The Rookery

    Sometimes, when we're in the flow of a theme, it can be hard for students to do anything but theme.  The first thing they check for on the daily schedule right now is "maps" and, if I've scheduled anything else during the sacred afternoon theme time, I'm met with a…

The planetary axes have been tilted.  The days and years decided upon.  The latitudes are chosen.  It is time to start discovering our countries. To get us going, I read Weslandia, one of my favorite picture books.  In it, a seed sprouts in a boy's garden.  He cultivates the unusual…

The Herons have been considering the craft of writing in recent mini-lessons.  We read Ralph Fletcher's short piece about "Reading Like a Writer" which directs children to read (and re-read) in order to discover how an author "works her magic" in our head.  Together, we've considered the simile, metaphor, strong…

Here are a few pictures of our day of exploration. Thanks again for all of your help!

              We're just wrapping up making topographical maps by buidling a land out of playdough in a tupperware container and then mapping its contours as we add incremental amounts of water.  The students did a wonderful job with a complex project and their finished…

For many years, "This We Believe" was a running segment on NPR in which people shared their beliefs about what is essential.  We've borrowed the idea to help define our classroom "rules."  I've put "rules" in quotation marks because we don't have formal rules in the Herons — instead we…

The Big Birds have started our first rotation for math workshop. As a review, our math time has three main components: a "two minute math" routine that checks in on math facts daily; "foundation math", where kids work to build and extend foundational skills such as algorithms; and "math workshop",…

Every day in morning meeting, the Herons play a "juego" or game for four to five minutes.  Often, we play theater games like "Smile if You Love Me," "Alibi" and "Your Grandma's Big Fat Toe."  Sometimes we play camp games like "Frogger," "Name Tag," or "Ten." At first glance having…

After sharing a great variety of maps from our summer, the Herons have begun a more formal geography study.  Yesterday, we made linear maps in the manner of the ancient Romans who often had scrolls that described the path one took from one place to antoher (but portrayed every journey…