In 3rd grade, we are starting our investigation of architecture by creating elevation views of buildings using Greek, Roman, Victorian and modern architectural elements. The children are truly enjoying putting together varieties of architectural elements and --- as one would imagine these buildings are very fantastic!
So we are painting and moving around the room getting the paint, going back to our seats, painting , getting up again to get a new color --- this sort of thing. There is a deal great of working as well as movement in the room. A small group of boys gathers around another boy's seat -- they are chatting --- and I move over to 'break up the action' and encourage them to keep working.
I do this by saying "... what are we talking about ?" My method of not saying what I want them to do which is to keep working and not gather and chat usually works really well --- the children always tell me and then move on to their task --- in this case all the boys standing there just looked at me --- looked at each other all agreed " OK meet you there ..." and moved back to their work -- But answering me ---the child who was at his seat said "... our buildings..." Being completely surprised by this I asked what about your buildings --- this young man offered that they had made up a game yesterday on recess that was centered around their buildings. They were all going to meet each other by the trees to play at recess that afternoon.
When I asked if I could play he said without blinking "... sure... is your building done ? You gotta have your design done to play." I said I think so-- and he said then I could meet them at the trees too. I love this whole thing of the work they do being embedded into their imaginary play.
I never went outside to meet the children at the trees -- but I have not stopped considering this and wondering about their attachment to what they make.
What creates this interest in making and then the expansion of the idea --- especially architecture-- into the child's spatial creative play imagination. I am thinking that they truly do inhabit their ideas --- its wonderful. They are in their ideas to the point the idea becomes the alternate reality of the child's constructed game . So interesting and so wonderful !
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