Friday, November 3, 2023
Our afternoon explorations began with a story, “Not A Box” by Antoinette Portis. Before reading on, I invite you to click on the link and listen to the story with your child!
After enjoying the story, I challenged the students to explore and play with a wide variety of boxes and tubes that I had rescued from my home recycling. What might they transform these “not a boxes” into? We talked about how the rabbit was using their “thinking” skills to turn one big box into so many different things. Specifically, rabbit was activating their “creative thinking skills” which is one of the Core Competencies that we work on understanding at school.
(If you are curious to learn more about the Core Competencies and how they connect with our school curriculum, please visit this link: Core Competencies)
Many of the students took on the challenge of thinking creatively as they worked with the boxes. Together students began to learn how to use different kinds of tape, scissors, as well as, they were introduced to the cardboard saws, which are fantastic, safe tools that help the students really think big with their ideas!
Our plan, after we spend some time exploring small boxes, is to bring in some really big boxes to work on a large group project. The students have been inspired by the large kindness robot made by last year’s Kindergarten community, and they are looking to make something together that is just as big!
Please enjoy some of the photos from this first day of exploring “not a box” As you flip through the pictures, can you spy moments of teamwork? Do you see an example of creative thinking happening? What do you wonder about the students’ thinking?
Love,
Ms Allanson
PS If you have tubes or small boxes in your recycling, please send them in! We need to restock our collection for more explorations!