IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Carriea's How To!

Michael plants seeds in the planter.

Jenesis waters the seeds in our new planter.

Miss Barr reads the daily question with friends. “How long will it take our compost to disappear?”

Regan and Aidan do observational drawings of worms with Miss Roby.

We have been immersed in all things growing! This morning, Carriea was generous enough to bring in a “How to Grow a Plant” checklist and shared it with the class. This checklist is just what we needed to plant some of our seeds that friends have brought in. We followed Carriea’s checklist step by step.

First, you get a box.

Second, you get some dirt.

Third, you get two seeds. Then you put the seeds in the dirt.

Fourth, you put dirt in the water.

Fifth, you let the sun come out and then it will grow!

Tags: collaboration, creativity, garden, project

Christian and Aidan prepare the bedding for the worms.

Looking for worm food!

David braves the elements while searching for wet leaves for our worms to munch on.

Looking for leaves!

Zek and Tajanaye place the worms in the bin.

This morning, we set out to create our indoor worm compost bin. To begin, several friends helped prepare the bin by ripping newspaper into small pieces for bedding for the worms. After putting the newspaper scraps into the bin, we went outside into the courtyard and collected wet leaves (just the way worms like them!) We took the compost bin with newspaper outside with us to saturate it with water from the rain. Last, we gently dumped our collected worms from last week as well as some more worms that were store bought into the bin. Very quickly, the worms dug down into the bin and started getting cozy! We are coming up with many questions as we learn how to compost…

1. How long will it take for the worms to eat through the matter in the bin?

2. What else is safe for the worms to eat?

3. Will the bin be stinky?

4. How can we keep the worms happy inside?

Tags: capable, curious, garden, project, responsible

Jenesis, the worm queen! I think she found about 4 or 5 worms!

Christian finds a big, juicy worm!

Friends share their worms with others.

For the past few weeks, we have been talking a lot about the possibility of having a school garden. Last week, Ruth brought in some worms which we were very intrigued by and exited about! Through some reading, we have learned that worms can actually benefit a garden. We also read a book with Miss Schmidt about composting and how worms and a compost pile can benefit gardens. Today, we decided we would like to start a worm compost in our classroom. When it gets warmer out, we will use the compost to help us start our garden! What does one need to start a worm compost? WORMS! This afternoon, we walked around the neighborhood on this cold, wet day (perfect for worm hunting) and found more than 20 worms- WOW!

Skipping on a clock.

We experience P.E. again with Butler friends. We were “growing” like a tree.

Tags: curious, garden, growing, project, responsible

Regan and Miss Legg play a game together. We love our Butler friends so much!

Tajanaye on the “runway.”

Monica having a great time!

Hutton walks with confidence!

As you may know, this week, our class was introduced to the world of dress up. The kids have had so much fun using their imagination to create characters and scenarios for the stories they have created! Yesterday, Messi expressed interest in hosting a fashion show. I shared that it was New York Fashion Week and there had been many runway shows throughout the past few weeks to celebrate. Messi and his friends organized a troupe to dress up in fancy outfits and hit the runway. It was really neat to see Messi take a leadership role and tell friends how to line up, when to go down the runway, and demonstrate a pose they needed to strike at the end of the line. We even had a band playing music for our friends. One of the best parts was when the entire group went down the “runway” together laughing and singing. So much joy 🙂

Tags: creative, creativity, design, friendship

Journey delivers valentines.

Michael and Aidan love those fruit kabobs!

Delivering valentines!

Our class enjoys friendship bingo!

The kids were very excited to bring in their Valentines and create cards for their friends today! I love how much care and thought the kids put into creating their messages for their friends. They had a blast distributing their friends’ cards into their personalized valentine bags- it was quite the job! We also got to enjoy some special treats (check out the fruit kabobs we got to eat-yum!) and played friendship bingo.

P.E. with our Butler Physical Education friends was a success as well. The kids were  a part of various movement activities and games for their morning time with their instructor. They practiced skipping, running, and jogging, as well as telling time on a giant clock (such a fun game, the instructor called out a time and the kids had to run to it) and becoming aware of their physical space. The kids also practiced directions like “left” and “right” and “clockwise”. We will continue to practice these directions as part of our daily routine.

Tags: Butler, friendship