Friday, January 28, 2011

still exploring...for real

Exploring the notion of real and pretend seems most natural when it comes to food. Our dramatic play area is brimming with plastic grapes, cheese, and bread so impromptu picnics on the beach or in outer space are all feasible options...in our imaginations.

And as for the real, we are lucky enough to have a hotplate and an oven in our classroom which makes semi-homemade treats a reality like this yummy muffin mix.


Thanks to Trader Joe's for the semi-homemade help.


We mixed all of the very real ingredients together...


allowing the smell of freshly baked (muffin) bread to fill our room. And then we dug in, eating our treat during snack time.


While the bread was in the oven, the cooking crew began prepping, cooking, and baking their play dough treats. Children are such natural writers. Their writing is spontaneous, purposeful, and on their own terms. As C read this recipe to me he said it called for "1 pickle, 2 juicy tomatoes, 4 spices and then you put it in the oven for 30 minutes." This is his pickle recipe of course.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

a soap box of sorts


I couldn't resist sharing this. I tend to wander down twisting, turning rabbit holes of early childhood and parenting blogs. Today I found a great blog called the artful parent and one entry in particular caught my attention as it focuses on developmentally appropriate ways to support writing.
here is the post.

Each year, around this time, I think about where we are and what I know needs to be done to be ready for our rigorous kindergarten program. In the post No Child Left Behind - Race to The Top world we live in academically rigorous kindergartens seem to be here to stay. My struggle is in preparing our four year old children as much as possible while remaining developmentally appropriate. It's a fine line. I know this is something that weighs on parents as well, and as we work to support children in their emerging literacy, mathematical, and scientific thinking a question that needs to be asked constantly is "is this appropriate?" Remembering that play is the best, most meaningful, and most appropriate way young children learn should be our mantra.

I'm happy books like this are emerging, as mainstream and accessible choices for parents and educators alike.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

the phoenix

So I guess a lesson in life that is best to be reminded of frequently is that best intentions and plans don't always pan out. Our animal adaptation project has come to a close, a quiet, unceremonious close. We sent out invitations and made movie tickets to the premier of the children's "Wonderland Animals" movie but unfortunately a tricky virus got one over on our class. For over a week now we have had, on average, five to six children absent a day! And this coming from the previous attendance all stars of the school (really, we did get the attendance award two months in a row). The virus even took me down for a day! We seem to be stabilizing, missing just three friends today. But, the damage has been done. The day of our sharing party so many children were out that there wasn't much to share. And so...this is life. I guess it's never too early to teach this lesson and that we just have to be flexible, smile at our fate, and move on.

And so that is just what we have done, we've moved on.

Since September there has been a steady trickle of monster and robot related talk, art, book writing, etc. So the thought crossed my mind, could we really do a project related to this, something having to do with monsters or robots. I'm still fleshing out the details and anticipating where this could take us. For now we are beginning with an exploration of the concepts of real and pretend. This is phase I and if you remember from the last project, this is where shared experiences and background knowledge will be built and supported. For more about phase I of the project approach you can refer back to this post.


We are exploring the nature of real and make believe through our play. At the sand table I brought in a bucket of snow (thanks mother nature) and whipped up a batch of instant snow (thanks Steve Spangler). Children then had a hands-on experience exploring the properties of both. This photo was taken at the beginning of their play but let me tell you they REALLY explored the two...it was also a day to relearn the concept of cleaning up!


We used art to explore what was real and what was not. What could be more real than ourselves? Well...the children may have begun that way, using mirrors and pencils to draw their self portrait.


becoming larger than life...


adding small details to represent the self...


and soon dazzling embellishments lead to the question is this the real me or a pretend me? Are they really so different? Are they one and the same?







In just two days of this exploration I am already filled with excitement thinking about the fun we will have during this study...that is as long as the kids are fueling the excitement.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

a new center - oh my!

I recently wrote a Donors Choose teachers grant for a light table, a light projector, and translucent magnetic tiles. Well today was an exciting day as all of the materials have been delivered (except for the magnetic tiles). Thanks to Mrs. Lee's keen eye for interior design we shifted a few pieces of furniture and voila...a light center was created. I'll have to take photos of the new center when it's complete. I would like to add a few mirrors and other reflective materials to encourage more exploration of dark,light and reflection. If you have any ideas for how you use the light table in your classroom...or ideas how you WOULD use one if you had one I would love to hear.

