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The Virtual Classroom

May Projections

4/30/2021

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Added to the week of 5/3 -5/7 will be the final pajama design reveal!  
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Brown Room Snack Invitation

4/30/2021

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​“I have my envelope and symbols.” - Jade, 3.5 years


“I’m having my snack now.  We can have snack [with Brown Room] soon.” - Saul


​I
 heard that Sauly was going to make a collage message. - Elyse

“Well, I brought materials that are not the same as yours.” - Saul, 3.8 years
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What does our invitation need to say? Have you ever gotten a birthday invitation where somebody says, ‘Will you please come to my birthday?’? - Elyse
“I didn’t have a birthday invitation.” - Jade 
So, if we want to ask somebody to do something with us, how can we ask them? If I wanted to invite you to the park I might say, ‘Sauly, will you come to the park with me?’. - Elyse
“Of course I will.” - Saul 
That’s an invitation, so how can we invite Brown Room? - Elyse
‘You can come in. You need to say ‘Come in when you’re ready. When you’re not ready you can’t come in.’.  - Jade
“We need XOXOX, XOXOX.” - Jade

Should our message say XOXOX like ‘kiss hug kiss hug kiss’? - Elyse
“Yes.” - Jade


If we only ask ‘Are you coming?’, do they know what we’re inviting them to do? - Elyse
“No. You need to think about it, and you need to think about it and Saul.  You need to think about if they are coming.” - Jade
I think we need to let them know what they’re coming to. - Elyse
“They’re coming to a place to do snack. You need to say, ‘Are you coming? Say yes or no.’” - Jade
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​“I did bring glue, and I brought some of these pictures. I even have a pumpkin.” - Saul
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“I’m drawing.” - Jade

Paige, Jade's mom, also walked her through adding the "To" and From", as well as adding the words that Jade suggested. 
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I made a snack collage.  I sewed on a place mat, made a paper plate, and put some fruit and an avocado on it. - Elyse
“Now you going to eat it?” - Saul 
[I pretended to eat it]
“No, it’s just paper.” - Saul 
“It’s just pretend.” - Jade​

Monsters and Trucks 

We ended our call with a new monster book, who is taken apart to create a new scene; it's a new way to think about collage and deconstruction.  We also read a new construction book that the Brown Room let us borrow.  It has these incredibly cool and beautiful pages where you use a flashlight to show a hidden image! 
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“You know how much I love trucks!” - Saul
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Story Time

4/29/2021

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On Thursday we had a mice filled story time as we read three of Ellen Still Walsh's books: Mouse Paint, Mouse Count, and Balancing Act.  We also read a story based on a Scottish folk song called ​Always Room for One More, and we ended with one of Saul's favorites, Today is Monday. 
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​“I brought something to show you. It’s a porcupine.” - Saul, 3.8 months

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What happened when the Salamander got on? - Elyse
“It’s a type of frog!” - Saul
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The illustrations in Always Room for One More appear to be primarily made of pink and black lines with some charcoal.  They're very different from many of the other books that we read, and therefore, very interesting. 
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“I remember that this is a funny one!” - Saul
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Color Mixing and Painting

4/28/2021

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I'm not sure how we made it this far in the school year without mixing colors and painting, but today was the day! 

The excitement was evident from the beginning:
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“I want to mix inside orange with blue.” - Saul, 3.8  years
What color are you going to make first? - Elyse
“Green!” - Saul 
“Orange!” - Jade, 3.5 years

Mixing Green and orange

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“I made green!” - Saul


​“I’m making orange! It’s orange!” - Jade 
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“Im making ketchup.” - Jade 
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“I’ve got the big paper ready! I’m ready to do all of my things.” - Saul
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“First, I’m going to paint a fire monster.” - Saul 
What kind of colors do you need for a fire monster? - Elyse
“I’m going to paint one. First I’m going to paint its body.” - Saul
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“Alright, now I’m making toad.” - Saul
Maybe I’ll paint Toad within my grass. - Elyse
“I’m painting grass too!” - Jade
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How are you painting Toad, Saul? - Elyse
“I’m making him good. I’m making him all green.” - Saul

