here be dragons...

The year one children at Dunkirk, the staff and myself recently found an enormous nest in the school community garden.  It had appeared unexpectedly and the children were full of ideas about where it might have come from and who – or what – had created it.  They wondered about different birds and animals and spent a long time searching for signs and clues.  They felt a dragon had possibly created it – and their explorations of the site seemed to hold out their theory.  They found HUGE footprints, dragon poo, several trees that had been torn down, plants that had been crushed, feathers (maybe the dragon had eaten a pigeon?) and much more. 

They wanted to create another nest as a present for the dragon – it was really interesting that their instinct was to welcome and invite it into their world.  They found so many signs and clues of the presence of a dragon and back in school drew and painted their ideas about what the dragon might look like…

“The natural world is a place for exploration, learning about risk, building confidence and escaping into the imagination.”

From “Natures Playground” by Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield.

moving pictures, animation and things that spin...

I’ve been working on many different strands of enquiry with the year two class at Dunkirk as we explore the world around them and create stories and test out ideas.  We’ve just begun to explore animation which is leading to some really wonderful group work as the children create scenes, stories and sequences.

My “spinner-rounder-boards” have now got a new lease of life as zoetropes and the children have made images sequences to go inside these.  We’ve made flick books too and tested ideas about moving images.  I grew up on programmes like “The Clangers”, “Bagpus” and “Vision On”, all of which had some gorgeous stop-frame animation in and I remember being inspired by that and using a cine-camera years ago to try and create those effects.

The class teacher Mark Woodings, the children and myself have been experimenting with 2d and 3d stop-frame animation and I’ve been really excited to learn new techniques.  The possibilities for creative expression and telling stories are vast. 

I think also in these days of very fast-moving digital technology (when so many complex effects are available at the push of a button) children are in danger of being very removed from actual hands-on techniques and making skills.  I’m loving that stop-frame animation which uses the children’s drawings, collages, paintings and models is so very hands-on and the children can see exactly how each frame takes shape and adds together.  They need to work in teams and give each other instructions and are becoming real experts at all of this.  I’m loving learning from them.  I’ll post some films here soon…      

making a world of books...

  

I’m really inspired by all the different strands of enquiry I’m working on at the moment, one of which is creating a world of books with the year three class at Dunkirk.  We’ve been exploring loads of different ideas around books, book-making, paper, stories and factual books.  We’ve looked at lots of different libraries, bookshops, on-line resources and explored what books mean to us.

Recently, by very happy chance, I found a book-crossing book and the children were really interested in the journey this was taking around the world.  The website  http://www.bookcrossing.com/  has lots more information.  I hadn't planned to find it - but maybe it was one of those times when keeping your eyes peeled for interesting things yields a really good story.

We’ve tested out lots of different ways of making our own books and the children have been bursting with ideas, energy, passion for both making and sharing books.  They’ve made story books, joke books, quiz books, books about plants, birds, themselves, books with secret compartments, books that lock, books with pull-out posters, books that fold up inside things…  They have gone home and made more books and brought these into school – their ideas are infectious.

  

I made books myself when I was a small child – and I still make books now.  I make books a lot with children in different projects and I love their enthusiasm as they create a book of their own and use the space inside to pour out their ideas.  Often we make teeny books – there’s something really special about a tiny book filled with precious things, it’s like a jewel.  Books are windows into other worlds and they record our thoughts and ideas – they let us share those with others. 

 

Children usually want to read out the books they have made and it’s lovely setting up areas where they can snuggle up and read and read and read…  The schools I visited in Scandinavia and the Reggio schools in Italy have lots of gorgeous spaces for reading and I’ve been really inspired by that.  There are books in lots of nooks and crannies and spaces where you can really relax to read – mattresses, cushions, sofas and armchairs…  I saw beds set up (with lots of pillows) next to bookcases so that children in school could get cosy and lie down to read.  Children don’t want to sit up straight all the time and reading – and listening – to books needs lots of opportunities to thrive in unusual places…

I've also noticed how much children write in the books they have made.  I rarely would set the writing up as specific task – because I’ve found that when you make your own book, you just want to pour your own words into it; and so the words and pictures come without being forced.

the fascinations of a drop of water...

  

I’m exploring water with the year five class at Dunkirk at the moment – we’ve been making many different investigations and enquiries and testing out so many ideas.  We’ve been using water inside and outside on many different scales and we’ve walked to see the water that is in spaces near to the school.  We’ve had snow, ice, fog, rain and been able to work with all of these – which has led to really rich investigations, questions and dialogue.

A recent session involved using pipettes to drop single droplets of water onto different surfaces to test out waterproof properties of materials.  I’ve loved the depth with which the children really look at things they discover.  They are a very kinaesthetic group and test out ideas in many varied ways – and as a consequence, they notice a great deal.

They were fascinated with the drops of water – watching and touching as the single drops glowed like diamonds … or pulled together like magnets … or how many drops could be pulled together to form a bigger drop… or how the drops acted like magnifying lenses…

  

“…inquiry is the impetus to understanding.  We construct our world in the interrogations we make of it, the questions we put to it… it seems that we can develop our understanding only through our own inquiries…”

Roy Prentice