IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Miss Christen from Sharp community garden comes for a visit!

Yesterday, we were visited by a friend from Sharp Community Garden, Miss Christen. Miss Christen talked to us about how her organization set up a community garden to support families that didn’t have fresh fruits and vegetables. We learned that the garden is right over by Butler University (across from St. Thomas) and anyone can volunteer time to work and eat from the garden. We had a long list of questions for Miss Christen about how to go about starting a garden. How much should we water? How long will ours take to grow? Does her garden have bees and worms? Should we plant everyday? What should we do about weeds? Miss Christen was even kind enough to invite us to see her garden and help with planting in a few weeks. She offered to come assist us with ours as well. (We are currently waiting to hear back from our Butler friends in the leadership class about funding for some garden boxes and garden equipment- very exciting!)

One of our questions for Miss Christen was where to put our garden. She suggested somewhere where there is lots of sun (at least six hours), good soil, and water can get to it easily. After her suggestions, we decided to take a walk outside our building into the “yard” area on the north side of the building and look for space. After exploring for quite a bit, we found a space we felt comfortable with! Ruth commented there were hardly any weeds in that relative area. David said that there was plenty of light and it would get lots of rain. For the rest of our time, we decided to play and explore our new found garden space more. As this was happening, some very interesting things happened. First, friends started collecting weeds to protect our new garden space. Children started running at full speed down a sloped space and grabbing weeds as they ran. Ruth explained, “Its a game- I call it Weed Runner! Try to not stop while you grab them!” More and more friends joined in on the fun.

Friends enjoy getting to know our garden space on a beautiful day.

Monica collects weeds from Ruth’s Weed Runner game.

Hutton pulls weeds to improve our garden space. He likes Weed Runner!

 Friends also began placing their handfuls of weeds in a rectangular shape around our proposed garden sight to mark its location. This led to a class discussion on shapes today and what shapes our garden boxes could be in. We went back outside again today and showed one another shapes that our garden could be in.

A heart shaped garden box.

What about doing a triangle for our garden box?

Should we do a rectangle for our garden box?

Cameron shows us what a crescent shape is.

Tags: arithmetic, collaboration, garden, image of the child, problem solving, thinking

Messi plants some of our seed starters.

Lucas dissects his dandelion.

Every morning, we have a share time during our morning meeting. The Friday before our break, during our meeting, Tajanaye brought in what looked like a white dandelion seeds attached to a stem. She shared that she believed the plant to be a flower. The class began a lively discussion about whether or not the plant was a weed or a flower. Many felt strongly supporting one opinion or the other. As a class, we decided we would explore the concept the next day. Friends were invited to find dandelions outside and bring them in for dissection.

I think I saw something in there. Lucas

What?  Mrs. Argus

Something white. Look inside! Lucas

I don’t see it! Oh! I think there’s a stem right here. Aidan

So if it has a stem, is it a weed? Mrs. Argus

No! Sascha, come open the flower! Or the weed! I don’t know which one! I’ve never had this experience! Lucas

Its milk! Look at the white thing! Its milk. Aidan

(Lucas and Carriea come over with a book.)

They’re weeds! They’re weeds! It says their weeds!

I remember when we read the thank you plants book and it had cornfields in it. It’s a connection. And this says sometimes sunflowers are weeds when they come up in a corn field. Carriea

(Lucas points to a picture.) It’s the dandelion with all of its stuff in it.  Lucas

What’s the stuff in it? Mrs. Argus

I think it might have been the milk being pulled. Lucas

What’s this? David

It’s the nutrients being pulled. Being pulled from the flowers. Lucas

This looks like an umbrella. David

Want to see a cut open one? Lucas Cool huh?

I got this! These are things that turn into weeds! (points to the seeds on the dandelion) Michael

How does it turn into a weed? Mrs. Argus

All it needs is a rainbow to turn into a weed! I just figured out the mystery. These do turn into the weeds! Michael

Ruth shows friends the inner workings of a dandelion. She is trying to show how the dandelion sucks up other plants' nutrients.

Tags: collaboration, curious, problem solving, scientific method

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

At the end of the day today, our class began a lively debate: are dandelions flowers or weeds? Friends have been encouraged to bring in dandelions and weeds (with your permission) for investigation tomorrow. We plan to see if we can prove one way or the other. Who knows- maybe we will be planting dandelions in our garden…

Also, please check your child’s folder tonight- there is information regarding our field trip to the Butler University Farm and Greenhouse!

Tags: garden, inquiry, problem solving, project

Over the past week or so, we have tried something new to show our learning: strategy posters. When a child uses a novel idea to help them work through a problem, they are asked to make a poster of their thinking to be displayed in the room. This poster then serves as a guide for other children who may be encountering the same type of problem. This not only encourages kids to take ownership in thier own learning, but also encourages them to look to one another for help when problem solving and collaborate. Right now, we have six addition strategy posters and three posters about what to do when you come to a new word in reading. Look for them at Family Night on Thursday at 6pm!

Tags: capable, problem solving, responsible