Week of March 15

Some quick notes & links about our Outdoor Classroom activities this week:

Individual lessons with the Montessori materials continue throughout Choice Time... including the Dot Game, the Bank Game, the Decimal Stamp Game, Upper Elementary Word Study: Alliteration, and more!

Monday, March 15

• Community Building: read The Giant Ball of String by Arthur Geisert, discuss how to navigate opposing ideas for large collaborative fort-building project, talk about NVC and the surprising purpose of Anger (and paying attention to your personal internal control panel), dramatize and talk through a conflict scenario with four characters (the Bulldozer, Mr. Squishy, the Onlooker, the Ally)

  the part of the Bulldozer was played by a small plastic bulldozer

  the part of Mr. Squishy was played by a lump of green playdough

  the parts of the Onlooker and the Ally were played by peg dolls

• Handwork: continue with knitting Star Gnomes, discuss plans for dyeing yarn in skin tone colors tomorrow, discuss plans for digging Gnome River in the yard and building Gnome Village
• Read Aloud Story: continue with Tal: His Marvelous Adventures with Noom-Zor-Noom by Paul Fenimore Cooper as our lunchtime read aloud story
• Lower Elementary: recall Mother Jones and add her to MLB, hear the story of Queen Lili'uokalani from our book of 50 Fearless Women Who Made American History
• Upper Elementary: individual reading & group sharing of 2 resources (Lydia and the Island Kingdom: A Story Based on the Real Life of Princess Lili'uokalani of Hawaii by Joan Holub, Hawaiian Myths of Earth, Sea, and Sky retold by Vivian Laubach Thompson), also attend discussion about Queen Lili'uokalani and share with the younger group about her childhood as well as the correct pronunciation of Hawaiian words, read Beyond 'Ōhi'a Valley: Adventures in a Hawaiian Rainforest by Lisa Matsumoto and discuss native Hawaiian plants and animals as well as invasive species, list some Hawaiian words (aloha, mahalo, luau, poi) and listen to Mele Kalikimaka sung by Bing Crosby, begin U.S. Capitals Word Search for fun (FREE on TpT)

Tuesday, March 16

• Early Childhood: play with packets of spices in the mud kitchen, draw sidewalk chalk worlds for tiny plastic dinosaurs, add Tap Your Sticks from Rhythms on Parade by Hap Palmer to our Circle Time, read Mud by Mary Lyn Ray
• Grammar: And Me? And I? The BEST Explanation for This
• Handwork: tie white wool yarn into hanks for dyeing, dye three hanks with avocado skins & pits (three skins, one pit, vinegar as mordant, filtered water, cook in crockpot on Low 10:30 am to 5:30 pm then let sit in the water overnight)
• Philosophy: read from pages 36-37 of "Responsibility" chapter of Little Big Minds: Sharing Philosophy with Kids by Marietta McCarty, try to define Responsibility in just one word (chores, care, helping), discuss: if babies are completely helpless (and people who are very old can be helpless as well), at what age does responsibility begin? when does it end?

  here are some student responses:

  It begins at 8, 9, 10.

  Age 4 and up. I made my bed at age 4.

  Even though you can't see it, it starts when you're born. When you're hungry you need to alert someone that you're hungry. But then it just develops more.

  4-5. That's when people start asking if you can be responsible. You clean up your toys.

  6 or 7. You get more responsibility because you have to have more chores. 9, 10, 11, 12 more HW.

  It was hard for me to choose a number. Any time you could be responsible or you could not be.

  The reason why I said 8, 9, 10. When I was 8 that's when someone would tell me something to do in a different time and I wouldn't forget. When you're littler you forget more.

  Your parents will decide when you're actually able to control yourself. Control your hands, control your mouth, control your legs. They can choose when your responsibility will start. When you're 50, that's when it ends.

  As you get older you get different responsibilities. So it just changes.

  I think it starts at 4 and then it ends at 90.

  No, it probably ends at some time in your 70s. But you still have responsibility when you're 70 or 80. It's just, like, a little bit less.

