responsible

This week we connected our exploration and definition of responsible to the introduction of new classroom materials and experiences. This important community work directly connects to and influences our learning.

We are responsible when we are careful with new art materials. 
We are responsible when we unbuild our keva plank structures. 
We are responsible when we take care of our own needs. 

As I introduced new materials this week, we focused on the ways we were responsible as a community. Children reflected on how it feels to make powerful choices and shared how they would be responsible at school; listening, helping, or being in the green zone.

Introducing a new building material, keva planks.

What do you notice about this material?

Keva planks are rectangles, they have straight sides. They are all the same length and height. They are made of wood. 

Watch as I build. How was I responsible with this material?

You were careful when you took it out of the basket. You had an idea. You shared. You unbuilt your structure after.

What else can I build with it?

Shapes, letters, names, or faces!

 

 

The Share

Sebby shares a rocket ship he made. He explains that the rocket ship is going to the moon and that it has special parts that come down for when it lands. Brennan asks about the keva planks on top, making a square shape. Are they stabilizers? Are they a window?

 

When we are responsible in our classroom, we begin to work with more challenging materials and our classroom spaces begin to fill. Our once empty math shelf is now full of materials for exploring shape attributes, counting, and building patterns. Our art shelf is beginning to fill, too. There is paper, scissors, and glue from our Henri Matisse work. There are black pens, colored pencils, and crayons from our representations of kindness, listening, and being responsible.

Connecting back to our line work I introduced two new art materials; sharpies and water color paints. The children used water color paper as their canvas and drew a variety of lines across with a sharpie. They added color with water colors. Their colorful line portraits now live in our classroom as part of our shapes and lines art. Drawing lines will be a choice during our first academic choice.

Again, I named and introduced the materials. We talked about how we are responsible with these materials. We talked about how we can use them and what is important when using a special material, like water color paints. We named and practiced different lines, supporting our growth as printers and artists.

 

 

The Share

Following our active engagement, Myra shared her line portrait with her peers, naming the different lines she used. Perhaps the most powerful part of her share was when she said, "There wasn't pink, and I love pink and wanted pink, so I used red and I'm pretending it's pink!"

Myra and her peers are working on being flexible. When a small problem happens, like not having any pink, we have to be flexible. When we take a moment and think about how we can solve the problem, we are being responsible learners and community members. We celebrated Myra's line portrait and her growth as a responsible problem solver!