skyscrapers, in another "language"-

The children are constantly constructing skyscrapers in the block area, with blocks, Legos, and anything at all that is stackable. 

They frequently talk about the Willis Tower and tend to refer to a coffee table book depicting many of the skyscrapers along the Chicago skyline while they play.

Recently I discovered that these white, cube-shaped boxes were being recycled by our cooking staff. Of course I snatched them up to use as loose parts and asked if we would be getting more. In fact, we would, every Monday be getting 10 new boxes so every Monday afternoon I stalked Mr. Paul, our cook, to make sure they didn't get thrown out. Currently we have a set of 45...

So the children have been enjoying stacking (and demolishing) their "skyscrapers" formulating and reformulating their structures every day. 

Pretty soon I am going to have to figure out a new location for these boxes as they will be taking over our classroom soon! 

"You have to be very careful, the glue gun is hot. Seriously, I'm not kidding!"

I didn't even know that there was such a thing as low temperature glue guns until I learned about them from E11 Playschool- a fellow Reggio-Inspired nursery school in Colorado. I ordered three from Hobby Lobby (they have them for $2.99, and they offer a 40% off coupon!). The glue guns do get hot, so there is still a need to be cautious, but no where near as hot as regular glue guns. 


To begin, we brought out our trusty journals and drew a picture of what we wanted to create. Then they searched through our "Beautiful Stuff" collection of loose parts to translate their ideas in another "language". Some children enjoyed just gluing random objects together. Most of the children chose to make robots.


Random gluing:

Making robots:

Here is a flower one child made, which she proudly showed off to her daddy:

Ms. Erin: Do you want to share any thoughts about your flower?
A: Thank you.
Ms.Erin: You are welcome.
:)

Robin's Nest

The other day when I was taking J to school, we noticed a bird's nest just laying on the ground outside a mostly unused back door. I thought maybe it was an abandoned nest and dismissed it from my mind. However, two days ago, we discovered a robin had laid an egg! 

The following day we noticed yet another egg and it was then I realized I had to take my Pre-K class to see this wonder. 


Before we went, we listed all the things we knew about birds. I've charted their thoughts and separated them into a few categories:

What do birds do?	What do birds have?	Where are birds?	What do nests have?	What kinds of birds are there?
Fly	Feathers	In the sky	Have sticks	Cardinals
Stay in a nest	Beaks	In a cage	Have leaves	Robins
Lay eggs	Two legs	In a tree	Have mud
Hatch	Different  colors	On branches	Have grass
Die
Poop
Hop
Eat bird seeds
Eat worms
Give food to babies
Tweet

After our discussion, I split the children into two groups and took them to see the nest, journals in had. We sat in a circle and just used our eyes to observe. 

Here is what they had to say:
D: They're baby eggs
A: I like baby eggs. We're going to see two birds.
?:They made a beautiful nest.
D: Wait a second! There's mud!
A: When they get bigger they can fly.
S: They have sticks.
D: The mom's going to come back from the tree. 
M: And sit on the nest!
D: The babies will crack it when they be big boys. They will eat worms. 
K: I want to see them hatch. 
V: Oh! A little tiny tiny nest! 
E: Look! Mines has two eggs
K:When they hatch, I want to see the chicks.
V: It's cute!
E: I made a flag so they guys don't mow the nest down.
V: I've seen eggs before.
K: What do eggs feel like?


While I was talking to a student, one child decided to give the birds a gift of a dandelion. Others quickly followed suit. I was concerned we may have caused damaged and the momma wouldn't return.


When our afternoon class went out for their turn, I realized I had nothing to worry about as we discovered that there we not two, but three eggs. Momma robin had been busy during lunch break! 

M: Look at the blue eggs!
K: Are the baby birds in the nest?
A: When will the eggs hatch?


While looking at the nest, I noticed its proximity to an empty room with a wall of windows near the nest. I asked the children if they wanted to spy on the robin to watch her return to her nest.

K: She's sitting on her nest! She looks frozen.

M: She is very still

Here is a sample of some of their journal pictures, three year old's on top, fours on the bottom:

Based on their words, (seven references to eggs, six to nests) I will see if they are interested in making their own visual representations of eggs and nests. 


The end! 

The Throne

The Throne is a sculpture that resides just outside of our center as part of the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park. The artist allows the children to sit and climb on the piece so the chidlren really relate to it's dimension and form.

