The Earth has Music ...

Every year, for the last 10 years, Castor Valley has created an art gallery for Education Week. The theme for this year's gallery was inspired by a quote from William Shakespeare:

"The earth has music for those who listen."

We went on a nature walk around the school property, and listened for the sounds of nature. The children heard geese honking and the wind blowing through the long grasses and tree branches. Then, the students noticed the bird houses mounted on each fence post.

They were dismayed to see the houses falling apart, knowing that the birds could no longer nest there. Maybe if the bird houses were fixed, the birds would sing. Then the bird songs would be the music of the earth! Aha! The project was born... the bird houses inspired our gallery display.

We took some bird houses down from the posts, and brought them inside to see if they could be salvaged. We took the pieces apart to inspect, and clean. They need to be cleaned every year in order to attract birds. The wood needed a little bit of weather proofing, and we looked in our bird house book to make sure that we could safely paint it.

The children helped screw the pieces back together. They loved using the "Red Robbie" and soon we had another centre set up with chunks of scrap 2x4, wood screws and screw drivers. We also integrated some literacy, when we compared nails to screws.

We also worked on creating some collage song birds, to add to the visual effect of our gallery installment.

With some help from a local farmer, we acquired some posts to put our refurbished bird houses on display. And voila!

                                                     

The children hope to hear the song of the swallows, as they make their new homes in the bird houses. Soon, we will be taking these houses back outside and we will listen to the music. In the meantime, the display sits in our sunny foyer. So much learning went into this project! It was a wonderful process - process art.

Thank you for visiting our atelier.

Lovely Lilacs

One morning, not long ago ... one of our friends ambled off the bus and presented me with a lovely bouquet of fresh lilacs! They were a lovely surprise, as the tree in my back yard had not yet blossomed. Of course, on the drive home it's all I could see! Lilac bushes were in bloom EVERYWHERE! How had I NOT noticed? My friend had given me a silent reminder to take time and smell the flowers.

I had already thought that the vase of lilacs would make a great provocation in class the next day. I suspected that the scent alone, would attract a following. But as I drove home, I felt that it would be important for the children to have a guided inquiry and really NOTICE the details of the lavender coloured lilacs that were popping up like weeds across the rural countryside.

With the wheels set in motion, the tables were assembled and ready. As a class, we took the time to really observe the lilacs. We noticed the petals. Specifically, we observed the shape, and the number that made up a blossom -- 4. We noticed that the blossoms are comprised of varying shades of purple. We noticed the shape of the leaves -- they are shaped like hearts. And the smell was amazing!

The children were excited to grab a paint brush and get started. They wanted to be scientists and record their data! There was some explicit teaching that took place at this point, and the artist were given direction to use a sponge to create a dark purple shape on their paper. Because the shape was to be the backdrop for the blossoms, we observed the shape of each bunch, or stem of lilacs. We decided it looked like a triangle or a hat.

Ready to add details, we remembered that the blossoms consisted of 4 individual petals. They looked like an 'X'. What could we use to paint the petals? It was decided that they could use a small paint brush, or a Q-tip. White and purple paint were delivered to the tables and the children leaned in to mix the colours, interpret what they saw before them, and record -- with flourish!

Lilacs continued to come in, and we thank you for contributions to our atelier. With one "lesson" under their belt, the bouquets were an attractive and compelling provocation.

The paintings are each a beautiful representation of what the children saw in nature. We marvel at them daily, on display in our classroom and our school foyer.

Thank you for taking the time to smell the flowers, and visiting the atelier!

Novel Nests

During one of our walks in early spring, we went out to explore the changes taking place before our eyes. Snow was melting. Grass was turning green. And the birds were returning from their migration.

The buds weren't yet coming out on the trees, and we discovered that we could see bird nests nestled in the shrubs. Because the nests had been abandoned and left to the elements, they were falling apart. And of course, the question we all waited to be asked emerged : What are nests made from?

Back in class, we broke into our focus groups and examined what nests were made from. We just happened to have a collection in our science centre.

