February at GAP School!

Yellow Superstars with Emily

The month of February has been full of love, determination, and dedication as the Yellow Superstars explore the "building blocks of society." 

In ELA, the Yellow Superstars have been learning the difference between a fictional story's theme and the main idea in a nonfiction book. While we read fictional stories we follow the adventures of The Little Polar Bear! The little polar bear is a lovable friend from the Artic who explores many different habitats as he finds himself in difficult situations. As we observe nonfiction books we are also exploring and identifying nonfiction text features. 

Learners are working incredibly hard as they build reading fluency. Every morning during DEAR time, learners are actively reading "BOB Books" for ten plus minutes. While reading they ask about unknown words and reread books in order to build fluency and reading comprehension. Students are also learning to identify and write descriptive sentences! Together, we read sentences and underline nouns, verbs, and adjectives. We practice action verbs by playing games like verb dice and Vicky Verb says. 

In math, we have continued to add & subtract numbers within 10 and have also introduced numbers within 20 while using a number line. During morning meetings, we practice interpreting graphs and read story problems in order to find the sum and difference. By reflecting on our class expectations daily, we are earning play money to save up for a class pizza party! Learners are identifying coins and can recite their worth. We also participate in counting up our coins to see what our total is. 

In science we have been connecting with the environment around us. We use our senses while nature journaling. We connected to a self created polar bear habitat and have learned that habitats are the places where living things can thrive. We have practiced tree identification and learned how we can compare different makeups of bark and leaves to find tree species. We loved being able to identify White Oak Trees! We have caught creek critters who are starting to reappear after our long winter. We are mindful as we make time for bird watching. 

As we learn about the building blocks of societies, we have been busy creating a society in our own classroom! We earn play money each day by following class expectations and we have "office time" in a designated space within our Starship! We bring our lap desks to our spots, wear our professional attire (bowties), and get to our paperwork!! We have discussed the importance of jobs and have pondered what we want to be when we grow up. We have explored the occupation of a veterinarian by taking care of our classroom stuffed animals. We have an amazing Superstar society, filled with hard workers and curious minds.  

Red Rubies with Virginia and Sapna

In math, we have been diving into the wonderful world of shapes. As we look around us at the winter trees, the moon phases, and our outdoor learning space, we notice all the shapes that make up our world. We can describe shapes based on their lines, corners, and edges. Using what we know, we are able to categorize shapes into various groups. This allows us to recognize and create patterns. We have taken our understanding of 2D shapes and expanded it to 3D shapes. We have practiced drawing and building 3-dimensional shapes. Shapes have lent themselves really well to learning about fractions as well. We can take various shapes and see what other shapes fit inside them, and then write fractions. We have learned that fractions make up equal parts of a whole. We have taken a hands-on approach to fractions by using scissors to cut equal parts of paper shapes and by exploring with our rainbow fraction blocks.

In science, we are learning about types of energies like heat, light, sound, and movement. This topic was sparked by the hot-button question “Is fire matter?”. When we observed ice melt into water and evaporate into the air, we saw matter changing states. The fire did that, but is fire matter? We heard arguments that the wood the fire is burning is solid, and the smoke it creates is a gas. We also heard learners say in the triangle of fire, we need fuel (solid/liquid), oxygen (gas), and heat. Through our inquiry, we learned that fire isn’t a state of matter; it’s energy. Heat and pressure can cause elements to change states of matter. We spent a week studying electricity, where we learned about renewable energy and built a solar rover powered by energy from the sun. We played with battery-powered snap circuits to turn lights on and produce sound. In our exploration of light, we learned how our eyes work and explored transparent, translucent, and opaque objects with a flashlight. Recently, we learned about sound. We learned about how our ears work and vibrations. Then, we explored instruments and created sound maps of our environment. 

Silver Sparrows with Furn and Elijah

February has been an OUTSTANDING month for the Silver Sparrows! They are not only confident in their learning routines and sense of class community, they are also regularly stepping out of their comfort zones to go above and beyond as learners, community members, and friends. It is such a joy and a privilege to learn and grow with the Silver Sparrows! As spring slowly creeps toward us, we can’t wait for all the growth we will continue to experience!

