Following Inspiration
Some combination of the brilliant green and the sunny days has me truly loving my job and this school. Our students have enjoyed the chance to read and work outside without having to layer up first. In fact, we've been seeking out shade, breezes, and water to help cool off. The mayapples are flowering, and kids gathered them for umbrellas to help keep off the sun. One student thought he might climb into our black tube for shade and was tickled when he found evidence that someone else had walked through before him. Another student's fan inspired all of us to make a wide assortment of fans and even open a fan shop.
Tracy's PK-2nd Grade Reflections
We try to be a "yes" school, so I was sad when I told the kids I didn't think I could help pull together a movie about our revolutionary war studies. They were sad too, and I encouraged them to see if they could make it happen themselves. One intrepid third grader wrote a script and helped to organize rehearsals during recess. Others rallied to corral our youngest kids - they had them be farm animals. They gathered materials for costumes and made props. All I had to do was recruit a videographer (Thanks Kate!) and set them up with 3 days in a row where they could rehearse. They made a movie! I'm so very proud of them.
We finished up our Italy theme this week so that we can start new projects with Theresa's class next week. While we didn't dig as deeply as I like to, I feel like we had a nice sampling of Italian culture. We reviewed some of our terms from our earlier geography study, talking about peninsulas, volcanoes, bays, and islands. Many of the kids did some great cooking at home inspired by all the reading we've been doing about Italian food. One student pointed out that his red peppers, onions, and parsley looked like the Italian flag - that feels like some solid learning.
Theresa's 3rd-6th Grade Reflections
This week, the big kids finished up projects, so that we can start fresh with new kids on Monday.
The kids turned in their latest piece of fiction. This assignment, to help the kids do their best work, they were given a checklist with the expectations for the piece. The rubric let them know they had to be sure to have correct grammar and punctuation, as well as two hand drawn pictures.
In math, the 4th graders completed the year's workbooks! A whole year of math curriculum, done! We are going to do a deep dive into geometry for the last month of school.
We also just finished "How I Came to Dowagiac," by our beloved storyteller, Nancy Payne. While reading it, we looked at "the tricks" that authors use to make their writing more engaging.
We are ready for the last phase of this adventure, and we are so excited to welcome back everyone to a full-time schedule.