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The Littles Book Club

In our Book Club class we read and discussed the book “The Littles” by John Peterson. Our focus during this Book Club was on reading comprehension. The students in class were reading but were having difficulty recalling what they had read. We worked on strategies to help with the understanding of the book. During this Read More >>

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Fractions

A small group of students in first, second and third grade explored fractions using multiple representations of ONE.  With parquetry pieces they considered the fractional parts of a hexagon. In the process they learned that the denominator means how many equal parts are in the whole, in ONE. While the numerator indicates how many of Read More >>

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Butterfly class

In January, we continued our butterfly class. As always it allowed for wonderful conversations on big ideas. One day we began to talk about butterflies, discussing that they don’t stay around to nurture their young. We talked a little about the difference between human, butterflies: learning from our parents or knowing through instinct. But of course, Read More >>

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Electricity

The youngest students have recently begun a unit on electricity.  We follow the same format we used for our Butterfly class.  We meet once a week for 50 minutes.  For the first half hour we read and talk.  For the next 20 minutes we have a studio time where we break up into 4 or Read More >>

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Bats

Our second through fourth graders have recently wrapped up a science unit on bats. In this unit we studied unique qualities and characteristics of specific bat species, compared bats to birds, learned about echolocation, and contributed to bat conservation. Some of our activities allowed students to create replica bat species using exact measurements and physical Read More >>

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Dragonling Book Club

For the past several weeks our book club read Jackie French Koller’s fantasy chapter book, Dragonling. This book follows the relationship of a young boy, Darek, who goes against everything he knows and befriends a young dragon in hopes to return him to his homeland and find a replacement family. Each week we met to Read More >>

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Measurement 2018

Students in grades 2, 3 and 4 were part of a three week measurement unit where we explored length, weight, temperature and volume. In each lesson students used tools to explore the huge world of measurement. After studying a thermometer and the two scales of measurement (Fahrenheit and Centigrade) students measured the temperature of some Read More >>

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Seeds Class with Calli

In our seeds class the students were able to examine multiple different types of seeds. They looked at both dry and wet lima and kidney bean seeds. We first examined what the outside looked and felt like then the students were able to cut the seeds open and examine the insides so that they could Read More >>

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The Seed Within

In this science class, the students read a book called “A Suitcase for Seeds.” The students were asked to make predictions about what they thought the seeds would look like, where they were located and how many there were. The students then got to analyze different fruits. We predicted what the inside of every fruit Read More >>

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Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages

Lucy Calkins inspired a poetry unit for our students in grades 1-3. Each week of her unit inspires children to consider a new “ingredient” or strategy. The unit began with experimenting with looking at ordinary things in a new way. Subsequent classes explored looking at patterns in poetry, music, line breaks and the use of Read More >>