Storytelling and Other Magical Moments

 The Butterfly Castle or Les Chateau des Papillons The Twins were delighted to have the light table glowing when they returned to the EAL classroom after the holidays. They noticed a new setup and a few new jars of loose parts. They worked together in English, French and Russian creating, Les Chateau des Papillons.  "We can do the castle in English and in French! Only the beautiful things can live there. Not ninjas because they may break the wings. Ladybugs and princesses are okay." A and F Inspired by the concept of a butterfly castle I asked my other EAL groups what a butterfly castle might look like, without showing them the light table. I asked them what a butterfly may need to live in the castle and who they could share the castle with.  These are their illustrations and ideas.

Imagining Dialogue: Inspired by a walk in the snow. Light Table Stories: Creating beautiful moments with language and play Design Thinking: Creating possibilities to design, test, change and play  

Space This school year a few students have really engaged my thinking about space. I noticed students needing big spaces to move about in and could see how they really thrived in our Outdoor Learning spaces. More uniquely I noticed students who needed small personal spaces to have some intimate independent or small group deeply focused moments of play. I simply considered... How could I give more space or provide more spaces (within a small room)? How could I transform and create unique spaces? How could I inspire within small spaces? What is it that they were wanting out of small, more contained spaces? Below are some images of tables, levels, blankets, mats and light that have inspired many students this school year. More interestingly, the same students keep coming back to use the space or check in and see how it has changed week to week, during our Free Flow learning time on Fridays. These are not heavily planned provocations, these are invitations for "smaller,&q

This year I decided to link the creation of personal story boxes to our Unit of Inquiry, Where We Are in Place and Time.  Here is the story of our stories.

As our kindergarteners prepare for their seasonal concert, The Festival of Light , we consider light in all parts of our learning. How does light change our decisions when we play? How does light enhance our stories? How is light different in different celebrations? How do light and dark make us feel? We offered little lights during play engagements and Writer's Workshop. The element of light was uniquely different to each child... The light was there to hold the princess and to make it pretty. - Esma The light in my story was thrown at the football player to knock him down by the fan. - Tigran The light helped find the way back home. -Anthony The light was the mom (an angel light) and magic for the poor people. - Mia The light helped the football guy and the pig go further along on the path. - Alex The light told the pets to take off their jewelry. - Juliet The light got hot and melted the snow. - Konstantin Above children are wo

What happens when a bucket of princesses goes missing? You create a story about it.  Using the creative juices of some of my kindergarten students we imagined where the princesses went and what they did all day. This created opportunities to practice storytelling language and other communication skills with peers and teachers.