worms are wonderful

 "Ms Lisa look!  I found a worm!" LB

This simple discovery prompted a morning filled with the most beautiful child-led learning!

LB you ran right out to the playscape and over to a BIG log.  I have seen you do this before several times so I knew you had a plan.

This time, your friends were eager to join you.  The warming up and the hint of spring has not only lifted our spirits in the Birch room, but apparently it has make all creatures great and small wake up too!

As soon as that big log was flipped I heard cries of discovery again and again.

"I found a roly poly!"

"Look!!!  A BIG worm!"

"It's a curled up roly poly!"

"It's a snail!!!!"

As you looked at your worm, LB you told me,

"He made an 'S'!"

He sure did!

"Now he made an 'O'!" LB

What?!  Your worm is a letter-maker!

What other letters can he make?

"He can't make a 'T'." LB

He can't?  Why not?

"You need two worms to make a 'T'!"

We started laughing and talking all about worm-letters!  How many worms do we need to make other letters?

JA while your friends were carrying their worms around to show others you went back to search some more.  It wasn't long before I heard...

"I found a baby snail!" JA

     

Though we were discovering several creatures beneath this log, it was the worms that held our attention.  We were looking closely at them and noticing so many things.

What do you know about worms? I asked.

"I know I like worms!" LB

That is something about YOU!  What is something you know about WORMS?

And then our conversation began.  We went back and forth talking about what you noticed, what you wondered, what you thought.

You were observing.  You were making predictions.  You were even feeling compassion!

"I think he wants to be in the mud with his friends." LB

"Why is the worm not moving?  Is he sleeping?" LB
"I think worms stay under the log and they go to sleep." LB

Your thoughtfulness towards the worms led your friends to think about how they were treating these living creatures.  It is easy to think about ways to be kind to our classmates.  But, what does it look like to be kind to a worm?  How can we even do that?

"You said he likes to be in the dirt so I gave him some dirt so he will be happy in my hand." JB

Yes!  That is exactly what it looks like to care for living things in nature.  

As much as we love them and want to carry those amazing worms around, worms like to be in the mud!

We had been looking under our log for quite some time now and we couldn't find any new worms.  Hmmm...Is there any place else on our playscape that worms might like to live?

LB you ran immediately over to these stumps and rolled them over.

"They like to live under a log!" LB

Almost instantly you walked away shaking your head no.

"There's no worms there." LB

Hmmmm...No worms there? But you said worms like to live under a log.  This is a log.   Why don't you think the worms live under here?

"It's too dry!" LB

OH!  So worms need a log that is WET underneath!

Well, is there any place like THAT on our playscape?  

These friends immediately ran over to this VERY big stump.  

Pushing

Grunting

Pulling

Nothing!

What can we do?

"We need a pry bar!" HW

Wow!  What a great plan.  But, I don't have a pry bar.  

"We can use this stick!" HW

How does it work?

And you showed us that we need to put the stick at the bottom.

"How do we get the stick under the stump?" LB

Another excellent question.  The stick is fat and it won't fit.  What can we do?

"You need to lift it Ms Lisa!" HW

And so, with teamwork, the log was lifted JUST enough to fit the stick pry-bars underneath.

Pushing

Tugging

Grunting

Lifting

Rolling

SUCCESS!

This little group of Birch friends may have appeared to be digging for worms.

But what they were doing was really so, so much more.

They showed interest in nature.

They became aware of the changes the warmer temperatures were making.

They looked closely and observed.

They thought about what they knew and conducted scientific experiments.

They connected to the feelings of others...even worms!

They shared in the joy of learning...all because of a worm!

No learning happens in isolation, and we are always excited to follow the amazing leads of our children.  So when we headed back inside your teachers go out floam and letter cards.  Can your floam-worms make letters?

They sure can!

kindness celebration

 

Today was as close to perfect as a day could possibly be!  We sprinkled celebrations of kindness throughout our entire day from the very beginning to the very end!

We have continued to honor special acts of kindness that we see by adding to our kindness branch.  The beautiful gems that hang from it are reminders of the beauty that evolves from kind acts.  ESE, you have been working SO hard this week.  Your teachers have noticed your thoughtful acts, your generosity, and your gentle heart towards your friends.  You have selflessly helped your teachers with jobs, you have given generously to your friends, and you have been kind even when others might not have been as gentle as they could have been with their actions.  We have been noticing, and today you got to pick a kindness gem to add to our branch.

Act of kindness are a beautiful way to spread joy and fill others with happiness.  But, they aren't the only way!  Writing a note, or giving a gift to someone makes them feel special too.  Many of our friends brought kindness cards for their friends.  As these tokens of friendship were being passed around we couldn't help but notice the joy on the faces of each and every friend.

Kindness gems, and kindness cards for our Birch classmates were an amazing way to begin our day.  But our kindness didn't stop with the door of our classroom.  We got to spread kindness, along with all of the other friends in our whole school!  Today was Ms Angie's birthday and our whole school gathered for a special dance party in her honor!

She was SO surprised, and we could tell she felt the love from the top of her head to the bottom of her dancing feet!

SO much kindness spreading around, but we STILL weren't done yet!

We wanted to focus our friends on each classmate and think about those juicy, extra-exciting words that describe them.

"Let me think.  Hmmmm, let me think..." CG

You talked through all of the things your friend MS likes to do and then you declared, "MS is playful!"

