Dave joined us this week and brought with him the pottery wheel. All children were invited to contribute to a group project (some declined due to discomfort with the texture of the wetter clay needed for the wheel).
While visiting Dave in small groups and taking turns on the wheel, the rest of the group worked at tables on an “expression session”: an open-ended exploration of the clay.
Typically, our pottery sessions involve each child working individually on a common project (e.g., everyone is making an individual pinch pot). Today was different in that children were directing their own work at the tables and then pivoting to a teacher-directed, collaborative project when called to. This is a model they will likely see very often in Kindergarten and which we’ll incorporate when appropriate in the Orange Room to help them build familiarity. It also helps them navigate both the “me” (i.e., individual expression session work) with the “we” (i.e., collaborative wheel project).
