Decorations tell human stories and help us know one another

For Art on Fridays, we made paper-mache to create hanging decorations. Each child took their time to carefully choose the colours they wanted to use.

The children showed an understanding that decorations can tell a human story or be the introductions to it.

Each hanging decoration is unique and tells a story.

Theo's hanging decoration is silver because it makes it look shiny. "It will brighten our Christmas tree", Theo added

Anila "The red spots are me and my parents"

Louis "The sun is peeking through"

  Zoe "I added sparkles to my ornament. It glows."

Keira "There is a red heart, showing my love for my mommy"

When you look at the ornaments, it might remind you of a different story. This is how we share our lives with each other.

What is a decoration to each of us?

The picture attached above shows the children's ideas of what decorations are. Each day, the children are encouraged to add more ideas to our chart. The new ideas will be added in different colours, allowing us to see the growth in our learning. 

I noticed a common theme in the children's answers - hanging decorations. All the children in the wind group celebrate Christmas and this is a conversation that arises each day. The children share their ideas on what decorations to use during these Holidays, their different shapes and sizes, etc. 

To broaden their imagination, I read the book "Night Tree" by Eve Bunting. This story is about a family decorating a tree outdoors with food and nuts for the animals. Eagerly, the children asked for us to do the same. They all showed commitment and determination while working on their decorations.  

Apples, cheese, popcorn and flowers 

The children were given a chance to connect to the animals and their need for food during winter time.

As an assessment on what they thought that the animals might like to eat, they drew pictures of what the tree looked like after they decorated it and we recorded our predictions on what will happen to the decorations on a chart.

The tree is decorated! The children are enjoying a bowl of popcorn while reading the story right next to the tree. 

We were all very surprised!! This is the only decoration that was left on the tree.  

Enjoy,

Anamaria

We Decorate Our World

Decorations are seen differently by each individual and expressed in different ways and forms. During the first week of our new unit, the children got a chance to express what they know about decorations. Most of them think that colour is decoration, as well as objects around the room. 

This exploration will continue for eight weeks, allowing the children ample time to inquire, explore and share their learning with others.  

The line of inquiry that we discussed first was: "Decorations tell human stories and help us know one another." 

This directed our discussion towards Remembrance Day. The children are aware of this Holiday and it is a great connection to our unit on decorations and who we are. The tradition of having a poppy pinned close to our hearts, is a form of decoration, remembering the brave ones as well as sending peace, love and kindness around the world. 

Sound Travels - Summative week

With Halloween just days away from our summative project*, the children decided to write a story about the characters they will embrace during this spooky fall celebration.  In connection to our unit, the children used their knowledge on Sound and used objects or musical instruments to accompany their story. 

The children showed interest in this project and were very confident that some of the stories will be scary ones while others will be great bedtime stories. 
After I jotted down their ideas, all the children used art as a visual tool to reflect the characters in their stories.  

The instruments or sounds written in the brackets show the connection between the stories and the sound unit.  

1. A Brave Knight - by Theo 

One night, there was a knight close to a swamp. An alligator came out.(Alligator sound) The knight attacked the alligator. The alligator died. (Trumpet) Safely, the knight walked out of the forest. 

2. Falling Snow by Serena 

During the day, in a castle lived an ice queen named Elsa. (Piano) She used her powers and froze the castle. Now there was an ice castle.(Piano)

3. Louis the Kangaroo - by Louis 

In a story there was a kangaroo. He jumped out of the book and went to my house. He jumped and I became a Kangaroo. 

4. A Giraffe - by Anila 

When I was at Palm Desert I saw a giraffe. The giraffe laid down for a nap and the baby giraffe went and joined his mommy. 

5. Zoe for Halloween - By Zoe 

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Zoe. She liked to walk around her castle, but suddenly, she got hungry so she sat down and had something to eat. 

She drank some water and after she was done, she put it in the sink.

