Gift from Lorelai and Her Family

Lorelai and her family donated her old Duplo Lego's (which include a train set) to our crew for our Build and Create Station. These have also been a big hit! Thank you Lorelai and family.

Homework ~ Read a good book or two. Check out a Bedtime Math story.

Volunteer
Ms. Michelle, Lorelai's mom, has been coming in to teach us some new games to play at recess. She has been teaching us a variety of clapping games that can be played with a partner or in a group sitting in a circle. She also has been helping out in our classroom during reading and writing times, too. Thanks, Ms. Michelle!

I accidentally left the photos below off of yesterday's blog post about the gift from Riley. These photos show the flexible straws and connectors.

Gifts from Riley and His Family

During the holidays, Riley and his family gave our crew a gift card for Amazon to purchase a gift for the crew. Ms. Wendy and I did some research and found a couple of additions to our building materials that we felt the crew would really love. We got some flexible straws and connectors and a marble maze set. They have been a big hit already. Thank you Riley and family!


Homework ~ Read a good book or two. Check out a Bedtime Math story.

Important Dates
2/5 Vision and Hearing Screening
2/25 Winter Voyage ~ day trip only
3/2 Life is Art Artists Edition 4 pm
3/5 Life is Art ~ Adult Event 6 pm Kirk Hall
3/19 - 4/3 Spring Break
4/4 No School ~ Teacher Work Day

Volunteer
Our volunteer today is Ms. Katarina, Kaisa's mom. Ms. Katarina comes in and helps us shelve books in our book room. It is a big job and we so appreciate the extra help. Thanks, Ms. Katarina!

Building and Creating

As you may recall, you all (the parents) gave our crew a great gift at our Winter Party. You gave us a set of Keva Planks. I was so excited and now the crew is, too. (If you get this post by email, you will need to go directly to the blog to view the short video clip below.)

Keva Planks are great for all ages - Dads love them, too.

While we do use them everday during Exploration Stations in small groups, the crew began asking me if we could try to build something as a whole crew. So last Friday, we tried it. I dumped out all of the planks and then got out of the way so that they could plan, discuss and build.

A group leader emerged right away. He even used our attention getting signal of clapping to get everyone's attention.

Then another leader stepped up.

Now we had co-leaders. Ms. Wendy and I still stayed out of the discussion. It got tense a few times but they worked through all of their issues and made good decisions as a whole group. It was a great team building experience for the crew. A few children did opt out because they didn't like being in such a large group which was fine. I can completely understand their point of view.

Finally the building began.

We even had a blueprint to work off of.

And an updated blueprint.

The crew worked and worked but ran out of time to complete their castle (we had to go to Art). I promised them that we would have another group building session soon so at snack time a group sat together to plan out what they would do next time. They can't wait.

Thank you so much for this wonderful gift. As you can see, it is not only fun but it is a great educational tool as well teaching communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 5.10 Turn Around Facts

Important Dates
1/16 No School - Professional Development Day for Teachers
1/19 No School - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
2/13 No School - Professional Development Day for Teachers
2/16 No School - President's Day
2/26 Winter Voyage ~ Day 1 - not an overnight trip (Day 2 will be in April - also not an overnight trip)
3/23 - 4/3 Spring Break

More New Stations

We frequently rotate materials in and out of the Build and Create Station and the Wonder and Explore Station. Currently in the Build and Create Station we have a marble tower building set and in the Wonder and Explore Station we have a variety of magnets. Both are proving to be fascinating as you can see in the pictures below. (You will need to go directly to the crew blog to see the video.) We have also added a buddy reading station, too.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 3.8 Frames and Arrows

Important Dates
10/29 Group Pictures and Re-Take Day
10/31 Halloween Costume Parade and Healthy Breakfast first thing in the morning
11/4 No School ~ Professional Development for Teachers (I have jury duty - hopefully for just one day)
11/17-11/21 Book Fair
11/26-11/28 No School ~ Thanksgiving
12/5/ Fieldwork to Joyous Chinese Cultural Center
12/19 Fieldwork to Pacific Ocean Market and King's Land Restaurant
12/22 - 1/5 Winter Break
2/26 Winter Voyage ~ Day 1 - not an overnight trip (Day 2 will be in April - also not an overnight trip)