San Francisco Days!

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
We are hitting our stride with discovering our fair city of San Francisco. It began last week with the introduction of photos, surveys and stories. These were followed by several mini-activities meant to stimulate thinking about where we live:

• Draw your favorite animal at the zoo.
• Paint your favorite place.
• Draw your house.
• Make a handprint for a tree.

In doing these activities the children were developing their visual communication skills, using highly descriptive and narrative drawing. They exercised their language skills as they conversed about some of the same and different places they had been. They refined their drawing, painting and cutting skills tremendously. Our room looked like it had snowed by the end of each day.

Initially, we had hoped to build a "bank" of images that they could use for our collage pieces. Instead, they developed their skills of observation and visualization so well that they keep producing more and more buildings, animals, creatures, cars, roads, robots and people that this unit will likely continue for a while.

Take a gander at these beautiful collages, done collaboratively with a bare minimum assistance from the teachers. Students were responsible for making and placing their elements. These photos were taken at the halfway point, and I'm missing the "Painted Ladies of Alamo Square."

Lombard Street

San Francisco Zoo

Downtown

The Golden Gate (complete with sea life)

One student was so excited by the whole process that he exclaimed, "We should make all the things bigger and put them on the walls so our whole room IS San Francisco!"

I think he's onto something.


TODAY'S STORY
Maybelle The Cable Car, by Virginia Lee Burton, who went to art school here in San Francisco many decades ago. It very succinctly tells the tale of how one cable car saw San Francisco grow from a small village to a prosperous, major city that considered eliminating the cable cars altogether. It chronicles the grassroots effort of citizens to successfully preserve this history that was almost lost entirely.

She is, by far, my favorite author of children's books. We all should be able to recall Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel and The Little House. The concepts of time and evolution recurring theme in Burton's work. Each story maintains a constant in the characters, whose challenge is to remain useful and vital as the world changes around them. That the story of Maybelle is non-fiction (aside from vehicles that talk to each other with bells and horns) further reinforces the human connection. The book ends as it began.

"..when the city felt small and friendly, and everyone knew everyone else..."

Here's an interactive animation that shows HOW CABLE CARS WORK!

Trees...outside our window!

TODAY'S ACTIVITIES

Today we made handprint trees for our San Francisco project. When asked what else we need to make for our collages, someone pointed out the window and said, "Trees!" They all agreed, and we proceeded to make the leafy parts with handprints they will cut out and glue to trunks when dry.

We also rolled out big areas of color, for the water, land and sky that surround our fair city. The children will do all the cutting, tearing and composing of the hills, buildings, animals, bridges and people. It's coming along...




TODAY'S STORY
Journey Around San Francisco, A-Z, by Martha Day Zsebock. A friendly pelican guides explorers of all ages on a beautiful and fun tour of the City, pointing out intriguing sights and fascinating history along the way. Each letter is accompanied by a vivid watercolor illustration and alliteration (all words in the sentence starting with the same letter). The biggest challenge is trying to get complete the book when each person has a full story to tell about each illustration. We're going to have to write our own book about San Francisco, I think.

In the afternoon, Madrid's 7 year-old sister, Bella, read the book to us in the afternoon. She is a regular in our Room 4 Alumni Reader program.

Where We Live

Sheyla's house with a rainbow outside.

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
Today, we worked on drawings of our houses to collage on the hills of a San Francisco. This sparked a great discussion among the children. They carefully described their houses to one another (color, shape, doors, windows, steps, etc...) "so you will know which one when you come over to play."

This synthesis of art, descriptive language and socialization really made my day.

Tomorrow, we will be painting lots of greens, blues and grays to cut out hills, water and roads for cars, buses, trains and cable cars.


Alexander's house, with "my brother Julian waiting for me."

TODAY'S STORY
This Is San Francisco, by M. Sasek. Trained as an architect, Miraslav Sasek produced a great number of "This Is..." books about various international cities for children. As a long-time collector, I have always marveled at the whimsical, yet uncannily accurate illustrations in each volume. The version I read was a first edition from 1962, which meant that a few of the things illustrated have since changed. Thankfully, ours is a city and community that values our proud history, and the F-Market streetcars, cable cars and much of our architecture remains intact, much to their joy and confidence.