  It's not that it turns on when you hit an age and turns off when you hit an age.

  You're responsible all your life even though it's insignificant when you're a baby.

  It ends when you die. Even if you're old and can't remember names and all that and your back hurts, you still have tiny responsibilities. Talking to your kids if you have any. Making friends. When you die your responsibility turns off. When you're born your responsibility turns on.

  Teenagers don't want to be responsible, even though they're supposed to be.

  Teenagers are resting. Making sure they get the right amount of whatever they need. That's everyone's responsibility.

  You do start getting responsibility the second you're born. Screaming and crying is your responsibility.

  You learn different ways to ask for what you want when you want it.

  It's still a responsibility even when you're dead to decompose in the right place.

• LE: recall Queen Lili'uokalani and add her to MLB, read introduction to the life of Jane Addams from pages 266-269 of Little Big Minds (she is one of the philosophers featured in the "Compassion" chapter) discuss: why did Jane Addams choose to live at Hull House?
• UE: recall Hawai'i and our notes about the Tropical Forest biome, play Pacific Foods Bingo, look up additional facts about Hawai'i in The United States of America: A State-by-State Guide by Millie Miller and Cindy Nelson, add map of HI and facts to binder, begin individual Northwest Coast reading assignments for group sharing on Wednesday (Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest retold by Gerald McDermott, Echoes of the Elders: The Stories and Paintings of Chief Lelooska by Chief Lelooska, Clamshell Boy: A Makah Legend retold by Terri Cohlene)

Wednesday, March 17

• EC: read Thunder Bunny by Barbara Helen Berger during a thunderstorm, do watercolor painting with two different blues (Ultramarine, Prussian Blue), play with playdough, joyously discover all the rainwater captured in the pots & pans of the mud kitchen, watch water go rushing into the storm drain and float leaves in it, tie yarn to leaves and walk them like puppies in the storm drain water
• Community Building: play Ravine: A Crafty and Cooperative Card Game, build collaborative designs with dominoes (aka Grimm's Color Charts Rally Building Blocks Set)
• Handwork: look at the results of our yarn dyed with avocado
• LE: review Jane Addams, individual reading & group sharing of 4 resources (We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, Ocean Speaks: How Marie Tharp Revealed the Ocean's Biggest Secret by Jess Keating, Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love), read When Sophie Gets Angry - Really, Really Angry... by Molly Bang, explain that all five of these picture books were honored with the Jane Addams Children's Book Award

  here's my Jane Addams Children's Book Award blog post

  discuss: why do you think each of these books won an award about Social Justice? what do they have in common?

  add Jane Addams to MLB, read the first half of The Daring Nellie Bly: America's Star Reporter by Bonnie Christensen

• UE: group sharing of 2 resources (Raven and Clamshell Boy), look at elements of traditional Native American Northwest Coast art, read "Beaver Face" from Echoes of the Elders and compare/contrast it with Clamshell Boy, begin individual reading assignments for group sharing on Thursday (Ancient Ones: The World of the Old-Growth Douglas Fir by Barbara Bash, Redwoods by Jason Chin)

Thursday, March 18

• Community Building: play Ravine and Dr. Eureka, play improv games at the end of the day ("Yes, And...")

• EC: check on the water in the storm drain, help organize all of the recycling, play memory games Stone Soup and Pengoloo, read My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore Gray
• Handwork: continue with knitting projects, tie white wool yarn into hanks for dyeing, dye three hanks with tea bags (five tea bags, vinegar as mordant, filtered water, cook in crockpot on Low 9:30 am to 3:30 pm then let sit in the water overnight)
• Philosophy: read from Little Big Minds pages 40-41 and discuss philosopher Rita Manning and the idea of our interconnectedness

  Marietta McCarty writes, "Manning maintains that simply by virtue of the fact that we are caught up in an interwoven network of relationships, we are under a general obligation to care."