I wondered if the children would be interested in making various representations of the Throne so I projected it up on the wall:

      

I also put a transparency on the light table for the children to draw as well:

I think we will take a "field trip" out there when the weather warms up a little more so I can document more of their words and throughs on the Throne.

The end!

patterning with natural(ish) materials

I was just reading Dialogue with Places, a Reggio Children Publication. I was inspired by the way they organized the materials for the children to use to create a gift for the Loris Malaguzzi International Center (similar to the photo below).

I thought materials organized like this would be enticing to the children so I set out a box of mostly natural materials for the children to pattern with along with some flat boards.

Here is a close up of the box which included wood chips, scrabble pieces, buck eyes, acorns, florist jewels, shells, rocks, sand dollars, tile spacers, mosaic tiles, and slate :

I encouraged the children to make patterns with the materials and to read them out loud to check their progress.
E(4):

M(3):

I also encouraged them to build vertical patterns as well:
K(4):

S(3):

T(3) with help:

They really enjoyed making patterns with these materials. E kept repeating how he loved making patterns. They were intrigued by the idea of vertical patterns. I think for the next experience we may try making curvy patterns as well.

The end!

Marble Painting SUPERSIZED

I was talking to Teacher Tom about finding engaging activities for my afternoon class (I have had only about two to four girls attend on average every day. Many of my boys are three, and several just enrolled in the program this month). Anyway, Tom recommended I offer "super-sized" activities to get their attention (among other pearls of wisdom).

Well, it just so happened our center was throwing out a humongous box that was perfect for marble painting. With a little help from my trusty box cutter and my best friend, duct tape, I set to work.

It was very difficult for the children to coordinate their movements en mass. Both sides lifted and lowered at the same time causing the marbles to roll to the middle and stay there.

After about 15 minutes there were only a few children left that persevered. They struggled, adapted, and adjusted their movements until, voila! Sweet success!

The end!

the billy goat's gruff, part I

The Billy Goat's Gruff was one of my favorite stories as a child. My mom says I had it memorized. I've sung the song to the children and read them the story. It seems its a favorite of theirs as well, as I get plenty of requests to read it over and over.

As a provocation one day I set up three blocks in the meeting area and invited the children to pretend it was the bridge from the story. The morning children immediately began to organize themselves by trolls and goats.

The following day I invited the morning children to create their own bridges:

K was very interested in the bridge.
"This is the bridge. This is a big jumble of rocks. The troll lives under the rocks. Under the bridge is rocky."

Ms. Erin: Is there a way we can put the rocks under the bridge?
K: "Yes, like this"

Ms. Erin: "N & V chose to be trolls. Can they fit under there?"
K: "No."
Ms. Erin: "Is there a way we can make the bridge so that they can fit under there?"
K came up with this, using his own body to demonstrate:

Ms. Erin: "Yes, you certainly fit under there. But is is sturdy enough for the goats to climb on?"

K decided it was not sturdy enough. We tried other variations, but could not come up with anything sturdy enough to climb on. I suggested we go for a walk to look for something similar to what Khad built: something strong, with a flat top that a troll could live under.

We didn't go very far when E found a bench in the hallway that was just right. The children tested it out to see if a troll could live under it:

We brought the bridge back to the classroom. When we placed it on the carpet it was evident we needed steps. The children worked to make some steps with my guidance about safety. The first version didn't make the cut:

This was better but it was still slippery:

E said we could tape it and I agreed. After the bridge was set up with steps and the troll plunged to the ground a few times, E decided we needed some water. We looked around for something blue:

The soap was certainly blue, but Ms. Erin nixed the idea of spreading it around the carpet. The children decided smocks would work:

The children couldn't agree on where the water should go so we looked aerial images of bridges on the computer:

E said it looked like an X (which was a good thing because I was tongue-tied to try to explain perpendicular).

Now that everything was set up, Ms. Ri read the story to the children while they acted it out. The children gathered to wait their turn to cross the bridge:

The troll popped out on cue:

After the children played on their own for a while. We left the bridge set up for the afternoon class. They divided themselves into goats and trolls, but mostly they wanted to cross the bridge. M was interested in retelling his version of the Billy Goats Gruff:

"All the billy goats want to go to a green valley. They have to cross a bridge. There's a mean ugly troll under the bridge. He says he'll eat you up to the first, second, and third billy goat. Then the big billy goat comes. He tossed the troll in the river. Then they got to the green grass valley. The end!"

This was day two and it was amazing. I look forward to seeing how they refine their play!

The end!