The Rookery

Personal Projects Just before winter break, the 4th grade Herons received their 5th grade mentor.  During the 4th grade projects, the 5th graders shepherd the 4th graders through every step.  We do mini-lessons together and then the 5th graders support the 4th graders as they attempt this kind of research…

About a week ago, I was drifting in and out of sleep listening to the radio.  The show was On Being and the interview was with Brene Brown, a researcher whose TED talk about vulnerability had gone viral about three years ago. It was an interesting interview about the necessity of letting…

There is a wonderful moment in the life of a theme when I am no longer in charge.  Students have ideas and act on them.  They no longer wait to be told what to do — they know what they want to do and, unless it involves the paper cutter,…

"Collaboration" "Col" – shared.  "labor" – to work.  Shared work.  What does it mean to share work?  Not just to work along side each other but to work in a way where we are building on one another's work?  How do we work in a way that, as our This…

Last Thursday, we were treated to a trip to Carleton to wrap up the work we'd been doing with Max and Emma, two students in Victoria Morse's history class: Renaissance Worlds.  Our students learned about historical maps with Max and Emma and they created maps of a place special to…

Heron families, I need your help. A dream of mine (and a lot of current and former Prairie Creek students) is within reach — new playground equipment that will compliment our philosophy and enhance our children's play.  It's been something we've been scheming about for a long time, ever since…

The Herons thoroughly enjoyed Minnecanos by Mixed Blood Theater.  It was an artful exploration of what it means to have an ethnic identity.  "Jimmy" a Minnesotan boy whose great grandfather immigrated for Mexico, does not know much at all about the traditions of his elders – in large part because…

Today the Herons found out the roles they will be playing in our production of Twelfth Bite.  I can't wait to get started.  I am continually amazed by the power of theater in a classroom.  We recently had a half a day of professional development devoted to looking at how we…

The rain and snow held off for a wonderful day at St. Olaf, today.  Thank you to Joe Gransee-Bowman for coming along with us to share his green building expertise.  A huge thank you to Cassie Paulsen and Emma Fitz Chapman, the co-coordinators of St. Olaf Science Alliance.  They organized…

A major theme in our four/five math instruction this year is flexibility.  We know that students who are comfortable with math concepts are able to use them flexibly and creatively.  They are able to play with numbers and use math to understand complex situations. We've learned not to assume that…