IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

This afternoon we revisited the classroom agreement “Take Care of our Friends.”  Earlier in the year we did an activity where we folded up “LeBron” a friend drawn on a piece of paper every time we said something unkind to him.  Then we tried to fix him by saying kind words and unfolding him.  Today we did a similar activity to encourage the students to think about their words before they speak.

We first thought about something hurtful that someone had done to us.  We went around the circle and shared something that had hurt us.  After sharing we squirted a pump of hand sanitizer in a cup.  When everyone had shared we had a cup full of “mean words and actions.” I then challenged the students to put their mean words back where they came from.  The students tried a few things, but they realized they couldn’t take the words back.  Here’s a bit of our conversation following the activity.

Himiko: “You can’t take something back after you say it.”

Chairo: “You can remember when someone hurts your feelings for a long time.”

Miss Cegielski: “What can we do before we hurt someone’s feelings with our words?”

J’Nayla: “We should think before we speak.”

After our discussion I shared an idea to help the students “THINK” before they speak:

T: Is it true? H: Is it helpful? I: Is it inspiring? N: Is it necessary? K: Is it kind?

I challenged the students to think before they speak and use our THINK chart to help them decide if what they have to say is worth saying or if they should keep it to themselves.  We’ll continue to explore the idea of friendship and building positive relationships in our classroom during our morning meetings!

Today we introduced the word “landscapes” into our class.  I cannot even tell you how excited the children are to be using the landscapes to guide their play, stories, and imaginations!  It has been fun to see such collaborative thinking and playing.  This has really been such a great provocation to get the children inspired.  Habitats and Animals here we come!

Today we brought out measuring tapes and rulers to measure the same items we measured yesterday with our feet.  The children all agreed on the fact that the rulers and measuring tape are a more efficient way to manner than our traced and cut out feet.

We have some fun games the next couple of days having to do with measuring so we are excited to continue to explore measuring!

We have been taking care of the chickens this week.  So far we have collected one egg.  Today, we fed the chickens wheat grass that Mrs. Argus’s class grew for them.  We have also been bringing the fruits and vegetables from lunch out to the compost.  The students had a great discussion with Miss Crume about how the compost works.  Many of them have a good understanding of why we are composting and how it will help our garden!

Our classroom blog is working again! Today, we started our conversation about the heart and why it beats. Students already had prior knowledge about the heart as a muscle and about what makes it beat faster! We visited the gym today to try a few exercises to see which would make our heart beat the fastest! Walking in place kept our heart the same, jumping over a line sped it up a little, but running made it beat very fast! Tomorrow, we will engage in an experiment that will help us deepen our understanding about the heart.

Today is day three of our pedometer experiment– students have been amazed that they take so many steps every day! As we collect and analyze this data, we will use it to help us create a plan to ensure we are taking the number of steps that is recommended each day!

We had an exciting day in Math Workshop today!  We are fortunate enough to be working with the Butler friends that are here for their math practicum work.  Similar to past semesters, we will have 4 butler students in our classroom every week.  This semester we have an extra special treat.  ALL of the Butler friends are coming into our classroom to work with us during Math Workshop once a week.  So we have 23 extra teachers helping us learn and grow as mathematicians.  Today, the kids learned how to play a game called Capture 5.  I am excited to see where this extra support takes us this semester!