In our latest "Great Art" center, we've been learning about the art of Eric Carle. Did you know he paints all of the tissue papers that he uses to make his beautiful illustrations?! You can watch him on his website: www.ericcarle.com. We tried it out too! Look at our beautiful work!
I also have to share a very special moment...The class is working on a book about what it's like to be in Kindergarten and this was the last page. This had me all choked up this week!! This is what I want the kids to learn above all else!
We were challenged to design something that would move "rocks" from one side of a yard to another, up a "hill". We had to work in teams to plan and create a design to solve our problem. Check out our designs! Every group created something that worked! Great teamwork, guys!!!
I recently read the book Serious Fun: How Guided Play Extends Children's Learning by Marie Masterson and Holly Bohart. It inspired me to take a closer look at our center time and use some of the ideas I've learned in the book to up the ante, so to speak! Take a look at our work in our new centers:
Foil Boats: design a boat out of tin foil and see if it can float. Can it hold a toy policeman? Mr. Incredible? How can you make it move across our "pond" without using your hands? Have a boat race with friends. The Office: Students decided together what type of office it would be and had to assign jobs to each other. They then worked together to make their office run like a well-oiled machine! Construction Zone: Student had to work together to build a fort using foam pieces, plastic joints and fabric sheets. This took a lot of teamwork and communication!! Great Artist: Students used famous paintings as inspiration for their own masterpieces. In addition, the students learned about Claude Monet and worked together to create a replica of one of his most famous paintings - his water lilies with the Japanese bridge. Planning, communication, teamwork, revision and cooperation are evident in all centers. Sounds like hard work, right? Well, yes, but it is SERIOUS FUN!! |
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March 2020
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