sol17-3 What do you learn in a moment?

I am participating in the
Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC).
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day of March 2017.

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity for
teacher-writers to share and reflect.

Last night's Learning Showcase was marvelous. We raced around the room tidying things up, laying out tablecloths, setting up each child's projects, creating an art gallery look to the room. Cloths are my "instant magic." I love throwing cloths on everything - throwing them over toys and other things that you are hiding, throwing them onto tables to draw attention to the work displayed. We worked quickly, we worked non-stop, we worked together - I love my teaching team!

         Turn around, and the room was packed with adoring families, excited youngsters. My mind was on autopilot, repeating explanations, highlighting attributes, encouraging conversation. "I hope you notice...take a minute to look at...your child worked especially hard on...the reason why we..."
          Toward the end of the evening, after much of the congestion and chatter had ebbed, parents of a former student - now, second grader - came in, and they had their younger child in tow. This little girl will enter preschool next year, and the parents were showing her the room and introducing her to her big sister's preschool teacher. It was such a sweet and lovely moment...this brief introduction. I squatted down low, to be at her eye level, and she looked at me through one of the wire sculptures - so very dear! She had big wide eyes and just the beginning of a smile, as her parents shared, 'Ms. Ingram was Angela's teacher...." All the while, she stared at me through the wire sculpture, both of us quite captivated.

Funny how one little moment can stand out as something so precious.

Tuesday SOL Are birds teachers?

This is a Tuesday
Slice of Life.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day. 

Check out the Two Writing Teachers website for many more reflections on teaching.

Even though the school year has drawn to a close, I feel compelled to share about the children's bird exploration during May and June. It is a great example of a child-initiated project. My Teaching Resident (Ms. Keynes) noted, embraced, and encouraged the topic. I love seeing teachers build on children's interests and it is particularly delightful when it is a novice teacher who partakes in this challenge.

I love teaching in a school that allows me the flexibility to pursue topics that 'bubble up' from the children. It's true, we didn't know at the outset of the school year that we would focus on birds in the spring, but I knew that I could trust the children to be excited and eager to learn about something - there is always room for inquiry. This is the beauty of emergent curriculum, where children's own interests are the precursor and foundation of topics studied. Preschoolers are innate scientists - curious, observant, and persistent. Dare to pursue what is in their hearts! Why teach any other way?

Where did the interest begin and where did it lead?

I think the first hint of curiosity began with children excitedly sharing at a morning gathering about having seen our local eagle cam with their families. This camera provided live action of two baby eagles in the National Arboretum. Ms. Keynes decided to set up the eagle cam at the writing center, with markers and paper for children to draw their observations. We wondered - what would the children do? Would this interest them? Yes! The children worked feverishly in this area, watching the screen and making detailed drawings. The eagle cam became a daily part of our centers time. Here are just a few of the children's drawings:

Observational Drawing by RW

Observational Drawing by DE

Observational Drawing by GR

Observational Drawing by AH

Observational Drawing by NB

Observational Drawing by CB

Observational Drawing by CD

There was great conversation as children worked on these observational drawings. For example, 

NB - "Eagles fly - they fly everywhere around the sky. They land to get some food. They eat leaves."

EM - "Look at the eagle. He's eating the nest. He's eating. He's sleeping. He's eating in the nest. He's silly. They are in the bird's nest."

HF - "What does the eagle eat? I think he eats worms. No, I think he eats mice. Yes, I think he eats rats! They are very yummy."

CD - "I think they eat poop."

KA - "He's looking down at the birdie. He sees the birdie. I think they are brothers. And now he's looking behind himself. The birdie is kinda like the teacher - he's looking right at us."

That may be my favorite line:

The birdie is kinda like the teacher - he's looking right at us.

Doesn't that show the value of children being encouraged to draw what they see, to note the details?


With this obvious engagement, we delved into the study of birds, with a particular focus on eagles. Ms. Keynes asked, what do you know about birds and what do you wonder?

