SFL 222 2 day center write up

Brigham Young University
SFL 222 Learning Center 2-day Assessment Write-up for Joy Marie Prior
The original plan was to asses the children’s ability to create three dimensional objects. To follow Star on the Guideline for Practice I was trying to plan a curriculum that achieved the BYU preschool goals. I thought that painting rocks would be a unique way for the children to start learning about three dimensional objects. Rocks are cheap and I thought that it would be good for the children to see a lopsided object and imagine it as something rather than seeing a symmetrical object.
The first day was Monday, and I wanted to allow a day for the students to familiarize themselves with painting a three dimensional object and the colors. I realized from the Child Development Model that universally children are learning the names of colors in preschool, but I also wanted to work with the unique child. I looked through the “white-assessment-book” and wrote what colors the children did not know on my blue chart, and I wanted to have paint colors available that most of the children did not have recorded. So, I put out the color brown, purple, red… by the time I was done I had about six different colors. It was the first time that I have ever been at a paint center, and looking back I should have had a little more foresight and asked to be put at a painting center earlier in the semester. That way I could have anticipated what happens when a group of preschoolers gets lots of bowls full of lots of paint, but I guess I will just know that much more next time.
I wanted to use sponges to help the children with small motor skills. Basically, I envisioned the children dipping the sponge into the paint and then dabbing the paint all over their rock, and when it had a coat of paint on it helping them to put sparkles over it. The sponges backfired; basically the sponges became giant shovels that the children at the center used to shovel as much paint onto their rock as they could possibly pile. Instead of painted rocks they were creating paint volcanoes. I made a lot of notes of the next day: let rocks dry on the paper plates the children paint them on, use small paint brushes instead of sponges, pour less paint into the bowls, have images that the children can use to get ideas to paint, have all of my materials set out including the smocks before the children come in, and gather smooth and bigger rocks to even out the ratio of rock and paint.
In my mind I was going to just put the rocks on the creative trays and let them dry throughout the day, but remember these were not painted rocks but paint volcanoes. I looked at Victor Jays yellow mound of paint “was there a rock under that mound of paint”. That rock would not be dry until Victor Jay graduated High School. I brought myself back, what are my expectations… “You only need one spoon full of paint for your rock,” I told the table. This slowed down the amount of paint I saw pooling over the small paper plates. A few minutes later I heard Victor Jay, “Look!” he held up a spoonful of paint and smiled at me his eyes sparkled with pride, “I only used ONE spoon full.” He pushed the bowl of paint away and began to swirl his sponge across the jagged edges. This made me laugh, and I was oddly overjoyed that The Partnership Model of Clarity about preferences actually worked.
There was no doubt that the children were active in painting the rocks. They were enjoying themselves, but even though Savanna had paint in her hair, and Penny got paint on her watch I really do feel like there was learning going on. No doubt I needed to modify the environment, because there can still be learning going on and no one has to get paint all over themselves. Jonathan thought that the sparkles were above and beyond spectacular, and when I watched him try and shake the shaker of gold sparkles I had to resist the urge to take the shaker from him and “help” him get the sparkles all over. It was a reminder to me that Jonathan has to learn how to shake the sparkle shaker by himself. Although I thought that the sponges would help them develop motor skills it was the shakers that really were a greater challenge. The children became familiar with the rocks really quickly, and they loved working artistically with something three-dimensional.
Wednesday, I felt more prepared. I even brought printed off pictures of the children to look at of dogs, cats, frogs, and fish. This time I wanted to have a direction, a reason why we were painting. The curriculum goal was to make three dimensional objects that looked like something; I thought that making pet rocks would be a good idea. I put goggle eyes out on the table and a little less paint in the bowls. Above all I remembered to put out small paint brushes, and was prepared well before any of the students arrived.
I thought a lot about how much easier the Learning Model: active learning, meaningful experiences, and nurturing relationships is when there is a base for the lesson. While the children were painting instead of saying directionless statements like, “what color do you want to paint your rock?” I could ask them, “are you painting a dog?” Having a specific direction with the lesson did not simply keep the paint out of each other’s hair, but I could see a difference in how the children approached what they were painting.
Eliza A. started painting a elephant. I think it was because her rock was so much larger than everyone’s around her. With as meticulous as she is it is no surprise that Penny carefully painted brush stroke after stroke of yellow on her rock. When I asked her what animal she was painting she told me it was her grandma’s dog. Victor Jay was painting a dog of some sort; he used his paintbrush to point to the bends in the rock that were the nose, back, and place were the dog poops. Maribel made two purple unicorns, and Mei painted turtles and snails and all sorts of rock pets. Jackson mixed blue and yellow to make green and painted himself a frog while Margot glued on as many goggle eyes as her attention span would allow to create an alien dog. All of the children were able to think of an animal and this made me feel like it was an art project that was opened.
I really wanted to create a community of learners by following the star guidelines for practice. One way I tried to do this was to use self talk while I painted my rock: were I was going to put the eyes, what color I thought I should use, what animal I wanted it to be… I wanted them to share with each other what they were painting. Mei, was able to do this. She told us about her turtle and what colors she liked. Besides reminding everyone that the rule was only one spoonful of paint (he remembered from Monday) Victor Jay told everyone about his dog. Margot loved talking about her alien dog, and after that there were a lot of alien dogs being painted. I was glad that they were talking and thinking about each other’s art work.
Next time we are not going to be painting rocks, but making puppets. I think that I will try and find a few mirrors in the supply closet and have the children look in them when they create a paper bag puppet of themselves. I am debating in my mind if I should use construction paper the first day and try and introduce them to puppets, or if I should use strips of cloth. I think that I will try both on the first day, and just see how it goes.