How can we show kindness?

 Our Birch friends are passionate about building.  We have also been focused on kindness.  How can those two things work together?  We noticed what types of structures our friends were creating and followed their lead with an invitation to merge kindness and building...

Who does your building care for?

"Ms Lisa you gotta come check this out!  We made a fire station!!!" HW

"I made the take care sign on the top!" RR

"This is where the fire trucks park." MS

These friends worked together to create something amazing. 

They talked, planned, discussed, compromised, and created!

They thought about all of the ways a fire station works and represented all of their knowledge in their creation.

Your structure takes care of the homes in the community!

Who does your building take care of? "Superheroes! They are nice and need a place to live" JA

"Lets build one for Spider-Man, he needs a circle to keep his things safe." JG

 

"I am rebuilding the hospital to keep the people inside safe." LB

Who is your hospital keeping safe? "It keeps the doctors and hurt people safe." LB

After writing notes and pictures for Chico, some friends began asking questions.

Some of the questions we didn't know the answers to, and others we made our best guess.  But it became clear that we are definitely NOT cow experts.  So, if we want to REALLY know the answers who IS a cow expert?  Who would know about Chico?

"GC would know because she went to see Chico."

Hmmm...She definitely knows more than me, but does she know EVERYTHING about Chico?

"The farmer!"

And, with that we have created a space to ask questions that we want to know about Chico.

And, we can see our focus on kindness and caring seeping into the questions that are being asked.

 

How can you send kindness to Chico? "I can tell him I like his ears and the color of his hair." GC CW JI

How will Chico receive the kindness you guys are writing? "We can visit where Chico lives and give them to him." GC 

                                                       How will we show kindness tomorrow? 

Taking Care of our bodies

 This morning, Birch got to listen to the Safe Touch presentation which taught us ways to take care of and keep our bodies safe. We also learned there is "okay touching" and "not-okay touching." We learned what to do if someone touches you in a "not-okay" way. 

Here are the 3 steps we learned: 
1.) Say, "NO!"
2.) Run to somewhere safe
3.) Tell a trusted adult

To help us remember, we learned a song about being safe. You can find it on the back of the coloring book in your student's mailbox. This coloring book summarizes what we learned, the words we can use, and what "ok touching" means. It is full of helpful information if you have questions or if your student comes home with questions. 
Please reach out to the Birch Room teachers if you need any more information. 

Ms. Beth taught that we are in charge of our bodies! 

Whose head?

MY HEAD.

Whose Knees?

MY KNEES.

Whose toes?

MY TOES!

Before we went to Safe Touch, we were able to Caper with Magnolia and Sycamore. With the weather switching back to winter, it was a good day to keep our learning inside. It was so fun to explore new places and invitations. 

I did it! I made a J.

Working together is hard, so many ideas, so many helpers. H, J, H, and K worked together to build this amazing Cement Mixer Rocket Ship.

Stay warm! Be well. 

How do we take care?

Being kind in the Birch Room is guided by our three classroom agreements. This week we are zooming in on Taking Care. What does that look like, how do we take care?

How do we care for seeds?

What does a seed need?

A seed needs soil to keep it safe. 

A seed needs water to grow big.

A seed needs sunshine to keep it warm and help it grow. 

What will all these seeds grow into?

A corn tree.

A green bean tree.

An acorn Tree.

A purple flower.

A big, big tree.