IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

The frame for our airplane.

Last week, our friend Journey’s dad, Mr. Newbold, came in and saw all 85 of the boxes we had collected and our measured space. He asked if our class would be interested in having a structure built to frame our airplane and guide our building. After some class discussion (and a very enthusiastic YES from the kids) we decided to take Mr. Newbold up on his offer to help us out.  This afternoon after lunch, our class was so excited to be greeted by Mr. Newbold, Journey, and her sister, Aidia, working on our frame. (which is close to 20 feet long, and about 5 feet wide) Our frame is made out of pvc piping which has been drilled together to hold it in place. The kids were fascinated by the process of how the piping was put together and began making observational drawings of what they saw being built and what ideas they had next for our airplane. Many questions and ideas have been floating around the classroom today. “How will we put up the sides of the airplane?” “Do we have enough boxes?” “Do we have too many boxes?” “Will everyone really be able to fit inside this thing?” We may not have all the answers yet, but one thing is for sure- the kids are truely dedicated and passionate about making this airplane a reality. Next, we will talk more about how to utilize our abundance of boxes and try to construct a way to help build our fuselage (the plane’s body).

Our friends are fascinated as they watch the structure being built.

Tags: capable, inspiration, project, thinking

I have one quick announcement about Picture Day.  As a reminder it in on THIS THURSDAY!  The students are allowed to be out of uniform on that day.  They can wear regular clothes 🙂  Please let me know if you have any more questions about this!

I know a few days ago I posted about trains.  Well….in true form we have changed our mind!  While our mini investigation on trains went well, the kids are getting very excited about recycling.  We started chatting about it last week when someone asked, “Why don’t we have recycling?”  I responded with, “That is a great question!  What can we do about this?”  Since then we have been discovering a little bit more about the process of recycling and what we can do in our school.  At this point we know that we want to start a recycling program in our school, but we are trying to figure out how to do that.  I know we will be asking for parent help at some point so keep reading our blog to find out more!

David made a sign that said, "We want to recycle!"

During Free Choice, Sophia was very excited about recycling. She drew herself recycling outside!

As if that was not enough, the kids are really getting into Writer’s Workshop. Sadly, today we were not able to do the workshop because of our recycling conversations, and they were very upset!  Over the past two weeks we have been working on personal narratives and how those types of stories only focus on the author’s life.  The kids really enjoy writing about themselves and always want to share their stories.  It has been very exciting to see their love of writing develop!  Some are even writing during Free Choice time!

Selah is so excited to write during her Free Choice time!

A fancy table set for lunch with the children's napkin rings.

The Butler Board of Trustees Luncheon with the College of Education.

Heaven's napkin ring

The staff members of the Butler University College of Education were invited to participate in a luncheon with the Butler University Board of Trustees which took place on Saturday, October 1st.  In preparation for this important luncheon, Dr. Ena Shelley, Dean of the College of Education invited the children of the Lab School to make a gift’s for the luncheon participants.  Many of the children were involved in making beautiful napkin rings to be used in the place settings, which participants were invited to keep as a memory of the event.  The children’s work was very well received by those attending the lunch.  In fact, Mrs. Danko, the Butler University President’s wife collected a complete set of the napkin rings to use in the President’s home for dinner parties associated with Butler University.

We are all proud of the children’s contribution to this Butler Board of Trustees Luncheon.  The napkin rings were made out of wire and beads.  We also want to acknowledge the support of our studio teacher, Mrs. Grotjan and the Block A students from Butler’s College of Education who collaborated with the children as they created the wire sculptures.

"Mrs. Argus, look at all these boxes!"- Hutton

If you thought we had supportive families, just wait untill you hear this- two days ago, our class sent home a letter explaining our need for some boxes for our airplane we are building. Within just two days, we have recieved over eighty-five boxes- that’s right EIGHTY FIVE!!!

This morning, the kids were so astonished at the large amount of boxes that have been coming in and we decided we needed to count and organize them. First, we had to talk about how to organize our growing number of materials. We decided by size would probably be best, so we have been making piles of small, medium, and large boxes. After the boxes were organized today, a group of friends began counting. We counted up all the way to eighty-five. We also have twenty paper towel rolls and one large can. We want to start planning on Monday and talk about how best to utilize our large number of resources. It will certainly be a day for lots of big thinking and possibilities.

Journey and Da'Sean are a huge help as they sort our boxes and paper towel rolls.

Tags: capable, creativity, inspiration, project