In ELA, the Silvers are taking their knowledge of genres and excitement for stories into a deeper exploration of the roles of books in society. As our big idea is “The Building Blocks of Society,” the Silvers spent time investigating what makes a society. Through brainstorming sessions, gallery walks, and question routines, we determined that societies need RULES, ROLES, and SYSTEMS to function. We considered what specific “blocks,” fell into each category, as well as how communication, media, reading, and writing connect to the systems of language that societies rely on. We also reflected on the different scales of society, as well as the different types of societies from pre-industrial, industrial, to post-industrial. Once we developed a solid sense of genres and a broad understanding of the concept of society, we embarked officially into our books and society inquiry cycle. 

For our inquiry cycle, our guiding question is “How do societies learn about life through stories?” To answer this question, we are moving through each phase of the inquiry cycle: Tune In, Find Out, Sort Out, Go Further, and finally, Reflect and Act. To "Tune In", we used the "question pencil routine" to ask closed and open questions about books, genres, and societies. These questions are generated by the Silvers and shape the direction of our inquiry—it was an incredibly engaging, collaborative, and rewarding process! Once we established the questions that made us most curious, we sorted them out from MOST and LEAST interesting to MOST and LEAST important. By sorting out our questions, we learned how to prioritize lines of inquiry and set expectations for our next steps.

The Silvers were incredibly interested in the history of books, records about books, genres, libraries, how societies use stories, and the future of written media. To find out more, we conducted a document investigation. We observed images of some of the oldest books, stories, and libraries, infographics about the variety and popularity of different genres across the country and world, and then made guesses about the ages of each document. By sorting out these documents, we collaborated, communicated, and thought critically about the relationship between society and books.

Then, to go further in our investigation, we debated the statement “books are the most valuable way for society to record knowledge and learn about life” using a thinking technique called “Tug of War.” We framed the art of argument through a game of tug of war, the two teams being "Agree" and "Disagree", and the “tugs” being types of evidence; strong, weak, and hypothetical questions. The Silvers were extremely engaged with this activity and clearly want to keep discussing, debating, and going further in their understanding. In our next steps, we’ll reflect on our evidence, add more, and then decide what project will deepen, direct, and display our learning! We’re thinking about persuasive writing, genres, and life lessons!

Moreover, our collaborative revamp of the ELA inquiry wall has been AMAZING! After the educators participated in the Trevor MacKenzie Inquiry Movement Sessions, our February PD day helped slingshot our learning into a more fun, interactive, visual, helpful, and robust territory than the Silvers have ever been before! For those of you in the GAP Village, check out our recent posts for visuals on how the wall has developed and photos from our inquiry cycle activities! 

In SEL, the Silvers finally concluded their consensus series and decided on a reward for their 100 Book Reading Challenge! We will be enjoying a Silver Movie Showing of RIO with some fun popcorn snacks! This movie connects to our class favorite genre of adventure, as well as our snack book, Impossible Creatures. Both the movie and book deal with animals facing extinction, which is a concept the Silvers have showered curiosity in. We will not be surprised if that topic ends up becoming part of another inquiry cycle before the year’s out!

In geography, the Silvers have demonstrated wonderful growth in their geographic skills, especially regarding Virginia, regions of the United States, and the states broadly. Now, we will be zooming out to sharpen our knowledge of continents, seas, and countries. We can’t wait to continue broadening our horizons and understanding of the wide, wide world around us!

In math, Silvers started the month having learned about equivalent fractions. We learned the skill of simplifying fractions, and have been practicing this with all the other new skills we are learning! After simplifying fractions we learned how we can find the least common denominators, how to compare and order fractions with unlike denominators, and how to compare to benchmarks like 0, ½, and 1. We then started working with improper fractions and mixed numbers, and learned how to convert between the two. With all of these skills in tow, we were ready to add and subtract fractions (which is way harder than multiplying and dividing!). We are currently starting to convert fractions to percentages and decimals, a skill we will be using for our Community Day Project, the Silver Sparrow Cookbook! 

