me's take over the studio

As you may remember, we have been exploring emotions and feelings in the studio, following the interests of the children.

My friend Z. came in the studio and made this incredible MEbot.  I was so inspired that I made one of my own.  We left our creations in the studio and a creative fire began.

Me's are filling up the studio in many shapes and sizes.  Some of them are complete and others wait on trays to be further embellished in the days ahead.

As they work the children have begun to imbue the Me's with feelings, noting that facial expression conveys emotion and evokes a response from others.

Some of the children are altering themselves before the photo is taken to better communicate the mood of their creation, while others explore a variety of facial expressions before settling on the one that will best personify their "Me".

I find that when parents and other adults see the work in the studio, I am given far too much credit.  The reality is that I am usually following a child's instruction and vision.  I often stand in front of their work in awe, inspired by their innovation and creativity year after year.

languages of expression

Our grown up thinking can waylay a full sensory experience of life.  Young children are less encumbered by inhibition and often jump into experience with both feet.  They explore a new media in the studio for it's own sake.  They test the way it feels, moves, smells, looks and occasionally how it tastes.  As they are learning these new languages of expression, whether paint, clay, wire, music, etc. they do it with genuine curiosity and full sensory exploration.

Learning any new language follows a similar pattern, first we encounter the language, in this case shaving cream mixed with powdered paint, and then we experiment with it.  We are familiar with this process from watching young children learn to speak. There is a long period of active listening, followed by an experimental babbling stage before actual words are formed.  This experimentation is equally important when discovering any new media.

Before we can expect any sort of representationalism, it is vital that we maintain a space for "messing about" (read David Hawkins wonderful article here for more on the subject).

 Whether the language is shaving cream, pudding, or...

clay, it is important to make space and time for a period of exploration.  This exploration will naturally evolve as children become more comfortable with the language itself.  It is truly a breathtaking and wonderful process to witness and I continue to experience so much gratitude for the opportunity to witness their fearless discoveries daily.

chickens visiting the school

The Urban Farm at Stapleton (TUF) came to school on Thursday, January 8th for the first of several farm visits featuring various animals...this time they brought with them CHICKENS.  The goal of TUF is to provide agricultural and environmental education to children and families in the Denver metro area.  This partners well with our school goal to expose children to the natural world in as many meaningful ways as possible.

The children were excited to meet the chickens and our wonderful hosts, Tenny and Caroline, shared many interesting facts about our feathered friends.

Of course the children were able to share their own observations, including: chickens have feathers, wings, beaks and lay eggs.  They took turns practicing the "cock-a-doodle-doo" of a rooster and the rhythmic "braaaaahck, braaaaahck, braaaaahck" of chickens.

We learned other important facts too, for instance when chickens eat, they swallow their food whole and it sits in their crop all day and doesn't digest until the chickens are at rest in the evening (with the help of some gravel).

Did you know that chickens descended from a jungle bird and is closely related to its dinosaur ancestors.

Chickens don't sweat, they pant when they are hot...just like a dog.
And chickens have good memories, remember faces of people and other chickens and recognize each other even after a long time has past (in chicken time).

There are 113 different breeds of chickens.  TUF brought five breeds to share with the children: Cochin, Barred Plymouth-Rock, Orpington, Wyandotte and an Old English Game rooster.  And you know those dozens of white and brown eggs we buy in the grocery store?  Well it turns out that the color of a chickens egg is determined by the color of her ears.  In fact, there are brown, white and Easter colored eggs (pink, blue and green).  Newsflash... brown eggs are not healthier than white eggs they are just laid by chickens with brown ears.  A chicken can lay an egg every day to day in a half.  That is about 300 eggs a year.

It was a wonderful day to be at school!!!
Next month we will be meeting RABBITS!  

North-pole

Vida and Bekke, in XP, introduced the North-pole as part of our all school investigation of North America.  Our research will begin with the northern most reaches of our continent and we will slowly travel south as the weather warms.

As with most studies we follow a KOWL approach...

• what do you know, 
• what do you observe, 
• what do you wonder and 
• what did you learn?

Vida began with a lively investigation into what the children already KNEW about the North-pole and here is a peek into what they had to share:

Fisher              There are no trees.

Abbot              Santa lives there.

Eloise              There are reindeer.

Til                    It's not very green and there are not much green things, or trees.  You just walk on 

                         snow.

