Isaac's Family Culture

Isaac discussed the importance of recreation. Kindergartners talked about what is means to "have free time". "Its when you do when you don;t have to go to school or go to work," said one.
Isaac loves the outdoors, studying about animals and learning how to build on pond when re- landscaping.

Workstations Excel

Aidan wonders what his next creation will be.

Cooper and Soren work together to find all the vocabulary in our Word Making Center.
Olivia, Luca and Leo work together to respond to this week's selected math text.

The panda art project is always a favorite!

Suresh's handwriting is getting better and better!

We have been working very hard on our independent work!

The Editor

Writing workshop now includes a peer-editing session where students share their stories and then swap them for review. Students focus on one specific convention per day.

Valentines to the World!

"If I could give a Valentine to the world..."
Writing prompts help students write outside their usual contexts.


"I would give it to Mom. I love Mom," Quinn writes.

Here Johanna write "I would give it to trees because they help us."

Chris' Family Culture

Chris proved we could learn from another Harris presentation when he taught us how to deal with siblings. He opened up conversation by stating how problems with brothers get you in the most trouble. Kindergarten agreed and worked together to come to the conclusion that if you treat your siblings like you treat your friends you will be much better off.



Chris also welcomed Ms. Sara, a student-teacher from Portland State University who will be volunteering in our classroom on Wednesdays!

World Foresty Center

First stop: the Serengeti

On a boat to China!
Traveling by train through norther Asia and Eastern Europe.

Enjoying wooden instruments from all around the world!

Cooper's Family Culture

After discussing whether it was possible for Cooper and Chris to have separate presentations, Cooper focused on the value of making the right choices, whether you are at school or at home.



Cooper questioned the class when it was observed that some of his classmates did not have to follow house rules like he does. A peer asked, "what is your consequence for breaking the rules?" Cooper explained when he makes an unsafe or disrespectful choice he earns a consequence that he does not enjoy. This was followed by a lively discussion on punishment and reward. The class agreed, getting sent to your room is the best punishment because everyone always just plays with their toys and pretends to be sad when mom or dad walks in!! One child even noted, "its not even really a consequence, it doesn't make me want to follow the rules more." Hmmmm.

Numerical Connections

We have been working hard to connect our understanding of value, numerical order and the nature of patterns. Many of our students are practicing writing reversal-free numbers and showing their data in different ways. Here kindergartners work to display numerical values in a variety of ways.