Happy New Year to everyone! This week was filled with highs and lows. Many students needed extra reminders about CSR expectations and COVID guidelines. After time away from school it can be harder to get back into the swing of things. We will continue to focus on the positive choices students make and use moments of difficulty as opportunities to learn and grow. As for nature highs and lows, our week started off with beautiful sunshine where many students opted-out of wearing jackets because it was surprisingly warm. We welcomed the sunshine for sure. Throughout the week, we found our bridges underwater, requiring clearing debris and breaking up ice dams. This issue will continue to cause use difficulty, but with difficulty comes ingenuity and grit, both of which we have. As the famous saying goes, if there's a will, there's a way. I know we will continue to find our way.
Thank you to everyone who supported their child in completing the homework last week. Most students came to school with their homework completed. For those who did not, they learned quickly that their teacher would require them to complete the work before play could happen. I am a firm believer in natural consequences and I believe students are quick learners in these moments. Moving forward, there will be a fun and active project for their homework this week. More details will come home tomorrow, but in short, students will be creating a diorama of a landform. We will review the expectations tomorrow in class as well as provide students with some examples. If anyone is in need of a box to build their diorama within, please let me know and I can gather one at school to send home. This project will be due next Tuesday, January 19th.
We continued our reading groups, math rotations, and began our Hartford History unit this week. Throughout the month, students' writing will be inspired by historic pictures of Hartford, VT. Students will take a look at a different picture each day, looking at clues within the picture, to tell a story. One of the best ways you could support your child while we begin this unit would be to take a ride around the town of Hartford and point out various landmarks, such as our three rivers, the White River, Ottauquechee River, and Connecticut River, and naming the five villages as you drive through them (Wilder, White River Junction, Hartford Village, West Hartford, Quechee). As we dive deeper into the unit I will share more landmarks with you.
Here are some questions to spark conversation:
-What are some examples of landforms changing?
-What is erosion and how does it affect the land around us?
-What happened with mice on Monday?
-What types of tracks did you see in the snow this week?
-What was difficult about learning in the woods this week? What was fun?
Here are some pictures from the week:
 |
| Time to bring our learning gear back outside |
 |
| All the way up one hill |
 |
| And down the next... |
 |
| One major bonus of being outside, students can talk to each other while eating lunch. |
 |
| While looking for a missing piece for our bridge we came across this frozen waterfall |
 |
| We found our pallet, very far away from our classroom space. |
 |
| An abandoned nest was also found |
 |
| Going fishing along the brook, collecting "ice fish" |
 |
| The sliding hill is open and fun |
 |
| Eating snow under the shining sun |
 |
| Spanish outside |
No comments:
Post a Comment