IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Good evening!

Today, we spoke about respect, and we made a Respect Is…class book.  We also started a Respect Jar where once we get the jar full by doing respectful things in class, we will go to the big playground.  Our friends are SO excited about this venture so I think it will not take long before we fill it up!

Also today, our class went into the Studio as a whole class for the first time.  They got to explore various things in Mrs. Grotjan’s space, and they really enjoyed it!  Here are some pictures to show you of their fun!

Madeline P. adding some wire to her picture.

DeOnna, Tevona, Cha'kyra, and Mekhi enjoying the sand table!

Today, we spoke about respect and what we needed to do in class in order to give and receive respect.  The children came up with some ideas:

1.  Keep our hands and body to ourselves.

2.  Listen when Mrs. Bucher or another friend is talking.

3.  Use nice words.

We will be making a class book on respect. We also will have a respect jar, and as I see friends respecting each other or myself, I will put a marble in.  When we get a full jar, we will go to the big playground!  I think the children will LOVE that!!

Makayla, Mekhi, and Heaven rolling the dice and throwing the matching number of bean bags in the basket!

Jonah, Isaac, and Jason posing for a picture during free choice!

Our first week of school went by so fast!  I hope that your children came home excited to tell you all the various things we did from the read alouds to the three different workshops to free choice!  We focused a lot of the week on procedures and getting to know each other.  Next week we will continue to work on procedures while at school, and I hope to begin conferencing with each child while doing Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop.

On Monday, I will be sending home one notebook which will be our journal to write back and forth during the year.  I will begin the journal with just letting you all know how your child is doing in school so far.  Then, you are more than welcome to write back as often or not often as you would like.   I hope that this is something that you will enjoy throughout the year!

Mrs. Bucher 🙂

Malachi showing me his flower and sun he drew during one of the literacy stations!

Emily and Geneva preparing for their bubblegum store!

Sydney and Cha'kyra's house they built during free choice!

Good evening!  I first want to apologize for not writing everyday on the blog.  Starting next week, I will be posting something everyday at the end of the day with the kids or right after school so that you can look at it with your children.  Yesterday and today we continued to work on the procedures of school, which they are getting each and everyday.

Yesterday we had a blast making boats out of foil.  After making the boats, we counted to see how many coins we could put in the boats before they sank.  It was fun to see how creative the child got with making their boats.  Some of the boats were squares.  Some were circular in shape.  Some children got a few coins in before it sank.  Sydney put 90 coins in her boat before it sunk!!

Today we did the long jump. I placed a  piece of tape on the floor and then each child jumped as far as they could.  We marked where each child jumped, and then we had a discussion about how to measure each jump.  Emily said, “We have to measure the distance from the start line to each person’s mark!”  Jonah then shared that we have to use something that has numbers on it like a measuring tape.  I showed a ruler, but all of the children said “No! It has to be longer!”  I then got out a measuring tape, and each child proceeded to figure out how long each jump was.   Once we were finished the children wanted to wear their tape so that they could share with their other friends how far they jumped!

Some of our friends measuring the distance for their long jump!

Joshua working hard building his building.

Jett showing off a ball that he made out of Play-doh that we played catch with for a little bit!

Hello hello!  We have officially completed our first two days of school!  I cannot believe how quickly they have gone by.  The last two days have been filled with learning about each other, the school, and our classroom environment.  We have begun Writer’s Workshop where the children have really excelled in writing their own books.  Many of the children continued to work on their first book today so that is exciting to see how enthusiastic they are.   A special part of today was when some friends shared their books they had been working on to the entire class, and their friends were able to comment on their book.  I could see how much each friend who shared appreciated their new friends’ comments.

It is apparent that we have a class that really loves writing books and listening to books.  They cannot get enough of me reading aloud to them which of course is my pleasure to read to them!  We were reading Harold and the Purple Crayon today, and one friend asked, “What is a duke?” in response to part of the book.  Some other friends responded, “A dude!”  Another friend said, “Let’s duke it out!”  So, I wrote on a pad of paper for everyone to see the question, “What is a duke?”  We might explore this idea tomorrow, and we will see where it goes! 🙂

Please forgive me for not getting pictures up…I will catch up soon!