The Village started slowly but as the children made note of creative contributions from their fellow students, the Village took on a frantic pace. The kids absolutely loved the work they were trying to accomplish. The energy grew and grew and, by Wednesday, they could see the results morphing to something that they were proud to call their own work. Today was amazing. The room was crowded with parents and students coming to admire the Colonial Village. Here are some photos:
Thanks to our drivers for taking us across town to see the Trial of Goldilocks vs The Three Bears. Local judges and lawyers put on a mock trial in which Goldilocks, a Pasco County judge in real life, was accused of breaking and entering, willful destruction of property, and loitering. Lawyers dressed as Pop A Bear, Mom A Bear, and Baby Bear, gave testimony as to what they had experienced that fateful day. Goldilocks was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to fifteen years in jail. You would have been proud of how patiently our SPS kids waited for the play to begin. The other school came late. Thursday afternoon was a fun day for our students. They participated in another white/blue challenge. (Blue won this one.) The activities were unexpected, so totally fun. Today we dug our colonial garden and planted our seedlings they had grown in science. They loved working in the sun, sweating, getting dirty, using tools, and being farmers. They worked hard from 10 until just before noon and later today planted the seedlings. The seedlings right now look a little traumatized. We'll see. And now for some photos, including the first glimpse of the Colonial Village. Be sure to schedule a conference for next Friday. See you then. Alex feeling the pressure of legal responsibility.Goldilocks and her father Curley Locks.The gardening beginsMr. Crisler, am I sweaty? Why, yes, Lola, yes you are.Mr. Crisler, am I dirty? Why, yes, Kaitlin, yes you are.Current condition of colonial village. We will be hard at work the next two weeks.We have been working in unfamiliar territory. We are studying decimals, learning to read them, compare them, conceptualize the enormity of partitions between any two whole numbers. The students are fascinated by the thought of multiple infinities. We set decimals aside at the end of this week and move on to more complex multiplication and division. A big thank you to the moms who came to help assemble the books. Misty, Marcela, Katja, Mary, and Diana put their heads down and formed a factory worthy of Henry Ford and worked long and hard to meet the deadline. All the kids were amazed to see the books come together and were appreciative of our helpers. I could not be prouder of our students. The steady work, monks in the abbey, was a sight to see! Thank you to all who came to see the finished products and wrote such supportive reviews. Next year, the students will start the book project with the newly acquired knowledge and experience gleaned from this year's effort. The process will build on the success of this year. I can't wait to see the results in grade five. We have just finished a difficult read of a non-fiction book entitled Live Free of Die, about the life of Harriet Tubman. This book tied to the fictional events in Dear Austin and illuminated the plot from a historical perspective. Our students have been particularly attentive. I sent an email on Thursday regarding our major project scheduled to be completed on May 22nd. We will immerse ourselves in this project with its various components and celebrate its completion with a grand show on the 22nd. Mark your calendars. There is an intimacy to these following photos of our students sharing their books that I find very uplifting. And now a little fun on May DayRight after this next photo, I loaned the camera to Mckenzy. She took a few photos on her own. |