Winter Work
The Bug Bunch(Downstairs 3s, 4s, 5s)
Light Table Work &
MagnaTile Creations with Tea lights
We kicked off our week with a chilly day, exhilarated by the way our breath was visible in the air and the discovery of some ice on the playground! During inside choice time, we reveled in our cozy book nook den under the loft, taking turns reading books and playing "bear." We are in preparation mode for Winter Celebration, which includes singing "good-night" to our maple trees as they enter dormancy.
Click here for more Downstairs updates!
Ladybugs, Field Mice and Birds(Upstairs Neighborhood 5s,6s,7s)
Adapting to the Cold
The Neighborhood waited until the first truly cold morning to have our first fire. There was a lot to do to get ready for that first fire. Take a look at all the hard work your children did to prepare for the arrival of colder weather.
First things first: We needed to clean out the old fire pit and prepare a new one. It took a lot of steps, planning, and teamwork. It was already starting to get chilly, so this kind of heavy lifting and big body work was great for getting our blood flowing and keeping us warm as the temperature started to drop.
We had to transplant a sycamore tree that started growing in the old fire pit. We named them Maurie and moved them to the center of the meditation spiral with the hopes that they’ll grow big and provide shade and protection for future Randolph folks as they walk the spiral.
Then we placed the new stones. Some children decided to use mud from inside the pit as a mortar between the stones. It worked!
We dug the pit deeper and gave the extra soil to the Wolf Spiders for their medicinal herb garden they’re planning for this spring.
We hauled more stones from behind the amphitheater to make the firepit surround sturdier. Team work! Team work!
Then we placed the new stones. Some children decided to use mud from inside the pit as a mortar between the stones. It worked!
Finally our new firepit was ready for the first chilly morning! We invited evan to join us in “waking up Calcifer,” the fire spirit.
Fire Safety
We were almost ready to start the first fire! But first, we talked about the things we need to remember to be safe around a fire. evan made the first spark and we all told Calcifer it was time to wake up! We gathered close, but not too close, and put our hands out to feel the warmth.
Later that day we recalled our fire safety talk and wrote down some Fire Agreements. We also came up with a plan in case the fire gets out of control – quickly and calmly go to the Ladybug House and await instructions from your teachers. (This has never happened in our many years of having fires, but we still make a plan!) Here’s what the children came up with for Fire Agreements:
Calm energy – That means we only use walking feet around the fire pit and save silliness for other times.
Be prepared – We always have a full bucket of water ready to put the fire out completely when we’re finished with it.
Check in before adding to the fire – Children can add sticks, orange peels, or fan the fire only after asking a teacher and getting the okay from them.
Be careful – Similar to our “calm energy” agreement.
Stay off the stones – That would be too close to the fire.
Stay in your bubble – Best not to lean on or hug your friends or teachers when there’s a fire, lest you accidentally knock them over.
Since our first fire we’ve been building a fire most mornings. We’ve journaled about what we know about fires. We do other Morning Work around our fires. And, we snack and read stories around the fire. The children have done a beautiful job adhering to our Fire Agreements. That means we can look forward to more cozy fires this winter!
Winter-Themed Literature
Speaking of winter, even though it’s not quite winter, we’ve been learning a lot about the winter solstice and how we can adapt for the winter like other animals do. We’ve read tons of winter and solstice books (just a sampling of them are pictured). We’ve also talked about keeping our bodies safe from the cold by wearing the proper layers and gear, and keeping our bodies moving and our blood flowing.
Check out this video of a sit-down phonics game we turned into a running phonics game to practice short A, I and O sounds! Another group that was learning about short O sang a hopping song, Knees up Mother Brown, and also did the bunny hop to stay active and warm during “funics”.
All Geared-Up
And check out these kiddos who are properly dressed for the weather. (Don’t worry if your child isn’t pictured, that doesn’t mean they were not dressed properly, just that we didn’t snap a photo of their adorable bundled-up-ness!)
Thank you all for continuing to send your children in wearing (or packing) warm base and mid layers and waterproof outer shells. Time to start sending in the waterproof mittens, too! Looking forward to seeing you all at the Winter Celebration!
Eagles(Carriage House 7s, 8s, 9s)
Gearing up to Graph during Maple Sugaring Season
The Eagles have been busy learning about graphs! We have discussed different types of graphs and what they can be used for. With maple sugaring season right around the corner, we are preparing for the very important task of keeping track of the daily temperatures and amount of sap collected daily. Before we get to that, we need to understand graphs and how to use them so we will be able to keep track of our temperatures and sap collection data.
