Last I wrote I had introduced Mi to the students, and now I continue to periodically refer to the visual aid in the classroom. We are beginning a big project this week that will continue for at least the next two sessions--taking us into Feb. I am working with a team of colleagues to document this project via video, journal reflections, photos, maybe even reflections from this blog, in an attempt to "show" what MI looks like in the classroom.
The project is "Weaving Traditions in our Lives" and is based on a grant I received to purchase looms, yarn, related books, etc. Our year long arc is "Time, Traditions, and Changes", and I am beginning this project under the theme traditions. But let me back track a bit first....
Last session the primates were obsessed with the book: "The Spider and the Fly"--an old poem illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. The illustrations are all black and white and are beautiful--a Caldecott winner, I believe. So we read the poem several times, and I found a cool activity to extend the story. I played a piece of music--different from the one recommended in the lesson, but this piece worked well...Mozart's Den Vienialla Finestra, which is about 2minutes long. One student was designated the spider, one the fly, and the rest were each a piece of the web. We did this in two groups. Each group acted out the story of the spider "spinning" the web--the web kids formed a web, and the fly kid was enticed by the spider and finally captured. I gave each group 5 minutes to plan, and I have to say...I was blown away by the little skits they created. This activity required teamwork on the fly, which is so difficult at this age, and the ability to tell a story without words, and they all did it--beautifully. I recorded the activity in photos, as the video camera was not available, but I may do it again because it was so great.
Realizing that spiders are actually nature's great weavers, I feel this was a good intro. I had planned to have the primates make webs using yarn and some round looms, but I just couldn't make it work, so instead we did the old marble painting on a piece of black paper and attached plastic spiders and flies.
Today we began session two, and I started the day with a Native American "full moon story" for the 12th moon--which is November. We also did a drumming activity where the primates have to walk around me (with the drum) in a circle to the beat I am playing. The beat is slow and soft, so they have to listen and coordinate. It's an activity from a Native American awareness game I read about--somewhat modified. The primates had much trouble listening and moving to the beat, and also moving together in a circle without landing on top of me in the middle. We will do this every morning at circle time this week, and hopefully improve our coordination & listening. Next week I'd like to let a primate take over the drum beat. We'll see how it goes.....
Tomorrow I will add a paper weaving choice to after snack choice time, which is twice daily. This will allow primates to begin messing about with the concept of weaving--one over, one under. Whatever is produced will stay in school. I am not looking for products at this point, only process. It will also give me a glimpse of fine motor ability within the group. Next week I will add another weaving choice.
We also worked on building fairy houses outside our classroom window. Fairy houses were a wonderful project I did last year, so half the class were already experts and shared their skills with the new primates. We are collecting natural materials and I hope to do a lesson on weaving branches to create a fence for the fairy houses. I am making connections to a very popular project from last year. One of the worst things schools do is introduce a project or concept, and then never revisit. I believe it is only when we revisit topics over and over, that primates are able to authentically transfer their learning and cement it in their brains for the long term. Learning takes time, repetition, and patience.
On another note, I mentioned earlier that a big theme this year is "use your mistakes", and I have adjusted that to "don't waste your mistakes". I think it's a more catchy line. It fits perfectly into this weaving project. One of my Navajo weaving stories includes a grandmother's advice to her grandchild, "sometimes unweaving is as important as weaving". This is a tough thing for me to swallow as an avid crafter/knitter--it kills me to undo rows of knitting or crocheting because of one mistake realized too late, but unweaving, or "un-knitting" in order to not waste the mistake is the lesson in itself. It requires the creator to be patient, take time, and pay close attention in order to create a piece of quality work. I look forward to sharpening my skills in this area!
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