Week of December 14, 2020

 WHAT A WEEK!!!! Who would have thought the predicted 6" of snow would turn out to be 17" of snow...all within one day. We worked hard to prepare the forest classroom as best we could on Wednesday, but needless to say, our efforts were not enough. Our tarp-cover was pulled to the ground, covering all of our learning materials and burying them under 17" of snow. We managed to dig out what was needed on Friday, but it will certainly be different for sure. Everyone was in great spirits and worked very hard to simply make it out to our space. After an hour in the woods, we had 30 minutes of snowshoeing with Mrs. Farewell for PE, followed by another hour in the woods for lunch and exploration time. With all the physical activity we endured on Friday, I wouldn't be surprised to hear of early bedtimes Friday night ;-)

This week we finished up our narrative writing piece. I hope you all enjoy them once they are brought home on Tuesday. In math, we continued to build and solve multiplication word problems. I am very impressed with this group of students. They are doing a great job showing their thinking, explaining their reasoning, and solving the equations completely. With the snow day on Thursday, I pushed back our spelling test on Friday. Those words will now be assessed on Tuesday of the upcoming week. 

Just a few reminders for the week:

-Send in extra masks. Ours get wet, cold, and damp when switching classrooms.

-Warm water is ideal within water bottles. Many sent in tea or hot cocoa on Friday; that is encouraged!

-Waterproof mittens/glove are much preferred over cotton/knit one-layer gloves, as cotton tends to get wet and cold very fast when outside. 

-While there will be no schoolwork assigned over vacation, it will be very important to continue reading with your child on a regular basis. When children take a "break" from reading, it can have lasting effects. Many children experience the "winter slide" while on vacation, where they fall back in their reading progress. If we all do our part and engage with our children each day for 20 minutes, you can greatly reduce the chance of your child sliding backward. 

Here are some fun pictures from the week:

Little did we know this would be our last "field" soccer game of the season.

Bins are loaded, stumps have been moved, the tarp has been lowered, little did we know just how big of a storm was coming our way!

Breaking trail

It's a little deep

Heading into the woods, breaking our own trail

Taking a break along the way, our legs were already getting tired

Has anyone seen our bridge?

Found it!

It sure is beautiful though!

We found our classroom! Check out the snow coverage on our whiteboard...and where our tarp used to be on the left. 

Let the digging begin!

Locating our fire pit

Our wood pile must be somewhere under here!

Warming our gloves by the fire=witnessing evaporation firsthand

Finished our week sledding

Week of December 7, 2020

This week was filled with exploration, multiplication fact families, and reading groups. With the weather continuing to be chillier, especially in the mornings, we have adapted our schedule to accommodate. Each morning, students begin their morning outside. After their morning jobs are complete, students can play within the forest classroom. This early morning physical activity has proven beneficial to all. Around 8:55, we venture inside for our ELA Groups. This consists of reading groups, spelling work, and writing tasks. Around 10 o'clock, students gear back up and we head back outside for snack and math. Everyone has become really accustomed to these transitions, and again, the additional movement has proven helpful. When it is time to work, students are ready to rest their legs and work their brains. When their brains are tired, their legs are restless and ready to move. Math rotations last until 11:05. Depending on the related art of the week, students will either venture back into DBS or remain outside for their special at 11:15-11:45. After this, we enjoy our lunch outside and Exploration time. At the end of each day, we gather together for our read-aloud. 

Here is a sample schedule for those who were wondering:

8:00-8:50 Arrival, Morning Jobs, Morning Work, Play (outdoor classroom)

9:00 ELA I & II/or Science (indoor classroom)

10:05 Snack (outdoor classroom)

10:20 Math I & Math II (outdoor classroom)

11:15 Related Arts (location varies)

11:50 Lunch (outdoor classroom)

12:10 Exploration Time (outdoor classroom)

1:00  Clean up outdoor space

1:15 Read Aloud (outside)

1:25 Dismissal begins

Here are some pictures from the week:

We had more wood delivered from TNT Stump and Tree Services! Everyone was enthralled by the dump truck!

Now we will be warm for quite some time. 

Working on our new poem of the month!

Our forest is a beautiful place

Teamwork while building a new fort

Spending some exploration time learning how to saw wood in order to build onto the new fort

Many kiddos wanted a turn

Finding ice "crystals" everywhere these days!

All of the hard work paid off! This fort looks great!

We were given permission to use the playground for the first time this year. It was a great end-of-day surprise!

Math games in the sun

Adding a little holiday spirit to the forest

Week of November 23

 Short week, short post, but lots of fun to be had in 3R this week! We wrote letters to a local senior center, sending our positive thoughts and well-wishes, we enjoyed 40 degree days with our last water play of the year and had s'mores on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate our Otter Bucks. 

Here are some pictures from our two days together: