Introducing the Overhead Projector

I can hardly explain the magic of bringing an overhead projector into a classroom for the first time.  I rescued it from a storage room down the hall, where it was dusty and unloved, and brought it into the classroom on Tuesday.  We have been using the same tray of materials all week as we learn about what it can do.  I spend a lot of time point out what I see and what I notice about what the children are putting onto the projector and how that manifests on the wall.

This group of children has been chatty at the projector, working in pairs to put the objects on, sweep them off, and start over.  Watching the evolution of the process this week has been interesting: at the start, they dumped and swept off, or just dumped and walked away.  At the end of the week, they are making up stories, chatting about the objects and the shapes, and starting to get up to use their own bodies to make shadows.

An unexpected moment this week came on Wednesday, when the attention of the pair was focused on the objects on the projector itself.  Children often look at the projector as a box rather than at the wall; but here, the illuminated objects had their own fascination.  

The child doing the hiding in this video is the same one I showed once before, hiding toys under cups and mixing them up, then asking others to find the object.

The projector will be a staple in our classroom as we continue getting to know this space.  What objects will we try next week?

Happy Weekend!