It was definitely a hit and the children are really eager to work in the new center. I am so thankful for organizations like Donors Choose and for the people and businesses who donate. Here is a link to my current grant proposal for hollow blocks.

Here are just a few images from this morning, as two children explored the light table and the projector.



Monday, January 17, 2011

winter days inside: let's get creative

Originally, I planned to spend our Monday off from school at the American Folk Art Museum, which I have been wanting to visit for some time. Unfortunately, Mondays seem to be the day of rest in the museum world. So instead I've been rummaging through craft blogs, for myself and for our class. Here are a few of my favorites from my blog journey today...

The Arts


This
inspiring art teacher shares many of her secrets. I've always been intrigued by printmaking but it seemed a bit intimidating. This is a simple (seeming) tutorial on creating monoprints that we will definitely try in class. Try it at home too - I bet you have everything needed to give it a whirl!












The Crafts

Today's craft search grew from my own crafting ambitions, namely I really wanted to try my hand at soap making. After reading some diy soap and lip balm recipes I ordered ingredients from brambleberry. This link leads to a children's soap making kit but you can find lots of diy recipes if you just google "diy soap" or "homemade soap", without needing to buy a kit. I would recommend the melt and pour recipes as they seem simplest for novices.

but there is a a lot you can make with ingredients that are probably in your home cabinets. After I try my hand at soap making at home I may bring this idea into the classroom, if you try at home let me know how it goes!




Even simpler than soap is homemade lip balm, I'm looking forward to trying this

lip balm recipe
as well. I bet most of these ingredients could be tracked down around town. If you know of places to buy beeswax, Shea butter, or Castor oil around town please share with us and leave a comment.












And this is really just fun, any whimsical craft you might be interested in probably has a tutorial. This will be a frequent Site I refer to for myself and for inspiring classroom ideas.

I'm always curious about what you think, leave a comment, email, or catch me at school to chat.

Friday, January 14, 2011

snow and animals abound

As we work toward completing our book, science experiment, and movie about our learning we are still immersing ourselves in winter...and even animals.


Our playground is brimming with snow, each day the brave souls who have no fear of frostbite put on their gloves and dig into the snow at the sensory table. We add materials like measuring cups, spoons, tongs, glass rocks, and animals.



Children plan before building in block center. I found small clipboards recently, which I am kicking myself for not buying more of, and children sketch their idea. Today, all of the children abandoned their plans to work on P's zoo. It was a wonderful collaboration to observe.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

making our learning visible in phase III

As we are wrapping up our project our learning has become more visible. Here is a mural made by the kiddos, as a disclaimer, these photos really aren't able to capture the size and coolness of the mural but it will have to do. Mrs. Lee and I moved the mural from dramatic play into the hallway this morning as we needed room to hang the background for the children's movie "Wonderland Animals."






Did you receive your invitation to the sharing party? It will be next Friday and this is when the children will share all of their hard work with you: their movie, book, and science experiments. Here are a few action shots of our invitation writing.


Tuesday, January 11, 2011

play that can't be ignored

Here are a few photos that can't be ignored. S, A, and A were playing in block center last week. These girls love to frequent block center but often don't go there to do much building. I implement rules, like building first before using manipulatives like our rocks and animal figurines but to no avail they find a way to be in block center...not using blocks. It's a fine line to walk in the rules department. On this day I was peeking over their way often and their play scenarios just made me smile...here they are.


This is our "days of school" sculpture. Each day we add a new wooden shape to the sculpture. To do this I pick one stone out of a basket and we read whose name is on the stone. That person gets to pick their wooden piece and choose where it goes on the sculpture.


Here, is where the fun begins. While the girls are in block center they take turns being the teacher, choosing a rock from the basket and reading the name on the rock. Then...

The lucky person called gets to pick their wooden piece to add to the sculpture. Well, I guess I can't say they aren't building. They are...and their role playing is too fun to stop.

