anonymous white napkin

Couple weeks ago went to RE 'Wonder of Learning' Exhibit at the Steinbeck Center.

Couple weeks ago had the rich opportunity to be inspired in person by the stories of Dr. Lella Gandini.

what if you explored a napkin? what if you really really looked at it as Special?

Still letting it all sink in.

Letting words, ideas, and images soak in.

Letting the affects really take hold.

That's how it works for me.

Listening, watching, taking notes.

Relying on these experiences to change me as an educator, to make me a better facilitator for children and new teachers, and to afford me a new lens to really see learning in a new way.

Ideally, as well, relying on these experiences to steal away at least one: "Aha! I have not thought about THAT in THAT WAY before..."

My steal away this time, in particular, had to do with part of the Exhibit that showcased the exploration of White and White and White. Children explored different white papers, textures, and properties of white on its own and what happens to white when manipulated. 

The White Napkin.

It was fascinating to think about the Study of Something that usually is a tool in our everyday lives, as though it itself is already known because we use it. Aha! But perhaps it is not really known very well at all...

The Diana Preschool's White and White Project with 3s & 4s suggest to us:

"A paper napkin on a table is an anonymous object camouflaged by daily use and presence. A customary material which when explored reveals many properties. It is white, lightweight, soft and delicate and just slightly rough to the touch. In layers it obscures light but when unfolded it is almost transparent...Hands, mind and material come together to know each other."

Thoughtful and deliberate exploration of something the children USE daily. 

Have you ever thought of this kind of exploration?

Have you ever given something so simple such focus?

Dr. Lella Gandini: "Young children are not yet attached to their ideas and are willing to test, risk, change and make mistakes."

Let the children explore something we might think is obvious.

Look around your classroom. What might that be?

Look for the anonymous. Look at it Special.

The Diana School: "It is special when we look at it special."

Yep, still letting it all soak in.  Yep.

math sightings

diverse materials, deliberate placement, space, lines, rows.

Early childhood math.
Could look like so many things.
So many many things.
Think exploration.
Think diverse materials.
Think open-ended.
Notice hand-eye coordination.
Notice pattern.
Notice geometry.

You can think that math has to look the way YOU understand math...Yet, how wonderful to have math look how CHILDREN understand math.

vertical experiences with small objects: color, shapes, and whimsy.

geometry, half, quarter, pizza slice; solid color & rainbow circles.

small motor, triangles, squares, rubberbands, paper/pencil copy.

partner experience with unusual block puzzle...exploring balance and design.

kapla and wood blocks, dinosaurs: intentional design, purposeful placement.

car line parallel to large block structure; top, cube blocks center spaced within each wood brick.

can you crayon and water color your own shapes and patterns?

creating a circle using cube blocks takes focus and curving and rethinking.

these paper shapes were placed exactly where this child wanted them - size, shape, color.

creating patterns with friends using pegs, dominoes, and colorful bugs.

variety of colors of rubberbands to complete this star design.

using peg boards right-side-up and then up-side-down, pegs supporting a second level of work, bears and dominoes in rows...this kind of work is no accident.

Look for math around your classroom.
You will see it everywhere.
Use the language, interpret the work, scaffold the 'almost there' idea of patterns and math sense.
Provide the materials that allows for the exploration and thinking of numbers, shapes, patterns.
Math sightings occur daily... get your camera ready.

this is a challenge game to identify a friend's pattern and then to REcreate it!

let there be tape

Tape.

paper strips, TAPE in place, eyes and nose attached.

There is so much to be said for tape.
[Ideally, schools have tape available for children's use - it is a perfect item to eternally have on your 'wish list' for parents and visitors to donate to your classroom.]


We have lots of name for our different tape: Clear tape, Colored Tape, Skinny Tape, Wide Tape, Double Stick Tape. Once children realize they are allowed to USE the tape, then the creations are fabulous and endless.

paper party hats, yarn, scraps, staples...and TAPE.

Sure, perhaps initially there is over-use as children are fascinated with P-U-L-L-I-N-G the tape off the roll.



Yet, that exploration is the same as the giant puddle of glue on a blank piece of paper as the glue bottle is upside-down and s-q-u-e-e-z-e-d endlessly.

 So, after the big pull of tape (maybe a few times, sure) then there is room for some "oh, I see you are interested in the tape...what were you hoping to do with this long bit of sticky tape?"

marker note, cut and ripped paper, framed, sealed with TAPE.

Then children take the looonnngggggg piece of tape they just pulled...Maybe it'll just be bundled in a ball - ohh, that could be interesting.
Maybe it'll just be stuck to the table - hhmm, that could be interesting.
Maybe something else (artwork, the child's hands, a friend's sleeve) accidentally would get stuck to it - yes, that would be interesting.

butterfly, rhino, elephant, bunny, turtle...crumpled paper and TAPE!

Start the conversation of exploring with tape.

How it feels. What it does. What it can do.

What YOU can invent with IT.

 Tape is a tool.
Let there be tape.