May 02 2012
The day was perfect! All day long, classes came and supported one another in preparing and planting the garden. We tilled, mixed soil, planted, mulched, and watered. We were so lucky the weather was spectacular, too. The kids seemed so happy and proud of their work. Such a wonderful day.
May 02 2012
At the very end of the day yesterday we got our first chicken egg! The friends were so excited to see this first egg! I got the chance to take this fresh egg home and give it to my Charlotte for dinner. She LOVED it! I took some pictures today and showed the children today Charlotte eating the egg which really excited them!
We were really working hard today in the Garden today! I have attached some of the pictures from the day! We just had so much fun!
May 01 2012
Tomorrow, all four classes will be planting in our three large garden boxes in the side yard of the school. We will be doing this rain or shine (providing no lightening or thunder). Please make sure your child is dressed in clothing that can get a little dirty! If you have gardening tools to share, make sure they are labeled with your name on them and send them with your child. We look forward to this very fun and dirty day!
One of our garden boxes.
May 01 2012
Regan checks out the hens!
This morning, our class excitedly went outside to check to see if Thelma, Louise, or Dottie had left us any gifts. To our disappointment, they had not laid any eggs, but our class did not give up on the girls. Later in the afternoon, we went to check again, and low and behold, we had one, beautiful brown egg! We aren’t sure which hen laid the first egg, but the class talked about figuring out which hens lay which eggs.
The kids were also enthralled with a new provocation in our room this morning. Yesterday evening, the storm knocked down a small bird’s nest in my yard. Unable to put it back into its place, I brought it in for the kids to see. Next to it, I placed a question, “Who lived here?” The kids were encouraged to use watercolor pencils to tell the story of the nest. There were some incredible stories, I can’t wait to see what the kids come up with tomorrow.
Carriea's picture tells the story of the wind knocking down the bird's nest.
Who lived here?
Ruth, Messi, and Regan create stories about the nest.
May 01 2012
We have started a new unit of study in Writer’s Workshop. Today we started talking about letters. I posed the question, “What is a letter?” The kids shared from their own experiences. The kids brainstormed what you could do with a letter. They shared why you write letters and how you feel when you get letters. We ended our chat encouraging the kids to write their own letters. I was so impressed to see so many friends going straight to the message center to write letters to other friends!
Tyler writing away!
Reid is writing a letter to Max.
During Free Choice today, we were working away on our play. This afternoon, J’Nayla and Raki worked very hard on the sound effects. I know that the kids really respect the work of others, but there was a moment today when I saw it come to life. The two girls were recording the sound effects but each time they recorded they would also pick up background noise. After a quick chat they decided to ask the class to be silent when they were actually recording. (Asking this during free choice is typically unheard of in our class.) J’Nayla explained it was for the play and almost instantly the noise stopped. The girls were then able to record and get all the sound effects they needed with little problems. After this moment, I could tell how each student felt about the play and about J’Nayla and Raki’s work. They needed that part to be complete too and were ok being silent for a few moments to help out with their work. 🙂
J'Nayla and Raki were excited about their sound effects!
