Sewing continued with further work on costumes, stuffed characters and capes. Two students planned ninja jump suits and discussed their planned approach with Tracy. They are very excited.
Home school student joined our robotics class us for the first time this year. Did you know that with good design and some programming rolling robotic vehicles make noise and turn in all directions.
During this workshop time students also worked independently on a diorama of a barn complete with animals and tended to their other responsibilities including math and composing and delivering snack. Today some children played soccer for the first time this year. On the tennis courts other children made up a game while others drew with chalk and invented games like Lily pad.
During Storytelling younger kids played word games with Dolch words. Dolch words include 220 sight words that are the most frequently used words in the English language. Sight words make up 50 to 70 percent of any general text. Therefore, teaching The Dolch Word List is helpful in developing reading fluency. Once the Dolch Words were introduced children developed variations including a matching game using Boggle and Scrabble letters to mimic the words on each card. Karen guided the middle group in reading and writing. They revisited their writing for a short time and then selected Tuck Everlasting as their group reading book. Karen began reading this fantasy to them stopping from time o time to predict, discuss and identify new words. They were all sorry to stop when the period was over. Our research group brought books from their local libraries and continued their research
In Science many students mixed up fast growing crystals that formed right before our eyes. The children were so excited that they forgot about classroom etiquette. All work stopped so that we could share our feelings and consider what helps each child learn during such an exciting activity.
Older students hypothesized about optimal growing conditions for a plant. They also identified what a controlled and valid experiment requires. The decided to see which among 5 plants will thrive and which will suffer under controlled irrigation conditions. They will be irrigating with water, soda, coffee, worm tea, and Gatorade.
In Global Studies older kids were challenged to link ideas about beauty from our cultural context conversation to our presidential candidates. They considered the influence of eyebrow shapes among the candidates. This conversation was seeded by a radio show interview on NPR’s Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me, where an “eyebrow guru” was interviewed regarding the topic.
Younger kids talked about the globe and how the children in Korea are experiencing nighttime during our daytime. The kids all know that the earth travels around the moon. Each has a different understanding of this phenomenon. Interesting theories about the impossibility of riding a bike across the ocean ensued. “You would sink and get seaweed all over you and it would be too slippery to pedal and the bike would also rust.”
During science kids examined the crystals forming. They were especially enamored by their fragility and fast-growing pace. As the crystals deteriorated new ideas evolved. A few kids started an experiment with two spider plants. They placed one in a concentrated solution of red food coloring and the other in blue.
Tuesday, October 7th
We continued our exploration with wire and enhanced our masks. Some students focused on the construction of their costumes. Kids helped take down the tent frame and engaged in games of Stratego. One student worked with a teacher to create a chart displaying all the students in alphabetical order by first name. This allows us to select our Physical Education leader each day. Everyone made progress in math working independently and/or with guidance and instruction from teachers.
Some students examined a world map and began to mark the places our instruments come from. They also played along with each other, experimenting with being louder and softer and faster and slower. This provided the lead into our music class where we danced and practiced listening to and leading other.
Older kids broke into 4 groups each tasked with creating their ideal candidate. They are focused on physical characteristics, party affiliation, political platform and other details. The children’s candidates will eventually run against each other in a primary, engage in a debate and face off in an election.
Students learned a new chord in guitar class and enjoyed practicing together. Please encourage your children to practice during the week. This will strengthen their hands. We are still on the look out for one or two more guitars. If you see a second hand steel string acoustic guitar for less $75.00 or less please let us know.
Wednesday, October 8th
We made english muffin pizzas, a salad and apple crisp in our first cooking class of the year. It was a great success. Children peeled, sliced, grated, sautéed, browned, blended and created with care. Each student topped his pie to his own delight with meatballs, pepperoni, black olives, additional cheese or all of he above.
While children rotated through the kitchen, the rest completed their math, worked on their board game skills, discussed the election, prepared snack and built with Kinex and blocks.
A Community Meeting followed Physical Education. We talked about troubling physical, verbal and emotional interactions between members. Almost every person found himself both at fault and with cause. The group decided that having a buddy at school would be helpful. Some selected each other while others left their selection to chance. Once buddies were matched most stepped into high gear sitting together and sharing greetings and making connections. It was a sweet moment at our school.
The rest of the day we worked on reading and writing. The older kids worked independently and benefited from a mini lesson that defined types of research papers. The children considered the type of paper that would best suit their topic and interest. The youngest kids wrote and drew short stories. Sandy read aloud an exciting book about African performers creating a folk tale play. The middle group enjoyed some more of Tuck Everlasting after working on their stories. It was a full and satisfying day.
