When life gives you lemons . . .

Lemonade Day is approaching!

Ms. C, our music teacher, is charged with coordinating the event on our campus, and every time she mentioned it to me, she flinched as if she feared violence.  This is a dangerous time of year to ask teachers to do "one more thing."  I took pity and decided that if we were going to do this, we should jump in with both feet and make it a real learning experience.  (Is there another way to do these things?)

Shopping cart loaded with a dozen lemons, sugar, powdered lemonade, cans of frozen concentrate, gallon jugs of water, five matching pitchers, and a giant bag of ice, we were stocked and ready to investigate.  (Have you noticed how many of these adventures begin with a late night trip to the store? . . .)

Our challenge is to offer the best tasting lemonade.  The children brainstormed attributes of good lemonade: not too sour, not too sweet, not too watery, the "right" color ("sometimes lemonade is pink"), no seeds, no bugs, maybe lemon slices on the edge of the pitcher or cup, maybe some extra flavors like strawberry or mint from our garden.  We classified these attributes into two categories--flavor and appearance--and I quickly drafted a survey form while the children went to the library for their ancillary class.

When they returned, we discussed the different ways of making lemonade: fresh lemons, lemon juice, flavored powder, and frozen concentrate.  The children also spoke of a tablet that fizzes in the water.  (If I had known about those beforehand, I would have procured some for this investigation!)  We then checked out the ingredients in the various products.  Lemons and sugar and water are fairly straightforward, and although corn syrup topped the list on the can of frozen concentrate, at least all of the ingredients were recognizable and easy to pronounce.  Not so for the flavored powders. 

Next, we discussed how to design a "blind taste test."  One second grader suggested we use a code on each pitcher so that the testers don't know what kind it is. 

Each cooperative science group got busy (and MESSY!) measuring and mixing up a different type of lemonade:

1) Crystal Light "Natural Lemonade" powdered drink mix

2) Fresh lemons, sugar, and water

   

3) Country Time Lemonade powdered drink mix

4) Frozen lemonade concentrate

5) Lemon juice, sugar, and water--made with a simple syrup

In secret, I assigned each lemonade a number,

and we began the serious business of taste-testing. 

"Can your taste buds get tired?" asked a second grader when we were finished.

The votes were in, and the children tallied the results.  

"Will we graph the results?" asked a first grader. You know we will, my lovelies!

To my great dismay (and despite its suspect list of ingredients), Crystal Light was the clear winner, earning 12 votes versus the 5 votes earned by the fresh-squeezed lemonade (and only one vote for each of the others, along with a few young souls who were confused about the election rules). 

The following day, we taste-tested some lemonade enhancements.  Grape juice was added to one pitcher to change the color to pink, and another pitcher was steeped overnight with fresh mint from our garden.  Once again, Mrs. D and I swooned over the one with fresh mint, but pink was very popular with the children.  One second grader with a more discerning palate mentioned to me that it had an undesirable aftertaste of grape.

Seasoned consumers, the children have great marketing strategies:

"One idea is we can put like little umbrellas in the cup and a slice of lemon or a mint leaf to make it pretty.  We can take some grape juice and given them the choice of plain Crystal Light or pink Country Time (it tastes better than pink Crystal Light)."--NJ, 2nd grade

"I think we should sell the lemonade with mint and we could advertise on commercials."--AD, 2nd grade

What We're Reading (just to prove that indeed I do have a book for everything!):

Lemonade for Sale by Stuart Murphy

Public Montessori in the news!

Clark Montessori, the nation's first public Montessori high school (and home to the fabulous Marta Donahoe, Program Director), has been selected as one of six finalists in the White House's Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge.  Wahoo!  It's exciting that a public Montessori school has attracted such positive national attention.  To show your support for public Montessori, view Clark's three-minute video and vote for them now. 

(Voting is open through Thursday, April 29.)

Flexibility

Not surprisingly, the children were a little discombobulated as word spread through the class that we will not be together in Room 28 next year.  Suddenly, instead of a committed community investing in our future together, many of us (and I include myself) became bad-attitude bears with increasingly worrisome (and contagious) cases of senioritis.  How would we survive the rest of the year?

Yoga to the rescue!

A few years ago, my mother (at my request) gifted our "Peaceful Table" this beautiful yoga mat (I love the calming blue of those leaves against the earthy brown!), along with a mat bag and these fabulous Yoga Pretzels cards.  The side-loading style of our mat bag makes it easier for children to store the mat than if they had to stuff it in from one end.  The cards are large with laminated surfaces, and the names of the poses are kid-friendly with easy to follow, step-by-step illustrations.  The cards are color-coded according to category: Breathe, Balance, Stand, Forward Bend, Back Bend, Twist & Stretch, Partner, and Game.

