What’s Up in the classroom
Fall 2015
The children are learning the routines well and beginning to form friendships. We have been exploring slats, spiders, balance, and many other concepts. We have been practicing writing, reading, adding, and many other skills. Here is what is up with spiders:
Prediction drawing artist’s statements 9-9-15
| ||
This is the big web and it’s shaped like a circle. The lines are where [the spider] sticks on to. It’s very sticky. It’s very, very fragile”
- Ben (4.06)
|
“They try to eat insects to be healthy and strong. The insects try to get to their home, but they get stuck.”
- Sully (5.09)
|
“That’s the spider.”
- Ryan (4.09)
“What will the spider do in the web?” - Mrs. McAuliffe
“Crawl on it. Catch flies like a frog.” - Ryan (4.09)
|
  |
| Drawing a prediction of what the spider web will look like. |
“Roly-Polies are crustaceans!” John Darwin (5.00)
and other “bug” conversations in our classroom
The children’s interest in “bugs” prompted us to install a spider web frame. Prior to installing the spider frame in our courtyard, the children drew predictions of what the web would look like. Drawing provided the children with the means to say what they may not be able to define or articulate with vocabulary, but certainly understood as capable observers, communicators, and thinkers. It also was a means of expressing their knowledge. The prediction drawing garnered mostly comments that revolved around the idea of food, indicating prior knowledge about the purpose of a spider’s web. After checking the frame for several days with no evidence of a web, the children found other webs in our courtyard. Upon seeing the incredibly large size of the webs in the courtyard, Mohamed (5.02) explained why there wasn’t a web in our frame as he concluded, “The frame is tiny so they build it over here.”
The next set of drawings are based on actual observations the children made of webs in the courtyard. In these drawings we see much more detail. Using drawing as a means to observe, the children drew what they saw. Often children’s drawing serves as the language to articulate what the children cannot say with words. Likewise, drawing serves as a stimulus for seeing concepts they had yet to consider. This is the case with Norah and Ian’s drawings where the anchor threads of the web were observed and documented. These drawings also served as a catalyst for conversation and a guide to further exploration. So now we will investigate how spiders construct webs. Additionally, properties of connection, strength and effects of light may be explored as we consider other comments like Emi’s (4.04), “It’s kinda hard to see if it blends in with the sunlight.” The background spider Alex (5.08) drew shows many details about the parts of a spider and we look forward to studying classification concepts, especially of happy spiders!
 |
| Observing spider webs and recording by drawing |
Observation drawing artist’s statements 9-25-15
| ||
“So it doesn’t blow away in the wind.”
- Ian (5.04)
|
“The frame is tiny so they build it over here.”
-Mohamed (5.02)
|
“It’s stuck to the building and stuck to the bush. It’s a big web.”
- Norah (5.06)
|
Our Playground
We are in the process of updating our playground. The children really want monkey bars. Here is the list of reasons we need monkey bars according to them. Their logic is quite compelling.
There’s a lot people climbing on things they shouldn’t climb on. Ben L.
Can we please have the monkey bars? Lily
We need the monkey bars to exercise our bodies. Violet
Monkey bars get you energy. Danica
Well, the monkey bars will really, really make us stronger. Ian
Thank you. Natalia
When we get strong we can lift things even heavier. Luke
We have to be so strong so we can get muscles and grow up. Ryan
We need monkey bars because they are very exciting. Nathan
We need monkey bars because they are so big. Mohamed
Monkey bars will make us stronger. Ben S.
We will live a long life if we can use our muscles. Alex
 |
| Thinking about where to put monkey bars by building a model. |