IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

 

Addie and Makenzie tell stories with wild animals during story workshop.

Lucas, Beatrice, and Jackson tell stories together with their animals.

We had another great day at the Lab School. Our friends are adjusting to the routines and schedule of the day and transitioning well. Right now during Story Workshop, we are talking about what stories are. This week, we are encouraging the kids to use various materials to tell stories (fictional and real). Using materials helps the kids verbalize their story, which in turn will help them when they go to put their story down on paper. Yesterday, we story told with little plastic bears. Today, friends were invited to use wild animal figurines and barnyard animal figurines. It was so fun listening to everyone share! Later this week, friends will be invited to use multiple materials throughout the room. They will also be encouraged to write and draw pictures of their piece after they have created their story. I have already seen such creativity and enthusiasm in story telling this year so I know this process will be beneficial in helping us develop as stronger writers.

BreAnna and Cariah experiment with the light table.

We also enjoyed exploring more of our classroom today. The light table was a big hit with many friends. It was neat to see BreAnna, one of our older students, showing some of our kindergartners how to use the light table. She even helped create a piece with several younger students. Such wonderful collaboration.

Tags: creativity, story telling, story workshop

What an exciting first day we had! The day was filled with singing, dancing, making friends, and learning new routines. Today during math workshop, the children were invited to explore one of our math manipulatives, unifix cubes. We sat in a circle and had an open discussion about their possible uses, not necessarily mentioning anything about “math”. Friends showed ways to create and build with them, including making letters and buildings. Then, our friend Beatrice shared something. “You can do math with these. Like patterns!” Friends then began making different types of AB and ABC patterns. Another friend, Addie, had another interesting idea. She explained how she could measure things with a long stick of unifix cubes.  We had a lively discussion about measurement and began measuring things around our circle. Another friend, Lucas, suggested, “Hey, we should put all our sticks together and build something!” and J’Den enthusiastically replied, “Lets do it together!” The kids then took charge on their own, negotiating what piece would go where and eventually decided as a class to build a long line as far as the unifix cubes could go. It was so exciting to see different friends lead and others practice listening to one another. It was a memorable and valuable lesson in working together. Dylan worked as project manager and directed friends to certain ends of the line. Tajanaye, Kalaya and Sascha were gatherers. Amaiah cheered people on. Everyone had a role. When the class piece was finally finished, we sat down and talked about what math had just taken place. Friends mentioned patterning, counting, measurement, and general building. We also talked about how we had worked together and labeled it as teamwork! What an incredible experience for only the first day of school.

Addie shares what she discovered. “You can measure things, like this.”