IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

We have started a new tradition in our classroom: sharing appreciation. At the end of the week, we sit down as a class and talk about friends we appreciate and why. Its a time of such laughter and joy. We display many of the appreciations around our room to remind ourselves to always look for something positive in our friends. It has become many of our favorite part of the week (myself included). I have to share some of our appreciations from Thursday.

 I appreciate Christian because when its time for studio and explore and recess, he always plays with me and he makes nice cars. David

 I appreciate the chickens.  They always lay eggs for us. Aidan

  I appreciate this city. Because everyone in this city is nice to me. Journey

 I appreciate everyone that plays soccer with me at recess because they always let me play goalie. Cameron

 I appreciate Angela. Cuz shes already laughing! Jenesis

 I appreciate everyone because everyone is nice to me. Carriea

 I appreciate the garden because it gives us healthy food. Sascha

 I appreciate Cameron and Lucas because they play soccer with me at recess. Monica

I appreciate Regan because she always makes me laugh. Da’Sean

 I appreciate Lucas cuz hes always my best friend. Hutton

I appreciate the teachers because they let us play and they teach us stuff that we never heard and sometimes we learn new stuff that we didn’t know. Tajanaye

I appreciate Monica because she plays with me. David

I appreciate Michael and Aidan because when we go to recess we play police. Christian 

 I appreciate Sascha and Geneva because they hang upside down with me!  Journey

I appreciate Hutton because he plays with me and Cameron. Lucas

I appreciate Michael because we played run around the playground. Regan

Tags: capable, friendship, relationships

Cameron picks fresh lettuce.

Mrs. Argus shows friends how to pick from the basil plant.

Aidan and Carriea pick lettuce.

Ruth washes our lettuce!

Regan tries the salad spinner.

Fresh garden salad- finger lickin good!

“I give this salad two thumbs up!” Michael

Zek enjoys his salad. He ate two bowls!

Pesto party!

Slurp slurp slurp!

Tags: capable, garden, project, responsible

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

Friends work together to create a Terrarium.

This morning, Sascha brought in a little plastic jar which she had captured several worms from her back yard. She shared that she had put lots of grass and leaves inside for the worms, to keep them happy. This was a great lead to our conversation about habitats today. Sascha actually created a mini habitat in that plastic jar- something we call a Terrarium. This morning after Sascha shared, we explored six different types of habitats that plants and animals live in: desert, tundra, rain forest, grassland, pond, and forest. We talked about what each habitat has in common: they all sustain life. After talking about the necesities for plants and animals, we set out to create our own mini habitats. The kids worked in pairs and small groups to plant a variety of seeds and plant cuttings and create their own Terrarium. After we were finished, Journey said something interesting.

“Mrs Argus, we don’t have any worms in our habitats.” Journey

“Why is that important?” Mrs Argus

“We need them to keep our soil healthy, and to make new good soil.” Journey

“We need worms in our habitats!” Michael

Friends loved what Journey had to say and after her comment, we each placed several worms into our Terrarium from our compost bin. What incredible thinking.

Friends work together to create Terrariums!

Cameron and Tajanaye plant their seeds.

Carriea, David, and Angela work together to assemble their habitat.

A completed Terrarium with worms inside. Later on, they all crawled to the bottom. We wondered why!

Tags: capable, collaboration, curious, garden, inspiration, project

As you may know, our class is immersed in a garden project. We have been learning about vermicomposting, seed germination and plant development, the benefits of gardening locally, how insects benefit our garden, and are starting to talk about urban farming on a larger scale. Within the next two weeks, we will be assembling some garden boxes for our school and planting some small vegetable plants we have started from seeds. We are so excited for where this project has led us, and the learning opportunities thus far have been incredible. As we get ready to plant, I wanted to ask families if they would be interested in assisting us with the task of starting our garden. Please let us know if you would be able to do any of the following:

donate plants for the school garden

come in and help build the garden boxes depending on the day

come in and help spread soil depending on the day

come in and help plant the beds depending on the day

donate gardening gloves or help find a donor for them

donate gardening tools (hoes, rakes, shovels, or trowels) or help find a donor for them

donate mulch or help find a donor for it

donate a 50 ft hose and spray nozzle or help find a donor for it

Thank you for your support with this project! We hope this garden becomes a part of our school culture and that it teaches responsibility, care for nature, and the importance of sustainability, amongst many other things! Make sure to ask your child about a special announcement that is coming on Thursday afternoon…

Compost bins

Tags: capable, collaboration, family focus, garden, responsible