Week of 1/26/18
Dear Parents,
This week has been abuzz. We made an ammonia fountain, explored the three branches of government in anticipation of our trip to the Michigan Capital, and tried our hand at writing synonym poems in rhyming couplets. The poems were done in small groups in which we were able to practice listening, brainstorming, compromise and create a fun piece of poetry.
One very important aspect of our classroom was to introduce a new way to conduct classroom meetings based off the book: Positive Discipline, By: Jane Nelson ED.D, Lynn Lott, MA, MFT and H Stephen Glenn. Currently we are practicing the first part of the meeting which is giving or requesting appreciations and compliments. We are practicing making a safe culture for sharing problems that arise in the classroom with the focus on non-punitive solutions. Next week I will be discussing in more detail the importance of the meeting and more specifics to the process.
Thank you to all of our parents who drove students to the Historical Museum and Capital. We greatly appreciated your assistance.
Ms. Christine and Ms. Sheena
Week of 1/19/18
Dear Parents,
We had an eventful first week back complete with a snow day! We talked about the difference between flame and smoldering and what happens molecularly when something smolders. Two students were in charge of these lessons. I am currently working on science lessons with fun chemistry experiments with four other students. One lesson is on crystal growth and another on the properties of copper in which we will grow crystals out of copper. These will happen over the coming weeks.
The students worked on finalizing our classroom mantra through lessons with the Ophelia Project. I included a copy of their mantra in your parent mailboxes. We brainstormed what we can do to make others feel better and what people can do to make others feel bad. We classified their ideas into physical (pushing, hitting, hugging, hand holding), verbal (teasing, name calling, manipulating, complimenting), and relational (exclusion, silent treatment, including people, finding something in common). We used these categories to have a discussion about the times of Martin Luther King Jr. and the fight against segregation in our country. We also discussed Rosa Parks, The Freedom Riders and Malcom X. Most of our discussion came from a book titled: The Century for Young People by Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster. It covers American History from 1901 through 1999 and includes beautiful photography and wonderful personal testimony from people that lived in America during these times.
The children have been working very hard on art projects to represent their feelings of social justice while listening to the “I Have a Dream” speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington D. C.
As always in class, we look to the strong individuals in the world who often faced oppression and exclusion from society to fight for change to better our world. These are the heroes we wish the children to learn about and know that they too can make a difference in their time.
Warmest Wishes,
Miss Christine