IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Yesterday we began talking about thinking about our thinking while reading so that we can better understand what it is we are reading. I told them that the term for that is metacognition. Today we continued to talk about it and we further discussed why it is important to ask questions and think about our reading. It was clear the kiddos are really understanding the thinking about our thinking because after a friend shared today Saa said, “They were thinking about their thinking!” We are going to discuss this further, but I wanted to let you know what great thinkers we have in our class!

Selah and Tylisha were working together to measure basil.

Now that are garden is growing, we are taking advantage of the math opportunities around us daily!  Today we went outside to measure a few different plants that have been growing in our garden.  In small groups, the kids measured basil, broccoli, peppers, and rosemary.  Over the next few weeks we are going to be tracking their growth and recording the information in a class graph!  After today, a few kids are already looking forward to when we go and measure again next week.  🙂

Today, we began bug research during Reader’s Workshop. In doing this, we are hoping to learn more about who benefits our garden and who may not. We have been talking about how readers have questions as they read, and tomorrow, we will be compiling more specific questions about each bug. I was so impressed with the kids’ cooperative skills as they worked together and discussed new information with one another.

Messi and Tajanaye begin research on butterflies.

Da’Sean and Monica talk about how ladybugs are a type of beetle.

Regan and Lucas read together about the snail. Did you know snails live both underwater and on land?

Maggie and Cameron investigate millipedes and centipedes.

At the end of our first research day, friends were invited to share what they learned about their bug. Carriea and Kaitlyn shared about Pill Bugs (roly polys).

Tags: capable, garden, project

Last week we began discussing geometry in class. We reviewed the basic shapes and specifically focused on the attributes of each. This week we are exploring how many triangles fit in a square. I posed this question to the children today and it was quite interesting to see what the children thought was “right.” There were many different answers and the conclusion of our discussion today was that no one person was right because depending on the size of the square and the way you made your triangles told you how many triangles you had. We are going to explore this the rest of the week focusing on different triangles on Friday.

Its hard to believe, but summer will be here in only four weeks! With six weeks of summer vacation, we would love to visit our girls every day, but us teachers are going to need some help! 

Would your family be interested in helping maintain our garden and chickens for a week over the summer? Send Mrs. Argus an email at argusm@ips.k12.in.us and let her know! You are welcome to sign up with other families as well and share the responsibilities, or sign up for a whole week yourself. Chicken and garden stewardship is super fun and when maintained properly, should be very easy. Plus, you get free eggs and veggies- YUM!