On Friday we finished our Structure and Function unit in science by designing and building paint brushes.  We revisited a story that we read at the beginning of the unit about a girl who likes to paint, but feels frustrated because she wants a paint brush that can paint thin lines, thick lines, and dots.  Students were presented with the challenge of designing a better paintbrush, one that could meet all three of these functions, and maybe even more.  We first looked at multiple paint brushes from our classroom collection and talked about their functions.  Some had wide brushes for thick lines and some had very small brushes, good for thinner lines.  One had a round brush that might be good for dots.  We also noticed that while they all might have slightly different functions, their were some similarities in structure, most notably they all had a long handle.  Children were then invited to sketch their idea for a paintbrush.

After lunch they were invited to choose from a variety of materials to build their paintbrushes.  Some of these included dowels, craft sticks, toothpicks, pipe cleaners, Q-tips, foam, pom-poms, pieces of sponge, and feathers.  We talked about the importance of working with mistakes and having perseverance during this task.  (It turns our ripping tape is perhaps the most challenging aspect, even for adults!)  Once their paint brushes were complete they had the option of testing them out.  This was an extremely fun and engaging task, with lots of perseverance on display. 

At the end of each week we meet with our third and fourth grade learning buddies.  Most weeks we focus on reading, but as the year progresses we may do other projects with our buddies as well.  We have a subscription to TIME for Kids and have been using this as a focal point during learning buddy time.  Some weeks we ask partners to think of one fact or one question from the magazine, which has a main focus each week, and then we share out as a group.  Other weeks we have had children use Seesaw to document a fact from the magazine or a favorite page from their library books.  This time is a great opportunity for kindergarteners to establish a relationship with older children in the school while giving third and fourth graders a chance to be in a mentoring role.

During ECO last week we focused on decomposers and the important role they play in the cycle of a forest.  We began by reading the book A Log's Life by Wendy Pfeffer.  This book depicts the life cycle of an oak tree from seedling to tree to a fallen log, which then decomposes turning back into rich soil for a future oak tree.  An important part of the story is the vast amount of life supported by this one log as it slowly decomposes.  Children were invited to search for decomposers in our forest site.  Ask your child about some of the things we found.

For the last couple of weeks we have been working on using perseverance.  We began by talking about what it means to have perseverance: not giving up, working with mistakes, and continuing to try even when something is challenging.   Children shared examples of times they have shown perseverance and what it felt like to accomplish something after lots and lots of trying.  Some examples included learning to ride a bike, learning to swim under water, and learning to ski.  We then read several picture books about working with mistakes and persevering including Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg and The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires.

We have talked about how learning something new will almost always require a bit of perseverance, but with effort and persistence we can accomplish many things.  We have also brainstormed strategies to help move forward when something feels hard or we feel stuck, including walking away for a few minutes, taking some deep breaths, or asking a friend for ideas.  We now have a perseverance chart in our room.  Children report to me when they have shown perseverance and they add a sticker to our chart.  This has helped to bring awareness to the myriad ways we all show perseverance throughout the day from sitting quietly on the rug,  to zipping a jacket before we go outside, learning new letters and their sounds, pumping on the swings, crossing the monkey bars, and building things both in the forest and in the classroom.   We will continue to focus on using perseverance across settings throughout the year.

On Wednesday we began our school-wide Artist Residency with Lucie delaBruere.  Our focus will be on coding and circuits.

Students were given energy sticks and had a chance to explore ways to activate them.  After a bit of experimenting they figured out that they needed a circle for the energy to flow.  However, one child asked if a triangle could work as well?  This gave us something to think about.

Next Lucie began introducing different materials as part of the circuit including a flower and a styrofoam block.  Ask your child about some of the materials that worked in keeping the energy flowing.  The last material we tried was wire, which worked sometimes, but not always, depending on the part of the wire being held.

When we returned to class we revisited the question about the triangle and everyone agreed a triangle would work.   We looked at various line pictures on the board and thought about whether or not they would work.  After a bit of pondering and further discussion one student said the shape didn't matter, but it needed to be "full" for the energy to flow.  Another called this connected and a third said the shape needed to be closed.  Some really good science thinking.  We will continue our work with Lucie for the next few days.

On Wednesday our bus for ECO never came so we had an impromptu ECO session at school.  While it's not quite the same as being in the forest, children had a great time exploring the meadow just below the playground and we all had an opportunity to practice being flexible and going with the flow!