This week is Maryland Home Grown School Lunch Week and my daughter's kindergarten teacher had them celebrate with a rainbow of fruits and veggies. This was a big success. The children colored a rainbow that was made up of three fat stripes. The largest outer stripe was yellow on the left, green on the right. The next one down was blue on the left, purple on the right. The little stripe was red on the left, orange on the right. The rainbow was a simplified color wheel but with older children you could paint a rainbow (Rauld Russell's book How to Do Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Painting and Teach It to Children is where I learned to do it) and then have them divide it into three wedges. On Monday the families were supposed to send in a green or yellow fruit or vegetable. They cut little pieces of all the fruits and veggies and set each one in a section of a muffin tin to see the various colors, arranged like a painter's palette. We sent in okra. Wednesday was blue/purple and we sent in Japanese eggplant. Friday was red/orange and we sent in a selection of hot and mild chili peppers. Thanks goodness for our CSA!
I was actually grateful for something useful to do with the okra because I was certain my children would never eat it. The teacher had them do printmaking with the okra pieces. Okra makes a lovely little flower shape when you print with it. It was beautiful.
We are happy with our CSA but I was grateful when the school also sent home a handout listing all the Farmers Market locations in our county. I know some of the people who read my blog are locals, so here you go:
Prince Frederick
Tuesdays 3-7 pm, thru November 23
Calvert Memorial Hospital Parking Lot D
Solomons
Thursdays 4-8 pm, thru November 18
Solomons Riverwalk parking lot
North Beach
Fridays 6-9 pm, thru October 1
5th St between Chesapeake and Bay Ave
Barstow
Saturdays 7:30 am - noon, thru November 27
Calvert County Fairgrounds
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The Creation
I recently asked a musician friend of mine whether any composer had been inspired by the Creation and written a piece of music about it, figuring that he would say yes. I was not disappointed. He promptly said, yes, Franz Joseph Haydn wrote a famous oratorio called The Creation
I borrowed a copy and it's fabulous. I highly recommend this recording to Montessori First Great Lesson teachers/Waldorf 3rd grade Old Testament Story teachers/Sunday School teachers/lovers of music/everyone I know. We will play it on Monday while we are learning about Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel and practicing his fresco technique (Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters
by MaryAnn Kohl, page 24).
Haydn - The Creation / Piau, Padmore, Davies, Gabrieli Consort & Players, McCreesh
I borrowed a copy and it's fabulous. I highly recommend this recording to Montessori First Great Lesson teachers/Waldorf 3rd grade Old Testament Story teachers/Sunday School teachers/lovers of music/everyone I know. We will play it on Monday while we are learning about Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel and practicing his fresco technique (Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters
by MaryAnn Kohl, page 24).Haydn - The Creation / Piau, Padmore, Davies, Gabrieli Consort & Players, McCreesh
Friday, September 17, 2010
Building the School's Library
Another way we build our school's library is through the "Birthday Book Club." At the beginning of the year, parents who wish to participate donate $20.00 to the school for their child's birthday books. The teachers uses the money to buy quality books they feel are missing from the school library, books that the birthday child would enjoy. When the child's birthday rolls around, he/she is presented with the birthday books. The family gets to read the brand-new books first, then they are returned to the school and added to the permanent collection. A sticker goes in the front of each volume saying this book was donated to our library in honor of _______ (child's name). Children love this, parents like it too, and it's fun for the teachers to choose books that reflect each child's interests.
Natalie and Leah have asked me to give money to the Birthday Book Club for them and I'm still debating it. But if I did get $20.00 each...
Natalie
hardcover, $16.50
Leah
library binding, $19.38
Natalie and Leah have asked me to give money to the Birthday Book Club for them and I'm still debating it. But if I did get $20.00 each...
