Snow Stem Challenge!

The winter has FINALLY given us snow conditions that allow the kids to flex their STEM skills in a challenge to build the tallest snow structure. The warmer temperature and mistiness transformed the powdery snow into something they can press, roll and shape. 

The students opted to combine their House Table groups so that there was one Hufflepuff team, one Gryffindor team, one Slytherin team and one Ravenclaw team. While we wondered if this would lead to a "too many cooks spoil the broth" situation, it really came together as more of a "many hands make light work". 

Each team initially, and predictably, started off with team members going every which way with the singular purpose of gathering snow. Balls of snow were being rolled all over Sargent Field and gaining mass as they went. However, a point was reached where the teams realized that they would have to combine their efforts and create some sort of a plan to really be successful in this endeavor. 

We heard some kids starting to use their voices to corral the troops- "Hufflepuffs, help!", or "Gryffindors, over here!", or "Put this on the top!" and even a very strenuous "STOP" when one tower was in danger of being toppled over. 

Students had to develop some strategies for dealing with all the snow they had amassed - some of their snowballs were too large to be hoisted onto the top of the structure. These had to be broken down into smaller chunks and then put into place. Other groups found a solution for adding on to a tower that is taller than you - they used part of the base of their structure like a step stool while teammates handed them up snow to add on to the top. 

It was a fun and frenzied challenge that yielded some great lessons and experiences with cooperation and collaboration. When we pulled the kids together afterward and relayed our observations of their process, most said that if given the chance they would have started by making a plan from the very beginning. But they were highly successful yielding two structures that were 5'5", one that was 5'7" and one whopper that was 6'3" (it was taller than Mrs. A.!). 

Alas, the snow is now gone but we hope you will enjoy the pictures below of the kids in action. They are already looking forward to another STEM challenge. 

Visit from Walnut Hill

This week, we had a special visit from some students from the Walnut Hill School! The students did two presentations for the 1-2 kids. One group presented a dramatized read aloud of Corduroy Takes a Bow. One student read the story aloud while the other two took on the various roles in the story using a stuffed Corduroy to play his part! After this presentation, the kids were invited to test out their own skills as actors by taking on the roles of frogs, bears and elephants. They were very convincing in their actions and voices! 

The other group did a choreographed read aloud of Angelina Ballerina featuring a stuffed Angelina Mouse and Walnut Hill students demonstrating the ballet moves of the characters in the story. After this presentation, the kids had the chance to try out some ballet moves by following the lead of the students. The 1-2 kids enjoyed watching both of these performances, especially when they got to try out actions and dance moves for themselves. 

We are always happy to encourage artistic expression in its many forms and hope that the kids were inspired by their experience. Your child also brought home a flyer with the upcoming Walnut Hill children's shows if your child is interested in seeing more. Check out the pictures below from each presentation!

Fairy Tale Trailers

Just before break, our groups created  Fairy Tale Trailers using iMovie. The kids worked on choosing the salient points of the tale to tease without spoiling the ending! They learned how to take photos and videos in iMovie and how to insert them into a trailer template. This took a lot of planning and patience! They also got to give credits to each group member in their Storyboard - they enjoyed listing themselves in the roles of director, costume designer, casting director, producer, etc. 

Enjoy these 1-2 productions!

The Five Bears

Four Billy Goats Gruff

The 3 Billy Goats Gruff

The Quest for Food

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The Three Scared Pigs

Bird Study Begins

It's the new year and the 1-2 kids are on to their next big study - BIRDS! 

Birds are a fascinating animal group with many unique characteristics and interesting adaptations. Over the next months, we will be taking a closer look at birds which will encompass observations of local winter birds, read alouds, science experiments, nature video clips, nonfiction research as well as participation in the Mass Audubon Junior Duck Stamp Contest. 

BUT before we can delve that deep, we like to take a little dipstick of what knowledge our students are bringing to the table. To kick this unit off, we started the week by having kids rotate through House Tables to add their thoughts in pictures and writing to prompts on mural paper - 

What do you know about birds? 

What do you know about bird feet?

What do you know about bird beaks?

Where do you think birds live?

From this check-in, we saw that the kids are bringing lots of prior knowledge to the table. Kids knew that there are many kinds of birds and drew as well as labeled some examples. Students knew that different birds have different types of feet - some have webbed feet for swimming, some have sharp talons for hunting. They also knew that there are many different shapes and sizes of bird beaks. As far as where birds live, some kids identified nests and trees as bird homes as well as bird houses, as this is what they see most in our local environment. Some students who were thinking more globally were able to say that birds could live in many places around the world.

All of these areas will be explored and examined as we take our deep dive into this unit! Check out the kids below as they pool their knowledge to get their brains ready to learn more!