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​“I made a dinosaur instead of toad!” - Saul 

“I made a dinosaur instead of a monkey.” - Jade [paintings to the left]
“I made a dinosaur, but it has big feet.” - Jade 
“I’m making a new dinosaur. Now he’s going to be bright green.” - Saul
“I’m making the dinosaur bigger and bigger and bigger. I’m getting him out of the dragon. He’s coming from a different place.” - Saul [spreading paint with a paintbrush in one hand and using the palm of his other hand]
“I’m making the same as Saul.  I’m making a Sauly orange Loch Ness Monster.” - Jade 
You know what we learned about him? We don’t know what he really looks like, so we can make it up.  He can be whatever color we want him to be. - Elyse
“Well, I saw one in the night, but the one I saw was mean. Well, was he nice or mean? No, he’s mean. I want to make teeth on him. Is it a boy or a girl?” - Jade 
“Look! I’m making a really big dinosaur. I'm making the scales on a dinosaur. The scales.” - Saul 
“I'm making a monster that is a dinosaur. I’m making a scale [too].” - Jade 
“I put the scales on the dragon.” - Saul 
Do you think my Loch Ness monster needs scales? - Elyse
“Yes because monsters and dinosaurs always have scales.” - Jade
I think I’ll try blue scales. - Elyse
“Good. It might show up.” - Jade
“Now I’m making purple. Red with blue!!” - Saul 
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“I’m making a maze where there’s mean monsters.” - Jade
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In-Person Playdate

4/27/2021

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Tuesday was an extra special day for me and Saul.  We finally got to play together, in-person.  We met up at a favorite spot of Saul's in Rock Creek Park.  We spent two glorious hours digging in the dirt, collecting flowers and grass, making collections, running around, and just enjoying each other's company!  
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Meeting a new friend: Jade

4/26/2021

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Monday was an exciting day for us because we met a new friend from the Brown Room, Jade.  Jade is planning to be with us all week, and so we took some time on Monday to have a snack, share some of our favorite things, sing sleeping bunnies, and of course, laugh with each other!  There seemed to be so much joy shared between Jade and Saul, and it was such a privilege to be there for it.  
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Another wonderful thing about having Jade is that she can share with us a bit of what has been happening in the Brown Room! 

What have you been working on in the Brown Room? - Elyse
“Jumping.” - Jade, 3.5 months
Something that we know about is the dragon costume.- Elyse
“Elyse, can I think it home for another little while.” - Saul, 3.8 months 
Maybe you can tell Jade about the dragon scale you made.  I’m wondering if Jade made a dragon scale. - Elyse
“Jade didn’t make the dragon costume?” -Saul
Let’s ask her. Did you help make the dragon costume? - Elyse
“Yes. It’s orange and white and black.” - Jade

A snack invitation for Brown Room

The Brown Room has invited Saul to have snack with them a few times, and we'd like to return the favor.  We've chatted briefly about inviting them, how we should do it, but Jade gave us the entire break down of what we will need to create and send an invitation.

If we want to invite them, how would we send them an invitation or a message?  - Elyse
“I do not know.” - Saul 
Oh, so that means we need to think about it and share ideas. - Elyse
“You get a piece of paper out. Put everybody’s name on it; the kids and the teachers, and then you put it in an envelope. Well, put it on a piece of paper and then put it in the envelope.  Then send it to us. Okay? Put the kids on it; their names on it.” - Jade 
All of the children’s names, or maybe their symbols. - Elyse
“Yeah!” - Saul
“Then you put the names on the out of the envelope, then put a stamp on it and send it to us.” - Jade

Sharing Stuffed Animals

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“It’s Oz.” - Jade
What kind of animal is he? - Elyse
“He’s a monkey.” - Jade 
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“Guys! Look! I even have my own stuffed animal!” - Saul
“I brought my best stuffed owl.” - Saul


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“Owl is disappearing!” - Saul 
“Oz disappeared too!” - Jade (puts Oz behind her back)
But where did they go? - Elyse


Saul and Jade continued to play the disappearing stuffy game with each other. 

