Laurel Creek 2012-2013: Can you believe it is June?

It seems like the year can't possibly be ending, but alas, it is in just a few short weeks! Within this abbreviated week we began construction on a sight word ceiling, talked over strategies for staying in the green zone, measured alewives, heard an unusual instrument, and celebrated our friends who have birthdays during the summer.

In Readers' Workshop, the Giants worked more with that bossy 'e' that causes the vowel before it to say its name.

Fundations group working on vowel sounds

Both groups began creating word clouds with our sight words, words that can't be sounded out and therefore require memorization. The students took a list of popular K/1 level sight words, chose one, wrote it carefully on the cloud, and then added some blue watercolor paint to the cloud so that it will stand out against the ceiling.

The Fire Eagles began discussing digraphs, two letters that combine to make only one sound. They learned of the "H" sisters (Shelly, Chelsea, Whitney, and Thea) and played a new game called star hopper where they hop around the circle of digraph stars and when the caller says stop, they say the digraph sound and come up with a word for the star card under their feet.

During our community meeting, Kate guided the class through a very thoughtful discussion on self-regulation. We brainstormed strategies, or tools, that would either help stay in the green zone (the zone attributed to a happy, engaged mind and body) get back to it.

We will be working on recognizing tools that work well for us and keeping track on the poster using dot stickers to indicate a tool that someone has used successfully. After the meeting, the students took some time to write cards for their social rules books or to make necklaces, badges, or books to help remind themselves and others of some good ideas for taking care of yourself.

Ben modeling the writing of Weekend News

At the end of the day, William and Zev shared their domino design, which failed. We talked together as a class about how failure is only the beginning and both boys were able to reflect on how the experience helped them learn. They rebuilt the design again on Friday and were successful in tipping all the dominoes down!

For the poetry work we are currently studying in Writers' Workshop, Ben shared a poem written out all in straight lines. He read it again, this time, from a version written with intentional line breaks set by the poet.

We discussed the music of poetry and how line breaks can make poems "more dramatic". Beckett volunteered to re-write a poem with her own line breaks up on the chart. It was a unanimous agreement that the line breaks made the poem sound and look more interesting. The students worked on their own writing, using inspirational found objects to study as they wrote.

During recess Anna beautified several children's fingernails.

In math, we have been working on measurement using some stories about catching fish. The lesson was on comparing two different fish and noticing which was longer, and by how much. We talked about the size of a "keeper" fish, one big enough to keep for dinner. Students used inch tiles to measure and compare their fish, then recorded the data and wrote equations to show their understanding.

During Siesta, a few students wanted to make a survey. We had them set up the survey on the easel and they collected data from the rest of the class. The survey was, "Do you know how to swim?". We estimated, counted, tallied, and compared, all inspired by the wonderings of the children.

Free Friday highlights...

Writing fiction books

The successful domino design!

On Friday, another talented parent, Johnathan Wade (aka Beckett's dad) brought in a didgeridoo. He told the story of how the first didgeridoo was made, and played for us some animal sounds and some music. It was a big hit. Thank you, Johnathan!

We prepared for our summer birthday posters by interviewing each of the 6 birthday children on their interests. These ideas are inspiration for designing the cards each student makes to adorn the posters that make for a lovely keepsake.

In our math lesson, the students deigned their own fish, named them, measured them, and will later deem which are "keepers". Stay tuned for more!

And then the summer birthday celebration was upon us! Sherry Hsi (Lucas' mom) taught us how to make a sound sandwich. She guided the students through a focused conversation on how sound is produced.

Students shared their knowledge of vibration and friction as the instructions for creating the kazoos were explained. We wrote the steps out on the board and everyone went to work.