We have finished sharing artifact bags.  While many of the children in the class already knew each other quite well, I now feel like I have a much deeper sense of the class.   As the bags were shared we worked on speaking with a loud clear voice and listening with our whole bodies, making sure we were really focusing on what the speaker was saying and trying to think of thoughtful questions.  We will continue to practice these skills through regular sharing time as part of our morning meeting.  Because our class is small I don't think it is necessary to assign a sharing day, but I ask that children share no more than once a week, and it is fine to not always share in a given week.  I strongly encourage shares that aren't toys, for example books, objects of special significance, or telling shares.  However, I have had really interesting conversations with past classes about what constitutes a toy (legos are toys, but may involve some really creative building), so children may share anything knowing that most shares will then spend the day in backpacks.

Sharing an artifact bag- great practice in speaking and listening.

This week we welcomed several monarch caterpillars into our classroom.  These will serve as a catalyst for our first science unit, which focuses on sorting and classifying plants and animals and the differences between living and non-living things.  We spent some time observing the caterpillars and drawing scientific pictures of them (trying to draw exactly what we see).   Some of the things we noticed were they are quite small right now, but eating constantly.   They have black, white, and yellow stripes and two antennae.  Sometimes they eat upside down, and they can hang their bodies out off of one leaf while they munch another- they must have sticky feet!  We also talked about what it means to take good care of them while they are with us including making sure they have plenty of fresh food and always using calm, gentle bodies and voices when we are near their house.

Our growing caterpillars.

Making and documenting thoughtful observations.