Tag Archives: emergent literacy

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Bestselling Author Visit Tomorrow

  By joremland • January 9, 2018 , ,

Hooray!  It’s tomorrow! 

NY Times Best-Selling Author Sherri Duskey Rinker will Visit Quest Academy, tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 9-10 a.m. in the Gymnasium

Sherri Duskey Rinker is the author of #1 New York Times bestsellers Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and Steam Train, Dream Train. She lives in St. Charles, Illinois.

It is an honor for Quest Academy to host such a prominent children’s author. Students from pre-school through third grades are invited to see her presentation and have any of the selected books signed by the author. Parents are invited as well.

Today we read Mighty, Mighty Construction Site and Big Machines (both of which were donated to our class by one of our families, via the Book Fair — THANK YOU!!) and the students began listing questions to ask Ms. Rinker tomorrow.  If you have any of her books at home, tonight would be a great night to snuggle up with one of them before bed. 

Your child might want to ask Ms. Rinker a how, what, where, when or why question.  If so, you can email your child’s question to me or tell us in the morning.  We’ll try to get all of them answered!

 

 

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Otter Class: Aircraft Project Mid-Project Summary

  By joremland • December 13, 2017 ,

Hi again!  As promised, here’s a quick and dirty description of what the children have been doing, what they plan to do, and what I’ve observed them learning.  There’s also a useful link at the bottom.

In the previous posts, I didn’t describe these additional activities in which the children engaged:

  • Measured their feet to figure out how big to make the pedals
  • Measured a piece of wood to match (picture below)
  • The door cracked — they fixed it.
  • Pretended to go on a flight
  • Felt the sensation of wearing a real pilot’s headset
  • Continued learning how to read maps
  • Began learning about scale and its relationship to the phenomenon that things look smaller when they are farther away

Every pilot needs a flight bag containing vital equipment and information.

With two weeks to go before break, the students plan to:

  • Install port side wing strut
  • Make and install instrument panel
  • Paint the Piper logo (link is not an endorsement, just a reference!) on the first control yoke and install
  • Build, paint, and install second yoke
  • Possibly add the pedals and rudder

The kneeboard…

…holds the flight map securely to the pilot’s leg.

The pilot can’t drop it and never needs to hold it in their hands.

From an educator’s perspective, the students have been using and building a variety of skills and abilities:

  • book research
  • guided internet research
  • working with a subject matter expert (Mrs. Linstromberg)
  • using uniform, non-standard tools to take linear measurements for authentic purposes
  • solving problems using math
  • using divergent and convergent thinking to solve problems
  • writing (students made labels for various parts of their plane)
  • conducting physics experiments (cars on the wing)
  • iterative design:
    • evaluating the effectiveness of a strategy or technique
    • imagining and/or learning of new techniques to try
    • trying them
    • re-evaluating, re-imagining, re-trying…
  • reading diagrams of airplane parts
  • expanding fine motor skills through cutting and pasting a collage of aircraft
  • expanding gross motor skills through finding new ways to get in and out of the climber with the new door and with no slide attached

A white light in the cockpit would dangerously affect the pilot’s vision. A red light is used to illuminate anything the pilot needs to see inside.

Perhaps most important, I believe the students have been building the following dispositions:

  • the belief that they are autonomous beings whose contributions are valuable to themselves and to others
  • curiosity
  • as they see me learning from Mrs. Linstromberg, I believe they are seeing that learning is a lifelong, enjoyable endeavor
  • cooperation
  • creativity and inventiveness
  • problems are for solving and they have the capacity to solve them
  • persistence

measuring the wood we’ll use to make the pedals

Later, I found this.  A student had measured it all the way around…just for fun.

There are several sets of new photos to be enjoyed on the Otter Class Protected Images Page.  Click, enter your password, and enjoy!!

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Otter Class: Aircraft Project Update

  By joremland • December 11, 2017 ,

building the car wash (the gauzy fabric hanging down was the simulated water, the rope became the washing tentacles)

The airplane project started a few days after the students had built a car wash in the classroom.  The car wash had been a good springboard for pretend play, emergent writing (signs are needed to tell people where the entrance and exit are), useful conflict, and a great deal of laughter.  Students had installed the long washing tentacles that are so impressive when we first experience a car wash (I still think they’re pretty coo!) and blue fabric that simulated water.

making exit and enter signs

    

lets get clean!

