IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

This week we started a new unit of study in Geometry.  On Monday, we gave the problem, “Mrs. Clark created a shape that had more than 4 sides.  What shape did she create?”  This lead to a lot of exploration about shapes.  We came up with hexagons, octagons, and even a few different 3D shapes.  The kids came up with a list and we started naming the shapes.  At the end of yesterday’s Math Workshop a few friends got into a discussion about octagons.  Ruth said all octagons look like stop signs & Aasha said they just had to have 8 sides.

Today we explored that question.  Could an octagon look like anything with 8 sides or was it a set shape?  We found out together that all octagons had to have 8, CONGRUENT sides.  I gave the kids the challenge today.  Could they figure it out; what is an octagon?

I have to say that the class was on a mission. (They were on a mission to prove the theory wrong :).  Selam and Ruth discovered that it might be possible.  Check out the picture below of one of their creations.

They shared it with the class and were challenged on the sides.  Were the sides really congruent?!  After more discussion we decided as a class that we STILL didn’t have the answer.  We will be working on this problem tomorrow as a class to try to see if we can find out what a true octagon looks like.   Even though we did not find an answer in one day I have to say that I am proud of the kid’s reasoning abilities and determination to figure it out.   Check back tomorrow for the update!

On Monday, December 3^rd, the Block A students shared their final Teacher Research Projects. The teacher research project was a hands-on way for the Block A students to experience classroom life.  Butler professors, Lab School faculty, friends, and family were all invited to attend this event. This event was the culmination of a semester’s work of research. Each student had the opportunity to showcase his/her accomplishments from the semester. We spent ten weeks in the classrooms collecting data and observing our students to try to answer our questions.

Throughout the course of the semester, we had to complete a variety of tasks as teachers in the classroom. These included: read alouds, conferencing, small group instruction, and a math/literature lesson. When we first started administering these tasks, questions started to form. Each Block A student came up with a different and thought-provoking question. These questions were unique to individual classrooms and focused on our own educational philosophies.

A lot of time and effort was put into the Teacher Research Projects, and the end results really showed it. We are very proud of our fellow classmates and friends. These projects were completed with professionalism and presented with confidence. We can not wait to see what Block B has in store!

Written by: Kara Saks, Sam Karmia, and Sara McDonald

Monday and Tuesday of this week we began exploring geometry concepts in math.  The students were challenged to use materials to build a shape with more than four sides.  I was impressed with their creativity while they were building shapes.  Friends made shapes that had up to twenty-two sides.  The shapes that were built led to deep conversations about what a side is, how can we count sides, and what makes a shape a shape.  We will continue exploring geometry this week.

We are going on our field trip next Tuesday! Please remember to send in the permission trip.  The students are excited to see the science lab as well as do an experiment with high school friends.  Our interest in science continues.  Some friends have been working on pages for a book about science tools during our free choice times!

As I sit in the room watching Miss Jeffrey teach throughout the day, I am able to see things that I would not otherwise see. For example, during Free Choice I noticed after Makayla and Danielle worked with Miss Jeffrey on making puppets, they walked quietly over to their own space and started playing Build-A-Man (formally known as Hang Man). They were having the best time and were so present with each other. I loved seeing this friendship develop.

I also noticed that Isaac and Jett became very interested in helping create the set for the puppet show. They collaborated so much on making the cafeteria tables that were made stay up. They also were so engaged and having such a fun time working together on a common goal.

One last observation I wanted to talk about was a class collaboration that happened during morning meeting. Niall chose the greeting and game for the day because he was showing so much engagement during the previous day. He chose 20 Questions for the game. While he sat in the middle of the circle, friends raised their hands quietly and tried to guess what Niall was thinking. They worked together asking questions that narrowed down the subject until Ashu said “Is it a crocodile?” “Nope, but you are close,” Niall responded. Then, Malachi shot his hand up in the sky and asked, “Is it an alligator?” Niall smiled and returned to the circle. The way they collaborated was beautiful and fun!

This week during reader’s workshop, we have been learning what it means to compare and contrast two books. On Monday, we read the story Cinderella and followed it with the funny spin off story Chickenrella! Students noticed a lot that the stories had in common, as well as things that were different about the two stories. We had a conversation about the importance of finding similarities and differences in stories and students applied this new skill to their independent reading!

Today, we read the story The Gingerbread Man and The Stinky Cheese Man. We created a concept map that visually showed how these stories compared and in what ways they are different. I was amazing by some of the noticing that students made. Tomorrow, we will create a different kind of map that compares the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty and the story What Really Happened to Humpty?