Shadow Walk

Continuing on with our exploration with light, Birch Room went on a walk to explore light in our community. Mrs. Riann posed a question, "What lights might we see on our walk?" Instantly, children said the sun and that it was bright outside today. Mrs. Riann posed another question, "What do we see when the sun is out?" At first, many weren't sure what she meant. After some time, a few shouted, "Shadows!!!" So began our Shadow Walk. 

"Why can we see the building on the window?"

B - It's because of the light!

A - I see some light on the sidewalk! There is so much shadow.

M and C - I see myself in the chair. It's golden!

T - It is not as good though. It's a little blurry. 

 

 

"Our shadows are a different direction now?"

M - I think the sun is moving

B - Well, we are moving, too. 

M - Maybe it's because we are on a different street now? 

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Writer's Workshop

Throughout these past few weeks, children have been invested in writing and telling stories. Today, we read a book, "I'm Not Just a Scribble" and discussed how important our marks are in a book. Some children were inspired and came over to this table that became the writing studio (name still in progress). 

They grabbed the booklets and started writing right away. Some were doubting their skills and did not believe they were writers. Soon after drawing, they realized this was farthest from the truth! Children were planning across pages and connecting their ideas. 

What should we call this area?

M - Art Table

S - Lilly

F - Art Table

What materials do we need to make our stories in this area?

M - Black markers so we can write with black and draw the stories

What about you F? Do you like using black? What story are you telling?

F - it’s Home Alone. I have a notebook at home. I make stories in my notebook.

What are you drawing Sophia?

S - my mommy and I have notebooks at home. I draw a cat and a dog and a unicorn. I know how to draw a unicorn sometimes.

What should you call yourself if you write stories?

In "I’m Not Just a Scribble" Diane Amber is the author and the illustrator so she wrote the story and drew the pictures. Do you think you all could write and draw your stories?

F - yeah!

 

 

Children continued their exploration of light in the Collaboratory with flashlights. Soon, a game emerged, flashlight tag. They took turns being the seeker and counting down to look for each other. 

Exploring Light

 This morning, the Birch students continued their exploration of light.
During this, they found new ways to use light such as...

making paint strokes with their reflection.

They also used flashlights to shine light on the wall and make shadows.

They moved lights into our "Cave" to pretend play.

A few students worked together to build a structure on our light table and a story to go with it.

They ended up calling their structure "Bowsers Castle".

"There’s a part that trips people."

"It falls off and they go in the water."

E - This trips people too but only at night time.
B - And down here are the alligators.

B - Bowser loves towers. He goes crazy for them.

C - It looks like a hippo can come down through here.

E - There are stairs on the back side.

B - But they are invisible only the hippos can see them.

E - And the people who live there.

C - Oh no! These alligators are dangerous!

E - This whole thing is one crazy trap with many small traps inside.

B - We’ve got to save this thing!

Another group even built a castle in the Collaboratory! 

Happy Friday! We hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)

 

Lights, Lights, Lights!

We took advantage of the cold weather and explored light and color today. Children were able to experiment with how light reflects and how it can change their play. 

Of course, many began their light inquiry with flashlights. In our black hallway, F and C turned off the lights and were going through a cave exploring and digging. E and J were turning their flashlights all around the room. They took inventory of what reacted to the light and what didn't. M, M and T noticed that when you shine your light through the magnetic blocks the color becomes brighter. They soon began to wonder if the thickness of the block matters on how bright it can shine. 

Other children were invested in creating different colors and exploring different textures of salt and oil.

M - "I'm making icky, wicky soda"

M - "This is so slimy!"

S - "The colors are changing into just brown goo"

Other children were brave and explored into the cave. Children were able to explore Magnatiles and different lights - flashlights and string lights.

Changes In Our Space

Over the past two days the students have noticed changes in our space.
We have added a calming area and they are really enjoying it!
In this area, students can use some of our calming tools.
These tools are stress balls, fidgets, stuffed animals/ puppets and books about feelings and affirmations.

We also have emotions displayed in this area. Students can look at these and right next to them is a mirror and they are welcome to see their face to help them identity what they are feeling. 

We also moved our blocks to a larger space in order to give the students more room to build larger structures. 
Today they wanted to use our pallet to build on top of and they strategized ways to close the openings so no one would fall through. 

Then, before lunch the students read "The Cool Bean".
Many students shared how they help out members in their family.
Ms. Riann also shared that she sees them helping each other out all the time and is proud of how much we all care about one another. 

 

Reunited!

This morning Birch Room was buzzing and full of energy. Children had missed each other so much and couldn't wait to catch each other up. Many tales about spending time with family, baking cookies and so much more. Every child was engaged in some sort of fantasy play with other children cooking, constructing towers, building numbers and creating art.