New Use for an Old Favorite Story

This week's project, damaged book turned literary art work. 

Last week I mentioned that I have been reading We're Going on a Bear Hunt with my new class of two and three year olds. The kids love this book right now and each time I read it with them I look for new ways to create fun learning experiences for the classroom inspired by the story and its illustrations. I just love how a good story can weave its way throughout your life and so likewise I always try to have one classic story as the backbone of my preschool curriculum, the place from which so many projects, games, conversations and learning opportunities of all kinds emerge. Right now, this is the story on which I am building. This story is so well loved that it's pages were literally starting to fall apart from so much wear. This weekend I retired it and replaced it with the board book version we had in our school's collection. Despite it's sad condition, I couldn't bear to part with our beloved book so I decided, instead, to celebrate it by reconstructing the pages of the story into a piece of art to display in the library corner of our classroom.

found at this lovely blog

I can't take credit for this art project because like many ideas for my classrooms over the years, it was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest. Now that I am just about full time now in my new room at the school in Maine where I have been employed since we arrived in Portland back in September, I have been going back through many of the DIY Pins I have collected this year looking for inspiration. I stumbled upon this neat Cat in the Hat story art piece and immediately thought of the bear hunt book I knew was on its last days in the classroom. I don't have a canvas yet and I am not replicating it exactly, but what you see above is my progress as of last night. Hopefully by the end of the week I can report back with the final product and let you know what my kiddos think of it once I display it above the books in the story corner of our classroom. My hope is that not only will the story board draw attention to this part of the classroom, but it will also serve as a visual reminder of the children's favorite story. They love "reading" the story to me, using the illustrations to trigger their memory of the words which many have memorized almost entirely. This activity not only helps the kiddos to develop some important literary skills, like story telling, sequential ordering of events, vocabulary building, and word recall, it also serves as a way to connect with the story on a deeper level, to see the illustrations as the works of art that they are, and it helps document for the parents what we've been up to and what we are currently interested in as a class. Not to mention, it likely gives the parents a visual for a story they've likely heard all about.

Blocks found in this Etsy shop

In addition to all the literacy benefits of creating story art like this one, I believe that re-purposing something that could have easily ended up in the recycle bin provides the kids with a valuable lesson on DIY and creativity. If you've read any of my previous posts, you've probably gathered that I have quite an interest in creating handmade materials for the children in my lives. I'm hoping I have enough pictures left over from my story board project that I can attempt to put together a story block set like the one pictured on the left I stumbled across while browsing on Etsy one day. I'd love to get as much use out of our bear hunt book as possible and offer the kids as many ways as I can to dig deeper into one of their favorite stories. My interest in DIY is not simply a way to fulfill my need to create, but I love to use it as a way to inspire children and show them what they too can be capable of, which is why whenever possible I like to work on my projects either with the help of the children, or while in the classroom with them so that my projects serve as a provocation for them. In the past this has led to kids in my preschool class back in Seattle making their own books by stapling paper together and filling in the pages and learning to master the art of crown making for their dramatic play, and even creating origami critters that became the key characters in their small world play. When it comes to developing self-sufficiency and DIY skills, there is no better way to teach than by example and so I do my best to fill my classroom spaces with as many handmade items as I can, assuming the quality of my work is up to par with the rest of the materials in the classroom, which isn't always the case. But then again, moving on from failure and trying again is just as valuable a lesson and one which I am happy to pass on. Not all my projects meet the aesthetic qualifications for my classrooms but that will never stop me from continuing to work. 

Within the Walls of My Classroom

Though I have been at my new school just about two full months now, I am only just starting out in my new classroom after floating between the two toddler rooms in the program. As I start down this new path, teaching an amazing group of 14 kiddos transitioning from the infant/toddler wing to the preschool wing of the school, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to get back to blogging more regularly and share the trials and tribulations of teaching and learning with two and a half to three and a half year-olds. Even though I've only been in my new room part time for two short weeks, I am already overflowing with inspiration and projects and I'm ready to jump in and start settling into my new classroom space with my new friends and new routines. Starting a new chapter in my professional career, returning to a full-time teaching position is super exciting for me after over a year off so I can finally test out all the projects I've spent the past year or so researching and see what works and what doesn't. And I feel lucky to share my new classroom with such a great group of people.

These magnet-tile builders are currently a huge hit in our room 

My first order of business has been to jump right in and play with the kids, get to know them on a deeper level and gain some insight into their budding personalities, strengths, and affinities. At the same time I am in the process of assessing the classroom environment and observing how the kids use the space. By doing both of these I am getting a good sense of what already works well and where I can make improvements to better support the needs and interests of our group. To help me organize my thoughts, I spent this afternoon mapping out the classroom and making a list of the existing work stations in addition to the ones I want to improve upon or add. I am also making note of what materials are set up where, and how I might improve the functionality of each station by making little changes, like switching up the books, adding a few provocations and decorations here and there, swap out certain toys for others, and adjust the placement of the shelves and furniture to maximize each area as well as the general atmosphere of the classroom. The more I analyze the classroom environment the more I can tweak it and customize it to maximize the space and more fully engage the members of our classroom community and reflect the uniqueness of each member.

I am lucky that this classroom already comes fully equipped with a nice play kitchen which I updated a bit last week and plan to add an extra shelf on the back end filled with baskets of (my handmade) felt food to serve as a produce stand/market place. I'll be sure to document my progress as I go, but until I restock my craft supply and get my hands on some more felt and embroidery floss, I've been sticking to simpler (and cheaper) projects. Inspired by the adorable painted coffee filter/clothespin butterflies adorning the ceiling space in one of the toddler rooms, I started making origami paper cranes and experimenting with other animal patterns using this online instructional website. While I spent a week covering a teacher's vacation in the other toddler room, I strung up a paper crane mobile above the changing table to entertain the squirmy toddlers while getting a fresh diaper. This worked so well and added so much character to the space that I want to make another aerial display to hang above the story station to add a bit of whimsy to it.

This book is a favorite in our room right now

I already have a growing list of projects I can't wait to start in on, so to help me keep track of all my ideas I decided to start up a new PinBoard. In addition to my projects, this board serves as a wishlist for new materials I'd like to bring into the classroom and it reflects the current and developing interests of the members of my class. Right now we are rolling with the building interest in bears and this week I plan to decorate the walls with a variety of images of different kinds of bears, get my hands on some bear stuffed animals and figurines, and bring in a few more stories featuring bears including Jamberry, The Mitten, The Bear Who Shared, and Moon Game. I wonder if I can find a good pattern for an origami bear? There are so many ways to incorporate a study of bears into our play and so far we've had a blast making bear cave forts by draping blankets across the backs of chairs, growling and dancing like bears in our animal songs, and searching for the laminated pictures of bears that are hiding all over the classroom. As we dig further into our study on bears, I can't wait to begin exploring the concept of hibernation with the kiddos and see where it takes us. Stay tuned to find out and in the mean time, you can see what I'm up to with the kiddos in my class by following my new board on Pinterest called Within the Walls of My Classroom