This week we hosted our first monthly Open House.  It was a very special time for students to bring their families and share all that they are working on with them, as well as completing a project together.  Each family did a name acrostic, then spent time receiving a tour given by their child, sharing all that each student wanted their family to see.  It was very moving to watch and listen to each child beam with pride as they shared and explained their Word of the Day Books, thier Idiom Journals, their Weather Station folders, their Science Journals, Work Contracts, and so much more.  Each child read their Scott Foresman story of the week to their family.  They explained all that we do at Morning Meeting, and had their families try out some of our Morning Meeting activities! It was a special time for the students to share their daily world and experiences, as well as to have ownership of all they were doing.  As an educator, it was terrific to hear the family dialogue, and have parents relate stories about home activities that their child was having their family do, based on experiences they have had in class.  It was truly a celebration of all the students have accomplished this year.  It also provided an opportunity for parents to connect with and see first-hand, all that their child does each day.

Welcome to our newest class members, our Love Bears!  We have been given a set of Love Bears for our class to use.  What are Love Bears?  They are stuffed cross-stitched bears that are here to help us whenever we are sad, don’t feel well, are having a tough day, or just need a little TLC.  Our students have welcomed the bears, and have put them to good use.  When a child is feeling blue, or sees a classmate who is sad, they go to the Love Bear basket and get a bear for their friend or themselves to use. They may just sit for a few minutes with their Bear, or read a book to them.  After a few minutes, they are feeling better, and return their bear for the next child who might need a little help.  Our class has adopted the Bears completely, brainstorming things we can do for them.  Building a house is the first order of business.  Students are bringing in supplies – everything from shingles to wallpaper – to assemble a collection of materials we can use in October to create a special home for the Love Bears.  Students will design blueprints, write out a sequence of steps to build a house, then we’ll put our ideas together and collaborate to come up with a plan!  Something that starts out so simply develops into a powerful teaching and learning experience generated by the students’ own natural kindness, curiosity, and creativity!

     The first few days of school have been most special ones.  We have come together as a class community, getting to know each other, building relationships, and starting out on our collaborative journey together.  We have shared a variety of activities – Meet and Greet Books, sharing “All About Me” summer projects, looking at each other’s Discovery Bags – and so much more!  We have begun to establish rules and routines, discussing ideas we each have to add to our room organization.  We are getting to know each other’s interests, strengths, and areas we are working on.  We are building our community together from the ground up, and are off to a great start!

     On Thursday, August 21st, our class got together at our school playground, to see old friends, meet new ones, and start off our year in a comfortable, fun-filled way!  The playdate provides an opportunity for students to see old friends and meet new classmates for the coming year.  It also gives parents and opportunity to meet each other.  Both parents and students connect with me, either to catch up, or to meet for the first time.  It is so important for all class family members – students, parents, and teachers – to feel comfortable on our first day, to have a sense of familiarity with their class, and to minimize what can be a stressful, though exciting, first week.  Yesterday we played together, shared summer stories, and talked about the coming school year.  It was a special day for all.

This week we welcomed a new student to our class family.  What had the potential to be a stressful situation was instead a powerful testament to the sense of community our students share.  Our new friend arrived at the start of the day, understandably nervous, not knowing what to expect.  Waiting in the room for our new classmate were the supplies needed, labeled with the student’s name, in an effort to let our new friend know that they were already a part of our class.  What unfolded from there was so moving, I felt the need to write a blog entry. Our students went into action, generating many initiatives to help our new friend feel welcome. They welcomed our new class member immediately, taking turns sharing our morning job routines, explaining things clearly and demonstrating what was entailed with each job.  Our classmate was invited to sit with children during our morning meeting, then was asked to join a penguin research group.  Within 45 minutes our new classmate was not new anymore.  The day continued this way, with students coming up to me, making suggestions of how they could help, of what they wanted to share with their new friend, and of what their new buddy might need.  I had set up a bin, and told our newest classmate that I would get the supplies needed over vacation.  By day’s end, the bin was full of pencils, crayons, markers, glue sticks, and more. Unbeknownst to me, students had given our new mate some of their own supplies to fill the bin.  They reminded me of the things I needed to get over vacation. They suggested we make a WELCOME card to send home.  They even reminded me I needed to make a new home/school cover for our new friend’s folder!  Some students wrote me a list, to make sure I got our friend everything that would be needed!  I was so struck by the innate kindness of our students, the bravery of our new student, and the empowerment they all feel to solve a problem and make a contribution.  Our students are truly a community of caring, compassionate individuals.  I am so very proud of them!  Outreach work truly begins with our immediate surroundings, and the people in our lives.  Our class has demonstrated that to the highest degree.