As a large group, we shared our findings. And the inspiration flowed... Would the birds like us to build a nest for them? Could we build a nest? Could we help birds make a nest?

We noticed that the other nests contained some fabric. In lieu of fabric, we wondered if  yarn would be a good a good material to build a nest with? One of our parents had kindly made a donation. We made our way back outside and left a gift for the birds. Our hope was that the birds would make good use of the yarn when they returned to make new nests and lay their eggs.

Time passed, buds grew on the hedges, and we returned to the same spot to see if the yarn was gone. To everyone's delight, we noticed that there was a nest in the tree!

We approached the honey locust tree cautiously, so to not scare any wildlife. What we discovered inside the nest was beyond exciting!

This got us excited about nests, once again. We collected the materials necessary to build nests, and got to work!

The grass, corn cob material, leaves, small twigs, fabric, clay, mud, garbage, and the sort, were dumped on the table and sifted through. Some paper pulp (leftover from our paper making project) was added to the mix, and we attempted to contain the mess to a bowl.

When the mix was just right ( not too runny, and not too thick ), the children picked up a gob to cover an upsidedown apple sauce container. 

The old screens that were utilized for the paper making project were used again for the nests to dry on.

Upon closer examination, the inside of the nests weren't very cosy for an egg. We went out on another excursion to find some "soft" materials to line the nests. Our Chief Custodian nearly panicked when he saw the whole class marching towards the the classroom door, each with a fluffy cattail in hand. 

While assembling the nests, the children were asked what birds would think of the nests. 

"It's going to be nice and comfy."

"They'll think it's fluffy."

"The birds will be comfy and out of the wind."

This project is ongoing, and we are in the process of determining the best way to transport the cozy nests home. We have a few ideas up our sleeves, so stay tuned! Also, we need to go on another excursion to observe the bird that hatched from the nest we discovered in honey locust tree!

Thanks for visiting the atelier!

Grumpy Grizzlies!

A while back, one of our friends brought in a birthday book to share with us, and it was non-fiction text on bears. Bears have weaved their way in and out of our days, and sit quietly with us in the reading centre.

More recently we have been reading stories about what bears do in various seasons, and singing/playing our song, "Grumpy Grizzly". Bears have also made their way onto the carpet for small world play.

 

Recently, we got on board with other classes who had planned a pyjama day. The children asked if they could bring in a stuffed animal too. Hmm. Opportunity knocked, and we welcomed their bears to come to school. We read a story titled: O'Reilly and the Real Bears, written by Dorothy Butler. It is a story about a stuffed bear who is dressed in clothing, and wants to know what it's like to be a "real" bear. He goes out in the woods and is taken in by a family of bears. He climbs trees and sleeps in a cave on a mattress of rocks. In the end, he misses his boy and returns home. He ditches the clothes and decides that a bit of exercise is good. 

We asked the children:

 

What would your bear learn if it went into the woods to be a "real" bear for a while?

 

Lots of ideas were shared:

 

"They'd eat berries."

"He would catch fish."

"They'd scratch a tree."

"He would growl."

"They would learn to hibernate."

"They'd learn to sleep on a bed of rocks."

 

 While the children were at gym, we got to work and transformed the classroom and relocated some bears.

 

 

 

 

The children were thrilled with the surprise, and created more bear caves of their own using sheets, shower curtains, blankets, and tunnels we borrowed from each of the other kindergarten classes. Tremendous fun! Some bears were learning to hibernate and slowing their heart rate! Some of the mama bears were getting ready to have cubs of their own!

 

And at the atelier, the children wanted to make more bear caves. We scrounged around and grabbed some supplies from the science centre and cupboard.

 

Pieces of moss, pine cones, twigs, leaves and milk weed adorned the pages to create a winter scene and den for a bear to hibernate in. In a box of odd and ends, I found a chunk of faux fur. The "bears" snuggled in for their long winter rest. No doubt, after such a busy and exciting day, the teddy bears and their keepers had a good rest of their of own at home.

 

Thanks for dropping by the atelier.