I was impressed with their beginning knowledge:

• They have wings,
• They fly,
• They sleep in a nest,
• They like to sit in the nest,
• They are in the nest not on the ground,
• They lay eggs in the nest,
• The nests are made of mud, hay, straw, and even bird spit 
• They will scare away anyone who tries to get the eggs
• They have tails,
• They have beaks,
• They eat fish, 
• They peck their way out of the egg,
• There are lots of different birds, like eagles, robins, owls, seagulls, penguins
• Eagles nests are the biggest
• Eagles have big wings
• Eagles' babies don't wear diapers

The children about a variety of things:

• How do they make nests? 
• How do they make the nests soft?
• How do they sleep in the nest?
• How many eggs do they lay?
• How many days until they learn to fly?
• How big is an eagle's poop?

We began to learn everything we could. Families pitched in, too. One family shared beautiful color photos of baby robins emerging from their eggs. Another brought in a beautiful nest that they had found. 

Children often arrived at school with stories to share -

AS - "Ms. Ingram, do you know when I was on my way to school, we were walking out of my car, I saw a robin's egg! It was small and it was blue and it was broken. I wanted to pick it up and show it to you."

LM - "I saw a bird that was so dead. Only had one leg. Even the skin was gone. It only had a beak! I saw it."

Scientists observe the details, yes they do.

Ms. Keynes taped off a circle on our gathering carpet that was the same size as an eagle's nest (these average 4-5 feet in diameter, with one in Florida being 9.5 feet!). We gathered here each day for several weeks during our bird exploration - reading books, having class meetings, and doing lots of dramatic play.

These little birdies are hanging outside their nest!

We attempted to 'engineer' a nest out of the base of a box, using lots of yarn and tape. (I loved how the children insisted on wearing goggles while creating this.)

Mo Willems' Pigeon loves our nest.

When the nest was done, children nudged further - "Birds like soft places. When are we going to put eggs in?" They delighted in creating individual "eagle eggs" out of papier mache.

Painting a round surface is challenging work!

One morning, our question of the day was "Who has the bigger wingspan - you or an eagle?" Many children insisted that they had the bigger wingspan, which made each of us teachers smile. We had each of the children lay down on the carpet and get measured against an eagle's wingspan (6 feet average), to provide a clear visual of the difference. The children also made a pair of paper wings that matched their personal measurement.

How big is my wingspan, compared to an eagle's?

One day on the playground, AM came running up to me with the excited words, "Look! A beautiful feather!" and when I looked at what she held, I saw that it was much more than this - she had a bird's wing in her hand, still attached to some of its bony torso. Oh my! Clearly this bird had been on the losing end of a predator's attack, perhaps a cat or a hawk. I tried my very best to remain level-headed and cool, although I was immediately squeamish. I wanted to encourage this budding scientist. I had her show me where she was when she discovered this "feather" and, finding no other bird parts in the area, we went inside the classroom to find a clear jar for displaying this find in our science center. Her classmate LM was delighted with this new addition, declaring "Whoa! Good Find!"

Later, AM said she wanted to share a story about what she found and so I wrote down her words:

"I want to write about the feather that I found, about the bird that I found. I found it on the playground. I put it in the jar. I don't know what kind of bird it was from. Maybe, it was a sister bird. I like that the outside was soft. I can't wait to show my Mommy. I'm going to tell my Daddy that I found a bird's feather that had bones in it. I don't know what my Daddy's going to say about the bird feather. Maybe my Daddy will say "Whoa, good find!," like LM said. I think the birdie died, cause it can't fly with just one wing; cause without part of his body, he can't be alive anymore. The End"


We didn't resolve every wonder that the children had at the outset of our bird exploration...and many more wonders appeared as we explored. The work of scientists goes on and on. Yes, the children worked like scientists, finding much beauty and intrigue in our world. Birds are teachers.

SOLSC #13 Our Learning Showcase

I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

*******

We had a very wonderful Learning Showcase last night! These triumphant events signal the end of another trimester of school (I am amazed that we are two-thirds of the way through the school year), and provide a whirlwind tour of what the children have been learning over the past many weeks. The children are always super excited to visit their classroom in the evening hours - and families are always so pleased to see what their children's work. Imagine, preschoolers creating projects - working on one thing for many minutes, days, weeks! It is a beautiful thing to see.

