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Today we took bus #120 to the Delridge Library. We read books and then checked out our favorites. Then we had story time with the librarian. The storytime theme was India. She read three different books and had dancing and singing in between each story.
Waiting for the bus.
Storytime.
Heading back to school on the bus.
We’re just so happy to have a few HOT days still…
We made a gas (baking soda and vinegar) powered “speed” boat for our science project and when we dumped the swimming pool that we were using for a lake – we had a virtual ‘mud’ bath. I stood there laughing and said; “what kind of K-2 class is this?” They of course ignored me until I grabbed a handful of mud.
Clownin’ around in the sunshine…
Asher’s geometry catapillar:
Sophia’s journal:
Quote of the day:
“Hey Michelle, put this picture on the blog.”
Kathleen, our resident chef/baker, came in and helped us make pizza dough. We will make pizza next week out of the dough we made today. We talked about yeast and how it is alive and how we have to wake it up with warm water and then feed it sugar and milk so that our dough will rise and become pizza crust. We measured the ingredients and followed the directions…
CLASSROOM/STUDIO OPEN, CLASSROOM JOBS, SNACK AND BIG YARD:
During this time, I have set out numerous activities in all areas of the classroom. The students are also able to put the suggested activity away and take something from the shelf that interests them.
In the math area, I often put out math games, geometry puzzles and sorting activities. We have a multitude of other activities available on the math shelf as well such as weaving, magnets, and math cards.
In the writing area, there may be a word game or special gel paper and pens as well as the large white board for writing and letter magnets. Here there are also many options on the shelf such as pencils, colored pencils and pens (we only have markers in the studio on purpose,) there are also many different kinds of paper, writing/reading games, dictionaries (they love looking “the word of the day” up in the dictionary.)
In the science area, I usually rotate this weekly, we have had a sea star/shell investigation, a butterfly specimen investigation and now we have dinosaur bones with books and information. This area is also were we work from when we have our science experiments and it has our beloved vinegar and baking soda and other supplies.
The block area has many wooden blocks to choose from, small Legos, a basket of animals, cars, a wooden building set that has the capabilities of making things with wheels, as well as other random building materials I find out in the world and bring in.
The dress-up and kitchen area have a complete kitchen set, wooden food, a ceramic tea set, food boxes that I have collected from my house, clothes to dress-up in, hats, umbrellas, scarves and a large mirror. This is our imaginative play area and many of the kids like to dress up and pretend that they can’t find themselves anywhere – Jackson is often Pierre’, Jackson’s bother from Paris.
The “living room,” story area, is used during this time for listening to books on tape, reading books alone and to each other, gathering on the couches to chat, playing records and sometimes the math or writing manipulatives are brought to the living room rug for further floor exploration.
We also have a recycling construction area in the classroom that has buckets of recyclable materials such as paper rolls, thread and needles, ribbon, boxes, natural items such as pinecones, rocks, sticks, beeswax. This area also has tape, scissors, glue, hole punches and anything we might possibly use to create any type of table top construction project.
The art studio has many projects throughout this time. The shelves are lined with all types of craft items including paint. There is an easel but painting can also be used on the tables. We have play dough, clay, beads, stickers, cutting, writing, and gluing materials available. I usually set up a specific art project during open studio time but again the students are welcome to work from the shelves as well.
This time also incorporates snack time (where everyone comes to the table together and then we go out to the big yard where we have the climber, the bikes, the animals and the garden (the classroom is also available during this time.)
During this time, we also do our classroom jobs which include, taking care of the bunnies and guinea pigs, the fish, the stick bugs, and the plants. Other jobs include the calendar, number of the day and what is available in the classroom (we do these at morning meeting.)
This open classroom/studio and big yard time is the students time to do what they wish. It is two hours of personal investigation, exploration and cooperation. They can do anything they want as long at it is safe and doesn’t interfere with anyone else’s work. This is the heart of our program. Kids are discovering their interests. Their interests are also changing with age. Many times a student will spend an hour working on one self-directed project. They never tire of this time of the day and they are always engaged and eager to delve into their own math, science, writing and art projects.
On Thursday we walked to Daystar Retirement Village. We were all excited but also a little nervous. We went to visit the residents who cannot easily leave. The kids brought a favorite book to share but were a little shy, so I read Frog and Toad to everyone. The kids then drew pictures and gave them to our new friends. There were a few moments that just stopped my heart. When we got back to school, we talked for a long time about our experience. Some of the kids thought it was really fun and that it was a kind place, some thought it was a little bit fun and some thought it was kind of scary but we all decided that it was important and that we want to go back. So, we will go again in two weeks.
I found this “Elementary-School Homework” article over at Slate.com and thought it would be interesting for all of you. It references “The Homework Myth” by Alfie Kohn – who also has a great site as well.
Today during science we heated oil to 400 degrees and added maifun noodles – once they hit the oil, they explode like snakes and puff up – they were so yummy too (don’t worry – we were super careful!)
During math we sorted, catagorized and counted “jewels.” Then we wrote down our tally.
Today we also got out our best dance moves and I thought I was going to just hit the floor. Everyone was so funny but Jackson and Neve were twirling, swinging (hand in hand, hands over head) and throwing their heads back dramatically. It was so hilarious.
Tomorrow is our first day going to Daystar Retirement Home. The kids seem really excited. They are going to pair off with an elder, draw pictures, chat (we’ve prepared some questions) for about 30 minutes. We’ll let you know how it goes.
Adventures in the garden: We pulled weeds, talked about our plans for the garden, checked on the compost and found lotsa crawly bugs…
Today we made pinwheels and talked about geometry and wind. This project turned out so well – I wasn’t sure we would pull it off – making all the pieces for our pinwheels but we were so successful. It was our so much fun to run in the yard and watch the wheels turn and for the kids to climb on the tire and the climber to try to find better and different wind velocity. The sun and the wind came out just for us – too bad photos do not capture each wheel turn.
And I’ve been dreaming about and missing my student’s from last year so much. They must be able to read my mind:
I love, love, love you too…
MORNING MEETING:
This is where we first gather for the day. We check in with each other. We talk about our life outside of school. This is also our time to do our classroom business such as weekly job assignments. (Melanie, Asher’s teacher last year, asked Asher how he liked his new class. With his hands on his hips he said; “Well, you know, I have a job. I feed the bunnies.”) We also have our number of the day – tomorrow is day 5! We fill out the calendar with the day of the week, what was yesterday, what is tomorrow, what is the weather (this can involve prediction which is fun.) It’s our get -ready-set-go-time, as they are all anxious to see what is new in the room since next on the schedule is classroom/studio work-time, which I will cover next week in “what our daily schedule REALLY means: PART 2.
And thank you everyone for letting me know how much you appreciate the website – it is something much larger than it started it out to be – it now seems to have a life of its own.
See you tomorrow.
P.S. Happy Birthday Brigit!
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