We have two large weaving looms at school. Usually we do the warping for the kids with string or yarn and then provide them with all sorts of materials—yarn, ribbon, paper, stuff they find outside--with which to weave. We also sometimes set out large plastic needles with ribbon if they want to “sew” their materials in. Sometimes we let the kids warp the loom, but it’s really hard for them to get something all the way across AND lined up because of its size.
The loom itself is a large square someone put together with a matching set of nails on the top and bottom (or right and left, if you’re that kind of person). I hate to think how hard it was to get the nails all lined up, but they are. The loom is large enough that several children can work simultaneously in different areas of the loom.
This summer we pulled out the loops, which made the loom something like a big potholder maker. The loops were made by tie-dyeing t-shirts and then cutting them horizontally, keeping the seams intact. We have a huge bag of these at school that get reused for various things.
Since we had a day or so with nasty weather this year during camp and some of the kids preferred to stay dry we had several customers at the loom.
And what about the finished product? Well, there never really is one. To my knowledge, no one has ever removed a finished piece from the loom and kept it. It’s all about the process with this one. I suppose someone could keep it and it would be the size of a large baby blanket.
I found your blog through your post to Instructables.com. I am also a preschool teacher and I'm loving reading all your wonderful, well-written idea. Thanks for sharing them!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! Do you post anywhere? I'm sure you have lots of good ideas to share too!
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't post anywhere--still very old-fashioned with notes and files piled around! I am going to try to start a blog one of these days.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, my school has begun using the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program for the K3 and K4 (and up) classes, which I have been busy learning about and developing curriculum for. I need to encourage children to ask questions, see connections, build on ideas, and actively contribute to their own learning--a big challenge for newly verbal little people! One thing I have found useful is using a voice recorder in the classroom to record the children's conversations. How do you keep a record of individual children in a busy classroom?
That's a really good question and one I struggle with. In the older classrooms (4's and 5's) they tend to keep clipboards all over the place so they can write things down as they happen. One of our favorite prompts is, "Tell me your story," and then we just write down whatever they say even if it doesn't make sense to us. We also make notes on the front of their art or the back if that's where they want it. It's fun to stand next to the easel with a clipboard and record a child's self-talk about what's going on in the painting.
ReplyDeleteIn my classroom this year we're trying something a little new. We're using Post-It notes. Everytime we see something we want to track, we write the date and the child's name and what we observed. After class we stick them to a sheet of paper that's in a binder in our cabinet for each child divided up by Creative Curriculum developmental domains (social/emotional, language, physical, cognitive). Eventually we'll write it nicely on the forms or type it up, but at any time a parent can look at what we've been observing about their child rather than waiting for a conference.
You know, my blog was really originally just for me so I could start logging the things I liked that I did in class. I didn't want to forget. In the back of my mind I hoped a few folks would get something out of my posts. But I think the blogging has been most beneficial to me rather than the world at large. I'm not a journal-er, so it's been a challenge to keep at it, but it's been a good thing. I highly recommend it.