Dear Studio Red,
This week we said goodbye to Toady. Nancy will bring her back to her home in Stacy’s backyard. What did you love most about Toad? What did you learn about her?
Love, Lauri and Emily
OUR WEEK IN PARTS
INDOOR EXPLORE
Stories abound!
Katie, Charlie and Kieran create settings for woodland animals.
Ruth and Charlie Nicholson use clay to tell a story of a birthday celebration to Cailin.
Travers, Thomas, Case, and Caroline create a story with four characters. They use big blocks to construct a setting. They negotiate roles and what actions will happen when. We see puppies and owners!
How do we find stories in play?
Miles and Katie create monarchs from tracing paper. They notice details in these creatures and tell stories of how they fly and land.
Luca and Jackson envision experiments with seeds. They tell the stories of what they think will happen. They imagine stories of growth and glue.
Louis joins Travers and Jackson who are busy creating a zoo story.
Caroline uses magnets to share a story of seeds burrowing beneath the ground.
BOOKS
Both fiction and non-fiction to understand Toady.
we introduced puzzle books! they invite rich conversation about what we see, what we think, what we question, and why.
They invite conversation about shape and size, color and texture, to compare and contrast.
OUTDOOR EXPLORE
The Woodland Walk...through the park!
None of our classroom materials were on our tray in the morning. There was but one seed pod. Inside the pod were three little seeds that held messages about the day ahead.
“Seeds know. Listen.” Lauri reads from a message.
I didn’t hear anything cuz people were talking. Charlie Nicholson
I didn’t hear anything either. Ruth
Seeds know, seeds grow! Kaya
I heard like a…like a huh or something. Case
Like a sea sound. Katie
It sounds like the ocean. Miles
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REFLECTION MEETING
This week, knowing that the weather is getting colder, we revisited our plan to release the toad. Many were sad. We had a group conversation and the next day invited a small group to research and make a plan for release. The small group generated different ideas, places where the toad might be happy. Case said, “We have to ask Nancy where she found the toad.” They shared back with the larger group. On Friday, Nancy came to visit to answer our question.
EXCERPTS FROM THE GROUP CONVERSATION…
We thought it might help the children to research more about the toad, giving voice to her story. Reading a non-fiction book and some information from the internet, we hoped the children would learn more about a toad’s habitat, family, and behaviors.
The small group practiced sharing back their ideas.
Should…I dig a hole for the toad cuz I’m really good at that. Caroline
I can bury the toad so no one could see.
But then someone might step on it.
We could put a rock on it.
But that might smush it.
Take the rock off in the spring. Ruth
But what if we forget?
We could check all of them.
What my thought is a treasure scanner to find the toad’s family and put it there. Jackson
We could make a gate and put toad over and then tiny holes for him to come back. Louis
Nancy, where did the toad come from?
Toad's home
GREETINGS & GAMES
We greeted each other with our pinkies and pointer fingers!
Can you teach your family how to pinky shake?
STORY WORKSHOP
What animals have you seen crossing the road?
We told more true stories this week. On Monday, Katie shared a story about her drive to school. On Tuesday, we sang our true story about the Woodland Walk and then drew parts of the story in our sketchbooks.
THINKING WITH A LINE
We revisited our building work from last week! We told the children how we will use these buildings to inspire stories. What parts can a building have? How might I add more details with line? Children used two pieces of cardboard for the first time, allowing them to print with two different lengths of line.
