A Morning Outside the Classroom (Mostly!)

Exploring Set and Stage Design: What does it take to make a show?

Earlier in the week, April took time out of her busy morning to introduce herself to us in the hallway! The Cardinals are so interested in the happenings around our school and have been exploring sculptures, artwork and creating with different materials. As we peeked in at the stage, it stimulated the children's interest and this led to our visit with April today. The children had the opportunity to go to the Muller Auditorium and have a private behind the scenes experience with April! It was most exciting to enter the empty auditorium and be invited to sit on the stage and take in all the pieces that make up the set of the play. As we engaged with April, we gained insight into her role in putting this together. She described the process and people it takes to design a stage. The Cardinals were enthralled at finding out the secrets that were hidden in the "Once Upon a Mattress". We watched as April showed us how many pieces of furniture on the stage could be moved, turned or changed to perform multiple roles depending on the part of the show it is needed for. One example of this was when April pulled out a piece from under the wooden set and it turned into steps leading to the castle!

Music with Jason

Our morning exploration of our school community outside our classroom continued as we entered into Jason's room. He engaged us in rhythm echo and patterning as he displayed musicality by leading the Cardinals in a melody. He created a tune with sounds and song and then invited groups of children to play their instruments of a common family. Then all the types of instruments joined together to create harmony after Samuel suggested, "Let's all play together!"

Building Community and Connections

Our Cardinals continue to come together and form deeper relationships as they share celebrations with each other for special occasions. Today, the Cardinals truly demonstrated their compassion and happiness for each other as they joined Lilly for her birthday with her grandmom and Elias, over a shared snack of delicious homemade cupcakes. Lilly continued her special morning by inviting her grandmom to read Purplicious (one of her favorite stories) to her class. The children demonstrated their strong listening skills and enjoyed the comforting feeling that a story time on the rug with a family member can bring!

Our morning ended with the Cardinals joining together in the classroom, finding areas that they would like to explore in until lunch. Building with magnet tiles, matching pattern blocks, and writing stories were popular choices for duos and trios of Cardinals! It was amazing to see and feel the strength of cooperative play growing and spreading through the group!