Winter Fun with Snow, Games, and Friends!

     Last week we talked as class about wishing for some fresh snow to play in and... this weekend we got it!  Just a few days ago we got ourselves in the mood by learning about Vermont's own Wilson "Snowlake" Bentley- the Vermont farmer/photographer who was the first person to capture single snow crystals in a photo.  Have a look at the children being inspired by his photos from over 100 years ago.

As you can see, Snowflake Bentley inspired us to make some snowflakes of our own out of paper AND out of pattern blocks.  The secret is six sides!

This month's Sharing theme is Games.

The children are having fun teaching each other some favorites like "Ants in the Pants" and "Snakes and Ladders".

Amidst all this we have our quiet moments too.  Below you can see two friends practicing the ASL alphabet.  Learning is more fun with friends!

New Year- Same Us!

 It's 2021 and I am so happy to be back with the class after a break.  This past week we talked a bit about our hopes and resolutions for the new year.  I can tell you that common themes were the virus ending and working harder on reading, drawing and listening.  This is a thoughtful and hard working bunch of kiddos!  Below you can have look at us making some artwork for the January calendar. 

Here is look at a Math game we learned this week that involves addition and subtraction under 10 as well as some strategy to get your answers to line up as three in a row for a win.

Lots of folks are discovering and re-discovering chess recently and  the students in our room are no exception. This month's Sharing theme is games and with a little help from our fabulous friend Dew from School's Out, the children are learning the rules from one another.  Thanks Dew!

It's Been a While- Let's Catch Up!

     Regular readers of the blog will notice that I haven't been posting as frequently as I did in the past.  Perhaps there's a New Year's resolution in there for me.  Take a look at some highlights from the week before our Winter Break. You can see two children playing a math game in which their Bears were racing to 50, one friend taking the lead in sharing her handmade item at our Morning Meeting, and a group of tablemates enjoying the classic Chanukah game of dreidel.  I think all of these pictures add up to give you a sense of the kind of cooperative classroom community that is going strong in our room.