the what, how and why of learning in our child-centered classroom.

Monday, February 09, 2009

We're All Fired!

No, this is not part of the current economic situation, but the completion of our first ceramics unit:





CERAMICS
As illustrated above, the class marveled at the transformation of dull pastel tones to vibrant, shiny hues on our ceramics. Note their fascination with the remains of one pinch pot on the paper plate in the center of the table. This item exploded in the kiln, the result of a teacher too eager to fire before it was adequately dried. No worry, though...we'll be rolling in the clay plenty more this year!

TODAY'S STORY
Alpha Oops!, by Althea Kontis, illustrated by Bob Kolar. Z is tired of always having to be last when the alphabet family lines up. He is demanding fair and equal treatment! The letters (more or less) agree to go backwards, but it's not long before P has some ideas of his own. And so does H, for that matter. In fact, it seems as if almost every letter has a different opinion about how the alphabet should be arranged. It's chaos! It's pandemonium! And it's definitely not as easy as A-B-C! Filled with visually humorous details, Bob Kolar's colorful illustrations are the perfect foil for Alethea Kontis's snappy story about the comic confusion that comes when the letters of the alphabet, like a class of unruly children, step out of order and show that each one has a mind of its own.

Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home