Periodically, I introduce new poses during whole-class lessons in the afternoon.  The children are free to get out the mat, take off their shoes, and enjoy a few poses if they need to calm down or take a break during work time.

With our recent upheaval, we've been spending more time together on yoga in the afternoons.  An interesting side-effect is that we're also experiencing a bloom of yoga activity during worktime, and the children have discovered the Partner yoga cards! 

What fun to twist and stretch together!

A second grade student asked me, "Ms. S., where did you get those yoga cards?  Because I think I could do a couple of poses before I go to bed each night."  He later wrote in his journal, "The yoga pose I like best is River.  It flows all of the bad thoughts out of me."  Whoa!  Hello, Self-aware!

Resources:

Yoga Pretzels card deck

Storytime Yoga: Teaching Yoga to Children through Story by Sydney Solis

My Daddy is a Pretzel by Baron Baptiste

Happy Earth Day!

 

One of the children asked this morning, "Are we going to have a nature scavenger hunt today for Earth Day?"  Why yes, we are!  What a great idea!

I whipped up a little checklist (along with this super-cute hiking giraffe graphic):
a worm, a caterpillar, a nest, a feather, an oak leaf, a seed, animal tracks, etc. 

 

Each cooperative science group received one of the fabulous green bags Mrs. D procured at a dollar store,

and off they went!

Great fun! 
and a great way to promote field science in your own backyard!






What We're Reading:
Earth Day--Hooray! by Stuart Murphy
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Our Tree Named Steve by Alan Zweibel

Resources:
A great nature scavenger hunt with clip art
Another Earth Day idea

Fund for Teachers

Happy 10th birthday, Fund for Teachers!  

Profoundly influenced by a dynamic teacher, Raymond Plank (founder of Houston-based Apache Corporation) established Fund for Teachers to offer professional development fellowships to teachers.  Plank's personal experience demonstrates the impact dedicated and passionate teachers can have on the lives of children (and the adults they will become).  With the goal of making this world "a little better off than it was before," Fund for Teachers offers fellowships of up to $5000 ($10000 for team grants) for projects of teachers' own imaginations.  The idea is to give back to teachers who work creatively to change young lives--and to trust that teachers are professionals who know best what will feed their own curiosity and rekindle their passion for what they do in the classroom.

"What we're looking for in society are those who can make a difference, but first they've got to make a difference to themselves."--Raymond Plank

This year, I am honored to be a two-time recipient of a generous Fund for Teachers grant.  Five years ago, I was awarded my first FFT Fellowship--three weeks on a boat on the Amazon River, paddling canoes into the flooded forest to study rainforest ecology.  Since then, I have been inspired to fill my summers with fabulous, eye-opening adventures and then share those experiences with children.  This summer's fellowship will be another mystery, but Fluffy and I promise to reveal clues and post pictures throughout the summer!

Teachers, I encourage you to investigate this unique opportunity to fund your dreams!  I cannot thank Fund for Teachers enough for giving me the inspiration (and the funds) to follow mine!

Attitude adjustment

When the district announced the plan to close the Montessori program at my school, I must admit to feeling sad, mad, and confused—all at the same time. To make matters worse, we were the last school they told. I found out from a friend who works at another school—who called to find out how I was doing with the news. “What news?” I asked, all innocent-like. The next afternoon, a woman from North Carolina, with a plane ticket out of town that evening, arrived at our school to explain the district’s plan to us. Like a tossed salad, suddenly we are all up in the air, and I have visions of soggy pieces of lettuce splatting onto the table and cherry tomatoes rolling off into a corner of the floor.

It may be hard for those who don’t do what we do to understand, but a Montessori school is all about community. Each child stays in our classroom for three years. Our class has memory and tradition and history. Older children tell younger friends what they have to look forward to in Room 28. Not only that, but I now teach the third siblings from some of my families. We’ve built relationships and trust. That evening, after my kind friend called (and was then forced into the uncomfortable position of telling me “the news” herself), one of my first thoughts was, “I know about community-building traditions, but I don’t know any community-ending, goodbye rituals.”

The Montessori program in our school began in 1982. To think about ending what we’ve built here and starting over is harder than I can explain. To think about not working with Mrs. D (who has learned to read my mind and somehow intuit even my unconscious thoughts and plans), to ponder not having the privilege of watching some of our first graders grow into responsible and capable third graders, to consider the children who have graduated and will no longer have a place where they can return to visit us, to think about the years of myself that I’ve invested in this place, in these people, in this community—it’s all too sad to really contemplate very long at all. Mrs. D and I take turns getting teary-eyed. The children are a little out-of-sorts, as change and the prospect of an unknown will often do. We are all mourning the end of something rare and good.

