Magnetic Masterpieces

 Our magnetic exploration has continued to grow and grow.  Initially our Birch friends were having a challenging time combining different types of magnets together.  Cubes went only with cubes.  Tiles went only with tiles.  Rods connected only to rods.  But once we cracked the code our creations have become increasingly more complex and amazing.

"I made a cat!" AD

"I made a birthday cake.  It was SO hard, it keeped felling down." CG

It kept falling down, and you kept trying!  You tried and tried and tried and what happened?

"I did it!" CG

How is your heart feeling about that?

"I feel good." CG

I can tell.  Your face is smiling and your eyes are sparkling.  You look like you feel proud!

"Look at my treehouse." HW

You were having some of the same problems as CG.  You had a plan and you kept trying it over and over and over.  And every single time...

it

fell!

Your teacher noticed that you kept trying the very same thing again and again.  I wonder how you can do something DIFFERENT to help your structure stay up?

You added more long rods underneath and, YES!

Your face of victory says it all!

"I made a letter.  It's a zebra letter." JA

"It's a treehouse." JI

"That's the sand pit." JI

Wow.  You are working really hard.  I can tell this is something that is special to you.  Do you have a treehouse in your yard at home?

"Mine at home has a swing." JI

Hmm, is there a way you can create a swing for this treehouse?

"Do you have any wire?" JI

You bet!

You bent and folded, twisted and wrapped...and paused.

"Do you have anything that swoops down that you can sit on?" JI

I don't know.  I wonder if there is something on the tinkering shelf that might work.

You looked carefully and purposefully and chose exactly the right piece.

There's your slide!

As you created your confidence grew and I could see your excitement pouring out.  You would clap, and smile, and then come up with the next idea!

You showed me right where to cut the wire for you and you began anew, bending, twisting, wrapping.

A rope swing!

"At home I have two swings.  Maybe I can add another swing." JI

You realized that your sandpit wold have to move, and you even found some sand to go in it!

"I'm thinking of a new idea!" JI   

         "I know.  A tire swing!"

All of this...from a tray of magnets.

Magical

Magnetic

Masterpieces

Flexible

 

I noticed these friends working together in our block area and could hear they all had big ideas.  Often our big ideas are different from those of our friends.  We struggle with wanting to work together, and yet wanting to create our own vision just the way we want it to be.

And so, as I heard these wonderful ideas being shared, I got closer.  

And I sat

and listened

and watched

and stayed silent

And I heard

sharing

compromise

negotiating

working together

"You put one there." CF

"I'll put this one." JL

"I'm next." HW

"We're almost running out of colors!" JL

Hmmm what would happen next?

Once again I sat

and watched

and listened

silently...

"Let's do blue and white now." CF

"Okay!" JL

And then...those colors ran out!  Now what?

"Let's do..." CF

And now I noticed out loud.

"CF I notice that you are choosing every single pattern and there are three friends here."

And then I sat

and waited

and watched

and listened

quietly...

"I have a lot of yellows." JL

"You sure do have a lot of yellows.  What is your idea?" Ms L

"Purple and yellow." JL

That's a great idea!  I love how you are working together sharing ideas!

As these boys continued to fill the mirror with patterns, JL you noticed a tiny gap at the edge of the mirror.  It was small.  Much too small to fit another row of dominos.  Or was it?

Your friends were noticing colors, and you were noticing something completely different.

Different

Unexpected

Unique

Important

You noticed that if you turned the dominos the other direction they would fit perfectly.  So you lined up your pile one after another after another and slid them seamlessly into the slot.

"That's not right!" CF

"They fit." JL

You are exactly right JL, they do fit!  They fit perfectly!  You are looking at these dominos from a different perspective.  You noticed their size and that is what made them exactly right.  The color wasn't what was important to you to accomplish your goal.  

It can be hard to look at something from the viewpoint of another.

To let go of your agenda and embrace the learning lead of another

To be

flexible

And so, these simple yet beautiful dominos became a place of big learning today.

We worked

We shared

We compromised

We grew

Walking...Tuesday??

As soon as our friends arrived in the classroom the restaurant was open.  I saw beautifully created place settings, food all mixed together, customers "talking on the phone", and cooks writing down the orders.  All of this action made your teachers wonder...what is our restaurant missing?

Last week on walking Wednesday we noticed all of the important things that are in our neighborhood eating places.  We have a lot of those same things!

We have tables and chairs.

We have customers.

We have cooks.

What do the restaurants in our community have that our restaurant does NOT have?

What is missing?

Today we did what we do best...we were flexible!  We took our Walking Wednesday to Tuesday and off we set!

"That has lights!"

"There are tables inside AND outside!" CG

"I'm going to write that down." JA

I noticed a door inside this restaurant and wondered what it might be.

"That's for the cooks." 

You mean the part of the restaurant where people eat is separate from the part where the cooks are? 

Hmmm...I wonder how this can happen in our restaurant?

"There are salt and pepper shakers on EVERY table!"

"Look!  There's MORE salt and pepper shakers!" ESE

"Look there's a menu on the table!"

"Its a menu!"

"There are pictures inside." RM

You noticed that there is art work in many restaurants.  I wonder what that tells us about what type of restaurant it might be?

We heard many friends pointing and talking about our local restaurants and I wondered how they knew which one they were pointing to?

"I been there, and there is a SIGN!" ESE

That is DEFINITELY something that is different.  Our restaurant doesn't have a sign.

With all of this newfound discovery we wonder how our restaurant might change in the coming week.

 

Frolicking Friday

 The cold temperatures kept us from our beloved forest today, but they didn't keep us from FUN!

We frolicked with Oak and Spruce in their classrooms as we got to use the Collaboratory.

What is your plan with these blue blocks?

"I'm building a house." RM

"I see you!" PS

"I'm making an obstacle course." JL

ET you grabbed this big blue cylinder block and tried to fit it in the hole to help your friends build!

PS you built the most amazing house!  You told me you were creating a castle where a princess lives!l

As your castle wall grew and grew you noticed that it was perfect for balancing and walking across!

Your friends thought your idea was great and soon they were balancing along the wall too.

It was trickier than it looked on those wobbly blocks!

"Can you hold my hand?" LB

"Absolutely!"

While some friends were creating an obstacle course, and others were building a wall I heard...

"I made a golf course!" CF

"I made this to hit the ball." JA

Hole in One!!!

Running, jumping, climbing, golfing, and....

hair styling???

Yep!  This friend created a hair dryer and put her teacher right in the beauty shop!

Have a fabulous long weekend and see you all Tuesday!