“Owlie is doing tricks!” - Saul 

Does Oz have tricks too? - Elyse
“Yes he does.” - Jade 

We also discovered that Oz can fly!  He's a flying monkey just like in the Wizard of Oz! 


“That’s so funny!” - Saul

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Sleeping Bunnies

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What would we do if we had a : 

Sleeping Oz- play with his new friends 
Sleeping Owlies - Jump 
Sleeping Sauls - play with our stuffed animals
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​Sleeping Jades - Go fishing all day! 

“I caught a big fish halibut. Yum, yum, yum! This big.” - Jade 

Saul's Favorite Truck Book 

“Jade! Want to see my special truck book?” - Saul 
“Sure!” - Jade 
“Look! So this is my truck book! I’m going to show you all of the pictures and trucks. This is a forklift. This forklift lifts things on the back. This forklift is very silly. Sometimes he lifts up other forklifts.” - Saul 

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Saul, I also know that you like garbage trucks.  Is there one in your book? - Elyse
“Of course there is. Oh here. Look!” - Saul ​
When you see a garbage truck in your neighborhood, is it green or red? -Elyse
“Well, I think I only see a green one and an orange one.” - Saul 
“Five is green, five that’s orange, and five that’s red.” - Jade (about the ones in her neighborhood)
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Story Time and Drawing

4/22/2021

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This week, we added a little complexity and interaction to our story time.  We started by reading a myth.  Our final three books were about lines and shapes that inspired some drawing as we read.  
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“Wavy lines! These are from the octopus.” - Saul, 3.8 years
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“I’m tickling it because I’m drawing fast with a Melanie marker.” - Lucia, 3.11 years
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Lucia was drawing as we read.
“I’m filling in my drawing.” - Lucia ​
When we finished Lines that Wiggle, we decided to revisit a few favorites. ​
Did you have a favorite kind of line from the book? - Elyse
“Yeah, the octopus one.” - Saul
“My favorite was the octopus too.” - Lucia
Did you have another favorite line? - Elyse
“The straight ones.” - Saul

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Should I use a sharpie? - Elyse
“Well, you have a sharp one that will poke you.” - Saul 
Oh Saul, that is a confusing name. So this pen is called a sharpie, but it’s just a type of pen.  It’s not sharp. It won’t hurt you. - Elyse
“I have that too. It’s so small.” - Lucia
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“They’re snowy mountains.” - Lucia
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“Will you spotlight me? Do you see my criss-cross lines? It’s criss cross and makes little spaces that you can dance in. Monsters can like, step through it so you can dance over the lines. I’m going to color in my net so that no-one uses it.” - Lucia

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​“I made a smile.” - Saul, 3.8 years
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Saul's Smile
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“Guys look! I drawed this! It makes all of the people in the net fly up to the sky. It’s a helicopter that is flying with a truck on the back. It’s a big one; a big helicopter. I need a huge one. I just put some dots inside to make it a nice and beautiful collection.” - Saul, 3.8 years

Shapes

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“I’m making really small pictures.” - Lucia
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What do they look like to you? - Elyse
“Strangers!” - Saul 
Strangers? People you don’t know? I can see that. - Elyse
"Yeah! Them!" - Saul 
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“A robot!” - Saul
Lucia! It was so wonderful to have us with you this week!  Thank you for joining us, and we hope to see you on campus soon! 
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Sewing Dragon Scales

4/21/2021

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 Saul, do you remember what the special project is that we’re sewing for today? - Elyse
“For the (next year's) Rainey Room’s dragon costume!” - Saul, 3.8 years
Saul absolutely loves to sew, and we've been thinking a little bit about this upcoming project over the past week or so.  Brown Room has been working (since January) on a dragon costume inspired by their experience with the Chinese New Year.  They invited Saul, who is also a member of the Brown Room, to sew a scale for the costume.  