When spring finally arrived, after our long, uncharacteristically cold winter, my thoughts turned to our garden, but I did not buy new plants. “What's the point in investing in a garden we must leave behind?” I thought sadly (and, if I am honest, a little Grinch-grouchily).

Then, as we watched a 3-6 teacher giving a “parts of the flower” lesson with an amaryllis blooming in our garden, a second grader quietly and thoughtfully said to me, “Ms. S, I’ve been thinking I might like to come up to the school in the summer and plant some sunflower seeds so that there’s something beautiful to remember me by.” Wow! More powerful than if someone had slapped my face and shouted, "Snap out of it!"  My thinking about this has been all wrong, and it took an eight-year-old boy to shake me from my funk. Once again, I am in awe of the wisdom and insight these young people bring to my life.  But, of course!  Leave behind something beautiful--like Lady Bird Johnson or Miss Rumphius.

Mrs. C, who is wiser and more gracious than I, knew this without the help of a child. When she left our school, she planted roses—and They Are GLORIOUS this spring! Every time I see them, I smile and think of her.

Yes, we will need to leave behind “something beautiful to remember us by.”


Point of information: The district plans to apply for a Magnet Schools Improvement Grant. The idea is to eventually expand two school-within-a-school Montessori programs to all-Montessori campuses. Ultimately, this will create more Montessori classrooms in the district and (in addition to an existing all-Montessori campus) will result in three all-Montessori campuses. Done thoughtfully and with intention, this will be a good thing.

Maybe, instead of a tossed salad, we are a dandelion—seeds scattered in the wind to land and bloom somewhere new. I hope so!

Fun finds

Brrr! A front is coming in, and it's become a surprisingly cold Spring Break! Many of the team had to procure extra sweatshirts in town. (Too bad they don't have Mrs. D, Mistress of Procurement, looking out for them!)

We got a lot done today, though.

A good bit of the morning was devoted to completing a layer over the bottom/now-top of the jacket. Our plaster-splattered clothes (and hair and hats and glasses and . . . ) made quite the spectacle in town at lunch!


We (well, mostly Chris) spent the afternoon at the main quarry, scooping out the muck that had eroded from above.

At first, Fluffy and I found ourselves excavating buried tools from a past dig season. Suddenly, this was an archaeological dig!

The mud revealed a real cache! A couple bottles of Vinac, super glue, a water bottle, a screw driver, a pick, a brush, a tent stake--enough to assemble a tool kit! We were excited to be finding anything in that muddy mess.

Of course, it's far more exciting to find bone . . .

Especially big, giant Texas-sized Dimetrodon bones like this one (the two pieces above fit together)! Wahoo! My find of the day!

It's a caudal (tail) vertebra that would be positioned where the pick is pointed on the Dimetrodon skeleton! Chris says he's never seen one so large.

Feel your own vertebrae. Then check out the size of this one, and just imagine how big this guy must have been!

The erosion mess was finally cleaned up,

and we were suddenly finding bone after bone. The good stuff always turns up at the end of a field day (or often at the end of the field week), and we maintained the tradition.

No one wanted to stop digging!

The bad news is that it's started to rain, and we'll have to start all over again tomorrow!

Suddenly Seymour!

We've arrived!




The field truck is loaded with pounds of plaster, ready for action.





Last season, a bulldozer operator was working on the ranch, digging a new cow "tank." We are lucky he had a good eye because he stopped when he spotted fossils. Soon, the dig team was over in the area working, and they found Trimerorhachis skulls--lots of them! The amphibian skulls and the mound of soil around them were covered in plaster. With some clever, careful work, the huge plaster jacket was moved to a safer spot on the ranch (one that wasn't about to be flooded with drinking water for cows). With so much rain this winter, the area where they were found is now under 25 feet of water!

Our big job today was to work on that huge "jacket." First, we needed to reduce its weight by removing a few layers of dirt from the bottom (which now sits on the top).




As the layers split off in neat sheets, we looked carefully to be sure we were only removing layers of dirt and not fossils!



Michele discovered something amazing!




Trimerorhachis footprints! Wow!

After the excitement (and the paleo-paparazzi) died down, we were ready to begin jacketing the footprints and the rest of the bottom of the jacket (now on top) so that those precious skulls can be safely transported.



The area is covered in foil to protect the footprints.






Next, fabric dipped in plaster and smoothed over the foil.







Shirley really gets into her work!








The sad news for the day is at the main quarry. The wet winter weather caused the soil above the site to erode under the tarp and down onto the area where the team is digging. This means more work for the team to undo the work of water and gravity--and it also means that fossils that were "in place"are no longer organized in layers. This means that clues about what was living with what and who was eating whom may be lost.

But the ranch owners have a happy surprise for us!


No indoor plumbing on the ranch, but now the team will have fancy facilities!