When they decided to build an airplane, they first used blocks to build pilot seats.  It was an elaborate set up but a precarious one.   

It needed constant repair.

colored masking tape: our first favorite connecting strategy

They didn’t very much mind fixing it every few minutes. 

I guess that’s how it is sometimes with things we build from the heart.

 

“Don’t knock it down.”

“Please leave that alone. CHECK MARK!”

But with the car wash in the same space, the new airplane completely blocked the aisle.  The students were comfortable dismantling the car wash; it had lived its useful life.  Still, several people tripped on the pilot-seat blocks while trying to enter and exit the room, so we all agreed we needed to move the plane to a new location.

I suggested using the climber.  Everyone agreed, but some students were reluctant.  I felt conflicted.  On one hand, several children fell on the blocks and my adult eyes saw more danger in the future (like exiting in an emergency).  I also know from experience, which the children do not yet have, that the climber has been a rather inspiring canvas on which to create.  On the other hand, the children had created something and they deserved the right to decide its fate.  In the end, I don’t think I really badgered them into it, but I certainly pressed my opinion more than usual.  Fortunately, it has gone very well.

Students first identified the parts we needed to make, based on the knowledge they gained from Mrs. Linstromberg: wings, door, instrument panel, spinner, control yokes, and more.

The wings went up first, but they kept flopping down, so students installed struts using tubes and duct tape. After a few days, the adhesive lost its hold.

At this point in the year, students haven’t built a full toolbox of techniques for connecting things.  I’ll sometimes suggest new ideas for them to try and then add to their repertoire.  As we progress through the year, teachers encourage students to solve problems with the knowledge they possess.  They remember the techniques they’ve learned and choose the one they think is most applicable.  So far, the students have been primarily using tape and glue, along with the occasional use of staples.

For the wing strut, I suggested twine.  I showed students how to make holes in the wing and they threaded the twine through the holes, then we tied it down together.

A few days later it was time to install the door.  A student had suggested plastic for the door, and I pulled some from storage.

“Is this good?” I asked
“No, it needs to be white,” the student replied.
“Do you mean white like a cloud, or white like a translucent window…like this, it’s translucent,” I said, pointing to the glass.
“It needs to be translucent.”

Making the door took a few days. A student used unifix cubes to measure the width and height of the door opening,

transferred those measurements to the plastic, 

and then the cutting began.  Everyone took a turn cutting out the door panel (one picture is missing, it was in the previous post).

   

Finally, the door was ready to install. Students first tried out their current go-to strategy: duct-tape.

removing the protective film

When that failed, I didn’t tell them what to try next, but guided them to think of other connecting things they’d used recently.  Looking around the plane, one student noticed the twine and the light seemed to turn on.  ”That string!! Let’s go get some!”

The door is so translucent, you can’t really see that it’s there…

…but it is. See the duct tape apparently hanging in mid-air?

Did I mention I live for this stuff?!

Some students have been less deeply inspired by the plane but have still found ways to match their interests with the project.  Each day, these students have conducted intense research into the variables that cause toy cars to travel in different directions and speeds when placed on the wing.

“there it goes!” “where?” “that way!”

Meanwhile, other students worked on the yoke.  We’d collected some cylinders that would work well for the handles, but the central connecting part posed a challenge.  Students traveled the room looking for materials.  Mrs. Linstromberg gave little clues, “well, it should be square…”

In what seemed like a burst of excitement, a student said, “that!”
“What?” Mrs. Linstromberg asked.
“That block, the number one, it’s a square!”

With their trusty duct tape in hand, students connected all the parts and painted them black, just like the real thing.

Unfortunately, the next day, we arrived to see the black paint did not take to the plastic surface of the duct tape and flaked off.  Another problem to solve!

They did indeed solve that problem too but this post can’t go on forever (“too late!”).  Thanks for reading this far!!

OK, I know you have other things to do, so I’ll wrap it up here.  Tomorrow, just bullet points!

