City in Motion

The CN Tower

2012-01-25T04:55:00.000-08:00

The weather does not always cooperate so when the children took their first trip to the top of the CN Tower they were faced with an interesting challenge.The dense fog and cloud coverage made it difficult for them to see the city clearly.

"We are high up! The CN Tower is so tall it goes inside the clouds and that is why we can't see the city well. If we wait the sun will come out then we will see everything!"

To test his theory we will take another trip to the top.

A Drive to the Country and A Drive to the City-What will we see?

2012-01-12T08:26:00.000-08:00

"In the country the ground is green because it's the color of leaves and grass. There is a farm with farm animals. The farm is surrounded by a brown fence. There are lots of trees in the country but not cars or tall buildings!" Daniel age 4

"When you drive home in the city you can see the CN Tower and other tall buildings at the end of the road.

There are no as many trees as the city and no farm animals."

Niaz age 4

The Art of Valery Rybakow

2011-12-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

While researching a new artist, the teacher discovered this beautiful painting by Valery Rybakov. Dylan watched as the images of the artist's work lit up the computer screen. The one below caught Dylan's attention because it looked like his neighbourhood and he decided he would like to paint one just like it. Neighbourhoods are one of the topics the children are discussing in the city project so it fit in perfectly. Dylan noted how the homes were close together just like the ones on his street.

"It reminds me of my neighbourhood. I like the way that there is a lot of colours reflecting from all the buildings," he said.

The Representations Continue In Preperation for the Trip to the CN Tower

2011-11-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

The CN Tower-One of the World's Tallest Buildings

2011-11-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

Skyscrapers In the City

2011-11-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

Next week the children will take a trip to the CN Tower. The art work below is a representation of "The skyscrapers that fill the city." The representation indicates that the children have some previous knowledge.

Challenge the Child!

2011-10-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

To often, as teachers, we accept the child's first thoughts on the how and why of things. But their theories should be challenged-ask for more-it's okay!

I wll use yesterday's post as an example.

Have a close look at the child's comments on the city in autumn and the actual canvas representing his thoughts. They were not streamlined.

The child told his teacher that the leaves did not cover the tall buildings, yet his canvas had huge leaves surrounding the top of the buildings. Why did he choose to do that?

Why were the leaves in the sky so much larger than the ones on the ground?

Did the leaves simply fall from the sky?

Do the buildings need to be taller? Does he need a larger canvas?

Does he want to make some adjustments to his work or his initial thoughts.

Let's see what happens next week.

The City in Autumn!

2011-10-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

"How does the city look in the fall time?" asked Matteo.

“When the leaves fall, they cover almost everything in the city. They cover the ground, and some buildings but not the tall buildings because the trees can’t reach them,” answered Angelina.

“If the leaves cover the cars the drivers could use their windshields to wipe them away,” said Arshia.

Lights out in the City!

2011-10-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

"If the lights turned off in the city, just the buildings would look black but everything else around it would still look the same. The sky would stay the same colour and so would the water and the grass and the trees."

The Journey Begins

2011-10-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

A city project is abundant with opportunities to discover, explore, build, construct, engage, and travel.

Each year, whether by chance or by teacher prompting, this is one of our most exciting venues for working with the children. And each time we do this work we are rewarded with new and interesting experiences. No two school years produce the same results.

So where did we begin?

The first step was a meeting between the Jk-Sk teachers of our three schools. We looked at how the project would be navigated-would all the children in their classes participate? How would we share the work? When would we take our first city trip? How would we prompt interest among the children?

The next step was to gauge how much the children knew about Toronto. What, if any, were their previous experiences in the city .

Below are few of their initial contributions to the discussions as well as a few sketches and theories.

Bear in mind that projects are never linear and the children and teachers will often jump from one idea, theory or thought to another, often returning to them as the project moves along.

To prompt the discussion the children were asked a variety of questions; what is a city, what is in the city, what do you see in the city, who goes to the city etc..

Arshia: In the city, there are a lot of cars and big trucks.
Marcus: There are a lot of lights everywhere. They are on the cars and on the buildings.
Jessica: In the city, there is tall tall buildings.
Siara: The city has big roads cars moving on the road.

Evan: Cars and trucks move fast in the city.

Shannon and Angelina: There is the CN Tower!
Shannon: My daddy works in the city. Sometimes he drives and other time he takes a bus.
Angelina: My daddy works there too. He drives some days and takes the GO train other days.

Teacher: Why do people take a bus/train to get to the city?

Giacomo: Because the roads are too busy.
Matthew: My mom takes the bus and the subway to get to work.

Teacher: Who is in the buildings?

Matteo: People are working in the buildings.
Shannon and Matthew: Just like my mommy and daddy. They work in the buildings.

It was evident that this class had a good foundation to begin their work.