Natalie
hardcover, $16.50
Leah
library binding, $19.38
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Working with Clay
Yesterday I introduced clay to my students for the first time. Clay always sends a bit of a shiver down my spine; even though I know it's valuable work (and I purchased Basic Sculptural Modeling: Developing the Will by Working with Pure Forms in the First Three Grades by Hella Loewe and planned a clay modeling block for this winter) the classroom logistics always freak me out. Like watercolor painting, there's sooo much prep. On the other hand, like watercolor painting, it's absolutely lovely to see the classroom peaceful and still with the students completely and silently absorbed in their work.
We read Owl Eyes
by Frieda Gates. This Creation story, based on a Mohawk legend, tells of Raweeno the Creator forming the animals out of clay. Then I gave each child a piece of clay and 20 minutes to form any animal of their choosing. I didn't give any lessons in technique for this initial introduction, it was more of an exploration. The focus was on the correct way of dealing with clay in the classroom.
First, I spent the entire morning moistening my clay. We had received a donation of several boxes of self-drying clay.
I wrapped each clay block in a terry cloth towel saturated with HOT water and placed it in a ziploc gallon size bag. I renewed the hot water several times between 9 am and noon. At 12:30 I took the clay out and cut it into slices with a wire. This was a fun experience (kidding)! I'd never tried to moisten clay this way, I always just plopped it into a bucket of water. But I had a friend tell me that this is the way to moisten clay powder and it's not necessary when you buy a block. In fact, a lot of the clay dissolves into the water and is then wasted. So I was following her suggestion, and the block did get moist, but what I then realized is that I had never cut clay with a wire before and it's not self-explanatory. Trial and error is the thing, if you don't have some one to show you how.
First, I placed the clay block on a cafeteria tray and tried to push the wire down through it from top to bottom, using the handles. The wire is long and the handles weren't at all located to give me leverage. Also, the wire stopped halfway through the block and I couldn't get it to go through. Frustrated, I tried to slice the clay (from top to bottom) over and over with no luck. My clay modeling time was drawing near and I was worried that I wouldn't have any clay at all for the children to use. Determined to at least give them a little bit, I next tried swiping the wire over the top surface of the clay, where it was the wettest, to slice off a tiny sliver or two. This worked but not well. Then I moved the wire a little further down on the block and twirled the wire around the clay block, swirling it and pulling on the handles. Ta da! It cut beautifully through and I ended up with a nice 1/4 inch slice of clay right off the top. Encouraged, I tried again. Over and over I was able to cut the clay by wrapping the wire around the block horizontally and crossing the two ends of the wire over each other and continuing to pull until the wire met itself in the core of the block and cut successfully through. This must be the way you are supposed to use it! It explains, at least, why the wire is so long. Then I used my hands to pull the slices into smaller sections and I was ready for the class.
I gave them each a cafeteria tray for a work surface. They also each wore a smock (large men's button front shirts from the thrift store, work backwards with the buttons up the back). I impressed upon them that clay can NOT GO DOWN the bathroom sink drain because it will ruin the septic tank. Under no circumstances were they to wash their hands in the bathroom sink. Then I read the story and passed out the clay. When they were done I told them that we'd be working with clay later in the school year and that they were to return their piece to a ball or block form and bring it up front to me, hang up their smocks, and go outside. My assistant had filled a dishpan with warm soapy water and the children washed their hands quickly and easily. Then we poured the water in the yard. I suppose, writing this, that we shouldn't have done that since it had soap in it so I will need to research whether there's an environmentally friendly way to do this. But the hands got clean and the children had a marvelous time. I returned the (now smaller) clay pieces to the ziploc gallon bags and breathed a sigh of relief.
The conclusion: clay doesn't have to be a demon to work with. But practice your techniques in advance of the big day!
Another wonderful Waldorf modeling book is Arthur Auer's Learning about the World through Modeling. Some good traditional clay books are Children, Clay, And Sculpture
by Cathy Weisman Topal (one of my teachers at Smith) and The Great Clay Adventure: Creative Handbuilding Projects For Young Artists
by Ellen Kong.
We read Owl Eyes
by Frieda Gates. This Creation story, based on a Mohawk legend, tells of Raweeno the Creator forming the animals out of clay. Then I gave each child a piece of clay and 20 minutes to form any animal of their choosing. I didn't give any lessons in technique for this initial introduction, it was more of an exploration. The focus was on the correct way of dealing with clay in the classroom.First, I spent the entire morning moistening my clay. We had received a donation of several boxes of self-drying clay.