We transformed our classroom into "a museum," with

• their cityscapes on the entry wall,
  

• children's 3D homes and blueprints on exhibit on tables,
  

• story collages hanging on the sides of cabinetry and other, along the perimeter of the room,
  

• shadow puppets on the whiteboard, and
  

• process art on a wall of windows.
  

Tech-savvy Melissa threw together an amazing "i-movie" about the Big Cats, so that the families could see their dear children at work and play in our classroom. 

Today is a day of professional development (lunch break is for blogging a slice! ;-) ...but the day began in a very special way: we toured the other classrooms, to see the Learning Showcase work throughout the school. Truly, I am amazed and invigorated by what I saw this morning. 

Throughout the school, preschool through fifth grade, the teachers show tremendous respect for what students are saying, doing, thinking, wanting, hoping. There is a profound trust in students' abilities, a belief in the student as initiator of his/her own learning. Each room highlighted individual student voice coupled with a strong sense of community...sprinkled with delightful, beautiful arts integration! 

I see and feel so much joy in my school! 

**************

(A daily share by a preschooler, in their own words)

A Story Collage by Helen

Once upon a time, fish were swimming in a frozen sea. Someone came along. It was a bear. It was a mean bear. It eats stuff. But, a bunny hopped into the ocean and it hopped away. It hopped and hopped and hopped, out of the place where the frozen ocean was. When the bunny came back, there was nothing else but fish and sand. The bunny hopped off to the land of colors. The bunny’s friend came along. What he saw was just colors everywhere. He hopped away and all he saw was colors everywhere! Another one of his friends came hopping along from the other way. They both went off to the beach again. A boat was floating along. And a bunny came, a bear came, and a pig! The End

What about those invention drawings?

In my most recent post, I shared the children's fabulous inventions.  But I didn't say much about the invention drawings.  That's what this post is about!

This is a post about reflection,
reflecting on my teaching,
What did I learn?

At the outset of our invention effort, I had the children sit down and draw what their inventions would look like - make blueprints.  The children sat at tables alongside peers and drew pictures from their imaginations. Many children drew hastily, rushing to get to other activities in the room.

Noting their haste, I had questions -
Was this too abstract a request?
Had we not talked about inventions enough?
Were they not comfortable with writing/drawing (not an unreasonable thing, developmentally, for preschoolers)?

Over the next few weeks, the children constructed their inventions.

After all was said and done and the projects made, for whatever reason, I didn't feel as if I had totally finished the effort.

I wanted to do something else to conclude our projects, but what?
I had a crazy idea. Or inspiration?
I know that it came to me in the middle of the night (yes, I get a little obsessed about this!) -

What if I had the children draw the invention again - now that it was done?  
Would there be any similarity or connection to the original drawing?  
What would the children see and do?
Would the drawings look at all like their inventions?

Yes, this fifth and final step in our invention effort was all new to me, a spontaneous risk that I took as the project work emerged:

Study the final product and draw from observation.


The children had been very engaged in the construction of the invention.
Would this engagement carry over to their second drawing?  

Also, this would be a fun way to get a pen in their hand again, to see what they could do.

I was curious.
Simply, curious.


For the "after" drawings, I positioned each child in front of his/her finished invention and gave them the drawing paper and pen, asking them to observe and study the invention and then draw it.
To my surprise,
very few children raced through this drawing.
Most stared pensively at their inventions and drew.
They stayed at the table, engaged.

Wow.


Let me share some of the "before" drawings (the imagined invention) and "after" (drawing the final invention from observation). The "before" drawing is on the left, the "after" is on the right. I am not sharing any of the student names because I'm really not interested in comparing child to child...I want simply to show the change in these pictures, from "before" to "after."

If I mixed up all the inventions and had nameless drawings, it would not be easy to match the drawing to the invention.  But, for me, there is so much more to see!

What do the drawings say about the child's focus?  
What do the drawings say about attention to detail?
What do I learn about what preschoolers are capable of doing? 

What are best practices for stretching a preschooler academically, to nudge them to reach outside their comfort zone and learn something new?

What does it tell me about challenging children to draw from observation?
What does it reveal about the power of drawing one's own creation?  

Above: These two drawings couldn't be more different.  The first is created hastily. But, there is obvious engagement in the second - focused drawing and re-drawing, as this student tries to record specific details of the final invention. 

