IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Kristien and Reed explain their game!

Journey and Lucas carefully look over one another’s cards. Which will they trade?

As you may know, our class works together to earn Positive Points. These points are earned when as a class, we are peaceful, kind, following directions, or showing any other kind of exemplary behavior. About a week ago, we earned our goal of 100 Positive Points! As a class, we talked about and debated what our celebration would be. We eventually decided we would like to have an ice cream party. Then, Da’Sean brought up a neat idea, “What if we invited friends?” We felt that Da’Sean’s idea of sharing our celebration with friends was so great, we had to do it! On Friday, we decided to invite Mrs. Clark’s class for an ice cream and trading card party. We wrote and then delivered a letter to their class. Thankfully, they accepted our offer! Today, Mrs. Clark’s class came over at 2:15 and we began our trading event. The kids practiced our trading agreements of trading peacefully, being kind when they did not want to trade with someone, and respecting our agreement of “no re-trading”. We had such a good time visiting with one another and honoring one another’s artwork and hard work! After our trading event was over, we enjoyed ice cream together. To top it off, Mrs. Clark’s class had a special surprise to share with us- a class created limbo game! (Ask a friend from Mrs. Clark’s class about the inception of the game!) Reed and Kristien explained how the game worked and helped us carefully navigate the limbo game. Everybody had a chance to go through and then an impromptu dance party erupted- so much fun! We are so glad to celebrate good behavior and friendship in such positive ways!

Tags: art, creativity, friendship, trading cards

Monica, Da'Sean and Aidan tap dance on the platform.

This morning when the kids came in, they were greeted by a transformed classroom. They found many pieces of furniture and materials re-arranged, learning spaces re-defined, and some new materials to explore with. One of the biggest changes was to our class built airplane. After much class debate and discussion, we have taken a portion of the airplane to remain in the classroom indefinitely, made it smaller, and changed its location. It can still have friends work inside it during all workshops and play and relax during studio and explore. Inside are bean bags that the kids loved trying out all day. We have also re-arranged our whole group meeting area and added some new seating (logs) that they kids can enjoy while we have our whole group meeting times. The new arrangement allows for some more space and a different aesthetic feel to the room! Our studio space has also been re-defined. The kids were so excited to see a large, blue platform in the space where the studio table once stood. “What is this, Mrs. Argus?” Monica and Da’Sean asked. I asked our friends back, “What could it be?” Friends began dancing on it and immediately labeled it a stage. Then different friends came over, Michael and Aidan, and transformed it into a mini airplane. They pretended to fly on it. Lucas, Zek and Tajanaye came over a little later and Lucas exclaimed, “Its a flying carpet!” They sat and “flew” together and laughed and laughed. Later on in the day, Ruth and Regan showed a large group of friends magic tricks they could perform on the platform. I love the new dimension of art that this “stage” brings to our studio space. Art is not only of the visual arts kind!  

An airplane ride.

A magic carpet ride.

Tags: art, collaboration, creativity, inspiration

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

David has the gift of being a great artist.

Michael and Messi have a conversation about one another's gifts.

Tags: art, relationships

Friends look for similarities between their artwork and the photo.

Our inspiration.

Yesterday, Mrs. Kary shared one of the neatest pictures I have ever seen-a picture of the sky filled with jet streams from all different directions. She commented that Regan had seen it outside and gotten really excited and it turns out other friends saw it too! After getting a copy of this neat photograph, I shared it with the kids. They were  inspired to re-create this picture and we decided to use white paint and blue paper to create skies. We marble painted with a marble covered in paint, and rolled the marble carefully over the paper in a little tray. Some of our re-creations look very similar to the original inspiration picture, some are much different! We noted different shapes and symbols that were created by this unique art method too.

Messi liked the technique so much he made several masterpieces!

Ruth gives marble painting a try.

Tags: art, inspiration, project