RJ's Class Notes

The nice weather has been holding up which has allowed us to spend time outdoors. Recently, we spent two days in the lower greenhouse doing observations. We first practiced observing a praying mantis that a student brought into class. Questioned we asked: What color is it? How big is it? What is it’s texture like? Is it alive?Then each student was asked to take a clipboard, a carpet square if they liked, and their individual box of pencils and markers. They each found a cozy spot to focus on one thing to draw and write about. Students observed eggplants, husk cherries, crickets, the exterior of the greenhouse, and more. 

On Monday we took a mini field trip around campus collecting natural objects that students turned into sculptures. We found things like sticks, leaves, and small rocks. In the coming days we we look for more objects to add to our sculptures.

We continue our literacy work by understanding our “Just Right” books, reading together in small groups, working on letter sounds and playing word games. We read books about nature, kindness, inclusion, and some students have brought in their own books about friendship that we've read and discussed as a class. We ask questions like: What does kindness look like? What does it mean to be a good friend? What are small things we can do each day to be a good friend? How do we feel when people are kind to us? We’ve also begun working on poetry; as a class, we worked together to create a short poem.