IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

We had quite the day today! This morning, the kids were challenged to think deeply about our morning question: Are we more the same or more different? It turns out, our class was split almost 50/50 on the issue. We talked, debated, and listened to one another’s opinions regarding the question- a great conversation. Because we were so split on the issue, we decided to email another class to ask their opinion. On the big screen, we constructed an email to a class at Guion Creek Elementary with a familiar face in it- Miss Schmidt. For those of you who were with us last year, Miss Schmidt was our beloved student teacher who was in our room for almost the entire year. We introduced ourselves to her class and asked what their thoughts were on the question. To our delight, Miss Schmidt’s class responded back to us during the day and had their own question for us too. They said,

“Dear Mrs. Argus’ Class,

We look different, we’re different colors and some of us are girls and some of us are boys.  But we’re the same because we’re all human and even though we’re made different we’re still the same.

We go to Guion Creek Elementary School.  Do you know about mail?

Love,

Miss Schmidt’s Class”

Their email led us to a conversation about mail and how we could continue to communicate with this class. I am hoping this communication will help fuel our conversations on similarities and differences, community, and respect for humankind. We were able to email them back and told them what we knew about mail. We asked if it would be if we mailed them something too. We are looking forward to an email tomorrow from them!

Today during Math Workshop, we read the classic story, How Big is a Foot? about standard and nonstandard measurement. We had fun dramatizing the story as it happened and then tried out the king’s strategy from the story- measuring items around our room with a cutout of our actual feet. Upon experimenting with the feet, the kids started to notice differences between their measurements because of the size of their feet. How interesting…

Tags: arithmetic, collaboration, community, curious, email, friendship, letters, mail

In addition to preparing for our Author Celebration, this week, we have been talking a lot about our community, in particular the human race and where we fit in it. We have had some pretty powerful conversations about race and the color of our skin. With that, we have talked about how all people are alike; all having a heart, all having feelings, being capable of feeling pain, etc.

Yesterday, I brought in two bags and told the kids I had a present for them. As a class, they needed to decide which bag to open together. They were told that they could only have the gift from one of the bags. I laid out two bags in our circle- a plain, brown paper lunch bag, and a beautiful, elaborately decorated gift bag with fun fish on it. As a group, the class chose the elaborate bag to open. We opened it and saw tons of Hershey’s Kisses inside. I asked the kids if they had any interest in what was in the plain, brown bag. We opened it as well and to the kids’ surprise it was filled with the exact same thing- tons of Hershey’s Kisses.

So what does this mean to us? I asked the kids.

After struggling through what we had seen (Its so silly! They are the same!!! Regan said) (Why are they the same?! said Dylan) we came to a couple interesting observations. I asked the kids, “So if these two bags were people, and you had to choose between who was the better person, could you choose?” The kids said,

It wouldn’t be fair to choose, we have to be nice to everyone and know them inside. Makenzi

Like we don’t know who would have better moves by looking. Like in karate. How would we know? Neither one is better. It wouldn’t make sense to choose. Dylan

We can’t see if one person is better- if they’re black or white. It doesn’t matter because we don’t know them. Tajanaye

Tags: collaboration, community, friendship

The kids are so excited about our Author Celebration! This morning, they were greeted by a small stage towards the front of the room. They excitedly tried it out throughout the day, and later on in the afternoon, each child practiced reading their story on the stage in front of a live audience. We had so much fun listening and celebrating one another as authors. We also had time to share our stories with friends and small groups. It has been such a joyful day.

We have been working hard to prepare for our Author Celebration tomorrow! Friends have been putting finishing touches on their stories and helping. We have been practicing the skills of problem solving, negotiation, and being flexible in deciding how to present our stories, how many to share, where to present etc. I am really impressed with how seriously the kids have been taking this planning process and how they have been democratically solving issues that arise with planning. The children have totally taken ownership over this event. Make sure to come tomorrow at 6pm to celebrate our wonderful authors!

Tags: celebration, collaboration, story workshop, writing

The other day, we read The Peace Book by Todd Parr. It has a wonderful message;

Peace is listening to different kinds of music.

Peace is helping your neighbor.

Peace is saying sorry when you hurt someone.

And so on.

The kids were challenged to come up with their own verse for our own Peace Book. After we thought deeply about what peace meant to each of us, we made a drawing of a metaphor for peace. We then used wire and beads to create sculptures for our metaphors. They are beautiful.

Today, we read Mem Fox’ Whoever You Are about children all over the world. We made notes of the many differences yet similarities between the children. We have started a list about all the things people always have in common. So far, it reads…

We all have hearts.

We all are from somewhere.

Everyone grows.

Everyone has blood.

Everyone has a brain.

Everyone has pain.

Everyone has feelings.

We will discuss this idea more in the coming days.

Tags: collaboration, community, creativity, friendship, peace, world