We decided to make a practice graph to get the hang of the steps to setting up the X and Y axis, creating labels, titles and spacing. We chose to graph some information pertaining to just our class for this practice graph. After much discussion and voting, we decided on “The Eagles’ Favorite Animals”. Once we had a topic, kiddos brainstormed and then voted again to decide which animals would be included on our graph. They decided on birds, dogs, cats, lizards and koalas. From there we worked our way through collecting data and finally doing the step by step process of making the graph itself. For this purpose we decided a bar graph would be the best.
Students quickly realized that graphing is a very intricate process! Using a ruler for each line drawn, drawing lightly to be able to correct mistakes, figuring out the spacing to fill up as much of the paper as possible, and spacing the numbers and bars equally…it is a lot of steps, but all of which are important! Each of these steps challenged The Eagles to dig deep into their growth mindsets as they worked their way through these challenges, one step at a time. We look forward to putting these new skills into practice when we collect our maple sugaring data!
Wolf Spiders(Carriage House 9s, 10s, 11s)
Digital Literacy
At Randolph, we embrace learning that is hands-on, experiential, collaborative, and messy. So much important development happens when we are doing things like building, creating, ideating, and problem solving.
We also know that we live in a digital world, one that our oldest students are already beginning to navigate. We feel a responsibility to help young people understand how to use technology safely and in a way that enriches their learning and lives. Helping students understand what is on the internet and how it gets there can help them make more informed choices about when and how to use it. Although an imperfect tool, we also know that because of structural inequalities, the internet does sometimes have resources that are less accessible in print publications.
To begin our digital literacy work this year, we started by having students name problems that arose last year when using computers and potential solutions. Then we talked about the term digital citizenship, using word parts to define the term and then making a mind map of the rights and responsibilities associated with digital citizenship. This led us to co-creating a computer contract and creating better systems for storing, charging, and checking out computers.
Kids are starting to use computers more independently for Choice Projects like story writing and creating a list of manga books we could buy for the library. And we even got evan on a computer this week to show us one of his tried & trusted websites!
The Apothecary, Prairie Moon Botanicals and & Elder
There is a big link between the work that Amy & evan do at Randolph and the herbalism work the Wolf Spiders have helped me kick off this year. As part of a project to add more garden spaces to campus, evan helped me order some seeds of plants that I use medicinally. One of those is Elder. This past month, the kids have been learning about the immune system, trying elderberry and elderflower tea, and planting elder in a new garden we’ve created by the lean-to. They even made an immune system support tea blend for Harvest Feast.
This past week, we learned how to make elderberry syrup. We made it over the fire, something that I had never done before. I hope that you’ve all gotten a chance to taste the yummy concoction that all your kids helped create. And when you run out, here’s the recipe we followed!
Elderberry Syrup Recipe (from Mountain Rose Herbs)
Put 2 cups of dried elderberries and 4 cups of water (or any other 1:2 ratio) in a pot. Add cinnamon, thyme, or ginger to taste. Simmer on low for 40 minutes.
Take off heat and steep for 1 hour
Strain elderberries & compost
When the elderberry decoction is just above room temperature, mix it with honey. You want to use at least half the amount of honey as there is liquid. Add more honey to increase the shelf life.
Bottle in a clean jar and refrigerate.
Take 1 tablespoon a day to support your immune system, more when sick.
As we move on to learning about different herbs and body systems, evan introduced us to a tool that he uses for researching and purchasing native seeds. On Monday, we got to explore the Prairie Moon Nursery website with him, learning how to filter searches to meet our criteria. We also read about the company, thinking about why it is a good fit for Randolph School.
One last thing! You’ll notice on the “Digital Citizen” chart that the definition of citizen that we’re working with isn’t exactly correct. Don’t be alarmed! While that worked for our understanding of digital citizenship, we will make sure to revisit it before the end of the year. Emergent learning sometimes means allowing misconceptions to linger just long enough for them to resurface with more context, leading to deeper and more accurate understanding. Stay tuned for where we are headed next!
Links Friday: All-School Gathering
Celebrations of Light
It was a special Friday today at Randolph School. We welcomed members of our community to help us learn about different celebrations of light that happen around this time of year. Briana(mom to Dora), Jen V and Tair(mom and aunt to Juni and Ozzy), Hana(mom to Zeke) and Jenny(mom to Avi and Neta) were on hand to teach us about their Hanukkah traditions. We fried latkes, played dreidel and learned a bit about the history of the holiday. Tish(mom to Riley) shared about Kwanzaa and how it links to Hanukkah and this season. We made candles together and learned about the principles that are celebrated by some African Americans. We are so fortunate that our community is full of generous and talented parents!