A few final things before break...

1. Thanks to everyone for supporting our cooking projects today. We made chili, soup, banana bread, cornbread, punch, pizza dip, Oreo pie, and Chex mix. Everything was prepared in full, there were very few spills, and no one lost a finger. I'd say it was a definite success. Tomorrow we'll enjoy the fruits of our labor. We'll begin eating around 11:15.


2. Thank you, also, to Randy Stark for coming in to tell us about Hannakah. He shared the story behind Hannakah (which means "rededication") and told us of some of the traditions of the season. The kids also had an opportunity to play dreidel.

I have to say that one of the things that most excited me about this class, before I really knew them, was the great diversity they possess. This is not a class of kids whose grandparents all speak the same language, who all celebrate the same holidays, or who were all born in the same country. What a great opportunity this presents to use our classroom families, cultures, and traditions to help us better understand that our society is more than a single dominant culture or people. We're a mix of many who all deserve to be respected, understood, and heard. I would absolutely love to have any and all of you come in at some point if you have something to share. During the second semester we will spend some time thinking about what the word "normal" means to us and to others and how this sometimes can become the root of real conflict and inequity (both inside and outside of school). The more we know about others, the harder it becomes to define what "normal" is. This will lead us to some interesting discussions.

3. I'm going to ask the kids to leave their book bags here over the break if that is alright with you. I want them to empty their cubbies into their bags so we can clean the cubbies out and resupply them when we come back. This will provide a great chance for a fresh start. If, however, you need the book bag at home just let your child know so they can bring it back with them tomorrow afternoon.

4. Tomorrow we go to the RCPL in the morning.

5. Tomorrow is also our Gathering. It will begin at 2:20. We are set to go. The kids have written their scripts and practiced a little each day. We also have a new song to share. Well, actually it's a draft because we thought we had another two weeks of class time to finish it up. So what we'll perform with be our working draft. It's sounding pretty good and we're excited to share it.

This will most likely be my final communication until we return in January. I hope that you all have a wonderful break with your families.

Chris

Newsletter: Week Fourteen

Early Edition!!!

Dear Families,

Thanks so much for working alongside your kids on the written conversations last weekend. I enjoyed hearing them share pieces of their conversations about the book. Written conversation provides an opportunity to engage the kids in writing and let the expertise and perspectives of others support and challenge them as readers and thinkers. Here is a small sampling of some of those conversations:

I think it may be a while before Sarah, Anna and Caleb decide to go back home. What do you think? Well I think that they will go back home and then Sarah and Jacob will have a fight because Sarah thinks it will be a great idea if [they]could all go live in Maine.

***

I have a funny feeling that Sarah is pregnant because she has been sleeping a lot and she went to see the doctor. I think that too.

***

How do you know Papa misses them? You know it by what he wrote in the letter.

***

I don’t know why Caleb didn’t miss Papa when Anna did. Did you? I think Caleb was just taking in the new sights and family. He had not realized something was missing because he was overwhelmed by the aunts, the dog, the motor car, and adventure.

***

She tells Sarah that Papa’s letters have a “lot of things between the lines.” What do you think that means? I don’t know what it means. Can you explain what it means?

***

I wonder when Sarah and the kids are going to get home? I think they’re going back in the end.

***

I was surprised that Caleb doesn’t know what a car is. When I was young I knew what a car was. I think Caleb was used to wagons. I wonder if Caleb knows what a ship or boat is? Excellent question! He probably has only heard of them from books. It must have been a strange sensation to feel the car move on the road, hear the roar of the engine and see the sights go by so fast.

***

Why did Sarah leave Papa? I believe Sarah left Papa because of the drought and she missed her family and the beautiful state of Maine.

***

I thought they weren’t going to leave the prairie so I was surprised that they went to Maine. I found it interesting that when they were going to Maine, Sarah was sad, even though she was going back to the place she missed – maybe she loved Jacob more than Maine.

For those families who were maybe a little confused as to what their children were asking them to do I will be sure, in the future, to send home an example of what this generally looks like. We will also give it a go during Curriculum Night after winter break.

After sharing the research on community organizations that work to support those in need the kids recently discussed what type of community project we might want to take on this year. We've talked a lot of talk but are aware it's just as important to actually do something to help. The suggestions were: homelessness, education, foster homes, abused and stray animals, and the elderly. Before taking a vote I asked the kids to take a few moments to jot down their thinking around this. Here's a glimpse into a couple of their notebooks...