We also got to share this experience with Lucia, who is part of the Rainey Room B pod on campus.  Lucia is also excellent at sewing and arranging her materials on the fabric.  Lucia and Saul made a great sewing team. 

To begin, we looked at a few photos/images of Chinese dragons.  
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“It’s a big dragon.” - Saul, 3.8 years
It is, and this is the dragon that inspired the Brown Room. - Elyse

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I’m going to hold it up close so that you can see the scales. - Elyse
“I do see the scales!” - Lucia, 3.11 years
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“You see those yellow and red ones!” - Saul
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“I’m adding beads to different beads.” - Saul 
“I’m adding beads because it’s good!” - Lucia 
“These are beads with tall bottoms and squishy tops.” - Saul 
“I have a few of those.” - Lucia 

“Now I’m going to add this little silver one.” - Saul 

“It (thread) came out of the fishy’s mouth!” - Lucia 
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“Elyse, I’m going to keep sewing my dragon scales.” - Saul
Your beads remind me of the dragon. - Elyse
“They are the silver ones.” - Saul 
I wish I had some of those. - Elyse
“You can get them from the bead supermarket.” - Saul

What to do when you make a mistake.

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When I shared that I had accidentally looped my thread around the hoop, which makes it hard to continue, Saul responded with a helpful thought:
“So, you made a wrong. Try to be more careful.” - Saul
Oops, I poked myself with the needle. - Elyse
“Be more careful.” - Saul 
Yeah. I wasn’t paying close attention. - Elyse
“Well, you can try again.” - Saul 
[A few minutes later.]
“Ugh, I poked myself.” - Saul 
I did that too, and do you remember what you told me? You told me that I had to be extra careful. - Elyse

Observing Costumes and thinking about sharing the scale

The Brown Room is working together. - Elyse
“But for now we’re working on sewing projects.” - Saul 
“I want to keep it at home for a little while.” - Saul 

“Maybe I can wear a dragon costume.” - Saul 
Everyone will be able to wear it together. It will go to the Rainey Room with you. - Elyse
“Even I can wear it?” - Saul 
They are going to sew the scales onto the costume, and everybody can wear it. - Elyse
“Even me?” - Saul 
Yes. The dragon costume is a collaborative project, which means everyone is going to work together, and then everyone gets to wear it. - Elyse
“I don’t really have a dragon, so I’m going to get one in my class. Oh, I better wear it.” - Saul 
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Do you see the way it moves? -Elyse
“Look! They’re sewing it!” - Saul 
It does look like that; like the up and down movement of our sewing. - Elyse
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Looking backwards and forwards (to Rainey Room)

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Naama and Kim discovered that they knew each other from when Riva was at St. John's in the Brown Room and Loren was in the Rainey Room! It's always wonderful to reconnect with old friends! 
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[looking at the Brown Room's work on the costume]
“Tucker room is a huge room.” - Saul 
The Rainey room is really big too. You’ll be in the Rainey Room, and I’ll be in the Tucker Room, but we’ll get to see each other sometimes. - Elyse
“But I’m going to be in the Tucker Room too?” - Saul 
You’re going to be in the Rainey Room. - Elyse
“Are you in the Rainey Room?” - Saul 
I’m in the Rainey Room this year; sort of. - Elyse
“But this is your office.” - Saul 
Well, technically this year I’m at home, doing virtual with you. You and I are our own classroom. - Elyse
“But don’t forget that I love you.” - Saul
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One-on-one with Lucia K. (RRB)

4/20/2021

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Lucia will be joining us this week, and I was so excited to have a one-on-one visit with her as a welcome to the virtual classroom!  During our call, Lucia showed me a lot of things that she has been working on at home, but the story of her painting was insightful and beautiful! 
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We started by discovering that we have similar stuffed huskies! 

