Today was so cool! It is getting more and more exciting this week as more and more connections are being made! Today a team of children asked me if they could work on the tables. I said, “Sure! You may use any area in this room and any of the materials you see.” This answer was met with delight from my children. Many of them began raising their creations onto the tables, building from table to table, creating ramps and “drops” from table to floor or table to some sort of container. The children who originally asked if they could work on the tables called attention to what they were doing so others began doing the same. Because of the height of the tables, many of the children built downward, either by making an incline or by creating a drop to the next level. It seemed a natural progression for them. It was definitely an AH HA moment for at least half of the class. It was the first time I had seen three of the children even entertain using an incline, no matter how many questions I asked them to encourage thinking. So now every student of mine is using at least one incline in their creations. All of them are using blocks in a functional way at this point, as walls or lifts. I am so excited that THEY are so excited about the new things they are learning! As they become super engaged with their new strategies and techniques, they seem to be working even more cooperatively. They want to share what they know, give friends suggestions, observe each others’ creations, and give positive feedback to each other…all without any prompting from me! That’s pretty cool!
INTRO TO RAMPS AND PATHWAYS 