     Our class is working on penguin research projects.  We have been reading both fiction and non-fiction books about penguins, discussing the information gleaned from them, and working together to build a broad base of “penguin knowledge”.   After listing all the species of penguins, and looking at their general characteristics, we chose seven penguins to study(we will research another seven next week).  Each child chose which penguin research group they would like to join, and we were off!  Students went online, looked in books, observed a penguin webcam,watched the Animal Planet, and brought their own prior knowledge to their group’s work.  Included in the project work were opportunities for decision-making, problem-solving, collaboration, reading, math, writing, geography, vocabulary development, artwork, and more.  Each group shared their finished work and we have displayed them in the room.The finished projects are very impressive.  We have all learned so much about our penguin friends!

This past week our class went to see a local performance of The Nutcracker.  We had a wonderful time.  The students brought a variety of prior knowledge and experiences with them on our field trip.  Some had performed in Nutcracker productions, some had never been to a ballet, some had taken dance classes, and some had never attended a live stage performance.  No matter what their prior knowledge was, each student was mesmerized by the characters, the dancing, the color and vibrancy of the costumes and set, and most importantly, by the music.  We had read the story before going, and the students were enthralled with seeing the story come to life.  Upon returning to school, we discussed the performance, shared reflections about it, practiced some basic ballet, then put on the Nutcracker music, and drew our memories of the ballet while we listened.  Students had brought in nutcrackers from home to look at, compare, write about, etc.The day after the ballet we designed our own nutcrackers from a choice of materials.  The entire experience was one that each child could approach with their own background knowledge, and make it their own.

This past week our class wrote letters and made cards for the men and women who are recuperating at Walter Reed Army Hospital.  What started out to be a simple writing activity turned into a powerful outreach project.  We began by brainstorming what we might write.  What began as a simple list of “Get Well Soon” and “Happy Holidays” turned into a moving list that illustrated the depths of thought and level of sensitivity children have.  “I know you can be strong”, “Don’t give up”, “Your family is thinking of you”, “Thank you for what you did for us”, and “If I was there I’d help you to walk” are just a sampling of the sentiments included in our cards and letters.  Our discussion was filled with compassion, concern and awareness of who we were writing to, and what they might need to cheer them up.  Though I began the discussion, it took on a life of its own, and generated responses unsolicited or cued by me.  When we talked about possible illustrations, the ideas continued to flow.  “I’m drawing someone getting out of their wheelchair and walking”, “I’ll draw someone getting strong with a helper in the gym”, “I am going to make a tree, a menorah, and a kinara, so that they have decorations to remind them of everyone”, “I want to draw me hugging them”, ” I am going to draw a map to show them they have a way home”, ” I think I’ll draw a heart with a face, saying that we love you and are thinking of you”, and ” I am going to make a star to guide them to their families” are a few of the incredibly compassionate thoughts the students put into writing.  It was a learning experience for us all, and an enriching, eye-opening one for me.  I am constantly being amazed by my students.  This activity only reinforced my amazement.

     Our Multiage Class, along with our entire school family, has just completed our school-wide thematic unit, exploring the many aspects of “Community”.  The second graders and multiage students continued the work that was started by last year’s second graders and multiage students on our Outdoor Nature Center. 

     The experience of coming together as a school family to learn from each other, and to share expertise that each grade level developed, has been so powerful.  As both an observer and participant, I was afforded the opportunity to see the many interactions between peers, staff, and a combination of both, that was truly remarkable.  Students explaining their projects, showing such pride in and understanding of their work, students building things together, staff learning from students, and so much more.

     Our class was so very proud to see the amazement on each person’s face as they saw the Nature Center, and the trellis we built, for the first time.  Even more powerful is seeing the Nature Center in use.  Classes are having snack, doing some quiet writing or reading, investigating the many feeders, gauges, plantings and fountain that our nature Center houses, having their regular group work and lessons outdoors, sketching the many components of the Center, and doing some reflective writing about the experience.

     As I reflect on our thematic unit, I realize just how many of our skills we used – meauring, mapping, writing, reading, drawing representations, reflecting, investigating scientific concepts, etc.  The work will continue throughout the year for us.  We will maintain the Center as we observe how  seasons interact with nature, and as we see what the different tasks are for us to do in our Center during each season.

     It has been a truly fantastic learning and bonding journey, one that will continue as we travel on our path of life-long learning.

     Over the past two weeks we have had our students bringing in some unique treasures to share with our class.  We have had a wasp nest, a beautiful piece of coral, fall leaves, acorns, feathers, crystals, rocks, driftwood with a plant growing from it, a unique sea shell, and more. 

     When talking about these items, the students generated an idea for observing each treasure.  They suggested setting up stations, and giving each student a magnifying glass to travel from station to station to examine our variety of specimens.  Each week we complete an observation activity and recording sheet, examining, drawing and writing down details of what we are studying.  We were planning our activity, and decided to observe every item, then choose one or two we wanted to complete an observation form on. 

       This was a great success, and very powerful.  The enthusiastic discussions at each table, the oral language being shared, the ideas and detailed observations being generated, were very exciting.  This was a student-driven activity that created a wellspring of new ways to look at things, and new discoveries to be found in the simplest of items.  The connection to nature, and to each other, was fostered as we all became scientists delving into the complex details in the most simple of treasures.