1. One of the most rewarding outcomes for an early childhood classroom is when the children in agroup initiate their own play, work well together, and keep at it for an extended period of time. In the following presentations we will be representing facilitated learning time and projectsthat have been on going since the beginning of the school year.

2. The Bridges project began whenwe notice the children spentlong periods of time looking outour classroom window trying tosee the Golden Gate Bridge andthe Bay Bridge. 3. We also observed them building roads and train tracks that weaved their way around, through andunder the cabinets and tables in the classroom. 4. LEARNING WITH BLOCKSSeptember2012We introduced ways of creating those roads and trains tracks so that they go over and under each other. Theybegan trying to construct bridges out of classroom materials. Being the block and construction room, we had plentyof wooden blocks and lincoln logs for the children to use. As we brought in books for provocation, the childrenbegan to use them as a resource. They used them to solve math problems such as how many bases and supports aparticular bridge might need. 5. Leo:It is about 5.Herschel:5 what?Leo:About 5 numbers.Herschel:Okay we can measure everythingwith 5 numbers.Ellie:I think that might be feet instead of numbers. As they progressed and manyKaren:If it helps, a ruler is made up of 12 inches. attempts to create a stable set ofLeo:I mean 5 inches.bases, the children brought out aruler to measure each base andcreate equal sized bases. 6. The next step was to make sure they were spaced equally, again using the ruler to guarantee thecorrect distance. The children spent time negotiating, trying different hypothesis and eventually success. 7. - Alexander building San Francisco After the children accomplished the bridgeJohnny creating the safety features ofout of blocks, a different group of childrendecided that they needed to build the citythe walkwayinfrastructure that bridges generally havearound them. 8. These are the arches and ramps for cars andpeople to get to the bridge. - Kaden and Roxie 9. Investigating and Observing As the interest in bridges continued, we began to experiment with different types of bridges. Here we are demonstrating flat versus arched. We discussed why and how bridges support the weight of different types of vehicles and what happens when too much force or weight is appliedEverett testing out his hypothesis of bridges 10. Exploring Bridges Through Multiple Mediums As our investigation of bridges progressed, we brought the project to the art studio. Ellie Pencil, water color, and pastels September 2012 11. Here the children were given different mediums to express their creativity with bridges. Ariella Pencil and Paper StrawsSeptember 2012 12. Some chose to draw and paint, others chose tocreate three dimensional versions of their drawings.Benny Paper Straws Johnny Pencil Drawing September 2012 September 2012 13. BUILDING A BRIDGEUsing a science book on Bridges for provocation, the children took to building their own bridge.They used their knowledge of bridges to create a bridge that would be a representation of asuspension bridge.. 14. The children worked together as a team. They negotiated conflicts, worked with different perspectives, took responsibilityfor group discussions and each created their own role in the building process. 15. WE BUILT THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE!! 16. NEXT STEPS. Fieldtrip to the Golden Gate Bridge, Building San Francisco Creating a diorama of San Francisco Explore How Things Work: The Brain Ellies Mom is coming in to talk about All thingsBrains! Elevators, Cable Cars , Trains Visit to the Cable Car Museum 17. BRIDGE OF COLOR OCTOBER 2012 JANUARY 2013 18. October 2012 Visiting Katz Snyder Gallery La Habana Exhibit The children have spent many years now engaged in the different exhibits in the Katz SnyderGallery. And have become friends with Lenore Naxon, the curator. We were visiting the galleryand observing the exhibit Habana , 19. And were in discussion about arches and how they are used to support buildings as well as bridges. A photograph and drawing titled The Five Arches October 2012 20. One child pointed out to another that the sculpture in the atrium looks like an arch bridge. We were fortunate enough to have a visit with Lenore and she explained that the sculpture was called the Bridge of Breath. That seemed odd to many of the children. First of all, you can not see your breath said Roxie, The children began a discussion on why it was called that because it was so filled with color. They were not satisfied with Lenores answers so we soon set out to build our own Bridge of Color.EverettAge 4RoxieAge 4 21. DESIGN The children had ideas of how to go about creating this sculpture. We looked around the building at different pieces of art and decided whether it was a sculpture. Jen introduced Alexander Caulders work to us. The children gathered as much information as they could about design and materials.October2012 22. The children spent time conversing, working together or on their own to create their ideas for theirproject. 23. Each child had a different perspective on what the bridge of color should look like. Working with Jen, we wondered if each child in the group created their own design, how might the idea of creating adesign on paper turn into reality. 24. Drawing their theories gave them time to absorb and sort out the ideas that came up in theirconversations. 25. I thought that seeing these ideas on paper might serve as a visual communication tool for eachothers ideas, 26. stimulate some further language, and extend their thinking. 