ENGINEERING FABRIC
BEGINNING THE PROJECT
The Explorer classroom decided to investigate the topic of fabric. The class went in this direction because the teachers found that fabric-making and creating things with fabric is a great interest for many of the children. This first began when one of the children in the room asked to make a shirt for his dog so she would not get cold. The other children and teachers helped this child create such a shirt for his dog. The teachers observed how much information the children were learning about while trying to create this shirt. The teachers also observed how many of the other children were interested in this project who then also began to make their own projects out of fabric.
The Explorers' teachers asked the children what they already knew about fabric and what information they wanted to learn from the investigation.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT FABRIC?"My jacket is made of fabric." –Ben
"My pillow is made of fabric." –Coen "It gets glue on it to make different things." –James |
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO LEARN ABOUT FABRIC?"Can we make a parachute out of fabric?" –Eli
"Can we make dresses out of fabric?" –Oliver "Can you make kittens out of fabric?" -Eloïse |
During circle time the class talked about the tags in their shirts and what they are made of. The children had the opportunity to look at their tags and find out what fabric their shirts were made of. Then they drew a picture of their shirts.
DEVELOPING THE PROJECT
When the Explorers Classroom first began talking about fabric during circle time, many of the students did not know what fabric was. The classroom discussed during circle time that the clothes the students and teachers had on were fabric as well as the clothes and blankets in the home center. To help the students get a better idea of what fabric was and what it felt like, the teachers put out different types of fabric for the children to explore and work with. The children looked at all the fabrics they put out. Some children tried to add the fabrics to their clothes and some laid out the fabrics in different ways to make people and designs.
As part of the investigation, each child was asked to create a fabric item using the sewing machine. As part of this project, the children had to first come up with something they wanted to create, and then decide how they would create it by using research. See the documents below that outlines this project of the investigation.
To help the children get a better look at fabric, the teachers put out microscopes for the children to use with fabric swatches. With the help of the microscopes, the children observed the different patterns and shapes that the fabrics were made of. The children worked to draw what they were seeing under the microscope. The children drew squares and lines to represent the fabrics up close. They also watched a movie about weaving, had the opportunity to create their own weaving on cardboard, worked with lacing cards, and explored the way fabric feels by reaching inside a "feely box".
FABRIC PROJECTS
The children sewed strips of fabric onto a large sewing board. The teachers wanted to add color to the board, so they painted a big sheet of paper and had plans to cut it into strips. After the paper dried, it was so beautiful that they instead decided to keep the sheet of paper in one piece.
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FIELD EXPERIENCE
To further their investigation, the Explorers took a field trip to Sew Dayton, , a local sewing shop, to get some hands-on experience with the material they were learning about. Before the trip, the teachers asked the children what they desired to learn from the experience and the questions they had for the experts at Sew Dayton.
"Can we borrow some fabric?"-Oliver
"Do you have a pattern that makes rainbows?"-James
"Where is the corduroy fabric in the store?"-Erica and Cohen
"Where do you get all of this fabric?"
"Do you have a pattern that makes rainbows?"-James
"Where is the corduroy fabric in the store?"-Erica and Cohen
"Where do you get all of this fabric?"
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