This month's design principle at Westchester is "success and failure", and we have had some deep, deep moments down here in room 101. All week we've read poems and books about making mistakes, things not going the right way, and having to try hard to get better at tasks. Of course, to go along with all of that we had lots of discussions about our own failings (students and teachers shared multiple times), and how when things don't go our way, we try, try again. "It's okay to fail. It's not okay to give up." That's been the motto of the week, and we felt it in action in this cup-stacking contest. As you'd imagine, it was noisy, messy, fun, hilarious, and full of strong emotions. We paused mid-contest to huddle and share how we were feeling. The students had many emotions: frustrated, excited, sad, disappointed, happy, proud, angry, etc. We reminded ourselves of our motto and got up and tried again. "It's okay to fail. It's not okay to give up." It was fabulous. FALL EXPEDITION We are about to embark on our fall expedition about how one person can make a big difference in his/her community (whether that community is in your family, your school, or your town...these are our 3 "case studies"). As a kickoff, this week we started an ant farm. The students don't know it yet, but this will be our way of introducing them to the idea that working together, individuals can play a big part in the community. Our worker ants are already hard at work after one day building their tunnels, and we are loving watching them! PARENT HELP WITH TRADITIONS
Within our expedition, the first case study will be "My Family". During that case study we will learn how families are similar and different, and also about family traditions. I would love to have some parents come in to share interesting family traditions! If you are willing to come in and share a special tradition with the class (something you do on a holiday, for birthdays, etc.), please email me. If you'd prefer to just send in pictures, that works too. I'd also like to have parents come share traditions around the actual holidays that occur throughout the school year that you celebrate in your family. Feel free to go ahead and tell me if you'd like to come in and share when it's close to a certain holiday that is special in your family. SPECIAL PROJECT FOR HOMEWORK Thanks to everyone who talked to their child about their address and is helping them learn it in full by memory! We are now learning the names of our continent, country, state, city, and county too. To add to the fun (and learning), we would like to make a play town using homes that resemble our own! I would like to ask that over the next 2 weeks you work with your child on making a shoe box (or cereal box or any kind of box about that size) house that somewhat resembles your own. There are only 3 criteria: 1- Make it the color of your real house. If you live in an apartment, make it the color of your apartment. 2- Write the first line of your address somewhere on the box that is easy to see (such as "123 Westchester Drive", not the rest of the address). Black marker would be ideal. 3- Have fun! Get as creative as you want in making it look like your real home! (but don't stress over it either) PICTURE DAY If you haven't heard yet, picture day is Tuesday. These are individual student pictures. Have a great weekend! Allison
2 Comments
Shannon
9/25/2015 03:12:55 pm
I wish school had been this interesting when I was a kid. ;)
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Allison
9/26/2015 01:26:35 pm
Come on in and re-live your childhood! :)
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