IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Hutton and Maggie enjoy Reader's Workshop in the courtyard today.

Miss Schmidt and Cameron have a Reader’s Workshop conference.

I always love coming back to school after a long, well rested break. The kids are always so enthusiastic and excited to be back and there is a feeling of rejuvination in the air. Today’s day was no different. After earning our last positive point (for having a peaceful morning) we earned the privelage to officially have a garden outside the school and are eagerly planning its arrival. On Friday before Spring Break, we planted about thirty various seed starters. We voted on growing carrots, onions, lettuce, peas, and flowers in our garden and we were anxious to see if any germination had occured over break. To our suprise, there was little growth! “They didn’t germinate!” Messi exclaimed to the class during our morning meeting. We brainstormed why this may have happened. Michael shared that he knew plants needed LOTS of light and perhaps we simply didn’t give the plants enough of it. I shared that I thought the plants had plenty of light in the hallway, facing the large, courtyard windows but Michael very observantly pointed out, “Mrs. Argus, the tree camoflogued the light for the plants. They didn’t get any!” To our dismay, we realized Michael was absolutley right- there is a huge tree we didn’t notice was blooming blocking much of the light from outside. “So what now?” I asked our friends.  We had an open discussion where all friends were encourage to share their thoughts. Aidan suggested moving the plants to a different location inside, perhaps closer to the windows. A friend suggested we try them in someone elses’ classroom. David said, “I think its time to put them outside!” Then friends started raising their hands and saying things like, “I agree with David!” and “I like David’s idea! Let’s do what David suggested!” For me, this verbage was a really neat affirmation of our collaborative spirit we have developed not only in this classroom, but throughout the Lab School. As a class, we carefully walked out all of our seed starters and found a bright and safe location in the courtyard where we think our plants will not only appreciate more light but also warm air. We are anxious to see what our plants do next.

Journey places some of the seed starters outside.

Regan shares two caterpillar friends she found outside with our class. We will investigate more about their needs this week!

We continued with Story Workshop this week. Regan paints a picture of a garden that grows something very special- little girls!

David also uses watercolor during Story Workshop.

Journey is working on a very interesting garden story- a tree that creates animals!

Tags: capable, collaboration, friendship, garden, problem solving

Friends working towards a common goal of creating the set for their production.

Sascha and Angela work to retell a portion of the story. Angela is Goldilocks, Sascha chose to be the porridge/narrator! Who knew such a character existed?

During Writer’s Workshop this week, we have been retelling the story of Goldilocks using puppets in small groups. Yesterday, the kids created their puppets and started making scenery for their productions. Today, our friends were encouraged to begin working together to retell their story and work as a team. They have been dramatizing their stories with great dedication. Miss Schmidt and I were absolutley blown away by the kids’  display of negotiation, sharing, compromise, collaboration, and including of others. We realized that while they are practicing rich reading and writing skills by retelling in this way, our friends are probably getting just as much out of practicing working together, genuinely collaborating, and working towards a common goal.  A sheer joy to be a part of today.

Da'Sean, Carriea, and Sascha come up with a new way to build. How did they do it? Putting their brains together!

Aidan and Christian make furniture for their house.

Tags: collaboration, friendship, problem solving, writing

Tajanaye helps her friend Angela create a worm out of yarn. See a need, fill a need- friendship.

Messi creates a garden with clay. There are even little seeds planted in holes!

Messi’s garden

Friends create puppets during writer’s workshop.

Da’Sean and his group create Goldilocks puppets together to retell the story.

Jenesis shows off her set for her groups production of Goldilocks!

Friends create a story path about the Little Red Hen.

Tags: collaboration, friendship, garden

We discuss creating a cutting with one of our favorite plants!

Cameron and Maggie help plant our new cutting for preschool.

Monica shares her book from writer’s workshop.

Miss Schmidt reads A Seed is Planted to us and our preschool friends.

Kaitlyn presents our cutting to the preschool.

Last week, we read a story called A Seed is Planted. This is the story of one child who starts a chain of giving by creating a small clipping of a sapling. The children were engrossed with the idea of how just one seed turned into many. We read it again today and together, we created cuttings of several plants in our own room. Carriea then suggested something special.

We can take a plant and give it to other people and it might grow! Carriea

We can take it and break it in half like in the book and keep doing the same thing over and over again. Aidan

The one seed is going to grow a lot, and we made another one. Messi

Their buckets are going to explode! Angela

It feels good to fill buckets. Carriea

During writer’s workshop, Monica created a book called, All About Planting a Garden. Inside, the story read, “To plant a garden, you need to get seeds, water, and sunlight. And when the plant is done growing, you can give it to somebody. And the flower is bright like the sun.” After sharing, Michael exclaimed, “It’s just like A Seed is Planted!”  

Later this afternoon, we decided to put Carriea’s idea into action. We went down to the preschool room and shared our story and cutting with them. The kids remarked how good it felt to share our plant with the preschool. It was also a nice way to reflect on some of our newly learned knowledge of how to take care of the plant and answer some of the preschooler’s questions about plant growth in general.

Tags: friendship, garden, inspiration, preschool, project

Regan and Miss Legg play a game together. We love our Butler friends so much!

Tajanaye on the “runway.”

Monica having a great time!

Hutton walks with confidence!

As you may know, this week, our class was introduced to the world of dress up. The kids have had so much fun using their imagination to create characters and scenarios for the stories they have created! Yesterday, Messi expressed interest in hosting a fashion show. I shared that it was New York Fashion Week and there had been many runway shows throughout the past few weeks to celebrate. Messi and his friends organized a troupe to dress up in fancy outfits and hit the runway. It was really neat to see Messi take a leadership role and tell friends how to line up, when to go down the runway, and demonstrate a pose they needed to strike at the end of the line. We even had a band playing music for our friends. One of the best parts was when the entire group went down the “runway” together laughing and singing. So much joy 🙂

Tags: creative, creativity, design, friendship