IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Today we had a few new materials in the room!  We started our day with clay for sculpting and tree pieces for building.  It was very exciting in Free Exploration as the kids started to explore the new items in the room.  We had a few friends even sculpt trees!

J'Nayla's tree sculpture!

David's person that is made out of tree pieces!

Later in the day I asked the kids the questions, “Do trees have stories to tell?”  I was interested to see if the kids could create stories from the materials in the room. I was so excited when a group of friends started to create a story with the with the dinosaurs and tree parts.  They said that their drums put the dinosaurs to sleep!

David, Selah, CJ, and Reid are playing their drums and creating their story.

This process of creating stories with materials is something new that we are introducing into the classroom.  During our choice time, I might put out a few materials and pose a question to the students as I did today.  While I was in Portland, we studied something called Story Workshop.  It is where the kids create stories using materials.  We found that the materials help the students create rich stories.  This is something that we are still exploring, but for the first few chances the kids are loving it!  I am sure I will have more to share in the upcoming weeks!

Comments RSS