6. Keira the Brown Bear - by Keira 

One day, Keira the bear was walking in the woods.(Accordion) Keira found her big stuffed teddy there. They met other bears in the forest and became friends. (Accordion)

*summative (project) assessment  - allows the children and the teacher to reflect on their learning in the last seven weeks of inquiry. This eighth week gives the children the opportunity to express the knowledge they accumulated along the way.

Music sparks Imagination

We used the book "Once Upon an Ordinary School Day" by Colin McNaughton to support our learning. 

The story opened a path to thinking about imagination and creativity. The following phrases from the story inspired the children: "I want you to listen to some music and I want you to let the music make pictures in your heads" and "It was as if a dam had burst in his head and words just came flooding out..." 

As we are approaching our summative activity where the children will be sharing their knowledge on sound, we listened to classical music and each of them took a turn to share an idea of what the music/sound made them think about or feel. In the end, the children latched on and expanded on each others' ideas and composed a story inspired by Vivaldi's "Four Seasons (Spring)". 

Story: 

Zoe: "One morning, I was eating breakfast. I was enjoying my oatmeal." 

Keira: "After I finished my breakfast, I walked towards my playroom. While I was playing, a blue flower that bloomed outside my window caught my attention. Shortly after, I noticed a purple flower too." 

Theo: "I was looking at the blue flower and the petals and suddenly, I couldn't believe my eyes, but right there, next to my window, there was a deer." 

Louis: " The wind started blowing and it blew the blue flower away." 

Serena: "The blue flower flew up in the air and it landed on the wood chips at the playground." 

Theo: "People were playing and didn't notice the flower. They were stepping on it." 

Keira: "A little boy noticed the squished flower. He picked it up and found a spot to plant it in the dirt." 

Serena: "A new flower bloomed." 

Zoe: "It was growing taller and taller and more beautiful." 

Theo: "It grew so beautiful, but the petals started falling off. The flower died." 

And that was the end of our story. The children carefully listened to the music and I observed that when the tempo increased, the characters became more elaborate and the ordinary scenes became more intense. For example, it occurred when the children wrote the scenes with the people stepping over the flower, and the deer appearing in the image.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a holiday when everyone gets to spend time with their loved ones and share things that they are thankful for. 

Instruments make sounds that captivate us.

While listening for sounds in our immediate environment, Theo identified the sound of a tambourine echoing from the cubbies. It was the Water group, making their own instruments and exploring sounds with them. 

Anila "I want to make an instrument." 

Triggered by the children's interest, we looked at pictures of different instruments from all over the world and played a game where the children had to listen to the instruments and identify them.

In the pictures attached, you can see the instruments we worked on. 

Next week, we will be finishing decorating and we will gather together to try them out. 

Listen...can you hear that sound?

Our walk in the forest triggered the children's interest in squirrels and the sounds they make when eating and climbing trees. 

The folk song "Hop old squirrel" guided our learning. The song is about a squirrel hopping and listening. We discussed the features of squirrels and also the different things squirrels could listen for. 

The children noticed that sometimes when they see squirrels outdoors, they see them stop in their tracks and look around. 

Theo "Maybe that's when they listen. They stop to hear better." 

The children drew pictures of squirrels and made a squirrel out of foam shapes to share their knowledge and the song with the others. This will allow them to continue exploring and to connect their learning with their peers and their families. 

Next week we will be talking about instruments and we will be making our own to create different sounds.

Elliot: "Do you hear that sound?"

There are different ways of knowing that it is Fall; either you know because of the date in the calendar or because you heard it on the radio.
Today, we were reminded of that through a child's discovery.

The four groups gathered together today to go on a walk in the forest. When we reached the meadow, Kathryn gathered the children and talked about the different sounds we hear in the forest.
On our way back, some children were running, while others were strolling along.
The group in the back was quiet, walking slowly towards the school. 