Most of his "This is..." series has been republished. Having developed a cult following with graphic artists, good early examples commanded $80-140. I have no idea if my first editions are affected in value. But it doesn't matter, because we love reading them so much. Fortunately, my super-sleuthing-kindergarten-teaching wife found for me a few exceptionally rare titles that will never be re-published.

Views of San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge with a Crocodile in the Water by Mollie

This week we've been studying San Francisco. We'll continue at least through next week and well beyond, judging by the enthusiasm of our class. Recently we were invited to submit artwork for a "Children's View of San Francisco" exhibit. Watch upcoming blog posts for details.

The Ocean Hills and That's The Fog Going Over It by Alexander

We began the week by surveying what our classmates know about the city and what they love the most. The students have been drawing their own interpretations of bridges, most notably the Golden Gate. After the bridge, the most notable icons are the SF Zoo and Cable Cars.



All our pieces will be mixed media, collaborative collages, combining elements created by and arranged at least 4-6 students. Our students are VERY intent on sharpening their cutting skills. (pun totally intended) We have had an explosion in figurative drawing, and almost every figure, animal, design and scribble gets cut out by someone shortly after it is created. Combining all these individual gems is a fantastic way to create something together without diluting the purity of each little creation. We can't wait to see how they turn out!

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
Crayon Resist Watercolors. Draw with crayons. Paint watercolor over it. Marvel at the high contrast, 'glowing' colors that emerge.

I began with a demonstration comparing crayons to markers with this process. The class liked how the crayon stripes on the tiger 'popped' when the orange was applied. They seemed equally disappointed when the marker leopard turned a dingy green when yellow was applied. Rather than present it as a right way/wrong way, I always use our scientific discovery language of, "What do you think will happen?" "What happened?" "Why did it do that?"

We began by drawing animals and people we love to see at the zoo with crayons. The students loved seeing their drawings in a new way, clear, with broad strokes of color.

Oops! Due to technical difficulties uploading photos at present, I have to continue with tomorrow's post. No worries, I keep good notes and I'll be backtracking to fill in some of the missing items as the program allows.

Blast Off!

Ready for takeoff, in 3...2...1...

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
Today, we repeated our chemistry experiment with a new twist. As in scientific inquiry, it makes sense to change one aspect of an experiment to quantify any changes in results. In today's experiment, we replace the balloon with a cork in the bottle top.

1. Examine the different properties of the balloon and the cork. The balloon is "stretchy", "blows up" and has an "inside where the air goes." The cork is "like wood" and "stays the same."
2. Predict what will happen, based on what we observed yesterday with the balloon. Pretty much everyone agreed that the cork would "cannonball" or "blast-off".
3. We conducted the experiment several times. Sure enough, when the "bubbles" built up in the bottle, they created enough pressure to blow the cork a good 30 ft. into the air!
   On our last try, we used twice as much "fuel" and netted two "blastoffs" without refilling.
   

Tomorrow: Vacuum in the Bottle
We're using the same basic equipment all week for a variety of experiments.
Note: Large Martinelli Apple Juice bottles are perfect if you want to try these at home - the base is large enough for easy observation, the neck is perfect for a balloon, champagne cork or mystery object we'll use for tomorrow's experiment.

TODAY'S STORY
Bigger Than Daddy, by Harriet Ziefert. Little Edward wants onthing more than to be big like his daddy. After imagining how big he'll grow, he and his father reverse roles. Dad plays the part to the point of not being able to prepare dinner for "being too little." Edward resets their roles to enable dinner, bath time and bedtime with a gentle kiss goodnight.

Science and Imagination

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
Today we introduced the term CHEMISTRY. While we use it weekly in mixing and cooking, we only used the term today. Our little chemists examined the effect of baking soda and vinegar when mixed together in a small cup.

The Experiment: Balloon Blow-Up.

1. We began by describing properties of each. Terms such as "liquid", "smelly" and "looks like water" described the vinegar. The baking soda was described as "white", "like sugar, but doesn't taste good", and "powdery."
2. We poured 2 cups of vinegar into our bottle.
3. Recognizing that the chemical reaction is immediate, we needed a way to put the balloon on before adding the baking soda. The solution? Use a funnel to put it into the balloon before fastening it to the bottle opening.
4. Once secure, tip the balloon upward, shaking the baking soda into the bottle - and Viola! The balloon inflates.

Before repeating the experiment, as we did numerous times, rinse the bottle and fill to the top to dispel the carbon dioxide. When you pour the water out the vacuum refills the bottle with fresh, oxygen-rich air.