27. Mastering the materials The children were given time to explore/ work with materials. Herschel uses the hand drill to make a hole that isnt too deep; demonstrating his ability to control the speedand depth of the drill bit. Everett uses a pair of wire pliers that he has learned to twist and bend wire with; demonstrating his ability forfine motor control and sequencing. November 2012 28. To encourage children to initiate there own activities and work collaboratively: they need to build confidence in their abilities to use materials and tools, Try out their hypothesis, And add their own ideas and actions. Roxie demonstrates her hand eye coordination while using the pliers 29. In the next few slides the childrens work is represented as before and after. Some children have chosen to write a brief description of their work. Noe testing her theory on painting the base. 30. KADEN 31. HERSCHELThese intricate ideas and their drawings provide a window to the serious thought and developing understandingsthat children can uncover through a process together. 32. ROXIE 33. EVERETT Each child brought their ownideas into thisinvestigation, developedtheories based on thoseideas, and bounced thosetheories off each other. 34. NOE They added layers of thinking by continually contributing to the process and listening toeach other. 35. BENNY The story of the Bridge of color shows how excited children can be when thinking through theirideas. Their excitement leads them to greater investment in the learning process. 36. NEXT STEPS Revisit the Bridge of Breath. Bring in other children from othergroups and classes. Ariella and Tae have joined the group. Gather materials. Create a group sculpture. Share our work with Lenore. 37. COLOREXPLORATION 38. The childrens delight and amazement in response to mixing water colors came about because although they hadmixed paint colors repeatedly in their own explorations, they had never thought about controlling the process.We created a color chart identifying the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. 39. We guided the childrens explorations as they began to ask how to make a color or a set of colors. 40. We explained how to use the droppers, test tubes, and culture trays. 41. After the children watched our demonstration , we invited them to try. 42. The children dove right in , excitedly calling out their new discoveries to each other; look Imade orange. Wow, look at this! I turned it into green. 43. Leo Look I made a rainbow! 44. Sharing the color mixing experience with children from the Gimel class. 45. Color and Light Exploration- Fieldtrip To ExploratoriumTo enhance our color project, we took a fieldtrip to the Exploratorium. 46. Light and Color- Light TableUsing ideas and experiences with color and light, we set up a light table in theclassroom. 47. The use of light, color and mirrors 48. Recycled materials with color and light. 49. Finding Color provocations through out the JCCSF 50. Finding Inspiration from the Vov classNear the Vov classroom is a color project that was created by a class a few years back.The children drew upon that concept and began work on their own color project. 51. Sorting and Mixing Colors 52. Painting and Gluing 53. Creating a community color canvas with Gimel 54. Arranging colors on the canvas 55. Community Color Canvas ProjectOctober December 2012 56. NEXT STEPSCreating Color Recipes Making our own colors Our next steps are to create a color recipe book and create our own colors for Gan Katan. Creating displays of the efforts of different groups, drawing attention of the children to each others work. And Creating a thread to weave between the GK classrooms as well as the rest of the preschool community. 57. Exploring different Music Concepts and InstrumentsMUSIC 58. WRITING MUSIC / MUSIC THEORYThis year Jonathan is trying something a bit different than in previous years. He has begun to lead afacilitated learning experience around music. The year began by looking at what music looks like on paper. Jonathan wrote out a song that he frequently sings with the children. Feeling inspired, Riley wrote out a song for Jonathan. 59. EXPLODINGGUITAR The first hands on project with Jonathan this year has been to explore a guitar. We began with a diagram and broken guitar. 60. The children worked quicklyto take the guitar apart andlocate the parts on thediagram 61. Making Hiya Buta ButasMusic is a key piece in most every culture. It brings people together andbuilds a community. In bringing three groups of children together, we alsofound a connection to a member of the building services staff here in theJCCSF. His name is Darrell and he is a member of the Coastal Miwok Tribeof California.He heard that we were interested in musical instruments and brought us ahand clapper stick called the Hiya Buta Buta.After showing us how to make one, Jonathan has been working with thechildren to create their own. 62. Video Discussion with Darrell 63. Next Steps.. Reconnecting with Darrell and Sharing our clapper sticks Inviting Coastal Miwok dancers in to the classroom. Creating other types of musical connections with Jonathan. 64. Social Development: Being respectful of others, Being proud of accomplishments of self and others, Understanding their relationship with adults, Developing friendships with peers old and new. Language and Literacy Development: language in conversations, books and own journals, expressions of self through language, art and writing, Word and sentence comprehensions. Discussions with other children and adults: sharing their work, observations, insights and knowledge, appreciating their work and that of their peers. 65. Cognitive: Curiosity and initiative, Engagement and persistence, Memory and knowledge. Math: Quantity, counting, classification, Measurement and shapes. Physical: Fine motor skills: developing hand eye coordination and muscles in the hand and arms for hand writing. Gross motor Skills: using full body motion for stability and control. 66. The children have been profoundly engagedand enthusiastic about their facilitatedexperiences. They have shown an abundantwisdom in their understanding of usingdifferent materials.The childrens observations andcollaborations have been perceptive anddetailed as they have brought their real lifeexperiences, their theories, and theirimaginations together.