Above: This student has details in both pictures, but the second drawing shows much more specificity. Here, I am able to see the long cardboard tube section of the final invention, the billowy shape of another part, and the special buttons added for varied purposes.

Above: Both drawings show focus and purpose. The heavier penstroke of this second drawing suggests that this preschooler was even more focused and engaged the second time around.  And look at the details revealed - circles, squares, shadowing, all replicating parts of what the child observed from the invention itself.

Above: What's going on here?  The first, a rushed and perhaps unengaged effort; the second, more studied, trying to capture the shapes of the final invention. 

Another thought crosses my mind  -
A big part of my job involves collecting data about children - for example, fine motor skills, use of writing tools, or cognitive skills such as attention to detail.
Which drawing provides the better data on these? 
What if I had only looked at the first effort to make my assessments?
How often have I collected data that shows only part of a child's knowledge or skill?

Above: Again, a rushed effort for the "before" drawing; the second, more studied, trying to capture the shapes and outlines of the various parts of the final invention. There is even more "weight" to the pen stroke, perhaps indicating the child's persistence and effort at replicating the details.

Above: Here, the student almost froze with concentration in the second effort.  It is small, but precise.  I have the sense that this child was taking a big risk, trying to do something that seemed almost insurmountable in the child's mind - Bravo!

Above: This student is a detailed drawer, in both examples.  Yet, the second drawing is particularly focused, showing the shape of the final invention and adding specific details, including the netting used in the invention (center of drawing) and special buttons on one end of the invention.

Above: I would be less than honest if I implied that every pair of drawings showed tremendous growth. Remember, these are preschoolers.  There were a number of children who had two pictures that were virtually identical, and basically scribbles.  

Developmentally, three and four year old children are 

just learning to observe, 

perhaps not that engaged by the idea of drawing, 

perhaps desirous and ready to do something else in the classroom, rather than draw.  

I know well the need to catch a child where they are at;

maybe these few just aren't "at" the drawing stage yet?

I wonder, 

What would happen if I provided more 'still life' opportunities?  

More opportunities to draw what we build?

Making them a more ritual and expected part of our centers' work each week?  

Would it lead these more recalcitrant artists to "land" and "focus"? 

Another thought crosses my mind -
Did any children come "alive" when drawing? Show a new kind of focus?
I reflected on each child's engagement during the construction phase of these inventions and contrasted it with the final step, drawing from observation.

I considered those students who had been more hasty (or should I say, "efficient"?) with constructing

(remember, these are three year olds...even constructing a 3-d invention can feel like an intrusion if you were planning on dressing-up)

and I realized...wow, a couple children came alive during the drawing itself.
Whereas they had been rather "matter of fact" with the construction process, the drawing by observation stopped them in their tracks and had them totally lost in thought, working on recording details, oblivious to the rest of the classroom.

Was it the special adult pen I let them use?
Was it a kind of learning by immersion or a "wearing down" of the child? - "Oh, that Ms. Ingram, she keeps calling me over to pay attention to this thing, perhaps I will?" I don't think so.  There was something much more magical and intoxicating at work - these children were engaged.

Is there something more enticing about drawing one's own project?  
Does this make the most sense for a young child?

Realizing this -
wow, drawing "jump-started" certain children -
I reflected on other students and other parts of the process:

Who loved the storytelling aspect more than anything else?  
Who couldn't stop telling me details and reflecting on their invention? 
Who had more to say?


Who was immersed in the construction?  
Revisiting their project many times?  
Adding details?

Was there anyone who did not get engaged by any part of the project work, whether construction, storytelling, or drawing?

How might I use these answers to inform my future planning for these preschoolers?


I am fascinated.


I learned so so much about how these children learn
simply by doing this invention work.

I know them so much better now.

Another thought crosses my mind -
Just like the children, I learn best by doing.
My best curricula, my best learning comes from the risks I take.
I had not planned to do this "drawing from observation" when I first set out to do the inventions - but I started wondering, what would they reveal?

I am so glad that I dared.

Inventing our way into the new year!

Happy New Year!

Let's kick off this new year with me sharing the children's inventions.  The Big Cats had a grand time working on these in November and December.

