SPACE TRAVEL!

Soooo....Kelsey's camera died on Saturday and with all the problems she has been having with it, it's probably best for her to invest in a new camera. But aside from these technical difficulties, Saturday's class went well. Students first created space ships out of painted styrofoam. The ships turned out great, but the process of making them was a little hectic in class. We used Elmer's glue to connect the styrofoam, but the pre-schoolers were having trouble letting the glue dry and some of the pieces were too awkwardly shaped to glue at all. After we pulled out the hot glue guns, the rockets stayed together. We needed to really test out the material, all though we did, we didn't test out the pieces as if we were "pre-schoolers."

After our space ships were constructed, we made watercolor and crayon space travel paintings. We got feedback last week about scaffolding our materials better, so this week, we gave students only the crayons to begin, and then gave them the watercolor paints. The paintings turned out great, and I think the scaffolding really enhanced them.

All in all, I think the students enjoyed the day's projects. The only complaints I heard were about the construction of the space ships. There was still a lot of enthused talk about the planetarium, so we definitely want to keep that center of our classroom throughout the upcoming weeks.

Next Saturday, we are focusing on space critters and creatures. We constantly have to think of innovative materials for the kids, because each week our materials become more unique and fun. After space critters, it's space food, so I think we are using appropriate materials to engage students in our lessons.