Posts Tagged 1st grade

White House Confidential

January 9, 2013 at 9:59 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

IMG_0232Students in Sara Lev and Alli Newell’s Whale Pod returned for the New Year eager to further explore to a hot topic introduced before the break—the White House. Some of the important questions these kindergartners and 1st graders had: How many rooms does the White House have? Exactly how big is it? Does it have everything that the President needs to do his job?  Do the doors have any peepholes for the President to look out of?

The Whale Pod's White House replica

The Whale Pod’s White House replica

The work that inspired these, and even more student questions reflects the Wildwood Life Skill of Curiosity, and this week Sara and Alli’s students are also practicing the related Life Skill of Problem Solving as they seek ways to satisfy their curiosity.

Seated with the class on the rug, Sara shares photos and stories she gathered during a private tour of the White House’s West Wing that she took over winter break. The social studies discussion broadens when Whale Pod students Bowden E. and Max A., who also both recently visited the White House, shared their experiences with the class.

Max A. shares some fun facts about the White House with his classmates

Max A. shares some fun facts about the White House with his classmates

Curiosity about the White House grew directly from the Whale Pod’s year-long social studies theme of Homes and Habitats and was enhanced by the 2012 presidential campaign and election. “The kids were really inspired by the 5th grade’s school-wide mock election in November,” Sara tells me. “We began talking with the kids about the White House and Alli and I could tell that they were interested in learning more.”  Sara says the curiosity about the residence makes sense since, “The White House is one of the most famous homes in the world, so there is a genuine connection to our social studies theme.”

Whale Pod Student, Bowden C., shows a model of the White House to his classmates

Whale Pod Student, Bowden C., shows a model of the White House to his classmates

One expression of the Whale Pod’s deep interest is a replica of the White House they built with wooden blocks back in the fall. It’s an artifact that today sits in a key space on the floor at the far end of the classroom.  Max A., the project’s original architect, tells me what inspired him to begin, and his peers to join, building their version of the White House.  “We borrowed a model that the 5th graders had of the White House and I just started building it with the blocks one day during Explorations,” he says. “Then my other friends started to help me and add on to it.”  He points out the East and West Wings and the North Face, complete with its triangular pediment. “We came in early after morning drop-off to finish it.”

Our 42nd President, Bill Clinton, at home in the Whale Pod's White House

Our 42nd President, Bill Clinton, casually attired and at home in the Whale Pod’s White House

Back in the discussion, Sara guides students as they discover how to connect all of their questions to future learning. “So,” she asks, “how can we find answers to our questions about the White House?”

“We can read non-fiction books about the White House,” offers Bryce C., while Holden M. suggests that the class consult the Internet.  “We could write down our questions and send them to the White House,” offers Isaiah W. After students share other ideas, Nita K. suggests that the class could send their questions to President Obama, who could come visit the Whale Pod to answer them in person.  “Or,” Nita continues, “We can all go on a field trip.”  “To the White House?” Sara asks. Maybe not, Nita concedes, but then Sara suggests a trip to the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, to help the students find some answers; the students are very excited by the prospect.

The Whale Pod’s study of the White House offers all of us in the Wildwood community of teachers and learners valuable insights into young children’s thinking and problem solving. Some of it might seem fanciful to us adults, but it fosters the deep learning we seek at Wildwood everyday.

~ By Steve Barrett, Director of Outreach, Teaching, and Learning

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“Play is a Child’s Work”

September 12, 2012 at 4:48 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

The Kindergarten and 1st Graders in the Seal Pod were having their first Explorations time of the year when I arrived early this week. Students were choosing from a menu of activities meant to pique their passions and hone their problem-solving abilities.

“Play is a child’s work,” said Jean Piaget, and his words on a poster in Sherry Varon and Jan Wald’s classroom clearly guide the instruction.

“We have the table outside set up to experiment with colors,” Sherry tells the students. “You can also choose to work with Jan on the pulley, or with the parent visitors on legos or dress-up,” Sherry adds.  Students chose their activities and began their work.

Sam S. and Asher Z. add elements to their car

In one corner of the room, Asher Z., Sam S., and Quinn K. choose to play with the pulley. Jan built the simple system—stretched horizontally between two bookshelves—with the intention of encouraging the type of imaginative play that Exploration time allows for.

