Find me at Smalls the World and at TinyMights. Smalls the World is curriculum and experiments and all the old posts. TinyMights is something new and on its way into the wide world.
March 24, 2015
February 09, 2015
MiniMaker Club: Glow in the Dark Goo (Gak)
For week two, I thought mixing things in jars and cups would be a good idea. Twelve kids, how could this go wrong?
Nothing went wrong, if you want to be Jane Austen specific about it, but I wouldn't teach/make goo this way again.
What I did:
- Kids were loosely divided between two tables. I had three mixing bowls (1/4 ratio) and three squirt bottles (ditto). The squirt bottles held the borax and water mix (the mix that puts the goo in goo). We dumped glue and water into the bowls, then added glow in the dark paint.
- I bought small plastic to go containers at the restaurant supply shop (same with the bowls and squirt bottles; never underestimate restaurant supply shops for amazing finds) for them to take the goo home in. You can use plastic bags, but those are a pain. Right?
- I brought glitter (stanard in the maker box) and food coloring. I brought high-lighters in case we wanted to try the high-lighter method of color extraction. (We didn't.)
- So. Glue gets mixed in the big bowls, and then I scoop some out in a plastic bowl and give it to a child. She gets to add the borax mix and food coloring.
- Mayhem. I came with eight bottles of food coloring and left with one. A couple of the students' hands were a deeply convincing shade of blue. Many of the glow in the dark batches looked like fresh livers sitting in a to go box. Everyone had fun.
What I would do next time:
- In some ways, it feels kind of maker-y to let them do each step. If I omit the big mix, then they aren't making. But, with 12 small people, many of whom are six or seven, it's a bit nutty.
- Mix the borax in the small bottles as this time. I would probably not mix the glue in the giant bowl, but we'd measure out individual portions and let them mix in their little to go containers. Now, would I have each person measure, or do it myself ahead of time. Perhaps a combination so things move along.
- Popsicle sticks make AWESOME stir sticks.
- I'd have a batch of goo made in various shades so they could see how it glowed and didn't glow.
- Bring a flashlight for better glow-check.
- I think I'd like them to do two batches each, one plain and one livered-up, so they could compare and contrast the glow levels.
We brought two batches home, one that the girl happily dumped blue food dye in, the other was left over I brought home for the boy. It has only glitter in it.
We held them up to the bathroom light and then I took a picture. You can see the glitter batch glowing in the top right corner. You can't see the blue batch, which had cool streaks that looked bioluminescent phytoplankton (a great book for preK-1 that features phytoplankton is Whale Shines).
MiniMaker Club: Sun Prints
The school's MiniMaker Club kicked off with sun prints. I have a mix of 12 first through fifth graders, primarily first graders. The fifth graders are helpful and organized and eager to lead the youngers. Go Vigotsky.
What I had forgotten about working with children is pretty much everything.
So, when there's more than a couple (you know, like the two I have) don't put anything on the table. Also, if you're going to do sun prints,make sure you've got full sun, not late afternoon limpid winter sun that eeks across the edge of the building creating a one-inch sliver not big enough for a full sheet of paper, let alone bleach it out into a print.
But my makers were game and tried putting their carefully layered works in the bit of sun they could find and letting it rest for a bit.
What worked: buttons, screws, structured plants, butterfly cut-outs, poms.
What didn't: fake feathers, whispy things.
I wouldn't leave out those failures, because that's part of the lesson -- what works and what doesn't.
Sun, doo-dads, all of it becomes part of the process and the experiment.
To bridge the sun to rinse time, I had them decorate greeting cards with a photo window. When the prints were dry enough, we trimmed them down to fit so they had something spiffy to take home and show off.
Next time:
make sure you have sun, leave ALL the goods in one place, let the fifth graders help as much as they want
January 24, 2015
And, we're back
I don't know how back we will be, as I get TinyMights up and running with my partner, but I need a place to write, you know? (She said, writing into the wind.)
We moved back from New York a year ago and I've been cold a lot since then. Californians, the ones who grow up in the northern half, not our southern cousins and not the transplants, we just don't know what to do about dressing for weather. I spend much of fall and winter slightly underprepared all the time. Puffy coats are overkill, but my down vest isn't enough. I can't bring myself to purchase a proper jacket because it's California, when will I wear it? (Um, now? Maybe not today with its unseasonably global-warming, California is on the brink of disaster mid-70s weather.)
The smalls are thriving. They love their schools and continue to develop new friendships and strengthen old ones.
We have seen our cousins and aunties and uncles and grandmother and nana often, even for a hike!
(How often do we become friends with people in our adult years and forget, if we ever considered, that they have siblings? Sometimes we do! These are mine. :)
We can't get enough of the beach in cold weather. We leave, so cold we can't get the sand off, teeth clattering, in search of hot chocolate.
Deep Down Dark
February book for I Should Have Read That:
I keep flipping to the photos in the front to attach faces to names.
There are a number of book reviews available. I've flagged two and also include a link to a reading guide from the publisher (MacMillan/Farrar, Strauss & Giroux)
NY Times review
"Crises of faith are the dominant theme of Héctor Tobar’s “Deep Down Dark,” the story of 33 men who were buried for 69 days in a collapsed Chilean mine in 2010. Crises of faith are the dominant theme of Héctor Tobar’s “Deep Down Dark,” the story of 33 men who were buried for 69 days in a collapsed Chilean mine in 2010. "
Washington Post
"Miners have a rule: Nobody walks anywhere alone. A slab of rock can peel off suddenly and imprison a man for days. Or a miner can step, without the warning of a shadow, into a fatal crevasse. The buddy system is an expression of the profession’s perils and, ironically, also the limits of its safety: What happens when every man’s life is in danger?"
