Monday night is the night! We are having a fund raiser on December 13th with Fresh and Easy and hope that many families can come! It's at the Fresh & Easy on University and 32nd. We get 5% of all proceeds that our community members bring in (that includes parents, friends, neighbors), plus we get $1 for each receipt of $20 or more. I will be volunteering there that night with many of the other teachers to drum up as many people as can come. It sounds like it'll be a festive and fun evening. If you think you can make it, swing by!
Recent topics of interest:
On Thursday we looked at the work of Alexander Calder, mostly his pieces that had wire as the main material of use. (If you google him and his work, you can see more images!)
As we looked at this slide show, we used two questions as our lens:
As we looked at this slide show, we used two questions as our lens:
What materials do you think he used to create this work?
What did he have to do to make it? (What techniques did he use?)
We did a partner share style discussion, and the children were animated and excited to find what he created using this new medium. At first it was difficult for the children to believe that it wasn't line and paper. These images are of three dimensional objects, but as often is the case, photographs don't do them justice.
Another first guess about the media was yarn. It is neat to see how children first guess what they know best. And that is another reason that I chose this. I would love to continue to offer other media for children to express their ideas- the more you are capable with, the better you can convey specific ideas. An example others have used is if you always offer someone blocks to try to describe the concept of Love, will this person ever come up with the descriptive word entwined? So the materials we use can limit our possibilities as well as our understanding of the world.
And thus, we begin wire. Here's an image of our first cracks at testing this material and what it can and can't do for us. For instance, will glue work well as a connecting element, as it does with yarn and paper? we'll see...
Another first guess about the media was yarn. It is neat to see how children first guess what they know best. And that is another reason that I chose this. I would love to continue to offer other media for children to express their ideas- the more you are capable with, the better you can convey specific ideas. An example others have used is if you always offer someone blocks to try to describe the concept of Love, will this person ever come up with the descriptive word entwined? So the materials we use can limit our possibilities as well as our understanding of the world.
And thus, we begin wire. Here's an image of our first cracks at testing this material and what it can and can't do for us. For instance, will glue work well as a connecting element, as it does with yarn and paper? we'll see...
The walk we took on Monday morning really stimulated a lot of thinking. Isn't it amazing how one ordinary moment can blossom if you take the time to wait, breath a little and give it a chance to light? Just as we were walking in to the building (right after finding the famous magnolia seed from my last post), the children saw the moon out and they were wondering what it was doing out at the same time as the sun. The many discussions we had were very full of possibilities. And as the friends shared what they know and took some days to try to draw their ideas, we saw that this is something that can be hard to explain. Here is another instance where your choice of what you use to explain something helps in your effectiveness!
The drawings weren't quite showing what they wanted, and then when children used their hands to show the trajectory of the sun, earth and moon, it was tricky, because we only have two hands! So I offered a yellow block and two glass gems as props that hopefully would help, since they are three dimensional and can be manipulated. Seeing the children explain this dynamic between the three orbs was very cool indeed.
*Please ask to see the video of the end of this discussion the next time you stop into the classroom!
Also if we were to chose a "word of the week", this week's could be "ridiculous"! (This word had some interesting versions, too, as the children tested it on their tongues for the first time) We have been reading books that make us use this word a lot. Two protagonists we have been reading about are Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Amelia Bedelia. The friends have had great discussions about their antics. Mrs, Piggle-Wiggle has stimulated conversations about the unorthodox way she gets things done. Even thought the friends agree that parts of the story would work and are interesting ways to solve problems, they still say they can't believe the story would be true because she lives in a house that is upside down. Ridiculous!
And with Amelia Bedelia, her ideas are funny, but it made the students think about perception and the way one phrase can be taken in many ways and understood differently by separate people. It was fun hearing how the children incorporated this fun word into their daily vocabulary. And so, let's take a moment to say it all together: Ridiculous!!!
If you would like something to continue at home to connect home and school, here are two options
(Although I image you could think of more than this after reading this whole post):
(Although I image you could think of more than this after reading this whole post):
Have you had any funny stories from you life lately that would cause someone to say, "Ridiculous!"?
Do you have any other books you could bring to class that also have a funny or ridiculous element to them?
Thank you as always for all your great ideas and for your contributions to our class! Enjoy your day, Jennifer
No comments:
Post a Comment