 

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Otter News October 1, 2016

  By joremland • October 1, 2016 ,

 

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We lost an Ash tree to Emerald Borers.

Calendar Highlights

Friday, October 7           Pick-A-Time opens for conference scheduling

Monday, October 10      NO SCHOOL, Columbus Day, 

Thursday, October 20   EARLY  RELEASE (2:45), Parent-Teacher Conferences

Friday, October 21          NO SCHOOL, Parent-Teacher Conferences

Tuesday, October 25      Otter & Lemur Class Trip to Volkening Heritage Farm

Friday, October 28          PumpkinFest (6:30pm)

Monday, October 31       Halloween Parade and Party (in-school)

Housekeeping

Please email a picture of your child with your family to me as soon

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Students investigated the borers’ trails. We found no borers, but we did find some awesome ants.

as you’re able.  About half of our families have a picture in, so we’re nearly ready.  The project in which we’ll use the pictures helps build logical cognition as well as social growth (the understanding that we are individuals who also belong to multiple groups simultaneously).  If you do not want to send a picture, please just let me know, and we’ll do the project a different way.  Thanks!

Thanks to all of you who braved the weather to come to the First

Annual Quest Fun Run.  Despite the rain, there were smiles all over the place, and a great feeling of community.  Here’s hoping to see you all (and the sun!) next year!

News

Last week, I waxed philosophical, so I’ll be more concise and factual this week!

My Special Day

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The rally game asks teams of students to travel the playground and “check-in” in a specific order (builds gross motor, collaboration, and ordinal number understanding).

  • We had a great birthday celebration, and the honoree taught us about baking birthday cake.
  • We learned how to count to say “hello” and “good morning” in Greek (“chairete” and “kalimera”), and enjoyed a quick virtual tour of the Parthenon.
  • As promised, we did introduce the words tangential and relevant, in addition to non sequitur, to describe comments and questions voiced in our meetings.
  • We are enjoying having a self-appointed relevance monitor, who helps us all stay on track by alerting us to off-topic comments.

Annotated List of Activities

sensory table – new sensory material (water) and a new

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Drawing an ending for “A Letter to Amy,” by Jack Ezra Keats

apparatus. The funnel basket has flexible tubing that takes the water on a mysterious journey.  Students were intrigued by figuring out where the water comes out after they pour it into any given funnel.  Much of the work at the water table was relationship-building: students learned to negotiate for time with favored tools, to be patient, what kinds of words and tones of voice are effective for solving problems, etc.  The second, wide open water table was added to make more room for other tools and other opportunities to problem-solve.

playdough stories – much like directing a play, students used figurines and playdough to construct settings and act out stories from their own imagination.  In the process, some students

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West Campus Explorations

explored the concepts of story elements like beginning, middle, and ending.  As we continue through the year, we’ll continue to expand on the elements of stories.

blocks – a new block (see b elow) was added and we posted images of homes around the world around the block area, to inspire students to build new types of structures.

Literacy

We read stories about friendships, including Goggles, and A Letter to Amy, both by Jack Ezra Keats.  A Letter to Amy actually took three days to read, as it offers a lot to discover between theimg_20160928_102927073 lines — not to mention, the students asked to re-read it!  On Friday, we reached the conclusion (again), although the author leaves us an unanswered question: What did peter wish

for on his birthday?  Some students finished their sketches and some put them in t the”unfinished work” tray to complete later.

 

Story: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble  

game: “speedy alphabet”

Mathimg_20160928_102933310

A variety of math-related things have been happening around the room.  In the block area, we have been comparing the sizes of our unit blocks.  We introduced a new block this week and a number of students worked to discover its name.  All of our blocks are named for their lengths, based on the square block, which we call a “1.”  This week, we

introduced the “8” blocks.

Students also played the number sense game, “Bears in the Cave.”img_20160928_102918103

West Campus

Words cannot sufficiently describe our West Campus morning.  Check out the video!

Our Community

During the past couple of weeks, your students have tackled a number of rather profound issues:

Toys on the Slide

On the surface, this appears trivial — we could simply say,

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Making like Matisse in the Art Studio

“no toys on the slide.”  This would set the safety rules and it might be over.  