Tomorrow: The Launcher.

TODAY'S STORIES:
Today, we read two stories that involve imagination. One is a literal depiction of the value of imaginary play. The other is imagining both a dramatic story and a better, more tolerant world. First the latter:

Amazing Grace, by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch. Grace is a very creative girl with a vivid imagination. More than anything else, she loves to act out her favorite stories. She signs up for the lead in the school production of Peter Pan. Her classmates are skeptical, at first, because of her race and gender. With a her audition, those misconceptions are quickly put to rest as her classmates vote unanimously to cast her in the lead role.



Not A Box, by Antionette Portis. This is probably one of the best realized books in concept (and content) I've ever come across. Though very simple in appearance, its implications for imagination and creativity are delightful, heralding my favorite toy ever for children - a box.
The illustrations are simple and direct for the youngest. The literary pattern is repetitive and predictable for emerging readers, old enough to discern the real and imaginary elements.

The pattern goes like this:
"Why are you sitting in a box?"
"It's not a box." (shows imaginary race car in red overlay)
"Why are you standing on a box?"
I said, it's not a box (shows imaginary mountain top in red overlay)

...and so it goes. Best of all, it triggers the their imaginations and discussion about what it might be for them. It doesn't get better than age four for this. Enjoy!

Liberry? I love the LIBERRY!

VISITING LIBRARIAN
Today, our afternoon "drama" session was co-opted by a visit from a SF Librarian, or as she introduced herself, the Book Lady. She read four stories, interspersing some simple fingerplays and songs to refocus and relieve tension from their kinetic little bodies. The two favorites were Dear Zoo and Kitten's First Moon.

In the pop-up, Dear Zoo, a child requests an animal to have for a pet. The zoo sends several that are unsuitable before delivering a dog. The children loved guessing what was inside, based on box proportions and other clues.

In Kitten's First Moon, she chases the moon, thinking it is a bowl of milk in the sky. She mistakes a reflection in the water for a big bowl of milk and has quite a wet surprise when she goes after it. The children were well versed in this concept, as it is a climactic moment in a story currently popular in our classroom, The River Dragon.

Mouse In A Dish For Bongo, by Alexander.

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
Bright Sand Collages. Sonya had wrapped several pieces of cardboard in aluminium foil for the children to glue patterns of brightly colored sand. The highly reflective surface of the foil gives the semi-translucent colored salt a shimmering quality.

TODAY'S STORY
Little One, by Ann and Paul Rand. Paul Rand is one of the most famous and influential graphic designers of the modern era. This story began as an exercise to have fun with the number concept and evolved into this counting book. Little One is lonely and wants desperately to find friends and fit in. After being turned away by two pears, three bears, etc...he eventually finds zero, who was nothing without him. Together they make "10" and enjoy a game of stick and hoop, becoming good friends.

You can easily spot Rand's style in thousands of graphics, albums and advertisements from the 50s and 60s and beyond to this day. One of his students at Yale was Clarence Lee, a graphic designer who designed the Chinese New Year series of stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. How about that?

Your Space, My Space

NOTICE: PICTURE DAY POSTPONED TO MARCH 13

(due to weather)

Nadia and Sebastian composing with our new colors on our CLEAN easel.

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
Today the groups switched the same activities as yesterday, with the Squirrels doing the color mixing and the Raccoons doing movement and athletics outside.

This morning, students chipped in to help maintain their work space. This is such an important goal. They helped clean the easel, trays, brushes and paint pots. The painters were even keen on wiping down the easel after removing their paintings to dry. The finishing touch was refilling the paint pots and putting their color-mixing skills to good use, especially when formulating green.

Mollie: "You have to put in yellow and then a little blue to get green."
Nadia: "Yeah, if you put in blue first, it still makes blue, not green."

Smart painters.

TODAY'S STORY
Fancy Nancy, by Jane O'Connor and Robin Priess Glasser. Nancy believes that more is ALWAYS better when it comes to being fancy. From the top of her tiara down to her sparkly studded shoes, Nancy is determined to teach her family a thing or two about being fancy. How Nancy transforms her parents and little sister for one enchanted evening makes for a story that is funny and warm -- with or without the frills. The highest praise came from our little he-men who declared the book too girly at the start, recanting their judgement when they saw how "Cool" the dad looked with his sunglasses and kid-sized top hat. Look out, Project Runway!