Terrific Tuesday!

 Why can't it be Terrific Tuesday a friend asked today.  Tuesday totally can be terrific!  We could have a word like that for all of our days   Marvelous Monday, Terrific Tuesday, what could Wednesday be?

Water Wednesday?   Walking Wednesday?  What about Wow! Wednesday!  

It was a fun way to begin our morning meeting wondering about alliterations for our days!  

We have SO many friends in the Birch room who play family.  We often hear things like "you be the baby" or "this is the mommy" or "I'm playing baby".  We added a dollhouse to our small world thinking our friends would LOVE it and...we were stunned to notice that few ever went there!

Hmmm...we did a tiny bit of rearranging of our space today and like magic our dollhouse was a man attraction!

JI you began decorating the house and told us all the rooms you were adding materials to.  You had all of the rooms and accessories you would find in YOUR home!  You were thinking of all of the things that make a home comfortable, and you even added some things just for fun.

"This is the dance floor!" JI

After you had been working in this space for a while you focused in on the book.  We often use books as resources and to inspire the work children might do in different spaces.  Literature is an amazing resource!

"Will you read this to me?"  you asked.

Of course.  As you listened you realized this was a book not about a regular dollhouse or house, but about a FAIRY!

You began to change some of your rooms as the literature inspired how you were working. 

Yesterday we noticed that some of our friends were having a challenging time with creating a plan for their work.  There were so many amazing materials that we just couldn't wait to get our hands into them and begin creating.  But your teachers want to stretch you, help those smart brains work hard, make you a teeny tiny bit uncomfortable with having to wrestle through how to do something because we KNOW how smart, clever, creative, and just amazing you can be!

So today we took all of those amazing resources and we created a materials library on our shelves.  We organized our makerspace items so you could see what we have.  We added visual resources to our workspace to help spark some ideas.

How can you be an engineer?

Right away our friends began to notice things.

"They look like real things.  They are blueprints." RM

Blueprints?  Tell me more.  How are blueprints different from just a regular picture?

"They have blue papers with things on it that are real.  You can follow the map on the blueprint."RM

Ahh, what I hear you saying is those things are REAL on there and they tell you what to do?

Yes!

And with that connection we began to create plans of our own.  What would these friends create today?  With the removal of the materials from the space they were able to focus on their design.  We know there Birch friends LOVE to draw.  How would this love translate into making a plan for their creations?

"It's a motorcycle." CG

Your plan is FILLED with details!  You told me all of the parts you included in your drawing.

"Two mirrors, two wheels, and a seat." CG

With your plan in your hand you went over to our materials library and began collecting the pieces you wanted.

"These can be the two mirrors and this can be the seat!"

With each specific choice I could hear the excitement in your voice.

You were looking at your plan and thoughtfully choosing exactly which parts you wanted to bring it to life.

Now that all of your pieces were carefully chosen you were ready to work.

You used glue and tape and worked and worked and worked.

It was hard and it didn't go together as you had planned.

"I give up.  This isn't working at all." CG

I remember in our book that Rosie had a lot of trouble too.  I wonder if that happens a lot with engineers?  What do you think they do when their plans don't go the way they want them to?

And so we talked about it a bit and...you decided to stick with it!

We worked until we had to clean up and your structure still hadn't gone together the way you imagined it to, and you know what?  That's okay!  Because perseverance is a GREAT quality to have.

We have saved all of our work trays and we will start where we left off again tomorrow!

RM you looked at the blueprints and you were inspired by the robot you saw.  You drew many of the same parts as the one you saw, with a few additions.  You added glasses!

Just like your friend CG you want over to the materials library and you looked for exactly what parts you would need.  I heard you counting all of the pieces to make sure you had the right about for the eyes, buttons, and "the red one for the light on top!" 

"It's one of those balloons to go in the air that people ride on." MT

I wondered how you were going to create your plan.  You  chose a circle and a square" just exactly the way you had drawn them.  I could see on your drawing that you had three lines connecting them, and you added pieces of tape in those very same places to make your invention.

You did it!  You  drew a plan and then you brought it to life!

MT you are an engineer!

"

"I need a square." RM

DM you were inspired by the idea of your friends and you drew a robot too.  Just like your other friends you got to save your parts and we were eagerly anticipate the completion of your invention tomorrow

CF you drew a rocketship.  You told me exactly what you would need and you were all set with "lots and lots of wire" to put it all together...and then we had to clean up!

We will save your work too!

We can't wait to see how these friends bring their plans to life throughout the week.

As you can see, we are using up a LOT of amazing bits of this and that.  If you have any small bits of this and that we can use to create with we would love to have them!

Our friends were right.  It WAS a terrific Tuesday