But we encouraged the students to tackle this issue themselves.  I posed the question to the students and then stepped away, ostensibly to get a marker to write down their ideas.  While I was “gone,” I recorded their meeting.  It was amazing to see the way the students took on this challenge.  I imagine that if I had stayed, they would have kept looking to me to either affirm, deny, or guide their steps toward solutions.   They conversed on their own, stating different approaches and the pros and cons of each.  We didn’t come to consensus but the process was truly amazing, and we have had zero safety issues on the slide.

Partners

A couple of weeks ago, the students made an agreement: “you can’t say no when someone invites you to be their partner.”  But after a few days, a

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Playing “Fuzzies Go to School”

number of students returned to spurning others in a way that led to some hurt feelings.  This week, students discussed it again.

At one point, they seemed stuck.  Although I wasn’t sure whether or not I should “butt in,” I offered to use our “random sticks” to randomly make partners.  I’m glad I did, because the students resoundingly, unanimously, and respectfully turned down the idea.  

Someone instead suggested that a student could select partners, so I asked if it ought to be a new job.  They unanimously agreed.  I went forward with it, despite many misgivings.  After all, if it doesn’t work, they  will discover that and try a new solution (which is the whole point!).  We have had a “partner selector” job for  two days, and it’s going unexpectedly smoothly.  I’ll keep in touch.

Update: Full-Size Self-Portraits

These are now complete.  Students added details to their portraits, including facial features, clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc., according to their fancy.  To highlight their individuality, children drew/wrote responses to prompts like, “I like to…” and “Someday, I hope I will…” — these are now part of their portraits.  To highlight their belonging to their families, students added sketches of their families.  The portraits are on the the walls of the classroom – come on in and see them!

OK, enough words, I’ll let you take a look at the pictures!

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Otter Class: Salon Project

  By joremland • May 21, 2015 ,

 

A few weeks ago, a few students spontaneously began to “do” each others’ hair.  We grabbed the iPad and looked at a few internet photos of salons to get a sense of how they look.  Students jumped up and began setting up chairs in our sensory area.  We didn’t have everything we needed, but it was a great start.  Children donned smocks to “catch the hair,” but the aprons really served to keep clients’ clothing dry as stylists enthusiastically misted their hair. 

The children’s energy and curiosity led  us to investigate further, including multiple trips to the Aquarius Salon in our plaza.

Some students wanted to interview people, and they recorded what they learned through interviews with the proprietor, stylists, and clients.  

 

Some students were more interested in the equipment, so they made observational sketches of the stylists’ chairs and tools, the computer, and other aspects of the salon. 

One student has a passion for all things financial, and she put significant effort into learning about the cash register, credit cards, pricing, and the like.

Desi Perna, one of the salon’s managers, gave students a tour of the salon, teaching them some of the hidden aspects of the business:  

  • the careful chemistry and math involved in coloring hair

  • the importance, experience, and details of a good stylist/client relationship
  • computerized scheduling system
  • the importance of cleanliness and careful organization of equipment and materials

  • how credit cards work
  • salon pricing systems
  • vocabulary: consultation, client, damage, credit, chemistry

Back in the classroom, students continued building the salon they’d started, using vocabulary they learned at the salon, while also using and expanding their emergent literacy skills in the process.

We also  enjoyed several “hairy” books:

  • The Girl Who Would Not Brush Her Hair, by Kate Bernheimer and Jake Parker
  • Crazy Hair, by Neil Gaiman
  • Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom, by John Rocco.

And now, a huge THANK YOU!

Thank you, Aquarius Salon,

A big thank you goes out to Desi Perna, Sue, Michelle, and everyone at Aquarius Salon.  You welcomed our students with kindness and opened your place of business to our investigation.  Your clients were also patient and gracious, answering questions and generally allowing us to use some of their valuable time.  Our students learned a great deal about the salon business, its practice, and its focus on client satisfaction.  Perhaps more importantly, students learned that when they act on their curiosity, there are adults in unexpected places who are ready to help us reach our goals.  

Thanks again!