May 12th, 2021

Pod B

We began the day with Chapel; Aida and Andy did an excellent job lighting and snuffing the candles. 

After Chapel Andy went to review the work in his portfolio drawer while Maren, Aida and Nora finished the clay work they started yesterday with Jen.  Later Andy also finished his clay piece. Hopefully the clay will be dry enough to fire at the end of next week. Combining white and red clay has created interesting layers.

After snack, Andy taught us a game that he invented at home with his dad. Here's how he explains the rules:

If you go on some teleporting (the ones with blue numbers), you roll again and whatever number you roll you move to that number.
On the Xs you lose your turn for one time.
If you go on the purple triangle you (roll again and) move backward.
When you go on the orange dot you get to go again forward.
When you go on the red arrow you go backwards, on the yellow arrow you go both sides (forward or backward) and the green arrows you go forward. 
You win the game when you go all the way to the finish.

The plan for next week is to create new games and play them with each other. Should be lots of fun!

Pod A

Backwards Day!
The water feature of our outdoor classroom has been of great interest all week.  Children have explored different systems of tubes, experimented with adding different amounts of water, made observations and formed theories.   Today, there was also a water fountain that was constructed by stacking big buckets.   Here’s some of their observations:
While outside:
Lane - That’s genius.  The water will go from here to there and come out there (Indicating the three tubes that the water is flowing through).
Oliver - I think we should raise this end, so it goes down like a slide. (Oliver is indicating that an incline may make the water move better)
Three children decide to add their water to the system all at once.
Palmer - It’s working!  It came through the black tube!
Reflecting back inside the classroom:
Palmer - You need a pipe, to make it flow farther in the stream.
Grace - I noticed that if you make the pipes too long, the water won’t go through.
Cannon - The water has to go down to go quickly (he demonstrates by holding his hand at an angle).
Grace - I noticed if the water goes down hill, it works better.
Palmer - And if you add more water, it can go uphill and flatten the hill.
Grace - And I noticed that the current could move the gecko or the alligator.
Children headed to backwards day with the mourning dove home.  We were  thrilled to see a mama mourning bird that seemed to be nesting above the back door to the rectory.  without disturbing the bird, we place the home near her.
Olivia - Maybe we should bring her a worm in the little house .  The bird will fly with her baby chicks to the worm and say, “I want to stay here forever.”

Portfolios
We were delighted to have so many boxes come in to school today.  Thanks to all the families who sent them.  Cannon and Palmer wrapped up their clay today while Oliver, Wolf, and Gigi sorted their work.  Here’s some of the remarks made by Oliver as he reviewed his work:
    “Woah, this is really special.  That’s my treasure”
    “This looks beautiful.”
    “This is the best bag I ever made!”
    “This is a surprise that my mommy will love.”
All children are looking forward to their portfolio conferences next week!

Everything Else….. 
Here’s a quick look at the rest of our morning!

• Olivia and Grace worked on clay impressions with Jen.
• Children enjoyed playing Connect Four.
• Of course, we had construction.