This week we began our first Project Lead the Way science unit on structures and function.  We started by talking about thing that have been designed by people and the fact that they have a structure or shape, that matches their function, or what they are meant to be used for.  Children were invited to draw several specific items, including something that can hold water.  When we compared all of the different things that could hold water, from a bathtub to a water bottle to a pipe, we noticed they all have sides to hold the water in.  So their structure supports their function.

We followed this by listening to the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and talking about the structure and function of his beanstalk.  Children were then challenged to use 10 pipe cleaners to make their own free standing beanstalk (much harder than it may sound!)  We have spent a lot of time talking about perseverance this year (ask your child what perseverance is) and this was a task that required lots of perseverance.  Some student observations include:
"I had to twist pipe cleaners together to make them strong enough to stand up." 
"I had to make the beanstalk lower so it would stand up." 
"I had to make it wider on the bottom so it wouldn't fall." 
"I made a big circle base so it would stand up."
Once students made a freestanding beanstalk they had the option of changing their design to hold a golden egg.

For most students this took multiple tries and provided a great opportunity to manage frustration and practice perseverance, but also to feel the reward of success after sticking with a challenge and not giving up.

We have had 3 fantastic sessions of ECO so far this year.  Much of our time has centered on learning specific ECO routines and expectations and exploring our ECO space.  All of our expectations fall under the broad umbrella of the three cares:  take care of yourself, take care of each other, and take care of the earth. Some very specific expectations we learned were the forest boundaries, how to be safe around the safety circle (where we eventually will have a fire),  and how to treat living things in the forest.

Each week we follow the same general structure while varying our games and activities.  When we first get off the bus we stop in the field where we greet each other, share something we are thankful for, sing a song, and play an active game.  We then make our way up to the forest, using our senses to notice changes in nature or interesting observations along the way.  When we arrive in the woods we gather around our safety circle to share these nature notes, eat snack, and listen to a story.  This is followed by our guided exploration for the week.  Most weeks we also have time for forest choice as well.  Finally, children visit their sit spots, where they write or draw in their journals before we come back together for a closing circle, saying goodbye and thank you to the forest.  Ask your child how we do this each week.

With an abundance of red efts in the forest right now, we have spent time learning about these cute creatures and talking about how to treat them with respect - look, but please don't touch.  We spent time building red eft houses, anticipating little visitors.  Red efts are an indicator of healthy wetlands and forests, so it is encouraging that we see so many in our space.  We had a conversation about other things we would expect to see in a healthy forest including trees, plants, water, birds, and other animals.

This week, after reading the book The Very Best Bed by Rebekah Ray,  children spent time creating a bed for their nature name animal.  These beds will serve as their sit spots in future sessions.

After children arrive and settle in we begin each day in kindergarten with Morning Meeting.  Children meet on the rug and we start our time by sitting quietly for about a minute to help get our bodies and minds ready for learning.  Children are encouraged to pay attention to their breathing or their heart beating or to just listen and see what they might hear as we sit quietly.  We have talked about how this small moment of quiet makes us feel, with words like calm, peaceful, and happy the most frequent descriptors.  I have also shared that while that is generally how I feel, sometimes I might feel a little restless or wiggly during this moment, and I have to work a little harder to just sit quietly.

We then begin our meeting with a greeting.  We have learned several greetings so far and will continue to add more, but the one we have used most frequently is passing an object and greeting the people on either side of us as we do so.  We have practiced looking at the person we are greeting and using a friendly tone as we say good morning.  Another favorite greeting is the ball greeting.  For this we say good morning to someone across from us and then roll a ball to them.  After everyone has been greeted we try to repeat the sequence silently.

Next is an opportunity for sharing.  I have told children that with a small group there is no need to have assigned sharing days, but they may only share once a 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), and sometimes toys make for really interesting shares.  With that in mind, children may share anything that is a reasonable size, but once it is shared it will need to remain in their backpacks for the day.  While children are sharing we practice really listening.  Ask your child about the image we use to help us pay attention and listen. (I included it below in case they forget!)  Children who share can call on classmates to ask questions or make comments about the share.  We have worked on making our comments specific, for example instead of just saying "I like your bracelet" saying "I like your bracelet because it is purple and shiny."

