IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

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

Da'Sean and Angela make passports with Miss Schmidt.

Buenos dias! Tomorrow is our flight to Mexico (remember, the flight leaves at 6pm here at school) and in preparation, we made passports today. We talked about the signifigance of a passport and why it might be a good thing to have them when we travel. Our friends are so excited for our trip! We hope you can join us.  

Tags: collaboration

Aidan explains his thinking.

Our class created hundreds chart.

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

One of the things the kids like to do in the morning is read the morning message and count our positive points. It has become a ritual for many friends in our room once they have gotten unpacked and settled in. Today, Aidan did something really special. He counted our positive points, and counted 74. Then, without prompting, he walked right over to our hundreds chart, found the number74 and proceeded to count up to 100. He then announced to me, “Mrs. Argus, we only need 26 more positive points until 100!” I asked him how he discovered his conclusion. He then articulately talked me through his thinking process and how he came to use our hundreds chart. Aidan’s discovery was so special that he then shared it during the sharing portion of our morning meeting. The class brainstormed other ways we could use the hundreds chart to problem solve. What a neat discovery, Aidan!

 

Friends present, "How Bella Lost Her Moo!"

 

For the past couple weeks, some of our friends have been reading a story called How Bella Lost Her Moo. It has lots of different animal parts that are fun to read and the kids decided they each wanted to read a seprate part when we would read in a group. One day, a friend suggested, “We should do this as a play!” The rest of the friends loved the idea and we began to prepare to present it to our class. We made puppets out of paper bags and practiced reciting our lines clearly and with emotion. Today, our friends presented the play to the rest of the class. Everyone was so proud and impressed with our performers! We will have to do more reader’s theater in the future- we have some wonderful actors!

 

 

Tags: arithmetic, capable, collaboration, creativity, curious, image of the child, problem solving

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  Angela mixes the avocados.

Creating together.

This morning as the kids came in, they were greeted with the aroma of fresh avacados. Friends were invited to watch the avacados be cut open, help  remove the green fruit, and mash it in preperation for guacamole. Each child had a chance to help mash and mix the green pulp into a smooth blend. After it was nice and creamy, we added some salsa (about half a jar) to the avacados and mixed some more. Then, we tried our creation! I was so proud, while not all of our friends loved the guacamole, all of them did try it with brave faces. Below are some of the descriptions from our friends.

Messi- “It tastes real spicy!”

Hutton- “Spicy!”

Ruth- “The guacamole is creamy.”

Zek- “Mine tastes like peanut butter.”

Da’Sean- “It tastes like popcorn.”

Aidan- “Its a little spicy, but I like it.”

David- “I didn’t like it cuz I tasted guacamole before and I didn’t like it.”

Lucas- “It tastes like an ice cube, it really did. I dipped it on the top and I got a big chunk like an ice cube.”

Regan- “It’s GOOOOOOOD!”

Monica- “It’s good and spicy! I ate all of mine!”

 A lot of interest was taken in the large avocado pits inside the fruit too. Friends asked, “Why are they so big?” “What are those things?” Jenesis held the pits up to her face and said, “Look, they look like eyes!” We decided we would try an experiment to see if we could get the avocado seeds to grow. At the end of the day, we placed each of the five avocado seeds inside a large plastic baggie with a wet paper towel. We decided to tape the baggies up against our windows in our classroom and outside in the hallway so they can get light and see if anything sprouts! We learned that the avocado seed could take up to 6 weeks to grow, so we will be practicing our patience.

Friends enjoy the end of our Mexico video and sample guacamole.

Kaitlyn and Lucas learn a new math game during math workshop today.

Tags: capable, collaboration, curious