In science, we are continuing along our bat study. Bat’s have had so much to teach us about forces of motion this month! We started the month designing our flight study by learning about dependent, independent, and controlled variables. After making predictions, we tested how structure affects function by modifying and testing different planes. After collecting all of our data, we’ve been doing our first ever lab reports! The Silvers have been working so hard on these reports. We are so excited for everyone to see the outcomes at Community Day!

Emerald Eagles with Lauren

In math, Emeralds have been working through fraction and decimal relationships, number lines with integers, making graphs, working with prime numbers, factoring, and more! We’ve been starting our mornings with math, and it has become our best time for tackling more challenging problems! 

In language, Emeralds have been tearing apart motivations, character analysis, and plot twists during our evaluations of The Giver. The novel continues to evoke big emotions and opinions. It is taking our group discussions about literature to new heights! 

In social studies and science, Emeralds have been working to create their own societies in order to learn about the social dynamics that play into different societies’ successes and shortcomings. WE have viewed success from both the individual’s perspective and from the perspective of the collective. It’s been refreshing to remind ourselves in a deeper way of how things are made beautiful by working together.

SEL with Janelle

In SEL this month, Emeralds have been continuing to work on growing their leadership and executive functioning skills through the creation of lesson plans for SEL related activities of their choice. As each learner or group of learners completes their assignment, we are taking time in the following weeks for both self reflection and peer feedback in order to support strengthening their interpersonal communication skills.  

The Silver Sparrows have been continuing to expand their empathy skills.  Working as a small group or as individuals they have been viewing a variety of art work through the lens of putting themselves in someone else's shoes. They are reflecting on the five senses and applying them to the artwork. They then create a short paragraph to share with the class that highlights their observational skills. We’re finding that it’s easier to show empathy for situations that we have experienced ourselves and that we need to put more effort in when it’s a situation we haven’t experienced. The Silver sparrows love learning through stories of personal experience and might ask you questions about your favorite childhood memories in order to grow their empathy skills.

The Red Rubies have been focused on inclusiveness and mindfulness this month. We are recognizing that our bodies and minds work best in the afternoon after a period of time to sit and tinker quietly in nature. We are working towards a 20 minute sit spot to help support being our best selves. "Inclusive musical crazy creeks" has been a favorite way to practice inclusiveness with movement. We are also working hard on a classroom visual to be used as a reminder of ways we can apply inclusiveness both in and out of school. 

The Yellow Superstars have also been exploring the concepts of inclusiveness and shouting each other out, recognizing when others are working hard. We have also introduced the concepts of "Sunshines" and "Clouds" as metaphors for talking about the highlights of our days and the hard parts of our days. For cloudy parts we’ve leaned into learning a few ways to get through them including "lion breathing", "volcano breathing", and "flower breathing." We are hoping some of these tools wind up in conversations at home so they can be applied in all environments. 

Projects with Max

February in Projects was a time for both celebrating and planning ahead. We began the month by finishing our Valentine’s Box Design Challenge so that our mailboxes were ready for our Hundredth Day of School / Valentine’s extravaganza. From one celebration, we quickly transitioned into planning for another. Learners began an inquiry cycle as each flock started designing their contribution to the GAP Spring Formal on April 25. Tickets are on sale now!

Along the way, we explored what makes celebrations fun and how shared gatherings can be an important building block of society. Each flock created mind maps to brainstorm how they might contribute to the Spring Formal. As ideas began to take shape, Learners generated questions to guide their planning and conducted research—through activities and videos—to help them design their contributions.

We are now in the planning and making stage, where Learners are writing out their plans and bringing their ideas to life. So far, plans include cardboard carnival games, a bowling activity on the basketball court, a scavenger hunt, a silent disco, and even cotton candy! We can’t wait to see all the fun unfold at the Spring Formal.

Maker Days this month have also been full of creativity. Learners revisited their whittling skills by crafting wands, experimented with kitchen creations like pasta and slime, and some even began planning possible field trips for their flocks.