“Maybe they have the same ear fur, and the tail is this tail!” - Lucia, 3.11 years 

A blank canvas

Is that your easel set up behind you?  Have you been painting?  - Elyse
“No, it’s all blank.  It’s just blank.” - Lucia 
It’s a blank canvas.  That’s pretty exciting though. - Elyse
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“I made some shrimp paint.” - Lucia, 3.11 years
Can you tell me more about that?  Elyse  
“It’s shrimp.” - Lucia 
“I'm adding blue, but I think I need some red.” - Lucia

That looks like a darker blue. - Elyse
“It’s navy.” - Lucia
How did you make it? - Elyse
“We mixed colors. We mixed all of the colors to make the colors; we used all of the paints” - Lucia 
What colors do you use when you’re mixing? - Elyse
“I use any colors.” - Lucia
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“I’ve been painting at school on the easel, but these are different brushes. They’re different colors of brushes.” - Lucia
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Lucia, I’m going to mix colors on zoom with my friend Saul.  What colors should we make? - Elyse
“Shrimp!” - Lucia 
How did you make shrimp? What colors did you make? - Elyse
“Some red.” - Lucia
What else did you mix with it to make shrimp? - Elyse
“Red and white.” - Lucia 
(mixing) “It’s shrimpy!” - Lucia 
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“Hmm…I see a little bit more white.  I need shrimp.” - Lucia
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Putting the finishing touches on her puzzle.

 I noticed that your blue is overlapping your red. - Elyse
“Yeah they go together. So, it’s a puzzle. I”m covering all of the little spots, and connecting all of the big spots.  It’s a lot of shrimp.” - Lucia 
It looks like shrimp is your main color; it’s your connecting color. - Elyse
“Yeah, it’s the middle piece color.  I’m going to use all of it so there aren’t any open spots. You have to paint the whole thing.” - Lucia 
I noticed that you switched brush sizes. - Elyse
“Yeah, that’s the brush in the color that I need.” - Lucia 
“I don’t only need one color. I need a colorful puzzle.” - Lucia 
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Goop/Oobleck.  Is it a volcano? Or not?

4/19/2021

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Last Friday, after we finished our new volcano explosions, I shared a new sensory experience idea with Saul.  He immediately hypothesized "that would be a different kind of volcano." Today was the day to test out his theory. Would it erupt? Would it explode? We had to mix the ingredients to find out!
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“We’ll see if it makes a volcano that jumps in the air.” - Saul, 3.8 years
We’ll have to do the experiment to find out. - Elyse
“Now let’s make this erupt.” - Saul, 3.8 years
Your hypothesis is that it will erupt once we put the water inside. - Elyse
Did it erupt?  - Elyse
“No, not yet!” - Saul, 3.8 years
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“It’s like milk!” - Saul
“Whoa! Look what happened.  It turned into liquid.” - Saul 
“Now it’s messy up!” - Saul 
“It makes a big mess.  It feels like grass.  It feels like milk.” - Saul 
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“It disappeared. I break it into pieces.” - Saul 
“Look what’s happening. You also did it.” - Saul 
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"Now it’s dry, but it’s liquid. Liquid is so dirty.” - Saul 

Does it feel the same as the lava eruption? Or different?  - Elyse
“This is a huge lava.” - Saul 
To me, this one feels so much thicker. - Elyse
Is this thicker? Or milk? - Naama
“This!” - Saul 

“I like this. I like it a lot.” - Saul 

“Look! And now my hand has disappeared!” - Saul 

“It’s so sticky! I can’t catch it. It’s because the water is yucky and turns it into liquid.” - Saul 

“Caught it! Caught it!” - Saul 
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“Look what’s happening! It’s happening in the circles. It’s dripping inside like glue.” - Saul (about the cardboard)

Could we use this as glue? Is it the same? - Elyse

“I want to keep playing (after we hang up).” - Saul
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