. 
Wilder: I feel'd big enough and proud when I was making that castle because we put Blue Blue and Mousy in it. 
Daniel: When I played with Saul and we rode bikes together. 
Cate: When I was making my ice cream shop. 
Remy: Filling up the teddy bear's bath. I did it all by myself and Bea helped me. 
Saul: What made me happy about myself is when Daniel played with me. 
Michael: I can go anywhere (on the bike) and then I was trapped and I followed Saul and then we can go anywhere. 
Lucas: I was trying to figure out how to put two bathtubs in the house that Bea and Remy made with their cake and I did it. 
Hugh: When I made the door to our house. 
Lily: Making the ice cream store with Cate. 
Frannie: When I was playing with Remy and we was bouncing and it was sooooo comfortable. 
Luke: Playing with Daniel and he was making a sand castle but someone took our bucket and then we just make a different plan. 
Jade: When me and Capers made a traffic jam and the cars went into the traffic jam. 

We are continuing to study and expand the work we are doing around sound and movement.
​Today we introduced a new term. 

An Introduction to Rhythm 

What is rhythm?
A heartbeat. - Cape (recalling that heartbeat sounds follows a rhythm)
It's like up, down, up, down, up, down. - Finlay (making a connection to pattern)

​Cate and Remy demonstrate their understanding of rhythm and patterns. 
We challenged ourselves to use our bodies to demonstrate rhythm. We created different body sounds making beats to the rhythm of 1,2,3,4. Not an easy task for 17 people in a large group experience! 
Then we incorporated instruments and tried to play music to the rhythm as well.
This is a band! - Frannie
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February 14th, 2022

2/14/2022

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Projections for the week of February 14-18, 2022

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Valentine's Day in the Rainey Room

Our day was filled with sweet love, friendship and kindness. The children were overjoyed to share and receive their thoughtful Valentine's messages. 
As a special treat, our friend Bea brought an electric juicer and blood oranges for a delicious Valentine's drink. Thank you, Bea! 

It tastes really good! You should try it! - Daniel to Luke
It tastes like berries - Michael
It tastes like orange juice - Cape
It's the best! - Lucas
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Happy Valentine's Day!

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February 11th, 2022

2/11/2022

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We had a busy, engaged and wonderful week in the Rainey Room!
We would like to share you some glimpses of our time at school this week.
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Working with clay in the Atelier

We created designs with clay slabs and coils with Jen and Brigitte

around the classroom...

this week we have been working on weaving as part of our study on creating patterns, creating imaginary collage scenes and taking care of friends in the classroom's doctors office.

in the outdoor classroom...

we enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and glimpse of spring together by singing around the campfire and taking the bikes out for a spin around the outdoor classroom.

Catching shadows...

on our walk around Georgetown today. The sunshine gave us a wonderful opportunity to observe and research our own shadows.

We are looking forward to celebrate
Valentine's Day and 
Pajama Day on Monday, February 14th!
​
Please also bring in your child's Valentine's messages in the morning.
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