Promoting Peace & Preparing Poppies

In junior kindergarten, Remembrance Day is another opportunity to focus on peace. Promoting peace within our classroom is of utmost importance, and it takes shape in many different ways. As one of our little friends likes to remind us (daily) when we walk toward the buses, "We take care of each other in a day!" This is in fact, our class motto : The most important thing we'll do in a day, is take care of each other.

When we started introducing Remembrance Day to the children, we focused primarily on peace and poppies. Peace is not a new concept, and the symbol of the poppy is very familiar this time of year, as the children see them afixed to jackets. We have discussed the assembly and practiced standing (still?) for the Last Post and O'Canada. (The children made a good connection to the trumpet we examined in a the music room a few weeks back - good remembering!)

In creating a plan for making our wreath, we watched a few short videos depicting aerial views of poppy fields in England and California. We compared and contrasted the variations of poppies. We also googled painters' renditions of poppies and noted the colours of the petals. The children were encouraged to brainstorm how we could go about making poppies for our wreath, and paint seemed to be a popular material. But I knew that I also had some felt scraps, yarn and tissue paper squirreled away in the cupboard. A provocation was born, and the children were encouraged ...

To collaborate.

To play.

To explore.

To observe.

To create.

When the children broke out into their focus groups, they jumped into the paint straight away.

Working together, collaboratively, they started by making individual poppies on the page. Then I overheard someone say, "Hey! Look at this! I made orange!" The excitement over colour mixing never gets old. Remember, the little things are the big things in kindergarten! I can't be sure, but I think from that point on, they lost interest in painting individual poppies. I think they got caught up in the magic of paint - creating colours and line. Before the paper got too saturated to the point of tearing, the painting was scooped up and put on the drying rack for later.

The felt scraps, tissue paper and yarn remained. However, the felt was in squares.

"What shape are the poppies?"

"Circles!"

"Really?"

Picture a table of scrunched up faces. Too funny!

What followed was a discussion about petals, and stems. They're not circles.

"But the poppy on daddy's jacket is kind of a circle."

"Why do you think that is?"

We thought back to the videos - aerial views.

"When you look down, maybe it's a circle."

"How do you make a square a circle?"

The children were not impressed with the felt and scissors provided at this point. There was a lot of frustration expressed and another learning opportunity presented itself. Actually, many learning opportunities presented themselves.

In reflection afterwards, the children shared:

"The scissors only cut with little snips. Not my big snips."

"The felt wasn't cutting. It's different from paper."

"The scissors weren't closing on the felt."

"The scissors were sticking to the fabric."

"It was trickier because it (the felt) was soft.

The scissors were going up and down - kind of slow."

"The fabric doesn't work with scissors. Paper will work with scissors.

The felt doesn't work with scissors."

"The felt doesn't work with scissors because it's soft and fuzzy."

"I could do it with little bits."

"It was tough. It was closing but not cutting."

"It would work with sharper scissors.

Sharper scissors could cut off the corners and make a circle better."

The poppies were given a centre.

Felt poppies await the next part of the process.

Their "little snips" did work in the end, and the children cleaned up. As they were cleaning up the fabric scraps, an idea emerged, and the scraps were collected and tucked away for later.

The children had so much fun colour mixing, and the little "snips" of felt were too precious to waste, so another provocation and collaborative art work emerged. I regret that I didn't get photos of the initial "stage", but you can see from the one below that the children discovered that blue and yellow creates green.

A green "field" emerges

Little hands take turns applying tissue paper and felt scraps.

In "kindergarten" the flowers grow.

The earlier collaborative painting provides a bit of

dimension to the felt poppies.

At the end of the day, the children had worked together to create something beautiful to be proud of. There were lessons in comparing the many variations of poppies around the world. There were lessons in communication and problem solving. Value was given to process, cooperation and listening. Risk was taken, with the best of intent. We didn't know where the day would take us. All we had was paint, paper, some tissue paper and yarn. But we had ideas, and we were inspired, and we took care of each other in a day :)

Thank you for stopping in, and visiting our atelier.