Creating for Coco
January 9-13, 2017
After coming back to school, one of our classroom joys was reuniting with our class pet and best friend, Coco the fish. Fish activities were spread across the classroom. Pictures of underwater habitats, sand and shells were used for sensory projects, and watery colors were the chosen hues for color mixing.
Geneva noticed the shells and collected a handful to show her teachers.
“I found these at the Ocean,” she proudly stated.
A coloring table was added with pictures of brightly colored fish. “What are you drawing?” their teacher asked. “Fish!” shouted the group in unison.
We began work on building a home for Coco. A donated screen was a good way to begin the exercise. The children chose their own colors, and mixed them across the louvered screen. Blue and Yellow paint seemed to be a favorite choice. The students curiously studied their actions. They dipped their used brush into a clear bright shade of blue, but when they began to paint, the color on their work was a vivid green. Painting exercises were calm and meditative centers full of deep concentration.
The building areas were a favorite spot this week. One day, Redline students gathered around Ms. Tiffany and built tall and detailed towers. In another activity, several blue line students who had just finished a painting and color mixing provocation, dumped several colored blocks into a pile. The friends began mixing and pushing the blocks together on the floor, almost as if they were trying to mix the colors together.
Stella and Ian used some masterful techniques to construct the tallest tower they could. They worked together. One friend held the tower steady while the other added more blocks.
On Thursday, we brought Coco down for study. The students were given clipboards to color and take notes. From high up on the shelf, our little scientist would look in amazement as Cocos reflection on the surface of the water would create the illusion of 2 Cocos. Julia noticed the reflections on the sides of the glass as well and began counting Cocos. “I see two Cocos,” she said proudly.
“No!” Evan exclaimed. “Just one Coco.”
“That’s Coco’s reflection.” said Ms Jolees.
“I have reflections in my eye.” noted Maizy
The children worked hard on their drawing and a crayon was tossed forward making a loud sound against the side of Coco’s tank. Ms. Amanda showed concern for Coco and told the children to be careful not to hurt Coco’s ears. She asked if Coco was ok. The children leaned their ears close to the tank, talking and trying to listen to Coco. “Can you hear Coco.” asked Ms. Amanda.
“No.” Stella answered. Then Stella quoted a statement that Ms Gina had told her. “Fish don’t have vocal cords.”
“I don’t know, ” said Ms. Amanda. “Maybe it’s the glass. If I stand outside the glass door, can you hear me?”
“Its quiet.” Evan observed. Later, we shared our drawings with Coco and our friends.
“I drew two Cocos.” Jacob shared with the class
“This is Coco, he is swimming in my picture.” Hazel said.
“Coco likes his pictures.” Austin said.
“Because he is happy,” Ethan told Austin.
We are so sad that this is Ms. Katie’s last week as part of our 2s class. She is going on to become a working artist, and we could not be more proud of her. This week we played lots of imaginary games and sang songs around her Ukulele. We love our lion tamer game and we are so happy for all of the special games and songs that she showed us. We wish you well in all your future endeavors. We love you Ms Katie!
Happy Birthday Theo Basset! We will be celebrating you and all the joy you bring into our lives
on Tuesday the 17th!