IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

First of all, what a beautiful day today was!  We enjoyed outside during recess, then we did yoga outside, then we read Charlotte’s Web and ate snack outside…everyone  just LOVED it!

Yesterday when I walked into the classroom, I noticed there were two big boxes in the room.  When the children walked in, some asked, “What are those boxes for?”  So, after Reader’s Workshop we had a wonderfully engaging conversation about what the boxes were for, and each child that offered their suggestion said some form of rocket should be made!  Some of the children went over to the boxes to describe what we should do!

Then this afternoon while some friends continued to work on their paper towel tube rockets, some other friends drew plans for what they wanted the rocket to look like.  While these two things were happening, some friends started working on a mural with oil pastels.  They added some beautiful rockets to our mural.  Each week we will continue to add “space” objects to our mural as we learn about them.

The last thing that we did during our project work time was have a fun balloon rocket race.  The children tied two lines of fishing lines from one chair to another chair.  Then, we blew up balloons and attached them to two straws.  Then the children released the balloons and off they went!  It was so fun.  The children were counting down (like real countdowns) then cheering for both friends who were releasing the balloons.  After we cleaned up from our project work time, we had a great discussion about how this balloon experiment worked.  Emily said that when the air went out the balloon went forward!   Madeline S. said that it stopped when the air went out.  Then, Malachi offered some great connections to rockets in that he said it was just like when the gas and fire goes out of rockets-they stop!

What a wonderful day!!

Malachi, Isaac, and Selam working with Miss Kesler on some plans for our rocket!

Tevona doing a beautiful job drawing a rocket on our mural.

Miss Templeton helping Heaven and Madeline P. get ready for their balloon rocket race!

Today we had a lot of conversations about trees!  I noticed yesterday that a lot of friends were looking through the tree books and asking about roots.  “What are those?”  “What do they do?”  Today, with the help of white roses, we talked a little bit about roots.  During morning meeting, we added food coloring to jars of water and put the roses in them.  As a class we made predictions about what might happen.  Tylisha said she had seen it before and the flowers were going to change colors!  Some of the other friends agreed, but a few are still skeptical.  Check back in the next few days to see what happens!

What do you think will happen to the white roses?

Selah's tree

This afternoon, we celebrated the warm day and went outside to do observational drawings of the trees.  It was interesting to hear what the kids had to say about their noticings.  Max noticed the bark, or as he called it “skin” on the tree.  Wyatt noticed the buds at the end of the trees.  Selah noticed all the different branches.  They were so observant!

Wyatt was busy working on his tree drawing.

Salih was very focused on his tree.

Today Miss Robison and Mrs. Grotjan helped us make book pockets for our new classroom library. It holds books that we have made.

Miss Robison helped by sewing the pockets for us during studio.

Next week, I will be traveling to The Opal School in Portland, Oregon with several other colleagues from The IPS/Butler University Laboratory School. We will be engaging in some professional development to enhance our teaching skills and also be visiting a school that is very highly regarded in project based and Reggio inspired learning. I am so sad to leave the class for an entire week but know, with full confidence, that things will be in good hands with Miss Schmidt and all of our Butler support. Today, Miss Schmidt and I talked to the kids about what would be happening and assured them that I would be back the next week. We talked a little bit about Portland and where it is and the kids were interested in how long it would take (on an airplane, imagine that!) for me to get there. Sascha also suggested the class keeps track of the weather in Portland and the weather in Indy and note any similarities and differences. What a fabulous idea! I will be checking in with Miss Schmidt daily and also check my email on a daily basis while I am on the trip. I feel so fortunate to be a part of a school where professional development such as this is possible- and so fortunate that I have a wonderful student teacher who will lead our troops wonderfully -AND wonderful children and families who are supportive of my growth as well as their own. Have a wonderful evening!