Friendship Train

On the way through the Commons on the way to woodworking, the children formed a line by saying, “Hop on-board the friendship train!” Looking ahead and behind, the Lower Elementary children made sure that everyone was gently holding shoulders forming a train. The students are clearly bonded at this time of year, and have a strong identity as collaborative peers. There were several children out this week with fever, colds, and stomach-aches! Stay healthy this weekend, and we will make sure that we wash hands, and clean the tabletops and materials each day.

Writing Workshop: Experts

This week we asked the class what they feel they are experts at… things that they are good at or know a lot about. The lists were wonderful, and are a good tool to use when thinking about what to write about during our literacy block. If you are an expert at “being a friend” then writing a story about friends might be a good idea! Today, children began to write comic strips and one table discussed writing several and having a comic book sale! “What should we call our company?” the entrepreneurs asked!

Math: Place Value

At math time it is clear that the group has a facility with numbers and interested in large quantities. We have been playing many games and participating in exercises that make place value visible. By using 1,000 cubes, 100 squares, 10 sticks, and 1 units, children can conceptualize big numbers. By manipulating them, they are developing the fine motor skills to write and represent those big numbers. As the example above shows… we are still working on this concept!

Theme & Choice

We noticed that the Amaryllis plant has doubled in size over the last week, measuring 24 Unfix cubes! We took this opportunity to create observational drawings and paintings of the classroom plant before it blooms. The 6-step process involved looking, sketching a draft, drawing on high-quality paper, tracing over the pencil line with a Sharpie, painting the drawing, and when that dried, adding the background.

My Father’s Dragon

We finished reading My Father’s Dragon out loud this week as a class, and in the last chapter the wild alligators form a line across the river to form a bridge. The class spontaneously lined up head to toe to simulate the alligators, and I pretended to cross the “bridge”. They thought this was very silly, and everyone ended up with the giggles. We will start the next book in the series by Ruth Stiles Gannett called Elmer and the Dragon.