IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Lucas works hard on creating trading cards during studio and explore.

 Today during math, our friends had a challenge- find four objects to measure in the room. The twist? Measure them without rulers- use your hands! Miss Schmidt led a conversation revisiting non-standard measurement with the kids and talked about how you can measure with many different types of objects- including your own body! We practiced putting one hand in front of the other, close together, to get the most accurate measurement we could find. The kids were then given partners to work with and find objects to measure. They were then asked to compare results and think about why some answers may have been different.

Miss Schmidt and Tajanaye measure the table with their hands.

We also revisited something that the kids have worked on in the Big Studio with Mrs. Grotojan- trading cards! Trading cards are 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 blank cards that the children can decorate with various mediums to create works of art. We then have special trading days that the kids can share their work with friends and receive special pieces of art. The kids really enjoyed working on these cards during free choice times today.

Da'Sean and Kaitlyn work on trading cards.

Tags: art, friendship, problem solving

We had a great time on our field trip today!  The kids really loved the Eric Carle performance at Clowes Hall.  The characters were giant puppets.  The puppeteers dressed in black so they could blend in with the background.  The puppets were florescent colors and stood out even more with black lights.   I was not able to take any pictures of the actual performance, but if you ask your child I am sure they will be able to tell you in detail about the show.  They were so excited today!

As a reminder, there is NO SCHOOL on Monday, January 16th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

As we get back into the swing of things this week I wanted to say a quick reminder about tomorrow.  We will be going on a field trip to Clowes at Butler University.  We will be seeing the Eric Carle production.  There is no need to worry about a change in schedule though as we did with previous field trips.  We will be eating at school and leaving right after lunch.  We should all return to school around 1:30.

Reid is relaxing with the eye pillow.

“Mrs. Williams, what is an eye pillow?!  You don’t need a pillow for your eyes!”  These were the questions Mrs. Williams received as she introduced the idea of eye pillows to the class today during yoga.  These little pillows are filled with lavender.  The kids used them at the end of our yoga time as we did our meditation and deep breathing time.  Many of the students loved the smell and said it helped them relax 🙂

David and Tyler playing dominos

Today we introduced a new game to Math Workshop.  We introduced dominos!  Each day during Math Workshop, the kids work in two different sections.  One group works with me on problem solving or the lesson of the day and the other group plays math games.  Once each group is done with their task we switch.

Before break we started working on the concept of ten.  It is important that the kids can build to ten (7+3, 6+4, 8+2, 9+1, 5+5) and then be able to break it apart again and know what that means.  While we do activities throughout the day to help with this we have started to implementing it into our math games too.  For example this week we are introducing dominos.  For the first few days the kids will play dominos normally, but after that we will slightly alter the game.  The students will have to match sides that add up to 10!

I am really looking forward to watching the kids grow in this area!  The love the math game so I am sure that the “new” way to play dominos will be a hit later this week!

As I reflect back on the day I love how many fun moments we had! Our day started with a very exciting discovery.  We had an elf on one of our shelves!  A few minutes later we discovered that this elf had written us a letter explaining why she was here.  As the kids went from lunch to studio to recess she followed them!  We realized she was magic!   We had a lot of questions so together, as a class, we wrote a letter back to our elf that we named Cinderella.

We found the letter!

Our elf, Cinderella

Nytaiya helping us write our letter back to Cinderella.

After the elf fun, the recycling collection.  I was very proud of our kids, as we walked through the entire building to get paper!  As I said in yesterday’s blog, we decided to split into two groups.  The group with me went to grades 2-6.  They were troopers as we had to go up and down for three different stories!  The group with Mrs. Williams went to the K-1 classrooms, preschool, and the office.  They had a lot of paper!  It was really enjoyable to see how the kids truly felt as if they were helping the school.  Tylisha said, “Mrs. Clark, when you recycle you save the earth!”

As if that is not enough today we filled up our marble jar!! It was full!  The kids have earned an ice cream party.  As a class, we decided that this party would be on Tuesday of next week.

Our adventure-filled day is not done yet!  During snack we started a new chapter books, The Christmas Party from the Black Lagoon.  The kids voted on this book last week as we got close to finishing the Magic School Bus book.

Wow!  What a day.  I hope all of you have an equally exciting weekend!