JL you looked at your friends picture and told us, "He's a boy." JL

You're right he is.

And then you noticed every part of his photo, eyes, nose, hair color, eye color.  As you labeled every part you saw we continued to talk about what you know about your friend.

"HW is beautiful." JL

Friendship is a beautiful thing.

"I don't want to be done.  I just want to keep doing kindness." EM

"Do I have to clean up or can I keep writing?" JI

As our young learners thought about their friends and the attributes they possessed we noticed the smiles on the faces of our writers getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

"I just feel so excited because I KNOW they are going to love these!" CG

And that's the thing about kindness, it's contagious!

Look at all of these words our friends declared about one another!

We gathered together and read a book about kindness, and then we got all of the pictures with the words their friends wrote about them.

What Does it Mean to be Kind?

As we held up each and every photo and slowly read the words written we looked around.

Smiles

Eyes lit with delight

Astonishment!

We asked every single friend...

How do these words make your heart feel?

"GOOD!"

"HAPPY!"

"EXPLODING WITH HAPPINESS!"

"THANKFUL"

"JOYFUL"

"CONTENT"

Really, we couldn't ask for anything more.

Walking Wednesday

 What an amazing day we had today!  We are all so ready for warmer weather.  Today gave us just the hint of Spring we needed to boost our moods and set our sights on adventure!

So out we headed!

Though we had a destination in mind today, the journey is one of my favorite times to spend with children.  As we stroll along there are always conversations to be had.  Sometimes nonsensical, sometimes serious.  There are questions that are asked and answers to wonder about.  There are jokes that are made and laughter to be had.  

Today's walk was no different.  ESE you were with me the entire walk and it was a journey that filled my teacher heart to the brim!  You noticed things along the way and asked questions.  You remembered things that made connections in your mind.  You were thoughtful, kind, and even chivalrous as you helped to "keep me safe" while we crossed the street.  

We smiled and laughed together.  We learned and discovered together.  We noticed one another and we both felt seen, heard, and loved.  It was the BEST walk...and we weren't even to our destination yet!

Barbre Park!

With wide open space to move our bodies in big way, and small spaces to curl up with books that we brought, this park was the perfect spot for today.

HW you and your friend JA were set on "fixing" this tree.  As you assessed the job you were stopped short...no pun intended!

This tree was BIG!  How big? Well...

"This tree is way more bigger than me.  It's like 30 pounds big." HW

"We got our tools in our pants.  We found a hole in the tree but we fixed it." JA

Three little monkeys swinging in the tree.

Teasing Mr Alligator, "can't catch me!"

Along came Mr Alligator sneaky as can be and,

SNATCHED that monkey right out of that tree!

This is a song we often sing in the forest.  These friends filled their imaginations today with a world of pretend play.

When asked what our plan was at the park we told our friends there was no big question.  They could run and move, they could climb, they could read, or even just listen to nature.

JB you came and sat down on a bench with me and told me,

"I want to listen to nature." JB

What sounds of nature do you hear?

"Birds.  Lots of birds." JB

As we sat and listened friends came up to sit, talk, share, or just listen.

MS, even your acorns are babies!  You LOVE all things baby and tiny pieces of nature are no different.

As we continued to sit together more friends started to join us.

Welcome to the show!

Today was a wonderful, walking, Wednesday!

Words in our heart

We have talked about how our heart feels since the beginning of the school year.  Our Birch friends are well versed in identifying their feelings.  We know when we are happy, sad, or mad.  We have even talked about feelings that are more challenging to label like frustrated, curious, and proud.

Lately we have been talking about "juicy" words, those words that sound interesting to our ears, those words that make us wonder what exactly they mean.

So, what would happen if we combined those two elements into one invitation to self-reflect?  

What does this say Ms Lisa?

And so I read it to you.

We talked about how you were feeling and you told me, 

"Happy!" JI

You wondered how you would know how to write that word down.

I notice there is a book on our table.  I wonder if that book might be able to help you.

"This page is happy!" JI

Together we found the word you wanted and you collected the word that was living in your heart.

HAPPY

"I feel happy to be at school." AD

You not only told me how you were feeling, but you told me why you felt that way.

It fills my heart with joy to hear you say school is a place of happiness for you.

You make ME happy too!

"Love lives in my heart." MS

You come into the room with the BIGGEST hug for your teacher every day.  I can tell your heart is SO full of love that it bursts out right to us!

CG you drew me a picture of your family and told me a story about it.  I can tell you were thinking about how your feel when you are with them.

You wrote the word

LOVE

We continue to follow our work throughout the spaces of our classroom.

"Ms L will you read this book to me?" ESE

Absolutely!

And I started to read.  But then...wait!  I wonder if this book has any "juicy" words that we might want to collect?

CG you joined us and listened as we read.

"Stop!  I want to write that word down!" CG

And so you added to our word collection!

Other friends were asked "How Tall" with an invitation to build.

"Mine is this tall!" PS

GC you began by lining your blocks up all across the bottom of your surface in a long line.

Hmmm, you line is LONG.  How can you make it TALL?

And then you lined your blocks UP!

You made me laugh and I could absolutely see the way your brain was working.

And yet, I pushed you a bit further.

You made a long line, and you made a tall line.  How can you make a structure that stands up tall?

You thought and thought and thought and thought and then...

Ah ha!

Climbing to new heights our structures grew and grew!

Just like us!