Vida                 How do you walk on snow.

Tillie                You use big boots.

Quinn               It is white and there are lots of snow flakes falling down

Teddie              Penguins are at the North Pole.POLAR BEARS at the North Pole.

Vida                 Great idea Teddie.  Actually, I learned something cool, penguins are at the South Pole           

                         and Polar bears are at the north pole.  I always thought they lived together but they 

                         don't.

Fisher              It never gets sunny there.

Sebastian         It never, ever, ever gets warm.

Sadie               Because the sun never shines.

Eloise              There are no people, except for maybe Santa and elves.

Fisher             When you put your tongue on the pole at the North Pole you can never get it off.

Sadie               And in the summertime the sun doesn’t shine in the North Pole either

Vida                How does it feel at the north pole.  Show me with your bodies.... Everyone shivers

And after the conversation the XP teachers fostered a sense of wonder about WHY the North-pole might be so darn chilly.  Vida turned on a light positioned in the center of the rug and demonstrated how the earth, in its daily rotation on its axis, experiences night and day using a classroom globe.  She then does the same for the annual rotation and together they observe how the position of the axis affects the light on the globe, specifically the North-pole.

We look forward to deepening our understanding in the weeks and months ahead.

Note:

We will be exploring North America throughout the remainder of the school year, if you have some interesting materials or experiences to share please let your teachers know.

It's always an exciting opportunity for us to learn about regions, biomes and cultures... Stay tuned.

emotional awareness in the studio

 We have a number of new studio activities exploring emotions and social awareness.

I have been laughing all day at the hilarious faces and voices that emerge from behind these popsicle stick face masks.

 The children are enjoying shocking each other and making faces for one another.

They have also begun photographing one another in various stages of dramatic expression.

I look forward to seeing how the study continues to develop in the weeks ahead.

granola making

 

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Fruit-and-Seed Holiday Granola

            1 stick unsalted butter

            1/2 cup light brown sugar (we used coconut sugar)

            1/4 cup honey or agave (we used agave)

            1 teaspoon cinnamon

            1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

            1/2 teaspoon salt

            3 3/4 cups rolled oats (12 ounces)

            1 cup shaved unsweetened coconut

            1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

            1/2 cup raw pepitas

            2 cups mixed dried fruit, such as cranberries, golden raisins, and cherries

1   Preheat the oven to 275°. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, agave, cinnamon, vanilla and salt and bring to a simmer, stirring until the brown sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Let cool slightly.

2  In a very large bowl, toss the oats with the coconut and seeds. Add the warm brown sugar mixture and stir to coat thoroughly. Spread the granola on the baking sheet and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until golden.

3   Add dried fruit, stir into the granola. Let cool completely; the granola will crisp as it cools.

MAKE AHEAD The granola can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Recrisp in a 275° oven for 15 minutes if necessary.

a typical day in the studio

Rereading the blog, I realized how documentation is limiting in its own way.  In my efforts to capture the emerging stories, themes, questions and projects with the children I often fail to share the everyday happenings that fill our studio hours.  Often there is just a pure joy in exploring media for its own sake or collaborating with friends around a variety of materials.  These moments may not find their way onto the blog as often but they are no less thrilling and inspiring to be a part of.

story robots

Robot making is an emerging theme in the studio.  Several children have discovered the recycled materials and are using them to create "robot" characters inspired by their own imaginations.  Each of the creations is accompanied by a story.  The one pictured below is as follows:

This is Desmund- Harry.  He has two guns.  He shoots the bad guys.  He rides his horse.  He’s the dad and he is good.  He is prepared for any mission and he likes helping the toddlers.  He eats chicken and broccoli and even he eats turkey.  For Thanks giving he kills lions to eat.  He has a hat on and he is a protector.  He is Zeger’s friend.

Once a story robot is created, many of the children ask me to join them on second line to share their stories and creations with the class.

This is an opportunity for the children to ask questions directly of the artist and for artists to share their thinking .

I also find that these show-and-share opportunities foster emerging projects and inspire big thinking.

clay with the toddlers

Amy spent the day with the toddlers.
In the morning class a child worked on a large clay exploration with newly introduced clay tools.  Amy chose to leave the clay creation out for the afternoon class to experience.  In this way the language of clay facilitates conversation between the classes.  The afternoon children added to the earlier clay landscape, adding forms for ocean and unicorns and more.