These photos were inspired by our field trip to CMA. The children had the opportunity to play with "flubber" at the museum and we wasted no time in making our own back in the classroom. I hope you tried this at home too, we sent home the recipe for flubber last week. If you need another copy ask us, we have more! You can also google flubber and find a 101 recipes, as long as you see glue, water, and Borax you know you've got the right one.




Wednesday, January 5, 2011

If you step back they will decide!

I'm constantly amazed by the pre-k mind. I have had in my head the idea that we, all 18 of the children, would create a play as the culminating project for our study of animals. This idea was partially inspired by the kids but also just seemed to make sense in my logical, grown-up mind. We gathered at morning meeting today and I was dealt a rude awakening, this idea of mine was not okay with the children. To top it off their idea was far better! Here is how our day began.

The children spent two days letting the question stew - about how we could share the information we learned with family and friends. This morning I asked again, armed with my whiteboard markers to record their ideas. First K proposed the idea of doing experiments and V seconded that saying "we can do experiments like put ice in water to see if the ice floats or melts." Okay, not what I was expecting. I was expecting to hear the children roar in unison, "let's make a play!" But I had to admit, science was fun. So I pushed a little more and asked if we would invite families in to do the experiments and they agreed that would be good.

On to the second idea, H decided we should make a book about what we learned. This made sense to me as well. But, in my mind I was still plotting...okay experiments and book writing would be fun but what about a play kids. I was practically holding my breath, waiting and hoping.

Finally C mentioned making a movie. Yes, this was more like it. I perked up and mentioned the idea of voting for one of the three choices. I think I said something to the effect of "think in your mind for a moment about which of the three projects you would really like to do and then we can vote." Then I asked the question that would chance it all...I asked "Do you think we can pick one?" I was met with a resounding "noooooo" and several downturned thumbs. At this point I had to laugh a little. They were serious. K was gracious enough to explain that "because people want to do the other ones and it makes sense because somebody wants to do one and somebody else wants to do the other one."

I had to admit that makes perfect sense. The kids were happy with this explanation and so it was rather than voting for ONE project the children were able to sign up for the group they wanted to be in. I'm really excited to work through the process with each group and to invite families in to celebrate the end of this project.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

our good day at CMA

We visited The Children's Museum of the Arts today and it may have been MY personal all time favorite. The entire experience was filled with hands-on exploration. We drew, painted, sculpted, built, bounced, and just had fun. Here is their Site to get more information http://cmany.org/intro.php?pn=home. I definitely recommend visiting and remember it's free to visit with you Cool Culture card!

Here are a few photos from our day...


We met our friendly teachers for the day.


Who knew coffee cans could be sculpted in such a whimsical way.


We began our day with a whole group painting project, we got to bring our works of art home!


This is something I wish we had in the classroom...or maybe outside...A chalkboard wall. Children used chalk and small, wet paint rollers to erase their work and begin all over again.


A few children were drawn to the light table, where translucent legos were available for building on the table. I haven't mentioned this but I recently wrote a grant for a light table and received the funding so our classroom will have new light soon!

Monday, January 3, 2011

phase III creativity

As we move into Phase III of our animals in the winter project we seem to be moving in the direction of some sort of performace, perhaps a play. I can't say for certain though because we really need to have a whole class discussion about how we would like to share all that we learned with our family and friends. I posed this question to the class on yesterday and I told them to think about it for a few days. This is something the Reggio philosophy encourages, letting ideas and questions percolate rather than ask a question and want an answer now, now, now. I have to say this is probably much simpler a task in Italy (the home of Reggio) rather than in the now, now, nowness of America but I'm trying.

So we've been taking our time this week just telling stories. Telling stories through block building, art, writing, and through dramatic play. I've been talking to the class about how we express ourselves. Sometimes we want to express our feelings or things we've learned and we can do this through art, dancing, and plays.

I'm hoping that all of this exploration of expression will provide some inspiration for our conversation tomorrow about how we can express all that we've learned about animals and how they adapt to winter. We shall see, it's up to them.

Here is a beautiful piece of artwork by K. She used crayon, watercolors, tape, fabric, tissue paper and yarn. Afterward she told a story about her art and recorded it. The creativity of a four year old is always inspiring.
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