School Year 2010-2011...Be sure to scroll down past the post for lots of pics!

Morning Meeting! The kids are doing a great job leading!
They are responsible for a proper greeting, sharing/reading, activity, and announcements. This routine and ritual they are all familiar. We meet daily 8:30-9:10. The importance of these gatherings is evident in the ways the kids treat each other and the content we study. Last year each led a Morning Meeting, yet this year, the expectations are much higher as they know completely the process and why it is important. They have been given a schedule so they can be prepared and successful for this leadership endeavor.

The kids are using the 10 Design Principles very well and continuing their good CREW behavior to our school which is courage, responsibility, empathy, and welcoming.
Each designed a t-shirt that gives an example of each trait and these lamenated shirts reside on the lockers to remind them each day of what they all can do.
We added a cartoon quail to the lockers after each filled it out with comments that they like, know, and learn from each other. These will be keepsakes for years to come as they look back and realize how much character already shows and hopefully remind them of their strengths. Each crew wrote sincerely to the others.

Newest Chant for Closing Crew: Kowabunga, I love being among ya, We soar all the more because we're one score!!


Make sure to have your child read 40 minutes per night. That is homework. On Feb. 7, we spend time talking about when the kids read and most read right after school, on the bus and before bed. Good they are all finding a particular time and making the reading happen!

Practice multiplication and division, 1-12 times table. Make sure that your kid knows the United States too!! They have a map... Memorization is our tool for bigger problem solving.


Educational Goals were created and each child has them now in their Student Led Conference binder. These goals are things that the kids think about being when they grow up. Remember when you were almost 11...?






Thursday, January 6, 2011

Haiti Project-- Winter Market- January 22, 2011 at the 1912 building

The people of Haiti came to the attention of the 5/6 last year after the Jan. 12, 2010 huge earthquake that killed close to 300,000 people. After much talking about what had happened and how the people were living, these kids wanted to "DO" something.  The first thing they did was they bussed tables at the breakfast that was a fund raiser at the 1912 building to help the members of Matenwa go back to Haiti. The members of this organization, lead by Nancy Casey, has been visiting that island community for years to help teach agricultural techniques among other things. Go see the link...http://matenwa.org/CourageousWomen/
(Later in the year after her visit there, Nancy came to visit the kids and talked about what life was like for a 10 year old in Haiti--wrote about that in the 4/5 blog. There is also a great picture of Nancy with the 4/5 crew. Her dialogue,as well as the many pictures she shared really created more empathy.)

 I have been looking for a year long community service project. At first the kids were going to help the senior citizens, but the time to get to the 1912 building just took too much time away from our academics.

The reason I wanted the kids to work on something for a year was for them to experience the ups and downs of service, for us to have discussions around commitment, and for them to think of and begin to see other places they could be of service. So, after watching the people of Haiti continue to suffer and then experience the cholera epidemic in the fall (these people who had left the front page of the papers except when more tragedy struck) seemed like the perfect vehicle for the kids to work on something for the year.

It has been a very good project. Our discussions about how to help humanity have been deep. They have all experienced frustration from wondering what can they really do. Then one day, Simone mentioned face painting and Hannah introduced the idea for making finger scarves and that idea caught on that the 5/6 could sell these and make money for clean water or vaccines. Both ideas generated a lot of excitement. Just today, Aurora remembered that she had wanted to do something for Haiti-- like collect money--right after the earthquake in 2010 and that's how we originally got started.

We asked and (are still asking--acrylic or wool ;)) for donated yarn and the crocheting began. The energy around being able to do something had made them all feel that they can help. We have talked a lot about quality or craftsmanship in the production of their scarves. They have read information from the CDC and seen more information from Time magazine and Boston.com ( a site full of pictures) to keep them up to date on the conditions of the living there. Just yesterday, NPR had an 8 minute piece about life almost 1 year after the earthquake. When the kids heard that about 10% of the population had been killed by the earthquake and all families had experienced some heartache, they were reminded of the need to do something. Another fact that gave a lot of personal connection to was them realizing that whole families of 6 people sleep in a twin sized bed under a tarp roof and bathe in puddles or buckets.

The knitting has taken some of the kids to the next level of scarf making. Thanks to Yarn Underground's owners, Marisa Gibler and Shelly Stone who were very happy to be part of this project when I went to visit them over the  holiday break.

The value of being part of something larger than yourself is inside each kid. Being able to take action helps them feel that value become real or tangible. Seeing them work together for a larger purpose has been a delight and as they talk about issues around the world; they see that their actions connect them to the global community.
Please come visit us at the Winter Market on Jan. 22 from 10-2. Be sure to ask the kids about Haiti!!!
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