IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Today and tomorrow I will be working with the planet groups to discuss and support their representations of their knowledge. This afternoon I worked with Mercury (Heaven, Madeline P., and Cha’kyra), and I was really blown away by their collaboration,hard work,and knowledge for their planet. Last week with the Block A Butler students, they worked on a poster with facts about Mercury. Today we revisited that poster and discussed as a group what they liked, what needed to be done to make it more of what they desire. They really did an amazing job of working cohesively to add gems to make their Greek symbol, to paint the word Mercury on their poster, to add a sun and Mercury in orbit out of collage materials. After they were finished,they presented their poster to their friends, and wow…the friends watching were such good listeners and the girls presenting did a wonderful job sharing their work. Tomorrow I will be working with some of the other groups on their posters so I am excited for you all to see it on the Space Presentation Night!

Today we started making story stones at school. Story stones were developed by the preschool team in our building. After they showed us what they were, it made so much sense to have a set in our room! What we did today and what we will continue to do this week is prepare them. We cut out a picture from a child’s dictionary first. Then we select a smooth stone to mod podge the picture onto. After they dry and we are done making them, the children will be able to use them during story workshop to create stories or if they get writer’s block they can say grab three stones and create a story with those three stones. We are so excited about this process!

Good news! We have set a date to build and plant our school garden. On Monday of next week (the 31st), several parents will be helping us assemble the boxes. We plan to do three cedar garden boxes, four feet by ten feet each. Please let me know if you would be able to help with this.  We will also need help spreading soil that day.

 We will be planting our vegetables and herbs in the boxes Wednesday, the 2nd. This will begin around 9:15. We will have help from some of our Butler friends and would love for family members to join in on the fun if they are able, too. Send me an email if you are planning on coming. I will be sending a reminder, but next Monday and Wednesday, please make sure your child is in washable play clothes and old shoes. We plan to get dirty!

This afternoon Mr. Nored led an engaging experience for the children when he brought in various objects to represent the size of the planets. This was wonderful for the children to see because they got a better picture of the whole solar system. It was fun too to hear the children share more of their knowledge like that the inner planets are called “rocky midgets” and the outer planets are called “the gas giants.” There was so much thinking, comparing, and contrasting which was so much fun to do with the children!

Friends work together to create a Terrarium.

This morning, Sascha brought in a little plastic jar which she had captured several worms from her back yard. She shared that she had put lots of grass and leaves inside for the worms, to keep them happy. This was a great lead to our conversation about habitats today. Sascha actually created a mini habitat in that plastic jar- something we call a Terrarium. This morning after Sascha shared, we explored six different types of habitats that plants and animals live in: desert, tundra, rain forest, grassland, pond, and forest. We talked about what each habitat has in common: they all sustain life. After talking about the necesities for plants and animals, we set out to create our own mini habitats. The kids worked in pairs and small groups to plant a variety of seeds and plant cuttings and create their own Terrarium. After we were finished, Journey said something interesting.

“Mrs Argus, we don’t have any worms in our habitats.” Journey

“Why is that important?” Mrs Argus

“We need them to keep our soil healthy, and to make new good soil.” Journey

“We need worms in our habitats!” Michael

Friends loved what Journey had to say and after her comment, we each placed several worms into our Terrarium from our compost bin. What incredible thinking.

Friends work together to create Terrariums!

Cameron and Tajanaye plant their seeds.

Carriea, David, and Angela work together to assemble their habitat.

A completed Terrarium with worms inside. Later on, they all crawled to the bottom. We wondered why!

Tags: capable, collaboration, curious, garden, inspiration, project