Tag Archive 'creativity'
Dec
01
2011
Mrs. Argus
- Aidan’s contageous smile and laughter draws attention from our friends.
As you may have heard, the children have learned a doubles addition song that we love to song everyday during math workshop. The kids love it so much that they often request to hear it over and over again! Today during studio and explore, some of the kids asked if I could project the song up on the big screen and they could dance to it. They sang and laughed and clapped to the song and once it was over, they demanded, “Play it again!” So of course, I played the awesome doubles song again and this time, the kids were drawn to Aidan as he sang and danced this time to the music. Several other kids tried out some of Aidan’s dance moves and they danced together in harmony. After the second time the song played, the kids asked, “Can we play it again!?” More kids joined in Aidan’s dancing and I noticed many of the kids dancing were holding hands and dancing together in a line. During one part of the song, some of those kids did the same dance move insync with one another. After the song ended, we talked about how neat it had looked and I suggested creating another dance move for another part of the song. More friends joined into the conversation and by this point, we had the whole class suggesting moves for different parts. Needless to say, I think we played the doubles song about 15 times (no exaggeration) at the end of the day and we almost have a full dance routine to this song. We will have to present it for you at some point- so much fun!
The entire class is joined in dance!
We also have started a canned food drive here at the Lab School. Miss Schmidt led a discussion today with the class about why our school is doing a food drive and how some people in the world are hungry and in need of help. The kids were so thoughtful during the discussion. We decided we wanted to keep track of how many cans we have brought in and created a graph to track our progress. The cans will be counted each Thursday and added to the graph. Please bring in any canned goods your family is able and willing to donate!
Miss Schmidt talks with us about needy families and giving back to the community.Friends post our canned foods graph.
Tags: arithmetic, collaboration, creativity
Nov
06
2011
Mrs. Argus
Paper planes are back in full swing in room 104.
Our class has recently seen a resurgence in creating paper airplanes. We never stopped making them, but for a while there was a little lull. All of sudden, we have close to 20 airplanes made a day during studio and explore. On Friday morning, I asked the kids if they would be interested in flying their planes outside on the big playground. They immediately said Yes! I let them know that at the end of the day we would be flying them and they could work on them throughout the day during studio and explore. Some friends worked all day adding special modifications to their planes, some worked on making them look beautiful with colors, numbers, and labeled parts, some friends made more than one plane and were excited to test both. At the end of the day, we took our planes outside, learned how to safely throw them from the playground equipment and let them fly!
- Michael’s plane flies in front of him as he goes down the slide.
We made some pretty neat observations as we were outside. Many kids noticed the wind was manipulating where the planes would fly. Lucas said, “If the plane is flying that way, and the wind comes, it changes and goes with the wind!” We practiced making predictions and paying attention to the wind and guessing what direction the planes would fly. We also noticed the wind had varrying strength. Angela said, “If it’s big wind, the planes go far!”
Tajanaye getting ready to launch her plane from the dinosaur.
A group launch. Will the planes go the same direction with the wind?
To top off our experience outside, while we were walking in, Messi cried out, “Look! The sky!” Everyone looked up and saw a variety of jet strems in the sky planes had left that afternoon. The kids were so excited to see them.
The sky Friday afternoon.
Tags: creativity, curious, inspiration, paper airplane
Oct
27
2011
Mrs. Argus
Who knew that a metal detector and a mail center could occupy the same space? They do in room 104!
Today while working on our airplane, we discussed ways to make the two wings symmetrical. After some discussion about measurement and guesstimation, a friend suggested tracing the first wing onto the next cardboard piece for the second wing- that way it would be totally symmetrical. After cutting out the second wing, friends tried out different placements on the airlane to see where the wings fit best. We then saw a problem- how could we make the wings stick out from the plane without drooping on the floor? Cameron suggested using a large, popcorn tin to hold up the wing. We noticed that the tin looked almost exactly like an engine on the wing- how perfect! Hutton suggested we get two tins for each wing. Knowing we had one tin already, we had to problem solve to figure out how many more we needed. Monica suggested three, because we already had one, and the total we would need was four. She said, “Because four take away three is one!”
After figuring out the airplane wings and engines, we began to walk away from the plane and continue other activities during studio and explore when I heard Monica squeal excitedly. “Mrs. Argus!!! It’s a metal detector! Flip it over!!!” “Huh?” I thought as I looked at the large box on its side. Then I saw what Monica meant. Once we flipped up the large box so it stood vertically, she showed me the two door like openings that the cut wings had left. It looked exactly like a metal detector! Monica and Cameron continued to add details to the metal detector, like an x-ray machine, a button to turn the detector on, and a pretend flashing light to show if somone inside it had contraband! They enjoyed showing the class their creation. The class LOVES making a beepiong noise when someone pretends to go through.
Monica shows the class the metal detector.
We also have another exciting addition to our class. We have recently begun writing letters to one another in class and we saw a need for a mail center. Each child now has their own personal mail center mailbox where other children can place mail inside. We even have a mailperson job who delivers mail on a regular basis and calls to friends that have mail.
Our sign for the mail center.
Jenesis, our mail carrier, delivers classroom mail.
Tags: creativity, motivation, project, thinking
Sep
30
2011
Mrs. Argus
"Mrs. Argus, look at all these boxes!"- Hutton
If you thought we had supportive families, just wait untill you hear this- two days ago, our class sent home a letter explaining our need for some boxes for our airplane we are building. Within just two days, we have recieved over eighty-five boxes- that’s right EIGHTY FIVE!!!
This morning, the kids were so astonished at the large amount of boxes that have been coming in and we decided we needed to count and organize them. First, we had to talk about how to organize our growing number of materials. We decided by size would probably be best, so we have been making piles of small, medium, and large boxes. After the boxes were organized today, a group of friends began counting. We counted up all the way to eighty-five. We also have twenty paper towel rolls and one large can. We want to start planning on Monday and talk about how best to utilize our large number of resources. It will certainly be a day for lots of big thinking and possibilities.
Journey and Da'Sean are a huge help as they sort our boxes and paper towel rolls.
Tags: capable, creativity, inspiration, project
Sep
26
2011
Mrs. Argus
Messi looks for triangles.
This morning while friends came in, we had a group of children start to create shapes out of some of our studio materials. Some were drawing shapes first, then cutting them out, and some were building shapes with some of our interesting materials. We then had the idea to sort the shapes and create posters that represented each shape. We gathered some magazines and started searching through the pictures to capture shapes for our posters. We will continue to add to our shape posters throughout the week.
Sascha looks for squares.
Tags: creativity
