Today was one of those wonderful, yet rare days when everything comes together just like it did in my imagination! The children participated in 2 powerful learning experiences and had the time of their lives doing it.
First, we made our Pete the Cat project, in response to reading our very cool Pete the Cat books.
I wouldn't classify it as art, because they were all supposed to look similar, but we practiced skills that will make us better artists. Each child was responsible for collecting the materials that they needed for their "Pete", then they had to assemble them to look like a cat. Each tray was labeled with the number of "body parts" they were supposed to take. 1 body, 2 ears, 1 nose, 6 whiskers...
They did an amazing job collecting their pieces. They were very careful and diligent in their work. It takes some serious spatial sense to be able to turn random pieces of paper into cats!
Although they all had the same pieces, the cats all had their own "flare" (like a fifth leg!)
"Miss" Georgia inadvertently failed to provide tails for the cats. No problem, they just made their own. One child used triangles, one used a whisker, and one a blue leg.
Our special book today was Pete the Cat, Rocking in my School Shoes.
This was a great time to talk about music and sound and the science of how it is made. To visually explain sound, we placed beans on the drum and beat it. Those beans just jumped all around! Then we hit the rhythm sticks together and really tried to feel the vibration in our hands
We listened to several instruments and talked about how we thought they manipulated air to create sound.
Then is was time to make our own noise!
Each child was charged with creating their own instrument, the only qualifier was that it has to make noise.
Each child used their imagination and all the tools provided to build their instrument. They has access to rubber bands, tape, hole punchers, steamers, balloons, stickers, markers, beans, rice, funnels... and anything else they needed.
It was so neat to see them working together, experimenting, hypothesizing, testing, and retesting, and collaborating with other scientists.
It was far less chaotic than I though it would be! Everyone was so engaged in the process.
In the end, each child shared the sound their instrument made, and told us how they made it. Some instruments, like this one, were very versatile. You can play it right side up, or upside down, or even shake it!
It was a joyful noise in our classroom!
Amazing how a recycling bin can turn into a fabulous lesson...
How cute are we in our Peace, Love and Kindergarten Tees!
We ended our time together with a parade, celebrating our send off to kindergarten! I am so sad to see them go, but happy for them as they head of to "Rock" in Kindergarten!!!
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