I wrapped each clay block in a terry cloth towel saturated with HOT water and placed it in a ziploc gallon size bag. I renewed the hot water several times between 9 am and noon. At 12:30 I took the clay out and cut it into slices with a wire. This was a fun experience (kidding)! I'd never tried to moisten clay this way, I always just plopped it into a bucket of water. But I had a friend tell me that this is the way to moisten clay powder and it's not necessary when you buy a block. In fact, a lot of the clay dissolves into the water and is then wasted. So I was following her suggestion, and the block did get moist, but what I then realized is that I had never cut clay with a wire before and it's not self-explanatory. Trial and error is the thing, if you don't have some one to show you how.
First, I placed the clay block on a cafeteria tray and tried to push the wire down through it from top to bottom, using the handles. The wire is long and the handles weren't at all located to give me leverage. Also, the wire stopped halfway through the block and I couldn't get it to go through. Frustrated, I tried to slice the clay (from top to bottom) over and over with no luck. My clay modeling time was drawing near and I was worried that I wouldn't have any clay at all for the children to use. Determined to at least give them a little bit, I next tried swiping the wire over the top surface of the clay, where it was the wettest, to slice off a tiny sliver or two. This worked but not well. Then I moved the wire a little further down on the block and twirled the wire around the clay block, swirling it and pulling on the handles. Ta da! It cut beautifully through and I ended up with a nice 1/4 inch slice of clay right off the top. Encouraged, I tried again. Over and over I was able to cut the clay by wrapping the wire around the block horizontally and crossing the two ends of the wire over each other and continuing to pull until the wire met itself in the core of the block and cut successfully through. This must be the way you are supposed to use it! It explains, at least, why the wire is so long. Then I used my hands to pull the slices into smaller sections and I was ready for the class.
I gave them each a cafeteria tray for a work surface. They also each wore a smock (large men's button front shirts from the thrift store, work backwards with the buttons up the back). I impressed upon them that clay can NOT GO DOWN the bathroom sink drain because it will ruin the septic tank. Under no circumstances were they to wash their hands in the bathroom sink. Then I read the story and passed out the clay. When they were done I told them that we'd be working with clay later in the school year and that they were to return their piece to a ball or block form and bring it up front to me, hang up their smocks, and go outside. My assistant had filled a dishpan with warm soapy water and the children washed their hands quickly and easily. Then we poured the water in the yard. I suppose, writing this, that we shouldn't have done that since it had soap in it so I will need to research whether there's an environmentally friendly way to do this. But the hands got clean and the children had a marvelous time. I returned the (now smaller) clay pieces to the ziploc gallon bags and breathed a sigh of relief.
The conclusion: clay doesn't have to be a demon to work with. But practice your techniques in advance of the big day!
Another wonderful Waldorf modeling book is Arthur Auer's Learning about the World through Modeling. Some good traditional clay books are Children, Clay, And Sculpture
by Cathy Weisman Topal (one of my teachers at Smith) and The Great Clay Adventure: Creative Handbuilding Projects For Young Artistsby Ellen Kong.Stocking Up
Time to stock up on the basics: toilet paper and paper towels. Amazon is the best place for this because you can buy in bulk and they ship right to your door. I like to write the date on the box with Sharpie when I open it, so that I know how long the supply lasts.
48 rolls in a box (500 sheets per roll)
$51.32
30 rolls in a box
$60.29
Plus free shipping. I'm pretty sure this is why God invented basements!
48 rolls in a box (500 sheets per roll)
$51.32
30 rolls in a box
$60.29
Plus free shipping. I'm pretty sure this is why God invented basements!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Endangered Species List
We are doing the Montessori 1st and 2nd Great Lessons (how the earth & universe came to be, how life on earth came to be) as well as Creation stories from many different cultures.