After sharing we often have an activity that involves a little bit of movement.  Sometimes this is going for a walk down the hall to drop off rocks, other times it might be a sorting activity that involves moving on the circle, or playing a game.

We finish our morning meeting by reading the message together.  The message follows a predictable pattern and is a great tool for working on early literacy skills.  Right now students have been circling specific letters in the message as well as the words is and the.  As the year goes on we will continue to use the message reinforce specific skills we are working on.

Last week we began writer's workshop, which is now a well established routine.  We began by reading the book Library Mouse, by Daniel Kirk, about a young mouse who lives in a hole in the wall of a library.  At night he comes out to read all of the wonderful books.  He decides to try writing and discovers that writing is quite fun and not all that hard, especially when you write about what you know.  As a class we have brainstormed ideas for writing.  We have also talked about the fact that our writing doesn't have to be about a big event.  It's okay to write about recess or playing with legos or walking to school.  Any experience can be a good story.

For now most children are using pictures to convey their stories, dictating words to me when they are ready.  Many children have been excited to create books by making at least three pages with pictures and words that are all about the same topic and adding a colorful cover.   An important concept that comes up almost each day during writing is the notion of "ish," which stems from the book by Peter Reynolds.  Our drawings and writing don't need to be perfect, they can be "ish."  I often model for children my own drawings which are very personish, butterflyish, mountainish (sometimes evoking giggles as I explain them). As we continue with writer's workshop, children will be encouraged to start writing their own words by writing pretend words or letters they know. We always end writer's workshop by sharing a few students' writing, which is a wonderful way to inspire each other and spread ideas and strategies.

On Tuesday we were very fortunate to have the opportunity to vote on dog tags for the town of Waitsfield.  This has been a kindergarten tradition for the past 5 years.  Waitsfield town clerk Jen Peterson graciously came in and gave a brief explanation of the voting process.  After checking in with Jen, each child voted on a shape and color for next year's dog tags.  Ballots were then placed in the official ballot box.  When everyone had voted we immediately tallied the results.  Next April when new dog tags are issued they will be red dogs!

During our first two weeks of school much of our time has been spent on developing a classroom community in which all children feel safe and welcome, feelings that are essential for learning.  We have talked about our school-wide expectations - be kind, safe, responsible, and engaged - and brainstormed what each of these looks like in kindergarten.

For young children, a critical first step in demonstrating these expected behaviors is developing an awareness of their own feelings and emotions.  In the first few weeks we have been talking about the Zones of Regulation, four categories or  "zones" used to categorize different emotions people experience:  blue, green, yellow, and red.  Green is optimum.  People in the green zone might be feeling happy, calm, or focused.   Blue is running slow-perhaps tired, sick, or sad.  Yellow represents caution-frustrated, overwhelmed, silly, worried, or anxious.  Finally the red zone is for extreme emotions and feeling out of control- terrified, angry, or completely overwhelmed.  This is language that will be used across school settings.

To help us practice identifying the zones we read the book On Monday When It Rained... by Cherryl Kachenmeister,  which describes the range of feelings for one boy in a given week, and emphasizes that all people, even adults, cycle through various emotions every day, and that is okay.  We also read the book Sometimes I'm Bombaloo by Rachel Vail.  Ask your child to tell you what it means to be bombaloo.  We talked about that fact that everyone feels bombaloo sometimes (even adults) and discussed strategies for calming down when we are feeling bombaloo.   A third book we used to examine feelings is  The Way I Feel, by Janan Cain, a rhyming book that portrays children feeling a wide range of emotions.  For each page we talked about what zone the child might be in and things they might do to move toward the green zone if they were in a different zone.  Some strategies include taking deep breaths, finding a space by ourselves, getting a drink of water, counting to five (or higher), using our fingers for sa ta na ma (perhaps your child can show you this) or using a calming object.

We have worked on creating a box of tools that children can access when they are not in the green zone.  Some of the tools in our box right now include drip toys, a balance bird, small stuffies, squish balls, and theraputty, which is a favorite.  We have a sand timer with the tools, providing a set amount of time for children to be away from the class.  It has been important to distinguish these tools from toys and we have spent time practicing using them appropriately as intended. 

Identifying feelings and managing emotions are lifelong skills that take lots and lots of practice and we will continue our work in this area throughout the year in class, during guidance with Katie Babic, and across school settings.