I structured this work to be over many days, with the children revisiting their invention several times to add details and elaboration.  Each preschooler worked alongside peers in small groups to complete five basic steps:

1. Make a plan - decide what the invention would be and then draw a blueprint of it.
2. Build the invention with recyclables and tape.
3. Add details to the invention using found objects and metallic paint.
4. Share the story of your invention with the teacher.
5. Study the final product and draw from observation.

This project work really stretched the children - and me!  The children returned to their work again and again, learning a good bit - I think - about editing, modifying, and persistence.  It was the first time that I had dared to go in so many different directions at once with these preschoolers, requiring different organization and planning than usual.  Student work was at various stages throughout the classroom for weeks on end; some children were building, others painting, and some sharing their stories...different days, different goals for different children.

The inventions were displayed for the children's families and our school community at our evening Learning Showcase on December 18, just before winter break.  Let me share them here as well!

I was originally going to just give you a brief description of the invention, but I can't resist sharing their entire stories.  The children told these to me while holding their final invention in their hands, with me pressing them for more information about the purpose of various parts.  The children were delighted that I was typing their exact words and then reading them back to them; with this personalized treatment, their details grew and grew.  I needed several days just to get the children's stories, as I was only able to get a few a day.  I also read these stories aloud at the end of each day to the entire class, getting everyone very excited about each other's work - and resulting in some themes being picked up by other children when it came time to share their ideas.

I love the children's voices - the way they phrase things, the vocabulary they use, the long run-on sentences.  I love their designs, the precision and artistry of their details, the variety of their ideas.  I hope you feel the same way.

Here are their final products and their fabulous stories about how the invention works:

Anya

December 2012

What did you invent?

     It is a spider and it eats real food like people, it is friendly. These are his legs. Well, it can really move in a certain way. This thing moves like if we push all of these buttons like that, two times, it can move. If you push this button, it stands up like that. If you push this [the small button], it turns over. If you push this [bread tab], it stands on that one leg. If you push this [bottle cap], it jiggles.  If you push this [the black cap], it stands like that and bends like that and turns over.   If you push that [the red one], it stands and jiggles.  If it turns over, up might get the spider on its side. 

Arlando

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A machine that goes backward and forward to escape from monster. This is the smoke hose. The blue [jack] makes it fly and the green makes it go backwards.  There are two levers. He can go forward and sideways. This one with lots of things makes it jump and that one [small black one] makes it grow hands. The green cap, that one makes it jump.

Bella

December 2012

What did you invent?

     An elevator that goes up and down, up and down, and people laugh. This elevator has two big seats so that people don’t fall.  If you press this button [cork] it goes flying. If you touch this one, you get lots of cupcakes and then you have a big party. When you press this one, it comes out with spaghetti.  The heart button comes lots of pictures.  The purple one does lots of sunglasses.  The people sit in there [the yellow cap].  And they can sit in this one [the white cap], too.  The tall part helps people hide away from big giant mean monsters.  There is a space under there where no big giant bears and mean bears come.  And that’s all my story!  And then they crawl there and a rocket comes out and they go back home.  But there is just one more thing I have to tell you.  Lots of things come out and there are lots of houses for everybody.  And if you press that button there, there comes lots of beds.  The End!

Ben

December 2012

What did you invent?

     It is a train that does not crash, it just puffs a lot. I got rolls for tracks. It runs with air, so it doesn’t crash. The yellow thing it goes around the corner and follows the train engine. The brown circle goes around the bend, and it fell down. The orange circle goes up the hill. The small green thing puffs around the bend. Here’s a giant button. The giant button tries to fire the engine. It puffs around the whistle. And it crash the whistle down!

Charlie

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A good monster that protects; a nice monster – he protects people from bad monsters. This part protects from volcanoes. They go under here and up here and the volcanoes can’t get them.  This part up here can dong, dong, jumping, people can jump up, but it is not for superheroes. This part is for superheroes to climb on with their sticky hands. This button can go around and spin people, keep from getting twisted and turned, and from getting bruised. So, right here, this button, can sing with voices and right here it can look with its eyes and get new eyes. This thing can keep you from getting hot if the sun is burning you. So, right here, it can make him fly all the way up to the air and it can smash through big, big, big, big, big spaceships that can go slower or faster.  How it gets people from the bad monsters, it runs and runs and it scares them. And the people get happy.  And then they live happily ever after all together in the monster’s house, with the Mommy monster. And you know where his shoes is? Right here, under!  He has too much shoes! 

