IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Zek mails his thank you letter.

Kaitlyn tries out the mailbox.

Da’Sean gives Cameron some help mailing his letter.

This week, we have been learning about different types of reasons people send and receive mail. Yesterday, we wrote first drafts of some thank you notes to friends who helped us with our garden. Today, we made final copies on real stationary, put stamps on them, and walked them to the mailbox down the street. Our friends loved sending real mail. We hope it got picked up today by the mailman!

We have also started a dialogue with Mrs. Clark’s class about trees. Last week, we sent Mrs. Clark’s class a letter asking if they would help us plant some trees in our garden. They sent us a letter back saying yes! They gave us four choices: apple, nut, maple, and cherry. This week, we are researching the four types of trees and looking for the two that will fit best in our garden. We are paying close attention to the specific habitats they need and how soon they can benefit our garden. (We learned sugar maple trees could take a very long time until we could actually harvest maple syrup).

Messi helps make a list of "not so beneficial" bugs.

The beneficial bug list.

Jenesis creates some bee puppets and they do “the bee dance” to tell the other bees where the pollen is.

Ruth creates a grasshopper puppet.

We have also been talking about bugs and ways that they may affect our garden. We started a list of beneficial bugs and another list of not so beneficial bugs. We are hoping to do more research and educate our fellow classmates and families about which bugs are ok for the garden and which ones we need to watch out for.

Tags: garden, project, writing

Journey selects marigolds to draw.

Regan, Jenesis, and Journey create observational drawings of our garden plants.

Carriea and Tajanaye draw rosemary.

This morning, our class talked about how we would like to know more about the specific plants in our school garden. Journey said, “I know what we can do! We can go outside and draw them! We can learn by drawing!” What a fabulous idea. Everyone agreed it would be a good place to start. We brought our materials outside and each picked a plant to focus on. The kids were encouraged to only draw what they saw and use lots of detail. We actually ran into Mrs. Clark’s class outside who were doing the same thing!

After visiting our garden, we went over to our chickens to check on the girls. Each child sat down and did an observational drawing of Dottie, Thelma, and Louise as well. We have very keen observers in our classroom.

Do they have chicken pox? Hutton

No, they are molting! Lucas

Look, shes laying an egg! Tajanaye

I think shes just tired! Ruth

Coo, Coo! Messi (making chicken noises, he is quite good!)

Look, she puts her head in like a turtle. Zek

Should we feed the chickens chicken? Journey

That would make them sick! David

"Do the chickens have chicken pox?" Hutton

Angela gets close to draw the girls.

Friends love spending time observing our chickens.

Tags: chickens, curious, garden

Mrs. Clark’s class plants up a storm!

Tags: Butler, collaboration, curious, friendship, garden, project, responsible

The day was perfect! All day long, classes came and supported one another in preparing and planting the garden. We tilled, mixed soil, planted, mulched, and watered. We were so lucky the weather was spectacular, too. The kids seemed so happy and proud of their work. Such a wonderful day.

Tags: Butler, friendship, garden, image of the child, project, responsible

Tomorrow, all four classes will be planting in our three large garden boxes in the side yard of the school. We will be doing this rain or shine (providing no lightening or thunder). Please make sure your child is dressed in clothing that can get a little dirty! If you have gardening tools to share, make sure they are labeled with your name on them and send them with your child. We look forward to this very fun and dirty day!

One of our garden boxes.

Tags: Butler, friendship, garden, image of the child, project, responsible