We Decorate: Can we use decorations?

Today we continued with the children's learning map and explored the idea of decorations we use.

We made Keeping Boxes . . . "What's a keeping box?" 

A keeping box is a place you can use to keep things that are special to you.

The children gave their ideas of possible special things to keep inside:

toys, animals, special toys, candy, leaves, rocks, Lightning McQueen

The children painted and decorated with enthusiasm as 

they discussed where they would keep this special decoration.

"Beside my bed" Esme and Sophie

"On the shelf" Oliver

"Under my bed" Rylan

"In my treehouse in my room" Rielle

"In my closet" Tyreese

We Decorate: Just to Look At!

Child's Question: Can we touch decorations?

Today I mapped the children's learning:

During our exploration of birthday decorations the children noticed that some 

decorations are just to look at (balloons) and others were decorated items that we use (goody bags).

Today we explored this further . . . 

We read "Room of Wonders" by Jayme Stone, a lovely story of a rat who collects things he finds on his walks and displays them on floor to ceiling shelves in his home.

The children know that there are some decorations we just look at, we don't touch, 

and they named a few such decorations at at their homes: 

"The scarecrow and pumpkin from Halloween, don't touch it!" Alan

"My glass picture." Jayla

"The picture of a flower on the wall"Sophie

"The teacups, can't touch them." Byron

The children were given the task of creating special table centre pieces
that will be used to decorate two lunch tables.

We researched examples and the children noticed things like candles, flowers, water in vases, and branches were used. I gave them an assortment of items and everyone took a turn to create a centre piece. Then the children worked in two groups to cooperatively create two beautiful centre pieces to be displayed at the lunch table.

An announcement was made to the other children
explaining that these decoration are only for looking at!

We Decorate: Mouse's Birthday!

The children have made connections between decorations and celebrations. 

Today we explored a celebration they know very well - birthdays!

I webbed the children knowledge:

"What do you know about birthdays?"

We went over their ideas and I asked "Is this a decoration?" 

I drew a box around the decorations. The children determined that some things were decorations (balloons and flowers) and some things were decorated (cake, goody bags).

I introduced "my friend" Mouse, it's his birthday and he'd like to celebrate.

The children quickly set to work decorating the drama room with things they determined were decorations: balloons, fabric and flowers.

They decorated a cake with coloured icing and sprinkles.

The candles were lit and everyone sang Happy Birthday for Mouse!

Happy Birthday Mouse!

We Decorate: Decorations and Celebrations

Lines of Inquiry:

Exploring a variety of decorations from various cultures (form)

Building on the children's prior knowledge prior knowledge:

Decorations can be used to decorate out home on holidays

Sharing pictures of decorations used in various celebrations led to discussion about what items were used for decoration and stories of decorations used at home for celebrations. 

I reminded the children that last week they noticed that Button Blankets used in FIrst Nations celebrations had specific colours. As they looked at the pictures today I asked them if they noticed any specific colours in these celebrations.

The two pictures that prompted the most discussion was Halloween and Hanukkah. 

They noticed lots of orange and black for Halloween and blue and white for Hanukkah.

"What is Hanukkah" asked Rielle

Luckily Sophie, who celebrates Hanukkah, brought in a book that described the celebration and the decorations used. 

The children explored orange and black paint - colours used in Halloween decorations.

We Decorate: What is a Decoration?

Can a button be a decoration?

Lines of Inquiry:

Exploring a variety of decorations from various cultures (form)

Similarities and differences in ideas about what a decoration is (perspective)

A child asked this question and led us into today's investigation. 

First we looked at some fasteners we have on our clothes; zippers, snaps, and buttons. The children practiced the mechanics of these on special frames. 

Some West Coast First Nation communities use buttons to decorate special button blankets worn during ceremonies.  We researched this together through image searches, a video and a story and the children worked on a paper version of a crest that might be used in the centre of a button blanket.

Choosing a button

Commitment!

We emptied a bag of buttons and marveled at the many colours, shapes and sizes. Sorting through my grandma's button collection was a favourite pastime when I was a child. A button blanket might use as many as 300 buttons, today the children had to chose just one for their crest - a challenging task!
The children were committed to covering the white space in red crayon. "Why are we using only red?" wondered Esme. We referred to the images we searched and noticed that only the colours red, black, and white were used. "That's just how they're made!" concluded Rielle. In the beginning Alan thought it would be too difficult to cover all the white space but he stuck with it and felt very pleased by his commitment. 

Responsibility

There was a whole bag of buttons to clean up. Esme, Sophie and Oliver showed responsibility in offering to clean them up!

New Unit: We Decorate Our World!

Who We Are

Central Idea: People use decoration and this helps us learn about each other

Lines of Inquiry:

Exploring a variety of decorations from various cultures (form)

Decorations tell human stories and help us know one another (connection)

Similarities and differences in ideas about what a decoration is (perspective)

Gathering children's prior knowledge helps teachers plan future lessons.

With Halloween just gone by the children had lots to say about decorations 

they had at their homes and in their yard.

Prior knowledge:

Decorations can be used to decorate out home on holidays.

I asked the children if they had decorations on their clothes, 

there was some discussion about what was a decoration and what wasn't and 

so I turned this into a question:

Are buttons and zippers decorations?

Eric Carle's Hermit the Crab is a story that led the children to think about comparing things that are plain and things that are decorated. Then they decorated their own Hermit the crab shell.