FSG Reading Guide
As I've been reading and preparing for the book group, I thought I'd pose questions to consider as a group. These are not the only discussion points, but I'll usually include a few going forward to consider based on these reviews and the guide.
I think the question of faith is important. What does it mean to have faith and for those who are atheist and do not look to a higher source or supernatural support, what does it mean to have faith? Where do you find solace? What do you think of the men's continued push/pull with their faith?
The story could have been told without the voice of the women, but it isn't. Tobar includes them. What were your initial impressions as the men were leaving their families behind to go into the mines (some on lengthy bus rides)? What about the absence of women. I suspect that there was a western, why aren't there women? prickling going on. What do their perspectives add to the story? Speculate: how would it have been different if it had been men and women below? All women?
Did Tobar writing pull you in? Did it feel like he developed a strong narrative? What was he narrator's voice like to you? Does the story work? How so?
May 21, 2013
Garden
The mosquitoes haven't fully descended so we are making use of he garden as much as possible. Once the biters are here, they are too thick and determined, even with bug spray (Badger spray, you are amazing).
Juniper and Carver have been churning a couple of patches thanks to gardening tools from Aunty Mandy and construction trucks from Grandmother and Grandpa.
Today, Juniper is home sick from school. She's inside, camped out in the comfy stroller, reading library books.
Carver is weeding and looking at bugs. I'm hopeful their interest in bugs and insects and creepy crawlies continues. That was me who took them to the giant spider exhibit at the museum of natural history. I deserve a medal for that effort!
Carver made sure the brachiosaurus had leaves to eat. We don't have any meat handy for the Tyrannosaurus rex. Maybe a roly poly?
May 11, 2013
Cooking. Updates.
Aunty Cake hates seeing food shots. Aunty Cake, this post is not for you!
I can't help it, I fell off the food wagon and have been killing myself to get back on. Planned meals are far easier to work with. I try to have the week set, and when I don't. Oof.
Mid-March, I decided to work with Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty. Ottolenghi isn't a vegetarian, but he writes the vegetarian column for The Guardian. His was the first book that my cookbook club reviewed. People said the recipes were cumbersome, but if you drink some wine while doing all the chopping, they aren't so bad. Assembly is, generally, quick.
Green pancakes with poached eggs.
This is not from Plenty. This is leftover chicken, quick biscuits, and voila! chicken pot pie, biscuit-style.
Unfortunately, my love affair with The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook burned hot and bright. There are a few keeper recipes, like the mushroom bourguignon. But others, like the sweet potato blintzes were total misses. This says a lot considering he smalls' wide range of likes and total willingness to try anything. Far too much cheese for Mister. I might try again with less or no cheese.
What really bugs me, though, is the layout. Recipes run across multiple pages, and so do the ingredient lists. I find it distracting to follow the recipes, especially the longer ones. Also, ingredients like farmers' cheese aren't readily available, but she offers no alternatives, not even on her blog when people ask (I don't like to recommend something I haven't tried ... fine, but don't make the main ingredient a total oddball, then).
Something to make you laugh:
`This should be an easy loaf of bread to make. Oatmeal molasses bread from Good to the Grain. My loaves either look like this, puffy and deformed (but taste good) or are hard, small, soggy bricks. It has to do with yeast conversion. I don't mind tinkering, but really. Really!
May 03, 2013
When FaceTime Goes Bad
We were trying to have a chat with Nana but our connection went goofy more than once.
While waiting for her to come back online, we thought.
We considered.
We made a discovery!
May 02, 2013
Zoos, Books, Hugs
This is what happens when Uncle J and Aunt E come to town. They walk in, squeals, hellos, jumping around, and then books on the couch. None of the them seem to tire of this ritual.
At the Prospect Park Zoo, on a day far colder than we expected. Spinning by the golden monkey tamarin.
Cold turtles.
Carver took a nap. Juniper hit the Transit Museum. She hasn't had her own day there in a while. Carver and I have had a couple of mornings of our own while she's in school. It's a brilliant visit for adults and children. You get a history of how the tunnels were made, hands-on activities in electricity (how does that Third Rail really work), buses to drive, and lots, and lots of trains from the beginning of the subway system to run through.
Working out a workbook with Aunt E.
I wasn't kidding about reading together.
April 09, 2013
Art and the Boy
Carver is following in Juniper's footsteps, taking a music and art class at where she did, and loving it, as she did.
His hand skills aren't as keen and I'm not sure if he likes art as she does because he gives up a bit. Except there.
He made two of these hearts, a combination of paint and stickers and glitter. He more or less painted one side (the goal), then we folded the paper in half to mirror the splotches.
Glitter. Hearts in positive and negative.
One for papa, one for Juniper and me and whoever he decides to give it to on any given day.
We did a drop in at an art space near home, too. We had a felting day. Carver swished raw fiber in soapy water until he made a, oh, what would you call it? A worm?
There's no much more fun for a toddler than a bucket of soapy water and things to squish.
Oh, unless you put it in a bag to moosh. That's good, too.
Final project, which was a piece of wool stretched out and overlayed with fluff and then washed out. (Want instructions? Check here.)
Mama G
Former English teacher, technology journalist, now stay-at-home-mama
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