How are clothes made?

A few weeks ago, I shared some pictures of a little American girl who makes amazing paper dresses with her mom. You can see it here. Some of our students were interested in making clothes for our dolls, and I was hoping the pictures would inspire them to make their own clothes.

It fizzled. No one was interested and they moved on to other projects. Then yesterday, out of the blue, Lily wanted to see the pictures of the "real life girl with the dresses" again. It seems she just needed a little time to process what she saw and to come up with her own ideas.

We looked at the post again, and decided to try making our own paper dresses. Before we started, I wanted to spark some inquiry with the following question:

"How are clothes made?"

The girls took out their extra clothes and we turned them inside out to see how they are put together.

"It has like knitting on the inside. Someone sewed it up."

"There are sleeves and a body part. And tags. And buttons."

There were lots of giggles when we got to the undies...and we had an interesting conversation about elastic!

Next, I took one of my extra shirts and started to cut it apart so we could see the components. This scandalized the girls (how wasteful!) and we all had a good laugh! They wanted to try on the pieces to see if it could be made whole again.

Maci and Lauren noticed that when the shirt had the sleeves and side seams cut off, they looked a lot like our blue painting smocks.

Now that they understood the basics of how a shirt is constructed, it was time to plan their own creations.

We gathered materials and began experimenting. They quickly discovered that it is a lot easier to work with a partner. Hmmm...maybe we need some child-sized dummies?

As they admired the creations in the mirror, it was clear the pride and transformation they felt.

As we launch into this project, I wonder how far it will go. Where will the children take us? What will they teach me?

Grab Bag

We take dozens of photos every day to help document the learning in our room. We use the camera to make learning visible to the students and for parents to see here on the blog.

Often I'll have pictures leftover that capture some wonderful learning, but aren't part of a series that I can turn into a blog post. That's where the "grab bag" comes in. I'll be posting single activity photos in a big Grab Bag post from time to time.

To give you some perspective on how busy our class of 28 is, these photos were taken over about two hours of play (two play blocks), and only represent a small slice of what went on.

Sandbox is a favourite for many boys. They use it to build and to do small-world imaginative play with cars.

Some girls have been making clothes for our dolls.

Our ramps and pathways project is starting to expand into bridges and enclosures.

These toys foster constructive play, imagination, and fine-motor skills.

Jaydyn made an alien, which she later turned into a mask.

The shaving cream continues to be a sensory delight.

The Kapla blocks are perfect for building enclosures for Pet Shop figures.

Joe is working with Miss Long to expand his small-world imaginative play using the pattern blocks, tape, and a stapler.

Ms Mann helped some girl explore shades of pink with the finger paint. See how they stand up and  engage their whole bodies in the experience.

This pathway and ramp was developed during a full hour of play. The boys worked co-operatively as a team to make a race track for our new cars. It's a shame we don't have the space to leave projects like this up long-term to see how they can evolve over days and weeks.

Cool moves

Jimmy showed us some more advanced breakdancing moves this week. Some Grade 6 helpers joined us to do some partner work.

 Here's the Electric Pyramid:

You can't see in in the pictures, but the Grade 6 helpers are actually slowly moving side to side or walking on their hands and knees.

This is the Tower, where the students use a helper to lean forward as far as they can go. It takes some trust and some core strength to get it right.

They got so strong, they even held up the helpers!

And finally, the Teeter Totter, which really should be seen in action. The pictures don't do it justice! It seems like magic when it's done well. The children levitate off the ground, using leverage and a fulcrum.

This week's class with Jimmy was fast paced, hands on and highly physical. It is a joy watching our students gain confidence and trust as they work with Jimmy. Can't wait to see what we do next week!

"Feels like....smooshie."

After you explorations with black and white, we were ready to start exploring grey. We used a new material to drive engagement - shaving cream!

As the children started to engage in the experience, they used lots of language to describe the new sensations. 

"It feels like a marhmallow and looks like a cloud."

"Feels like melted chocolate."

"It feels like.....smooshie."

"It is soft and squishy and smooth and cold."

"It's like ice cream. Or icing."

The experience is highly sensory, with a wonderful smell and a silky feel. If you are looking for a quick activity at home, try it out on the kitchen table. If you're not quite so brave, try in in the bath tub on the walls!

Opposites Attract

Black and white is sometimes overlooked as we rush to the rainbow of colours at our disposal. In the art studio, we slowed down and did a study of black and white while learning brush techniques and the properties of tempera paint.

The combination on black and white is all about contrasts and opposites. The black paint is a bold mark on the white paper, while the white is more timid no matter where it is applied. When the two shades met each other, they created a variety of grey tones, no too exactly alike. As the children worked, they told stories of storm clouds and silver coins, of rain and grey kittens.

As each child made their marks and expressed themselves using the simple combination, their personal voices started to emerge. The two opposite paintings were anything but- their similarities revealed a personal style and a unique voice in each child.

 Can you see how the paintings are similar? Different? What does it reveal about the artist?

 Here's a video of the artists at work:

Breakdancing with Jimmy

Jimmy Chapman came to Chemong to teach us some cool breakdancing moves!

He taught seat spins, donkey kicks, spaceships, and the wave. 

We learned how to pose with "style" and how to "stand cool". 

He also shared some hilarious jokes and did some serious clowning around. We can't wait until next Wednesday when we see him again!