Preschool and Kindergarten Ateliers 1/18/07

Three-year-old class

Chalk:
Over the past couple of weeks, the three-year-old class has been exploring chalk. The first week we provided dry chalk and paper for the children to work with. This past week we provided little containers of water for them to dip the chalk into to extend their investigation. Some of the children noticed that the chalk glided across the page, while others noticed the water itself changing color from the chalk being dipped into it. MN ground up the chalk into the water, creating thick chalk paint, which then was used by other students to paint with. LP discovered after turning over her picture that a print was made on her paper of the bumpy tablecloth. After children explored with the wet chalk, we provided pieces of fabric, ribbon, and leaves for the children to print with as LP had done the week before.

Four-year-old class

Paper:
In last week's reflection meeting, we talked for the first time about working with paper as a material. After the children had noticed that paper had many different textures, colors, and even sounds, one student demonstrated how one piece of paper was so light you could blow on it and it would fall back to the ground slowly.

After this the children tried doing the same with a heavier piece of paper, but it dropped much faster. The children also realized that paper has different weights.

We asked the children what else could we use paper for or do with it. The ideas of using glue, water, and perhaps tape came up. Because of this interest, this week we introduced wheat paste (papier-mache) to the paper. Children began to notice many things about this material and the ways they could use it. Some children said that the wheat paste smelled like baby food, while others noticed the texture of it was soft and squishy. Children squished the paper into balls, sculpted runways for planes, and created shapes and designs with the paper they had used the previous week. Above is a piece that this student has been working on for the past two days.

Ms. Hoddick's and Ms. Hitomi’s classes

This week we worked with clay. The children learned about where clay comes from, how to wedge clay, and how to build coil pots and pinch pots. We also discussed what units the children have been studying in their classrooms and some of the things that the children want to know more about. Next week I will post some of the ideas that came out of these discussions.

Posted on January 19, 2007 8:23 AM | Permalink