Author's Chair

Today we celebrated our young authors!

During our narrative writing unit, students practiced using the writing process to produce a published piece of writing. We started with a plan, told our stories out loud, wrote first drafts, revised, edited, typed them on the computer and finally...illustrated them! After weeks of hard work, everyone was ready to share their narrative book. We have a special "Author's Only" stool that students read from and then sign. It was awesome to see them proud of their accomplishment!

Mindful Movement with Becky Roberg

Thanks to a grant funded by our PTO, our class was visited by Becky Roberg yesterday. She is a mindfulness and yoga instructor from Evolution Yoga in Burlington. She taught us ways to use breathing to help us relax and calm our bodies. She also taught us some fun movements to energize our bodies, and strategies to help us when we feel nervous or fearful. The children really enjoyed her visit. Be sure to ask your child to share with you some of the techniques.

Timber! Flynn Workshop

On Monday, we had a teacher from the Flynn Theater come to our classroom to help us prepare for going to the show, Timber! We had so much fun experimenting with mime, mirroring, weight sharing and creating symmetrical poses. At the end we created small circus "troupes" and performed a short skit for one another.

This experience helped us to really appreciate all the amazing talent and hard work that goes into producing a show like Timber!

Imagination Playground

We had the opportunity to use the Imagination Playground in November. As a class we worked together to create our own fun space. We had to share, problem solve and use our imaginations. In the photos you will see how during one of our visits we made a pretend store that was offering massages to customers.

Hands on Nature

We are fortunate to have parent volunteers teach us hands on science lessons each month. The theme for Hands on Nature this year is patterns in nature. We have learned about spiders and their webs, leaves and cones. We have science journals to record our observations.

Long Ago Study

One of our final activities for our Long Ago study was to interview Ms. Beaman, a volunteer from the community, who helps in our school. The children wrote questions and took notes.  Ms. Beaman, a retired elementary school teacher, helped us understand how children's lives have changed.  One of her final questions from a child was, "Do you like living now or long ago?"  She responded that now is a great time to live because there are so many choices for children to learn in the way that best suits them and to try new activities.

Goodbyes

We had to say goodbye to some good friends recently. Our last activity with Natalie, our UVM intern, was a fun estimation lesson that she led. On Nate's last day we gave him thank you cards as well as high 5's or hugs. This 8th grade volunteer made a strong connection with the whole class, especially many of the boys, who gave Nate big hugs as they said good-bye. And, finally we had to say farewell to our dear classmate CeCi.  We will continue to be in touch with her through our Kidblog.