Halfway there, Elliot asked me a question:




Elliot: "Anamaria, did you hear that?"
Anamaria: "The children running and laughing?"
Elliot: "No. Listen carefully."
Anamaria: "The birds chirping?"
Elliot: "No, me. I'm stepping on these leaves. Listen to the sound it makes. Crunch, crunch, crunch..."






With a big smile on his face, Elliot ran back and forth through the blanket of leaves that was covering the path.

Today, I learned...I learned that Fall comes with a sound. A sound of crunching leaves!

Where is the sound coming from?

How do we hear Sound?

To provoke a reaction to this question, we played a game. The children's task was to identify which direction the sound is coming from while blindfold.









The children enjoyed this games and some were very brave, enough to hear and walk towards the sound right away, while others were hesitant and took more time to start moving their bodies around the room.









We discussed the importance of hearing as well as seeing. We connect the sounds that we hear to what we see, but when there is no visual stimulus, we focus more on the sound and are still able to identify the source.





For the next little while, we will be focusing on different folk songs, breaking them down into studying their form and their context.

Sound Travels

During the formative week*, I jotted down the children's ideas about Sound. We focused on the central idea: How sounds are experienced, and most of the children's answers were "through our ears." 

In continuation of our discussions, we read the story "The listening walk" by Paul Showers and Keira suggested that we should do the same and go on a walk of our own. The children enjoyed listening to the different sounds in our forest and Serena stated that when she closes her eyes, she can hear the sounds better. 
All the other children tried Serena's suggestion and they all said that they could hear the birds in the forest and feel the wind on their faces. 
I could see it on their faces that some of them enjoyed listening to the different sounds with their eyes closed and Zoe mentioned that she can imagine the source of where the sound is coming from better with her eyes closed. The Wind group children are eager to explore this unit on Sound and I am very excited to be a part of their learning. 

This upcoming week, we will inquire more about how sound is experienced and the different sounds in our immediate environment.   


* Formative week - The new unit of inquiry is introduced to the children in the first week and the children are provided with opportunities to demonstrate their prior knowledge and current understanding. All the information gathered from the children will be used to guide and direct the next stage of teaching and learning.

* more pictures of the children riding their horses

Riding horses in the forest 

Kesler

Janet

Angela

Esme took her horse home. She picked a new stick to use as a horse to join the other children in their game. 

Jacob

Angela and Esme:"Our horses are eating some leaves"

Horses resting in the woods

The children are feeding their horses some leaves and sticks 

Expressing ourselves through movement

I observed the children, during playtime in the forest, using sticks to pretend that they are riding horses. These ordinary moments, where the children shift their play into creative and imaginary activities, allow them to freely express their ideas and their thinking. 

The children each got to pick a stick from the forest and decorate it. With string, paper and paint, they each made their own horse. Some children used certain designs to decorate them, while others took the time to name their horses and ride them along the trail. Joy and sounds of happiness arose during these moments. 

We also watched these videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apXGSzStESI;  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyHP24rJD7c) about how horses express themselves in nature and we all noticed how happy and excited they look. The joy of being free, running and galloping around. 

Esme looked at her horse and said: "Your name will be Rose Pretty." The roses that she painted on her horse match her name and the adjective "pretty" was added to the name to accentuate the feeling of beauty and happiness when riding her horse.


** more pictures of the children riding their horses to follow 

Expressing ourselves through words and pictures.

This week, the children were given the opportunity to express themselves in the forest. Pictures were taken and their comments recorded. A slideshow will be created and the children will be given the chance to revisit their experience.

Esme came up with the idea of drawing their play in the forest. We painted a tree and each child added some pictures that display their expression in the forest. The pictures show very define detail and most of them express their feelings or their movements in the forest. 

The video will give the children a chance to reflect on their play and by creating the opportunity for the children to draw their experience, allows them to express themselves through visual arts. 

"Patrick, did you hear that bird singing?"

"I am happy. Throwing leaves up in the air and watching them fall."  

"This looks just like the stump I drew this morning"

"We are riding a horse."

"Hold on tight!"