Playing in the Rain!

Today was a wet day but that doesn't stop the 1-2s from getting outside! Our Free Friday fun was playing in the rain. Our belief, as the expression goes,  is that there is no inappropriate weather, only inappropriately dressed people! Kids who had their wet weather gear (rain boots, rain coats and hats/hoods) had a lot more fun than their ill clad companions. Luckily, between all of the students we managed to scrounge a jacket or sweatshirt for every child to use for today. In future, we will be looking for all kids to have weather appropriate gear on their bodies or in their backpacks. A change of dry clothes that includes pants instead of shorts and a few pairs of extra dry socks can also make all the difference when we come back inside with wet feet.

Being outside in different kinds of weather offers lots of opportunities for exploring nature in different conditions. Squelching in mud can be blissful as can playing in snow and running on green fields. While we do NOT go outside during dangerous weather (like thunder or lightning) we do go out in rain and sleet and sun and snow and most other conditions that follow us through the seasons. 

Enjoy the pictures below our fun outside time today! And keep your eyes on the weather as we change into cooler temperatures and wetter conditions so that you child has what they need in inclement weather. 

Insect Relay!

We have been enjoying watching the insects in our outdoor space as they hop, fly, crawl and jump. As part of our study of insects, we decided to try out some of their signature moves! We did this in the form of a relay race for House Table teams. Kids started out with grasshopper hops, then dragonfly backwards-flying (the only insects who can), next was butterfly fluttering, then caterpillar creeping, and finally doing the water boatman "back stroke". 

It was a lot of fun and helped us appreciate the challenges and benefits of these insect moves.  We hope to instill in kids knowledge about this fascinating animal groups as well as respect for little creatures - a sentiment best captured by poet Christina Rosetti:

Hurt no living thing

    Ladybird, nor butterfly,

Nor moth with dusty wing,

    Nor cricket chirping cheerily,

Nor grasshopper so light of leap,

    Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,

Nor harmless worms that creep.

Of course while we teach your children to respect nature and look at the insects like scientists, we will kill mosquitoes and biting insects. And in the arachnid family, ticks are on the Most Wanted list...

   

Check out the pictures below of our racers during different stages of the racing! Ask your child which insect move they liked the best. And if you see an insect with your child, take a moment to observe and admire it, and then leave it be. 

 

Partners in Reading

Reading is in full swing in the 1-2s! Both classes have talked about what a reading classroom looks and sounds like and have done some "reading around the room" to find good spots to settle down and get into what we like to call the reading zone.  Our current goal is to build student stamina to sustain independent reading for longer and longer periods of time. One way to keep energy up and engagement levels high is to introduce "book buddies" or partner reading. 

Part of every reading block is reserved for our readers to have conversations about books and reading. They might share a favorite part of a story they read with their partner, or a "wow" fact from a nonfiction book, a really funny part, or something surprising that happened in their book. These prompts encourage back and forth dialogue between readers that lead kids into more meaningful talk about books. 

Another function of buddy reading is to reinforce skills for decoding, fluency and comprehension that they are learning in our mini lessons. Our unit right now is how readers build good habits. One of these "habits" is to take a sneak peek of a book before reading to get their brains ready for the story matter, information and related vocabulary they are about to encounter using clues they can glean from the front and back covers, the table of contents (if there is one) and a few preview pages. Buddies paired up to practice by jointly taking a sneak peek at first one partner's and then the other's books before independent reading. Another strategy buddies are practicing when they get together is using their finger to slide through sounds or syllables when they encounter an unfamiliar word. After independent reading, students talked about a word they solved using this technique with their buddy.

Check out the pictures below of our budding bookworms!