IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Today we had an excellent day! The students worked as a team all day long.  We had a very focused, relaxing yoga class to set the tone in the morning.  We accomplished everything we needed to in Reader’s, Story and Math Workshop.  We spent time observing and taking care of the chickens because today was our class’s last day! We also earned all of our positive points which meant we earned a Popsicle Party to end our day.  Take a look at all the fun we had! Hope you have a great weekend!

Chickens!

A New Math Game: Number Burglar!

Popsicle Party!

Since the first day of school, I have had a sweet gray billy goat marionette at school on our share chair. We have not addressed it at all until today. After Reader’s Workshop, I thought it was time to”wake her up.” She got down and she sat, walked, and looked at the kids. The children just fell in love her. They were all asking if they could pet her so she became part of our classroom community quickly. Ashu then asked what her name was, and to be honest we did not have one. So, I asked the kids to brainstorm about names for this sweet billy goat. After lunch we discussed names and wrote them all down on a board. At the very end of the day as part of our closing meeting, we voted on names and low and behold Crystal Speeder were the top choices!! I was smiling the whole time as friends voted for Crystal Speeder. Then we realized Speeder was tied with Fluffy so the friends decided that she needed to have three names Crystal Fluffy Speeder. I think that she will pop up here and there in class which will be a treat!!

So, ask your child about Crystal Speeder and see what they say!

P.S. I took picture of the voting, but I forgot to take a picture of Crystal Fluffy Speeder! Sorry!

The past few weeks, students have been very interested in reading stories out of our teeth book basket during free choice time.  We have had multiple celebrations when classmates have lost a tooth and have listened to each other share about the first time they lost a tooth.  Last week, I set out dental tools meant to be used with Play-Dough for children to engage with during free choice time.  Students immediately began to mold teeth, fix each others teeth, and explore other ways to use the tools!

Today, I set out a dental vest meant for dress up to see what response the students would have to it.  They started asking questions that provoked a great class conversation about the vest and what we knew about what was in it!  Some observations we made included:

• The tools in the vest pocket are all used by a dentist when you go for a check-up.
• There is a tooth brush in the back pocket and we all brush our teeth at home.
• The drill is used when someone has a cavity.
• A dentist wears a mask so that nobody spreads germ.
• Dentists wear the vest so everyone knows who is in charge!

Tomorrow, the vest will be set out during free choice time, so check back tomorrow to see what happens when students are able to play the role of dentist!

Yoga is quickly becoming one of our favorite times of the day in room 107! Our yoga specialist, Mrs. Williams, is at school on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. We still have yoga on Mondays and Tuesdays, but I lead it on those days and help the students practices some of the positions and routines they are learning the rest of they week. Take a look at some of the moves we have learned so far!

Danielle and Abel focus on their breathing upon entering the classroom.

Olivia and Cece do the downward dog.

Davi does a variation of downward dog, the dolphin.

As we begin to calm down, Kynden shows us how to do child’s pose.

John does the butterfly towards the end of our routine.

Jamaria shows us how we end our yoga time…by mediating with a relaxing, lavender scented eye pillow.

As we have been building our classroom community, the students have been thinking about their hopes and dreams for the school year.  Many students want to read chapter books, learn more about math, or even become scientists.  We have spent a lot of time discussing, sketching, and creating our hopes and dreams with clay.  After many drafts and a lot of perseverance the students finished their final sculptures today! We then discussed how we were going to reach our hopes and dreams and Madeline said “I think we need some hope and dream agreements.”  We worked together last week to create our classroom agreements and the students came up with: Take care of yourself, Take care of our friends, and Take care of our materials.  They made beautiful illustrations to demonstrate our agreement and we all signed it when we finished! Check back soon to see the finished hope and dream sculptures.  .  . we’ll be sending them to the kiln soon!