  consider bricks in a wall and the stitches in a piece of knitting, discuss social links and relationships (parent-child, sibling-sibling, grandparent-grandchild, friend-friend, coach-player, teacher-student, etc.), pick a linked relationship and tell me what the responsibilities are that come from being in that relationship

  for "pet-owner," children talked about their responsibility to care for their pets as well as their pets (especially dogs) feeling a responsibility to protect them

  for "piano teacher-student," they talked about the shared responsibility to be respectful and to work hard, the student's responsibility to practice and be prepared for the lesson, and the teacher's responsibility to be competent in playing the piano

• LE - get caught up on MLBs as needed, review Nellie Bly, read the second half of The Daring Nellie Bly and look at facts in A Race Around the World: The True Story of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland by Caroline Starr Rose, add Nellie Bly to MLB
• UE - review Pacific Northwest, group sharing of 3 resources (Ancient Ones and Redwoods as well as Houses of Wood: The Northwest Coast by Bonnie Shemie), demonstrate how to do the oil pastel map transfer technique, review the capitals of WA / OR / CA

Friday, March 19

• EC: discuss the Vernal Equinox tomorrow and how the change of the seasons means a change in the songs we will sing in Circle Time, snip chives in the mud kitchen, help carry boards for fort building, try the logic puzzles in Dr. Eureka, read Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman, do first experiments with paint mixing to make new colors (ultramarine makes the best purple, Prussian blue makes the best green), paint crocuses with ultramarine + red, paint daffodils with Prussian blue + yellow, taste our arugula microgreens

  our Circle Time this week:

  Morning Verse

  (start by bending over touching your toes)

  I w-a-ke in the morning

  I stre-e-e-tch to the light
  (slowly stand up and reach tall with your arms extended up)

  I JUMP (jump, keeping your arms up high) to the Sun

  I am ready to start my day
  (bring your arms down to your sides)

  "Fire Fire" verse / beanbags

  "Water Cycle" song / beanbags

  (sing to the tune of "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain)

  Water travels in a cycle, yes it does
  (begin with both arms over your head and beanbag in L hand, move hands away from each other in a large circle in front of you and have them meet one another at the bottom of the circle; pass the beanbag from hand to hand when they meet up high above your head and down low below your waist)

  Water travels in a cycle, yes it does

  It goes up as evaporation...
  (toss beanbag up and catch it)

  ... forms a cloud as condensation...
  (carefully balance the beanbag on your head and let go of it)

  ... and falls down as precipitation, yes it does
  (tip your head forward so the beanbag falls down at your feet)

  "Tap Your Sticks" song / rhythm sticks

  "Woodpecker" song / rhythm sticks

  "Wake Up!" song (The Singing Year, CD track 5)

• Handwork: look at the results of our yarn dyed with tea bags
• Philosophy: read "Lead" by Mary Oliver and continue to discuss our interconnectedness with one another as well as with nature
• LE: review all the Fearless Women we've studied so far, read Helen's Big Words: The Life of Helen Keller by Doreen Rappaport, look at books in Braille (Guess How Much I Love You, Animals, On the Move, It Can't Be True! Incredible Tactile Comparisons)
• UE: look up additional facts about West Coast states in The United States of America: A State-by-State Guide by Millie Miller and Cindy Nelson, add map of WA / OR / CA and facts to binder, sing U.S. Capitals song to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw," individual reading & group sharing of 5 resources (Goshute, Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, Ute), brainstorm list of things we know so far about the Desert Southwest based on the Native American Legends we've read

Lemon, Golden, Vermillion, Carmine, Ultramarine, Prussian

Color Circle primary colors
51 Red - 55 Yellow - 59 Blue

Pia Toya - Goshute
retold by The Children of Ibapah Elementary School

The Fire Stealers - Hopi
retold by Ekkehart Malotki

Dragonfly's Tale - Zuni
retold by Kristina Rodanas

Turquoise Boy - Navajo
retold by Terri Cohlene

Coyote Steals the Blanket - Ute
retold by Janet Stevens

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