I think we should help people with no education because sometimes they don't have any books and books help you learn...I think animals because me and my brother love animals and we hate to see a stray dog or cat walking around our neighborhood...I think hungry people because if they didn't have enough food then they would die but if they had someone to take good care of them then that person would give them food...I hope we pick education because it will really make a difference in someone's life.

The final vote favored working to help abused and stray animals. Here is where a democratic classroom (one in which many things are negotiated) comes into play. Everyone seemed to like the idea of helping animals and we will soon begin our work for this cause. I would like to take the kids to a shelter in January to learn about services they provide, issues they face, and ways we can support them. Ideally, we'd get an opportunity to do something for them while we are there but we will see what they might have in mind.

We started new book clubs this week. There were about ten or twelve books to choose from and everyone selected their top three choices. From these choices I paired the kids with texts I thought would be the best fit. They are now working with their book clubs to determine which pages to read each day as well as to discuss their understandings and reactions to the story. This is a favorite structure of mine. I enjoy seeing the kids gather around to talk about books; not to mention, the social element plays very well for some of our more reluctant readers.

Newsletter: Week Thirteen

Are you tired of fumbling with your tools or trying to find them? Do you ever wish you had an extra hand? Hi, I’m Billy Mays here for the Tool Band-It. When two hands just aren’t enough, reach for the Tool Band-It. It’s a lightweight, magnetic band that provides a safe place to hold all your tools and parts.

Dear Families,

We spent time this week studying one of the highest forms of human communication… the infomercial. After spending a few days exploring magnets each of the kids worked to design their own magnetic invention. We then accessed infomercials from You Tube. We used these to see what we noticed them saying/doing to persuade us. We found:

· Loud talking to show excitement

· Fast talking to show excitement

· Shows how product makes life easier

· Shows all the different ways to use it

· Adds a free item at the end

· Sometimes uses rhyme

· Tells you how you’ll save money

· Shows all kinds of different people using it (“Even Grandma…”)

· Uses humor

· Asks a lot of questions (“Are you tired…”, “Would you like…”)

· “It’s just $19.95. Act now!”

The kids are now in the process of using a few of these ideas to develop their own commercial scripts. As you can imagine, they’ve been giggling their way through the process. I don’t know that we’ll have time in class but if anyone would like to help their child use this script to film a short commercial at home it would be awfully fun to share with the class! This is definitely NOT an assignment but an invitation to anyone who has the time or desire.

Thanks to everyone who has been sending in food items for our Passing of the Cans collection. While our primary goal is to help those in need, we’re also using with these food items to learn how to subtract with regrouping. Each day we weigh the food items that are brought in. To do this the kids stand on the floor scale holding the bag of cans and then again without the cans. They then subtract the difference. To date we have brought in about 70 pounds of food! Please continue to send these items in next week.

We’ve spent the past week reading Skylark together in class. I am reading about two-thirds of the book aloud and the kids are doing the remainder on their own during silent reading time. We’re using this book to launch a new structure in the classroom – book clubs. The kids are doing a nice job of learning how to sit and talk about their reading and their thinking. My primary goals for this first experience with small group literature discussion are: (1) to stay on topic/stay on task, (2) respond to the ideas of others, and (3) begin learning to truly converse rather than just take turns talking. So far, so good!

On Thursday, December 15^th we will cooking in the classroom. We plan to prepare the food and drink we will need for our winter celebration the following day. We’ll work next week to finalize our menu and begin calculating the ingredients and quantities we’ll need from the store. We’ll also work to estimate how much this will all cost so we will know how much money each of us will need to contribute toward the feast. I imagine it will be somewhere in the $3 - $5 range. If you’d like to come in to help prepare the food please let me know. So far I have heard from: Kathy Trice, Chandra Tate, Stacey Swayne, Ashley Simpson (MAT), Leanne Brinson (MAT), Karyn Gattman, Rebecca Clements, Dana Samuels, and Peggy Hass (my mom). We’ll be doing this from 1:30 – 2:30 ish. The more the merrier!

Have a great weekend,

Chris

Homework November 28 - December 6

1. Reading log due next TUESDAY
2. Revise letter due this WEDNESDAY - complete!
3. Read chapters 10 and 11 of Skylark and have a written conversation. This is due MONDAY