One of these Creation stories we are studying is the Biblical one. My resources for this include The Dreamer
by Cynthia Rylant and Legends of the Bible
by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg (recommended by Live Education! as an important resource for Grade 3 & I wholeheartedly agree).
I tied this lesson into Peace One Day which we will celebrate as a school next week with a school-wide parade. Ever class is creating flags for the procession. Our theme will be endangered animals. Saving (or at the very least being aware of) endangered species is a valuable contribution to Peace around the world. We honor this holiday annually. I am using the templates found in Suzanne Down's wonderful storytelling/puppetry guide Around the World with Finger Puppet Animals to help my students design felt animals representing different endangered species around the world. We will then sew these onto our Peace flags as our cumulative project in the Sewing block.
How did I tie the endangered animal theme into our Creation stories? God entrusted Adam with the care of the animals. He named them after all (this was the excerpt from Ginzberg's book that I read to the class)! Even if this story isn't your belief of how the world was formed, it is true that humans are responsible for their actions and need to be sensitive to how they are treating the planet. I went online to find a list of the endangered species and was thrilled to find a great resource: Worldwide Endangered Animal List. This list can be narrowed by continent. You can also view a worldwide endangered plant list, or a combined list of plants & animals. This site is particularly valuable because it is kept current. It's updated daily.
I sent the link to our school secretary and asked her to print the current list, thinking nothing of it. I was stunned when she told me it was 164 pages!!!! I went and got the list out of my box and it held such a profound visual impact, this thick wad of paper. I kept it hidden from my students until the appropriate point in the discussion, then I went to the cabinet and got out the list. I then placed it in sheet protectors front-to-back and created a binder. My students used the time to create a brainstorm of their flag design, including animals that they thought might be endangered and wanted to research further. Now I have this massive binder at home and their flag designs in front of me, hoping to give each child an animal to further research. I don't think it will be hard. Nearly every animal you can think of is on that list.
Total number of species on the worldwide endangered animal list TODAY:
10,801
One of these Creation stories we are studying is the Biblical one. My resources for this include The Dreamer
by Cynthia Rylant and Legends of the Bibleby Rabbi Louis Ginzberg (recommended by Live Education! as an important resource for Grade 3 & I wholeheartedly agree).I tied this lesson into Peace One Day which we will celebrate as a school next week with a school-wide parade. Ever class is creating flags for the procession. Our theme will be endangered animals. Saving (or at the very least being aware of) endangered species is a valuable contribution to Peace around the world. We honor this holiday annually. I am using the templates found in Suzanne Down's wonderful storytelling/puppetry guide Around the World with Finger Puppet Animals to help my students design felt animals representing different endangered species around the world. We will then sew these onto our Peace flags as our cumulative project in the Sewing block.
How did I tie the endangered animal theme into our Creation stories? God entrusted Adam with the care of the animals. He named them after all (this was the excerpt from Ginzberg's book that I read to the class)! Even if this story isn't your belief of how the world was formed, it is true that humans are responsible for their actions and need to be sensitive to how they are treating the planet. I went online to find a list of the endangered species and was thrilled to find a great resource: Worldwide Endangered Animal List. This list can be narrowed by continent. You can also view a worldwide endangered plant list, or a combined list of plants & animals. This site is particularly valuable because it is kept current. It's updated daily.
I sent the link to our school secretary and asked her to print the current list, thinking nothing of it. I was stunned when she told me it was 164 pages!!!! I went and got the list out of my box and it held such a profound visual impact, this thick wad of paper. I kept it hidden from my students until the appropriate point in the discussion, then I went to the cabinet and got out the list. I then placed it in sheet protectors front-to-back and created a binder. My students used the time to create a brainstorm of their flag design, including animals that they thought might be endangered and wanted to research further. Now I have this massive binder at home and their flag designs in front of me, hoping to give each child an animal to further research. I don't think it will be hard. Nearly every animal you can think of is on that list.
Total number of species on the worldwide endangered animal list TODAY:
10,801
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Immersive Experience
Immersive Experience
Immersive Experience
Immersive Experience
