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“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
― Mother Teresa
WHO ARE WE?
We are actors. There has been on-going student interest in the wedding play, including those who are not involved yet. Early in the week the bride turned into a zombie! Sprouts shared what they knew about zombies. They don’t die and they don’t run. John (Otis) asked “Were you guys doing the bride is dead in the play?” Based on their experience of the last play students decided early on that this play would not be written until the costumes are made to minimize the pressure. While sewing has been taking place, it is not related to costumes. Teachers wonder how the storyline will develop as they continue role playing at deep learning. Will there be zombies? Will the bride faint? What will the music sound like? Will playing zombies encourage others to join the play? Will the popular “family” and “animal” play develop? Will the bride continue to be flexible with ideas and see it as a group experience, or will she become a Bridezilla?
We are loving. Conversations about marriage have been happening with many students. As students were settling in for a meeting Alex, Kai, and James were thinking about getting married and living together. Boys can marry boys, we can all get married! They were thrilled with the idea and their friendship continues to grow. We were reminded of recent parent teacher documentation of a park day where the three were planning their home. We wonder if these three will join the wedding play or want to create their own play or presentation. We notice their growth in social skills and connection with new people. We wonder…
We are writers. Yvette and Michelle were noticing some students writing stories using phonetic spelling and then sharing with the group and not remembering what they wrote. They discussed how to support students without shutting down the creative process or the independent writing. Noticing students creating books, collage, the wedding play, and Frog and Turtle world…they thought about bringing the writing process, particularly editing, to the group. There was a spark! Many ideas were shared. A brief history of books by Alexander:
“People make books so they can remember the story and not forget so if they die people will still know the book. You can also tell it from your mouth but people die and people will forget so you need to write it down so people won’t forget.”
Discussing editing, he added, “Sometimes scientists take years to figure it out, like an author.” Throughout the week students expressed the desire to publish books and add them to our library.
We will continue to revisit our plans to edit, revise and modify books based on feedback from peers, self reflection, and research.
Kai: Alex and me make good writers.
Alex: Yeah, because we can sound out the words and know how to write them. Together me and Kai can make great words.
We are empathic. At a meeting some students were struggling with sitting and we were really wanting them to be part of the conversation. Bennett said that they seem like they need some big body movement and we should go outside for PE and then they might be able to hear us after. Everyone agreed and we tried it. It worked!
We are artists. In studio we have explored water color pencils, crayons, and liquid. Alex said he wished there were water color markers. A moment Michelle has been waiting for! The next day there WAS water color markers made by soaking dried up markers in water. Student explored the language of water color and collage by reflecting on park day, creating the caterpillar, making flip books, and exploring Eric Carle’s methods of illustration.
Wondering:
What do you think about a wedding play?
Your feedback and questions are encouraged:
CLASSROOM/CURRICULUM/PARK DAY – Michelle Goldbach-Johnson
CLASSROOM – Yvette Fenton
CURRICULUM – Lena Garcia Kaufman
SCHOOL BUSINESS – Trish Valdez
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Tending the Garden
Student Classtime – Potential and enrolled students are meeting this Saturday, March 16th. Just like a regular school day, please arrive by 9:00am. Pick up is at 12pm (unlike a regular school day). We encourage you to stay for a little or long bit to meet potential families.
Park Day – We are currently at HESS PARK! Band-Aids, frisbees, baseball and snails!…don’t forget sunscreen and water.
Classroom Supplies Needed: small scrubbers/sponges (for student projects), thermometers, blank sheet music, blue painters tape…
March Monthly Parent Meeting: Thank you for joining us. If you have a topic that hasn’t been addressed, please bring it to the attention of Michelle, Trish, or a Board Member as soon as possible. |
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The 5 Guiding Principals at TKG
- CONSTRUCTIVISM, as teachers and parents, we provide the trellis on which students will expand their existing knowledge
- WHOLE CHILD, cognitive, physical and social/emotional are inseparable
- BRAIN FUNCTION & DEVELOPMENT, students are sensory learners, we will honor each student’s unique developmental map
- CAPACITY BUILDING, supporting the development of creative thinkers who are encouraged to solve problems
- CO-OPERATIVE LEARNING, small groups, low ratios, mixed ages and generations
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Parent/Teacher Corner
Teaching Focus – Teaching Critical Thinking?: You might wonder if kids will work it out for themselves. After all, lots of smart people have managed to think logically without formal instruction in logic. Moreover, studies show that kids become better learners when they are forced to explain how they solve problems. So maybe kids will discover principles of logic spontaneously, as they discuss their ideas with others. But research hints at something else, too. READ MORE…
Teacher Focus – World Music: Nickodemus’ multicultural Turntables on the Hudson compilations and New York City-based events have brought together flavorfully funky house and Latin-based sounds from around the world. The DJ then took the series global with his creation of the ongoing monthly party Turntables on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain…Travel from your e-devicenow!
For your Toolbox – Women’s History Month: While missing from most history textbooks today, Lucy Parsons played a major role in many of the historic events of the late 19th and early 20th century including the Haymarket affair, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the anti-lynching crusade, the campaign to save Sacco and Vanzetti, the Knights of Labor, and more. She called for the use of nonviolence and sit-ins decades before Gandhi, King, the sit-in movement, and the occupy movement.READ MORE…
March Field Trip – Make sure March 29th is on your calendar! You can always check the official calendar here. Monthly meetings, PT Schedule, Holidays…all in one convenient spot! |
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PT SCHEDULE, WEEK OF Mar 11…
Monday – BM
Tuesday – RD
Thursday – LS/TV
Friday – ME
Please contact Nicole if you have any concerns about this week’s schedule.
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The Seeds (Core Standards)
We are creating intention around these standards:
READING
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
WRITING
English Language Arts Standards – Grade 1 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
MATH
Measurement and data 1.md (first grade)
Measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units.
1. Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object.
2. Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps. Limit to
contexts where the object being measured is spanned by a whole number of length units with no gaps or overlaps.
Tell and write time.
3. Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.
Represent and interpret data.
4. Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category |
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FEATURED WORKSHOP – TKG Echo Parenting Class
with Renee Dokmanovich
Beginning Tuesday, March 26th, 6 to 9 at TKG
The class will continue, every other week, until the end of June. Please plan on joining us. There is no cost for this Workshop. |
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From the TKG Office:
- March Board Meeting-March 18, Regular business meeting begins at 7pm. Guests are welcome to share praise or concerns at 7pm. This month’s meeting will be at the TKG Classroom as Abrahm will be filming.
- Fundraiser Contributions are due on May 1st. Shop with Scrip order placed between March 9th and March 15th will enter TKG into a drawing for free shipping for an entire year. Please contact Lori with any questions.
- Spring Break is from April 1 through 5
Thank you Families! Admin Questions, please email t.valdez@knowinggarden.org.
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“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
― Maya Angelou
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Resource Of The Week
Spring Ahead: Daylight Savings Time Begins Tonight for Many
“Sleep deprivation is an issue that can affect people just after Daylight Saving Time kicks in in Spring.”
When Benjamin Franklin wrote An Economical Project, his 1794 discourse in which he proposed the idea that would become our current Daylight Saving Time, it probably didn’t occur to him that the world would be using his system of adjusting human activities to maximize natural daylight more than 200 years later.
It also probably didn’t occur to him that others would take so long to embrace it. Attempts to legislate Daylight Saving were still widely ridiculed at the beginning of the 20th century. (It took the energy needs of WWI for many to finally enact them.) Standard times, brought about in the U.S. and Canada by the needs of the railways, which straddled various locales, also took a few decades to eventually pass into law.
READ MORE… |
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