IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

It was a special day in yoga today.  This afternoon Mrs. Williams taught the kids a yoga version of musical chairs.  They walked around in a circle.  Instead of chairs there were different pictures of yoga poses.  When the music stopped they kids had to look down and do whatever pose was in front of them.

Yoga Musical Chairs

While we did play this game, I am sure that many of you are hearing about the games we play everyday.  This year, in our morning meeting, we have a section that is devoted to games or activities.  During these 5 to 7 minutes we play games that work on community building.  They are fun, but they require thinking and cooperation.  Some of these activities are Boo-ga-loo, Dance-off, Woof, and many more! (While I could explain each one it might be more entertaining to ask your child!)  The kids have to depend on each other to complete the tasks.  When they trust each other it helps build our classroom community.  I am proud to say that they have really taken these games on.  They get excited and will gladly work together on anything I present to them!

Max and CJ work together to play "Woof."

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’re back from our Winter Break and having a great week! Our students returned ready to jump right in. You might have heard about some changes in our room. The classroom has been rearranged, we have new lighting, and students now have a special spot for both our whole group lessons and walking throughout the school. These changes have been made in an effort to continuously move towards higher engagement and increased learning. The changes have been quite a topic conversation, but students are adjusting to them very well.

Another frequent topic of conversation this week was our field trip! Students were excited about our field trip ever since they returned to school on Monday. We spent time talking about what it means to be a good audience member and revisiting some of the things we learned during our Eric Carle author study earlier in the year. I am happy to say that the day went very well and the kids really enjoyed the show. The play was performed with mesmerizing puppets, talented puppeteers, and a black light.  After the three stories were over, students had the opportunity to ask questions and learn how the different puppets worked. I’m sure it won’t be long before the class is asking for our next field trip!

Here is a look at the red bird puppet they use in the Brown Bear, Brown Bear portion of the play.

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.

Aidan counts the friendship links. Does it match the number of pictures?

What a great day! I have to comment on how enthusiastic and well behaved the kids have been since we have been back from break. Today was no exception. Before break,  we began creating a board with pictures on it of people in our class showing friendship. There is a sign that reads, “What is friendship?” We also started keeping a chain which has descriptions of each friendship moment on it that is documented. This morning when he walked in, Aidan noticed almost immediately that there were new pictures. He and Monica talked about the new pictures. “But it they don’t match the chain, Mrs. Argus!” Aidan exclaimed. I asked him what he meant. “There are only six chains, but there’s eight pictures.” I asked Aidan how many chains with descriptions we needed to add. He counted the chains again, then the pictures. Then he looked at his hand and held out two fingers, one at a time, “Seven, eight. We need two more chains! I counted on!” Later in the day, Miss Schmidt led a discussion with our friends about both new pictures. One was Angela helping her friend Michael zip up his coat for recess. Another was friends helping assemble our unifix cubes in two groups of five, to equal ten unifix cubes-such great teamwork. We wrote a brief description of each event on a link, and added it to the chain.

David points out a new friendship picture to the class.

Our trip to Clowes Hall today was a lot of fun. The kids were excited to see Butler University and asked a lot of questions about college on the bus ride there and back. We saw the play, A Caterpillar, a Bear, and a Moonby Eric Carle which showcased many of our favorite Eric Carle characters through really neat looking black light puppets.

Carriea shares Angela's heavy load to the library.

Tags: Butler, friendship, project, relationships