Dillon

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A special machine that makes “M” for Miles.* The key makes it go up into the sky and to outer space and flies. Outside. These put it up into outer space up there. The pink thing makes it push up and go right here.  M-I-L-E-S, Miles, these red things make it on the table. The green things make it go under the table and on the floor and out the window and out the door.  And Miles will be tired out there. I saw Miles out there! I am done.

(*Miles is Dillon's much-loved older brother!)

Ebony

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A car, and it drives by itself.  The people just sit in the seat and it drives on the road. I need this flag and wheels for my car. This yellow button is going to drive. These are the wheels, and this is the flag. Ok, the green ones give bread and macaroni and cheese and some sandwiches to the people in the car.  And it shoots some peas! 

  

Ellington

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A robot that can cook.  No, it is a ninja ship. The circle, it pops up pencils. So the ninjas can draw. The round thing is the table.  The three levers pop out. There is a place for them to sleep. And the ninjas hop out in here and then it is sleeping time. That thing can hide. And it flies. It has a dragon’s face on it. There is one more lever that will punch people if they are bad.  The levers are also things to jump on.  Only ninjas on it, they jump.

Emma

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A special boat that doesn’t bump into rocks. These buttons, I don’t know what they do. The big button, it does bump into the rocks. The people sit here.  These are the boat sails. They are gray.  People climb on this part.  And they play with these [the buttons]. They play games.  My story is done.

Ferdinand

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A truck, it is a firetruck. There is an airplane that is not on the firetruck, it is on the airport.  This is, they got food and everything. That’s a water firetruck. The water comes out underneath here.  The green button does, when the driver pushes that button, the truck goes forward, it goes.  The driver sits on top of the button. New and fabulous is that it is a little bit painted, because the dry cleaner cleans the truck off.   To clean himself, he cleans at the drycleaner.

Harper

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A helicopter that flies to space. It can’t fly. If you push those two green buttons, they will shoot out candycanes.  If you push this button, it will shoot out mac and cheese.  And if you push this button it will shoot out grilled cheese.  And if you push this button, it will shoot out some honey.  And the other, if you push that one, then all of the stuff will ...ummmm... you can shoot out paper bag.  This hiding button, it shoots out sandwiches. The people go right here when they are ready to eat.  They sit right here. 

Jack

December 2012

What did you invent?

  

     It is a protect machine, protects people from evil villains. If the villains see this and they get close, it will scoop them up. If I put tape over it, they can’t tell what it is. It actually catches the villains first and then rockets up into outer space. See these holes right here, they are how it blasts, and the other end doesn’t let the bad guys out. And I have radio-control, it makes it up and down, back down to earth.  The lever, when you push it, it’s how you scoop the bad guys.  Actually, it just throws them. The white button makes it actually walk over to the bad guys and they don’t want to go.  The bottle cap is the button you push first to walk.

Jamie

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A machine to help doctors, and help boys feel better. The tall part shoots out cupcakes and noodle thingies. That button helps shoot more noodles for the doctor, for the boy to have.  This button makes more cupcakes and noodles.  That one can shoot breakfast. That thingie, that button, it shoots beds. That button shoots more beds.  And that’s the end.  And that button makes it fly, to put some more noodles in it.  And more beds. 

The End

Lukas

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A special tube that makes your voice louder. When you push the red stick, power rangers come out and fight the bad guys. When you pull up the blue, I don’t know. This [cotton] is so it won’t poke you.  It is soft. The blue soft stuff is so that the glue won’t burn you.  The bottle cap, when you push it, makes your voice louder and louder.  Like this, “Hello!”  See, that’s how it works. And it is bended.

Nolan

December 2012

What did you invent?

      A car that kids can drive and takes him home fast.  These go here.  I press it, I drive. It drives like this. I press this one and this one.  Because I didn’t drive that.  I paint that.  The kids sit right here [by the green button] and the kids right here [on the edge].  The door is right here and right there. The kid makes it drive over.  He presses that one [the orange one] and that one [the silver one].  That one is not broke.  Daddy got a new car!

