Before
we introduced the following project to the children, both Miss Liz and Miss Hope went to a metal dumpster to collect
materials for the classroom.
Before reading the story, the materials were placed in centers throughout the
classroom. The children used s hooks to measure, to link together, to sort, and to count. They explored
with the wire pieces twisting it, straightening it, and bending it into newly formed shapes.
Several days later, the children at the BCC CDC read The Robot and the Bluebird
written and illustrated by David Lucas. Inspired by both the book and many metal recyled materials
in the classroom the children made the connection between the text and themselves. Instinctively, they started using the materials
to create a robot .
The
children are watching from a distance with the expectation that a bird will take up residence in their robot's heart.
Miss
Liz’s class at the William Paterson University Child Development Center also read The Robot and the Bluebird.
They are making a robot too! The children are using some of the same materials as Miss Hope's class. The children
decided that their robot needed to wear a hat. They stuffed the hat with nesting materials because "birds need these materials
to build nests, and maybe because another bird is gonna want to build a nest right in the robot's hat!"
The children compared and contrasted robots, looking for similarities and differences between the two robots.
See the resulting book that documents this experience below.
We would like to send a great big thank you to Miss Hope's husband for helping Liz and Hope to collect recycled metal
materials at his job site.