Grade 5

I’m not going to try and mask my enthusiasm for Day Three: Nature’s Classroom. Yes! We caught crabs using clothespins with bits of hot dog. YES! We dissected sea stars and pretended to be turtles. YES! We had individual bags of Doritos at lunch. YES! The rain stopped allowing us to tromp in the puddles! Yes! We not misplaced any raincoats or boots…well, that I’m aware of…yet.

It’s all the hallmarks of a successful day with my amazing class in Rhode Island.

We awoke to a drizzle but soon moods were brightened by the odor of bacon sizzling on the grill as we entered the dining hall. After breakfast, the students participated in field group braving the downpour to head out to the docks to try their hands at crabbing. Students also took a bit of time to reflect on some of their “firsts” here at Nature’s Classroom by writing in their journals about challenges or uncomfortable moments they’ve had while away from home. They also wrote down some of the highlights of the trip as well as one new thing they learned about a classmate.

This afternoon, the sun has emerged and the kids are currently outside working on a group activity about animal adaptation and species survival. Soon they will have a choice period of yoga or dissecting a sea star. Later on they will prepare for tonight’s big event…Thursday Night Live!—a variety show in the vein of SNL starring…the 12 of them! Each field group will have a chance to write and perform their own skits. Tim and I know from past years, this is one of the most memorable parts of the NC experience. Weather permitting, we’ll conclude tonight with a campfire and making s’mores.

Tomorrow we plan to arrive back at BCD by dismissal. Please be prepared to encounter wet and soggy belongings. It’s likely you might end up with some things that don’t even belong to your child—so do us a favor and wash them and send them in to me and we’ll have a lost and found fashion show in homeroom.

This has been such a tremendous week of growth and new experiences. At lunch the students at my table where talking about how much closer they feel to each other and to me and Tim. Once you’ve all stood around in pajamas together (girls and boys separately, of course), you can never go back, right? Even though it’s only been a few days, relationships have evolved and each person will be able to see his/her peers in some new way. I’ve loved being with them, and want to thank you for sharing your insightful, curious, and fun kids with me.

Best,
Jilly

https://www.flickr.com//photos/bcdtech/sets/72157665458838079/show/

Greetings from misty Wakefield, Rhode Island!

Grade Five has been busy (mostly) in and out of the rain all day. This morning we enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bagels, cereal and yogurt before heading out for a two-hour field group session. While Kai’s field group trekked out into the salt marsh, Luna’s group worked on the low-ropes course. Both groups took shelter from the pouring rain to come inside for a few more team building challenges, and cozy up with a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream.

At lunch, we devoured the hot dogs and Fritos with optional toppings of chili and baked beans. Then we headed for some quiet time where the students drew or wrote in their Writer’s notebooks. Some of our class then chose to participate in a guided shark dissection or to create a bottle rockets to be launched via air compressor in the field. More electives followed—a “heroes” activity with Phoenix, and the always-popular Endangered Egg Babies with Devin.

Hopefully tonight the weather will hold for our outdoor night hike….

The staff here at NC have shared with both Tim and me what a kind and curious bunch of kids we have. It is such a pleasure to be with them on this trip and enjoy the down time making string bracelets and creating bizarre stories by flashlight. When I was writing this, a few of them asked to be included in the blog:

“In the marsh, we noticed a weird lump at the end of the peninsula and as we got closer we realized that it was a pile of sticks which turned out to be an osprey nest.” (Bryce)

“Doing the ropes course this morning was challenging and helped us develop teambuilding and communication.” (Gabi)

“I got to hold both eyeballs. They were like marbles, and there were only 2 chambers in the heart.” (Everett, enthusiastically referring to the shark dissection)

“Dr. L looks even younger today.” (Kachina. Thanks, K!)

Stay tuned for more NC adventures!

Fondly,
Jilly

To view the slideshow on a mobile device, click this link:

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Nature’s Classroom Day One

Not a tear was shed as the Fifth Grade jubilantly embarked on their 4-day adventure to Nature’s Classroom in cloudy, Wakefield, Rhode Island. After a brief tour of the Charlton rest stop mid-way through the bus ride, we arrived at Nature’s Classroom where we unloaded the bus, ran around to get out some transportive ya-yas, and headed to our cabin, fondly called “Aspen” by the nature-y staff here at Nature’s Classroom.

The girls and I “settled” into our side of the cabin. While Samantha collapsed into a fit of unstoppable giggles on her bed, Gabi took turns showing of her martial arts moves (blue belt Karate) on Sophie (a Tae Kwon Do master) and Alice (master of faking it and twirling with a long ribbon) and Kachina climbed up on her top bunk to perform a human puppet show. I’m not sure what the boys were doing with Tim….unpacking, perhaps?

Lunch was a masterful presentation of chicken tenders and French fries. Salad and fresh fruit rounded out this culinary delight catered by Chef Derek. At my table, Jake was the responsible waitron who organized the dispensing and cleaning up of nourishment. He took his task quite seriously until he had to do a small dance with Hawk (the head counselor) and with Everett at the conclusion of the meal to announce how much ort we had produced—ort being the non-compostable, non-recyclable waste from the meal. We weighed in at 2.5 pounds. Bryce suggested we try for 2.15 pound at dinner time, to which Hawk responded that her scale doesn’t do decimal points…but I was thrilled that our unit on decimals is sinking in…..go Bryce!

After lunch, the students split into field groups with their counselors, Kai and Luna to do a variety of team building activities. Currently, the kids are outside building a geodesic dome while a warm wind is whipping up the salt marsh.

YES!  Your kids are spirited, fun and keep me and Tim laughing all the way. Now, go have a kid-free dinner and use that time you are not making tomorrow’s lunch or signing the planner to do something for yourself!!

Cheers!

Jilly

To view the slideshow on a mobile device, click this link:

https://www.flickr.com//photos/bcdtech/sets/72157689807194306/show/

About a third of the MS has been engaged in a book club with me centered around the novel George    by Alex Gino. This book tells the brave story of a transgender 4^th grader and her experience navigating her own realization, as well as her friends’ and parents’, that she is trans. For the past 2 months, we have meet weekly to read and discuss the book. Last Friday, upon the conclusion of the novel, we read an interview with the author, who shared their own perspective on being trans. We also watched two short video clips.

The first, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0v_idyvjco is a powerful video made by a trans teen, and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA5n9YW4MVk, a second video which is an interview with Jazz Jennings, a transgender teen who has been an advocate for the right for trans students to use school restrooms of their choosing. After each video, the students engaged in a discussion with me and had the opportunity to ask questions and share their thoughts. We also decided to visit the restrooms so that the boys could see the girls’ and vice-versa. In both instances, I entered the bathroom with the students who wanted to take a look.

Throughout the reading and discussion of George, we have talked at length about the importance of inclusion and tolerance. I was impressed by the insight and compassion demonstrated by the participants in my book club. Some of the students were initially confused by the distinctions among the different LGBTQ identities.  It is my hope that this is only the beginning of a dialogue that will continue about diversity and acceptance.

Our next literary share will be Ali Benjamin’s critically acclaimed novel, The Thing about Jellyfish. This novel won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, as well as the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Middle Grade Literature.

Happy Reading!

Jilly Lederman