Tongue Twisters, Growing Lines of Paint, and Marble Runs

Quark’s Drama
We started off with finding out about how the kids were doing that day….and we found out that birthdays were happening between the kids & parents, Happy Birthday! The kids were able to remember our rhyming names and then we moved onto some body movement. We worked together to make shapes with our bodies…this was a lot of fun! Basic shapes included a line, triangle, circle, and square. Many Quarks wanted to share their idea and then proceeded to direct the others. I really liked how they listened, cooperated with one another, and respected each other’s ideas! Lastly, we tried some tongue twisters such as “Toy Boat”, “White Rice”, and “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers”.
Quarks Supply Chains
Quarks Unit Study on Thursday focused on where our food comes from. We discussed where we could find carrots in the winter and where those carrots likely were grown. We then followed the supply chain of the ingredients that would go into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich using maps of the USA. Andrea read the hard to find book Who Grew My Soup and we also enjoyed Food Fight! We also did some picture math problems. This week we will discuss maps and work on some projects around the book Me on a Map.
Neutron Moviemaking
This week we worked on our collaboration skills through filming our group producing a painting together. The neutrons took turns operating the camera to take a series of still frames of paint strokes produced by the class on a large wood board- the stage. All animators practiced communicating with each other on when they were done painting and ready to film, and each camera person practiced listening to the animators. By the end of class, we had a successful collaborative short movie that looked like lines of paint growing and taking over the screen. The most important lesson learned was that in order to create a great movie, we all need to work together respectively.
Electron and Muon Papier Mache puppets
This week in art,the Electrons and Muons continued to work on their papier mache puppets. The kids used acrylic paints and yarn to add features to their puppets’ heads. It’s fun to see the personalities of the puppets emerge as more details are added. Next week dresses will be added.