In Flanders Fields

This learning opportunity began a while back, with a reading of the story, "The Crayon Box that Talked". It is a story about a box of crayons who sit on a store shelf and bicker. A little girl overhears their conversations, takes pity on them, and brings the box of crayons home. She proceeds to take each crayon out of the box and use them in her beautiful creation. In the end, the crayons all stand back and admire the picture. They realize that together they have worked together in harmony and developed an appreciation for each other's unique qualities.  

 

Connecting the Dots:

You may be wondering how this book is connected to In Flanders Fields. While seemingly unconnected, the message in the story seemed to fit with Remembrance Day. Without going into too much detail about Remembrance Day at this developmental stage in their life, my emphasis is put on working together, taking care of each other, and valuing our unique qualities.

While reading the story, a connection was made to the "Yellow Collage" created by the class during our first month of school. It is an example of how they work together, and appreciate each others creativity. Brilliant.

My plans for introducing the symbol of the poppy through art was inspired on the spot via their connection, and the project evolved. Another collage, and collaborative effort was coming together.

Materials were prepared: tissue paper, graphic/visual inspiration...

...including the famous poem written by Lieut.-Col. John McCrae

In Flanders Fields

 Step 1: The children collaborated and glued the poem/musical score

as backdrop on the "canvas".

Step 2: Tissue paper petals of red, pink and orange overlapped

each other to create poppies. The different colours created dimension.

Our field of child created poppies.

Step 3: The teacher collaboration piece included the greenery.

We brainstormed ideas for the inside of the poppy. My initial thought was to use black pipe cleaners rolled into spirals. Someone suggested paint. And someone else was playing with the seed pods on the floor behind them. Seeds. Pods. Aha! Of course! The centre of the poppy is a seed pod. And the fact that they are actually hosta seeds doesn't really seem to matter, does it? We made connections and were inspired by nature, once again. Life is beautiful.

Step 4: The seeds are glued to the centre of the poppies.

The childrens' collage, titled: Flanders Fields, served as backdrop for our Remembrance Day ceremony this morning. And I am reminded of a quote,

"Art can function as a bridge to understanding others as well

as ourselves. To become comfortable with the creation of art is a

vital step toward healthy, tolerant consciousness."

 Poppies in Flanders Fields are a backdrop for the 

school choir during our assembly today.

Thank you for taking a moment to visit our atelier.

Our Little Pumpkins

 

I am glad to hear reports that everyone had a safe and happy (though a little wet!) Halloween, trick-or-treating in the community. At school, we had a small celebration, parading through the primary hall in our costumes and visiting with our "big" friends from the bus. We graphed our healthy orange and black snacks :) Thank you for sending them in!

 

In French class, Mme. Govenlock helped us carve our pumpkin, and we learned French vocabulary for simple shapes as we created a face for "la citrouille".

       un carre = a square

       une ligne = a line

       un triangle = a triangle

       un cercle = a circle

       un oval = an oval

       un losange = a diamond

 

We have been focusing on the pumpkin harvest, more than the superstitious aspects of Halloween, but did take time to learn a few rhymes and chants. One in particular that the children enjoyed is "5 Little Pumpkins". The children took turns using pumpkin puppets to act out the rhyme, and used their fingers for counting (one to one correspondence), and practiced ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) The dramatic play centre was busy with the children vying for a chance to use the puppets and act out the rhyme from memory.

 

On our nature walk, the children started picking up sticks, and inspired the following craft. Needless to say, we got a lot of mileage out of a sweet and simple rhyme.

 

                            5 Little Pumpkins  (see podcast below)

                                                  

                            5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate

 

                            The 1st one said, "Oh my! It's getting late."

                            The 2nd one said, "There are witches in the air."

                            The 3rd one said, "But I don't care."

                            The 4th one said, "Let's run and run and run."

                            The 5th one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"

 

                            Woooooo-ooo went the wind.

                                 And out went the lights.

                                        And the 5 little pumpkins, rolled out of sight.

 

 

Thank you for visiting our atelier. I hope you enjoy the podcast from your "Little Pumpkins", below.

  

Grey Ghost

Rolling with the child directed pumpkin theme this fall, we watched a video on the life cycle of a pumpkin. Different varieties of pumpkins were featured, and the grey and blue pumpkin fascinated the children. I made another trip to a local market and brought in a special pumpkin for exploration. And then I set up the provovocation...

To play.

To explore.

To observe.

To create. 

"Grey Ghost" Pumpkin Provocation

Each day the centre was set out, I would discover the pumpkin was decorated with paint. From what I understand from the snippets I heard when passing by, they were trying to find the right match of grey. How clever. And each afternoon, the little Grey Ghost would have a bath and make itself ready for the next bunch of curious still life artists :)

 

Once again, I left no instructions on "how" to use the materials before them. The children were faced with the pumpkin, a brush and a paper plate palette featuring a glob of white paint, and glob of black. Interestingly enough, I was not consulted this time. I let them talk amongst themselves and I listened in...

 

"Can we paint it?"

 

"How do we paint it? We only have black."

 

"....I have black and white."

 

"What are we supposed to do?"

 

 

"Do we paint the pumpkin?"

 

(...and they did! They painted directly on the pumpkin!)

 

"That is too much black."

 

"Let's put white on."

 

(...wait for it....)

 

"Hey!  We made grey!"

 

And the experience continued. They added white to the pumpkin. They added more black. Back and forth they went. Until the pumpkin was quite literally dripping with tempera. At this point, I did step in and casually suggest putting some of the paint on the paper in front of them.

 

This blog is a one method of documenting the learning that is taking place in our atelier. It is one method of communicating to you, as parents. But for me, it has also developed into part of my reflective practice. As I upload these pictures (am I uploading or downloading? I don't know - there is a learning curve here) and write this post, I am truly delighting in the fact that I am facing assumptions I made. As much as I would like to admit that I carefully planned this lesson on mixing black and white to create grey, it was incidental. It is a gift for me witness the learning experiences of these little people, and when I take the time to document these little scenarios, I am overwhelmed with the beauty of their creations. My living room is currently sprawled with their work, as I assemble their October Lap Book which will make their way home to you shortly. These lap books celebrate their accomplishments and document their learning throughout the year.

 

As always, thank you for visiting our atelier!