IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

This week we started a new unit of study in Geometry.  On Monday, we gave the problem, “Mrs. Clark created a shape that had more than 4 sides.  What shape did she create?”  This lead to a lot of exploration about shapes.  We came up with hexagons, octagons, and even a few different 3D shapes.  The kids came up with a list and we started naming the shapes.  At the end of yesterday’s Math Workshop a few friends got into a discussion about octagons.  Ruth said all octagons look like stop signs & Aasha said they just had to have 8 sides.

Today we explored that question.  Could an octagon look like anything with 8 sides or was it a set shape?  We found out together that all octagons had to have 8, CONGRUENT sides.  I gave the kids the challenge today.  Could they figure it out; what is an octagon?

I have to say that the class was on a mission. (They were on a mission to prove the theory wrong :).  Selam and Ruth discovered that it might be possible.  Check out the picture below of one of their creations.

They shared it with the class and were challenged on the sides.  Were the sides really congruent?!  After more discussion we decided as a class that we STILL didn’t have the answer.  We will be working on this problem tomorrow as a class to try to see if we can find out what a true octagon looks like.   Even though we did not find an answer in one day I have to say that I am proud of the kid’s reasoning abilities and determination to figure it out.   Check back tomorrow for the update!

On Monday, December 3^rd, the Block A students shared their final Teacher Research Projects. The teacher research project was a hands-on way for the Block A students to experience classroom life.  Butler professors, Lab School faculty, friends, and family were all invited to attend this event. This event was the culmination of a semester’s work of research. Each student had the opportunity to showcase his/her accomplishments from the semester. We spent ten weeks in the classrooms collecting data and observing our students to try to answer our questions.

Throughout the course of the semester, we had to complete a variety of tasks as teachers in the classroom. These included: read alouds, conferencing, small group instruction, and a math/literature lesson. When we first started administering these tasks, questions started to form. Each Block A student came up with a different and thought-provoking question. These questions were unique to individual classrooms and focused on our own educational philosophies.

A lot of time and effort was put into the Teacher Research Projects, and the end results really showed it. We are very proud of our fellow classmates and friends. These projects were completed with professionalism and presented with confidence. We can not wait to see what Block B has in store!

Written by: Kara Saks, Sam Karmia, and Sara McDonald

Today, we asked the kids, “Would you like to be a part of the recycling team?”  Over half of our class responded yes!  Last year, as a school we all recycled paper weekly and dumped it into our paper retriever outside in our parking lot.  A lot of the kids have been asking about it again this year and we are finally starting to collect again!  This week, friends from both 1-2 classes will be giving speeches to the rest of the school to talk about how we recycle and how we can do it at school.  Check back later this week or next week to see how this goes!  I know the kids are excited once again to help our planet!

As I shared earlier this week, in Reader’s Workshop we have been talking about different perspectives of characters.  We have been reading Henry’s Freedom Box and Abe’s Honest Words.  Both of these books have the topic of slavery.  So this week we have been having a lot of rich conversations about perspectives of people during the time frame of the Civil War.   What were their feelings when it relates to slavery and how they treated people that were different.  I can’t even begin to tell you about how amazing their conversation was, but I will leave you with the quote of the day from Ruth: “I’m glad that slavery is gone because there are some really great people in this class that wouldn’t be here if it was still around.”

Selam and Tylisha working together in Math Workshop.

This week we are finishing up our unit on place value by studying expanded form.  Over the past few weeks, I have really seen the kids grow in their number awareness.  I am so proud of the way that all of the kids can break apart numbers into the thousands (YES!  thousands!), hundreds, tens, and ones.  Today, I want to share a story about Selam and Tylisha.  These two have been partners a few times, but not each day.  These two started working together and I came over to see their thinking.  I was not only blown away by their ability to discuss and share the ideas, but also when they did disagree once they were able to talk it out and come to a conclusion.  Many of our kids do this on a daily basis so I wanted to share a snapshot of what Mr. Ward and I see each day!