Monday, November 1, 2010

Festive Muffin Tasting!

Dear Families,

How lucky we are- to be having so much fun learning, and to have such supportive families!  I have been thinking about all the exciting work that has swirled around our classroom and know that these children are full of passion for learning and sharing their ideas.  The planning and organization that lead up to the Muffin Party, the party excitement and testing on the day of and the after conversations have all been rich and fun. 



The morning of the party, right before we began, the friends spontaneously brainstormed possible next party themes.  Here are some that they thought of:
Flower Party, Banana Party, Cake Party, Cookie Party, High Heel Party, Broccoli Party, Dancing Party, Ladybug Party and Costume Party.
I find it interesting that these children were so jazzed even with all the work that went into planning the party.  They really took ownership of their fun and learning.  The children began explaining what types of things we would do at these theme parties.  As we continue this conversation, I imagine they'll have many creative game ideas and plans!






As we partied I noticed many things.  The children's games that they created really engaged them.  And the friends spent quality time at each before moving on to try other stations that they set up.  Also we really were lucky that so many family members came to help use in our work/celebrations.  I loved walking into the taste testing room to find parents holding clip boards diligently taking down observations of the children.  So cool!  Gaby's comment afterward reading many of the children's words was that the children really were critics.  I agree, it seemed like they took the science of the taste test seriously.  One parent said it seemed like they were wine connoisseurs taking a small taste and then moving on to their verdict. 





After the taste test and games we looked a bit at our findings in the revisiting meeting.  As you may guess, pudding and jelly bean were many friends' favorites!  The friends are noticing that some information can be culled from a graph, and also that some information is not shown there.  One friend explained that he had two favorites, but had to chose one because that is what was agreed to in this graphing process.  This week we will talk more about ingredients and what makes us feel we like things or dislike a flavor.  Please check out all the artifacts from this exploration on the large bulletin board outside our classroom.





Thank you so much to the families who came to take charge of game stations and tasting stations and documenting and joining in with our fun!  Let the muffin games continue!

Enjoy your evening!  Love, Jennifer

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