Collaborative art – B3s.
Dear Families,
As the light begins to wane in the outer world we have been thinking about how magical light is and playing with it in class. Why does light shine through some things and not others? How are shadows made? Why do shapes on the flat surface of the projector show up on the wall? We looked at images of stained glass on the computer and wondered why, “It make the boy’s face all rainbow!” We peeled crayons and learned how to grate and peel shavings, then melt them with a hot iron that flowed across the paper, “…like a big boat.” We made our own stained glass that turns the light into beautiful colors.
“He’s looking at the colors and the colors are on his face!”
Working together!
Peeling.
Scraping. “It’s like a carrot.”
Sprinkling shavings and arranging transparency paper.
Melting.
Stained glass!
Light.
Shadows.
Our books by the fish tanks have been filled with pictures and many books are now filling with words that describe stories and observations. Our imaginary fish worlds where children pretend to swim and build fires and ride bikes and make soup have blended with knowledge of fish lives gleaned from observation and reading. The children read each other’s stories and I am seeing more story sharing during independent reading time, too as children ‘read’ pictures to each other and remember what happens in our ever expanding repertoire of great books! The children often crowd around to observe the daily feeding ritual – a coveted job!- and cheer on the catfish and guppies and danio as they flit and swirl quickly through the water to swallow bits of floating food. One day I asked someone why she was bending her face to the table to eat her sandwich without hands, “I’m a fishy and fishy don’t have hands to eat.”
“Go danio fish, eat more food than the other fish!”
Listening to books.
Painting is shifting subtly – I notice children using more control and thoughtfully applying colors. Many will self talk during the process, “Swirly, swirly all shiny. And then paint and paint.” “Swish, swish, all clean!” “I am not mixing up the colors!” They are also taking the time to notice each others’s work. “That looks like a cornfield.” “That not a cornfield. That my orchard!”
“It’s my snake and the snake say, ‘I raising up my hands!'”
“It could be a tree and it could be blue like the sky.”
On Friday we performed the song we have been practicing in front of the whole school! We found old knobby sticks in the woods and used these as parts of our costumes, embodying the’old woman’ who walks to a bone yard at night. It was fun to see the progression of skills and ages represented. Next week, children are welcome to come to school in costume on Halloween and we will have a brief parade to other classrooms after our morning meeting. If you would like to bring in a healthy treat to share, you are welcome to do so!
Hoping you all have a peaceful weekend.
All the best,
Sarah
Very spry old women!
