Links(Nina,evan, Michael, Amy and Siobhan)

December 10, 2022

Notes from the Field With evan and Amy

Creek Buddies

At Randolph School we cherish the close bonds that form across age groups. Creek Buddies is highlights so many of the benefits that come from children learning from each other.

This past week the Elder Guardians teamed up with the Fungi Friends. The Guardians were tasked with teaching the Fungi Friends the scientific names for parts of a leaf. Our oldest student take great pride in being good teachers to their young pupils. They practice being responsive to another child's needs as synthesize their own ecological understandings as they find ways to teach the content to their younger friends.

Buds: Tree ID in Winter

As we continuing learning about the life cycle of trees we have been studying buds. Each tree has a unique bud that produces wither flowers or leaves in the spring. As we learn about different buds and their structures we are also learning important lessons about how trees grow.

Being able to identify sugar maple buds is an important first step to the sugaring process. Beyond sugar maples studying how trees form buds allows us to understand ecological adaptations.

You can watch these two videos of the Kittens and Robins observing buds in the field to get a better understanding of how a multi-sensory and hands-on approach to learning allows even young learners to access complex ecological principles.

Bud Scales and Adaptation

In this video, the Robins are learning about how buds protect the delicate tissue inside of them that will turn into new leaves or flowers in the spring,

Terminal Buds and Measuring Growth

In this video the Kittens learn to identify terminal buds and measure a trees growth based on where the previous years terminal bud was.

Drawing What We Observe:

As the children use their senses to learn about buds we use their nature journals to record their observations. By drawing what they are seeing it encourages children to look closely and make connections between the vocabulary they are learning with the structures they are observing. We encourage children to embrace errors and focus on learning from their mistakes.

In (and outside of) the Studio with Nina

Piñata Time!

In the Randolph studio, this time of year always finds us hard at work on our annual Winter Celebration piñata! The Carriage House had the wonderful idea to make a spiral piñata, inspired by our walking spiral they and the Upstairs Neighborhood have built with evan. While the piñata has taken the shape of a spiral, we’re excited to start adding the next layers. Inspired by lots of work we’ve done this year, we’re adding constellations, the creek, a snapping turtle shell, mushrooms, animals, and even ourselves into the spiral through drawings, paintings, and sculpture! It is going to be a beautiful work of art that will link all of our different experiences so far this year at Randolph.

Back in the Stacks With Siobhan

How We Check Out Books

This is Lewis. He would like to check out Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties to either take home or keep in his cubby for independent reading. This is a multi-step process that Lewis can do all by himself. Here are the steps:

Make sure that the library computer screen looks something like this.

2. Scan the barcode on the back of the book with the laser beam.

(It’s important to position the barcode so that the red beam goes straight across the middle.)

If all goes well, the right book will pop up on the computer screen, and Lewis can move on to the next step.

4. Click on the green “Check Out” button.

5. In the pop-up window, click on the first letter of your first name.

6. Lewis clicked on “L”, which takes him to this menu. He can now click on his name. (He’s the little one, in case you’re wondering.)

7. Click the blue “Check Out” button.

8. Click “OK”.

9. Find the kitty in the upper right hand corner of the computer screen and click on it. This resets the screen for the next person.

10. You’ve checked out a book! Time to celebrate! Hugging books is optional, but highly recommended.

P.S. Yes, those are some of Lewis’s friends washing windows in the background. Please note that you do not need to recruit friends to wash windows in order to borrow books.

Big shout out to Lewis for checking out a book and posing for pictures while doing it! Thank you, Lewis!

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