Reia

December 2012

What did you invent?

     An airplane that can go to space and go inside of the moon. The cups for space rocks are for protection. This is how it flies. The yellow button makes it go all the way up into the moon. The green one makes it go lower and lower and lower.  The blue fish button makes it go into the ocean.  It floats into the universe.  These, the acorn, makes it and turns it into a box, because it has to do this in order to go down and then come up.   This button [large, peach-colored] on top makes it turn and twist.  This [tall white] one makes it go farther down. This [tape] makes it jump on top.  They sit right down here.

Saadiq

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A special airplane that goes through storms and lightning and keep people stay safe. The yellow part sits on top of the people, it’s not a blanket, it is a cover, and it keeps them warm.  You got to run it fast. The jet planes are bad and the button on back stops the jet planes. The button on front breaks the storm. A lot of water and orange juice comes out of it – that is so scary. The people sit down here, on the bottom.  It goes fast, like this – vroom, vroom, vroom.  The front part turns the airplane around, like this – vroom [hands move in circle] – and you have to go super fast to the airport then!

Sarah Lydia

December 2012

What did you invent?

     It is two train tracks and the train does not need a driver, it just moves itself. The front part, whenever it needs a wheel, it gives one to it and then it drives.  Over there, is a circle for everyone to sit on. It [the acorn] is for growing a lot of acorn trees, for the squirrels that live there. It [the fuzzy part] is for when someone needs to get inside and get protected from planes that are flying onto the train!  And then when the airplane lands on this, it, the train, just keeps going and lets the plane ride on it.  The people sit on the circle.  I think I need more things on here!  This lid here in front will move the wheel off the train! And it [gray lid, near the circle] makes the sun and water come squirting out onto the acorn, to make the tree for the squirrel.   It [green lid] moves the people very quickly from here to there [fuzzy part], so that they don’t need to run or walk and move quickly.  And that’s the end!

Sayid

December 2012

What did you invent?

     An airplane where people can tell the pilot where they want to go. When you push the button on top, water comes out. When you touch the little one, it sprinkles food out. And the other one [oval] sprinkles tables out for the people on the plane. The buttons on top, these are the same ones; the green one is the same one as the red one. Inside, so when he sits on it, it makes noises – funny – like “eeek!” The people sit inside of this long thing, this is the airplane.  Mine goes through rain, to take people home.

Sophia

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A machine so people don’t get rain in a storm. If you touch the yellow button, then it goes up into the rain and touches the rain clouds. It turns the rain off. The heart is just for putting on it so that the cloud and rains can go away. The little things are all together, so that the bad guys stay away when a storm comes.  The purple thing is from a bad guy, they didn’t want to stay, and it came off the bad guy.

Soren

December 2012

What did you invent?

     A zombie that protects you from volcanoes and tornadoes. People can jump inside to hide from volcano. This is how it flies.  This circle, they jump inside and then they come out. If the lava comes into there, if the lava touches the glue part, the lava is done.  The tornado, if it comes, jumps from here to here to here and then it disappears. The people jump into there, down under.  That is a hide place, too.         

Zoe

December 2012

What did you invent?

     I’m inventing it to stop my Dad from falling.  You draw little things and some big things.  They catch him.  No, I invented  a building. If you press this button, then it will turn out cupcakes everywhere for everyone, this button with the gold.  If you press this button, it will come pumpking rolls.  If you press this one, the building will look like outer space. If you push the square button, moo muffins will turn out everywhere.  To get your designs out, this is a thinking cap.  And if you press this really huge one, everything will come out water!  The triangle one helps you if you are feeling sick, or if you have a cut or a sore. This [orange] button helps if you are in trouble.  If you press some of the buttons, it will become a rainbow. And this one, a train will come. And, this or this or this or this or this, it will become a tyrannosaurus and dinosaurs. They live in it, they look at it, they get things from it, and shop in it.  They do alot of things with this building.

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Well, those are the Big Cats' inventions! Now you know what preschoolers are thinking about - airplanes, cars, outer space, bad guys, volcanoes, and cupcakes!

May your new year be filled with compassion, hope, joy, and creativity!