Temperatures were just mild enough for us to have a fantastic final fall session of ECO. After a month away from the forest, students enjoyed the opportunity to explore the space with a covering of snow. Painting on snow was a hit, and many students also chose to revisit creations from past sessions. Generally we have a very clear expectation about not entering the safety circle around our fire. Because this group has been so responsible, as a closing, each child was invited to find a stick to make a silent wish on and carefully add to the fire, sending their wish into the world. Thank you to all of the parents who joined us at any point for ECO this fall. We will resume or visits to the forest in the spring.

Kindergarteners really enjoyed the fresh snow this week.  Hopefully more will be coming soon!

This week we completed our second design and build challenge, this time in teams. We began with a discussion of the qualities we would hope for in a teammate and came up with the following list: someone who listens, someone who doesn't give up, someone who helps, and most importantly someone who is kind. After reading a version of The Three Little Pigs, children were given 30 mini bricks, 15 craft sticks, and a stick of clay with the  challenge to build a house strong enough to withstand the blows of the Big Bad Wolf. Before building, each child drew a plan for a house and partners shared their ideas with each other. Groups were extremely engaged as they constructed their houses, spending significantly more time than I anticipated, until we finally had to stop for lunch. After lunch we tested the houses against the Big Bad Wolf and children were given an opportunity to share what parts of the task were especially difficult and what changes they might make if they were presented with the same challenge again. We talked about the fact that most designers try ideas, test them, make changes, and try again, over and over, before they have success, and certainly trying and not succeeding isn't really failure, but an opportunity to learn from what didn't work and try again. These are concepts we will revisit throughout the year.

 This week we began a new science unit focused on structure, function, and design. We began by making a list of things that can hold water, noting the similarities in their design and structure (they all had sides and a bottom), which were connected to their function of holding water. We repeated this process for writing tools, again connecting structure to function.  We then read a version of Jack and the Beanstalk and talked about the function of the beanstalk and how this was supported by its structure. Children were given 10 pipe cleaners and challenged to create their own beanstalk, as tall as possible and strong enough to hold a plastic egg. This task can be frustrating, so before beginning we talked about what children could do if their ideas didn't work and the importance of learning from mistakes and not giving up. Most students were not successful in their first attempts and had to make significant adjustments to their original plan or completely start over while some needed inspiration from classmates. It was a great opportunity for children to practice important skills including taking risks, modifying expectations, and working through frustration, things we noted scientists must do all the time.

Each day just before our second recess we do a component of our math program called Number Corner. This time is used to introduce, reinforce, and extend skills and concepts. Number Corner includes the same 5 routines each month, with slight variations depending on the month.

Over the course of any given month we 

• record the number of days we have been in school by writing numbers on a number line and visually representing it with links and dots on ten frames
•  place new markers in our calendar and make observations and predictions about the pattern that emerges 
• create a monthly collection of objects (cubes, craft sticks, pattern blocks) that we use for counting and comparing in different ways
• practice the counting sequence and number recognition on a segment of the number line  
• work on computational fluency, often using finger patterns or ten frames.  

For the month of October our calendar pattern has focused on maple leaves, which occur in a repeating color pattern: red, green, orange, brown. A similar pattern occurs in the direction the leaves point: up, right, down, left. With every set of 4 markers, the number of leaves increases by 1, so there is 1 leaf on the first four days, 2 on the next four, etc. Children have had fun predicting what the next calendar marker will look like.

We have completed 42 days of school so far. Each day a volunteer writes the number on our white board and we use the 10 frames and links to practice counting by 10's.

Our collection for October has been green and blue cubes. Our math helper spins a spinner  to determine how many cubes to add to the collection. We make a prediction about how many could be blue and how many could be green and then the helper takes the corresponding number of cubes out of a bag. We also keep track of how many of each color we have collected so far.

On the number line this month we have focused on the numbers 1-20. Children really enjoy playing a game in which they try to find hidden smiley faces behind numbers on the line. They have to name the number before checking to see if the smiley face is there, which gives them practice matching the written numeral to its name. 

Finally, we have been practicing recognizing and making numbers 1-10 on both 10 frames and with fingers. When children instantly know a number, without counting, we often talk about how they knew, which leads to some great observations: 5 and 1 is 6, so 1 more is 7, if we have 10 fingers and 1 is down, then there must be 9, etc.

 This week we spent our reading buddy time carving pumpkins. These will be displayed on Loop Road  (Old County Road) on Halloween night. Thanks to the PTO for donating the pumpkins!