Jan Wald helps Quinn K. with a drill

Asher was busy attaching a wooden box to one of the wires. “We’re making a train car up in the sky,” he tells me. “We have to get it from one side of the valley to the other.” Asher and his friends soon found themselves with a problem to solve: how to move the car across the valley without pulling the wires by hand?  They have an idea and ask Jan for help.  “What’s your plan?” asks Jan. She talks with the boys as they devise a solution, crafting a hand crank out of some round pieces of wood. Jan helps them to drill a hole, and the train car in the sky now has a mechanical motive force.  Pretty cool!

Sherry Varon works with Audrey S. experiment with colors

Outside, Sherry is with the group of girls who have chosen to work at a table, experimenting with colors. The goal: create their own multi-hued palettes for painting using food coloring starting with just the three primary colors—red, blue and yellow. Sherry and I watch as the girls use pipettes to place varying amounts and combinations of food coloring into a matrix of tiny cups; the girls then use paint brushes to test their blends on paper. Laurel H. confidently announces what’s motivated her choice of activities today, “I’m an art person!” while Shania W. shows off a spate of reds she’s been mixing—using more drops creates deeper shades.  Eve K. proudly deepens the conversation, telling us, “If we had white, we could mix it with the red and make pink.”

Shania W. shows off her many hues of red

Explorations is a time-honored best practice among the primary grades at Wildwood; a time that is, as Elementary School Director, Katie Rios, puts it “about children making decisions about what they want to do and see what comes out of it, cognitively, socially and emotionally.”

For Sherry, Explorations time reinforces Piaget’s notion of play being a child’s work. “Students are making choices and negotiating with their peers about how to use time, space and materials. They’re also testing out their personal and academic passions – it’s all part of their learning.” Sherry tells me about past students who have used Explorations time to read, as well as write and act out original plays.

As Explorations time draws to a close, students start to clean up their projects. “We like to give them at least 45 minutes for Explorations”, says Jan “because, developmentally, it takes that long for kids this age to really engage in meaningful play.”  Jan’s words echo the theories of Piaget. The 20th century developmental psychologist felt that this kind of play is essential for children’s cognitive development. Pod-aged children, to paraphrase Piaget, can’t yet think abstractly and use play to try out abstract ideas and concepts in a way that they understand.

An unexpected bonus: Seeing the Seal Pod students so deeply involved in their work clearly illustrated ways that teachers on our elementary campus weave Life Skills into every class experience. In addition to problem solving and cooperation, the students were practicing initiative, organization, and curiosity—all the while engaged in the most important work of all: play.

~ By Steve Barrett, Director of Outreach, Teaching and Learning

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East-West Encounter: Japanese Educators Visit Wildwood

June 6, 2012 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

At Wildwood, we believe in sharing.  Through the Wildwood Outreach Center, we share our best educational practices with educators locally, nationally, and internationally.  This week the Outreach Center welcomed a visit by eight early childhood and early elementary educators from Japan, who visited the elementary campus to see the best of Wildwood in action.

After greetings were exchanged, I escorted our visitors to the kindergarten-1st grade Pelican Pod where I knew that the students had prepared something special in anticipation of the visit. As we walked into the room, Head Teacher Susanne Guilbert smiled and said “Perfect timing!”

“Konnichiwa!” the Pelican Pod students exclaimed in unison, catching the Japanese visitors pleasantly off guard. Along with Associate Teacher, Christine Steenken, the students sat in a circle on their colorful rug beaming with excitement toward the new friends who’ve entered their room.

Together the students had also prepared a giant welcome banner for the visitors, along with a special book filled with greeting notes from each student.  Susanne presented the book to Mari Yoneda, the group’s interpreter. Our Japanese guests took in the scene and examined the students’ notes with huge smiles. Their eyes light up seeing that two of the students, Oliver P. and Hanami W., wrote their greeting notes in Japanese!

Gradually, Susanne and Christine help the students re-focus on the school task at hand: Morning meeting. The Japanese visitors take seats in the diminutive classroom chairs and take out notebooks, watching rapturously as the students went around their circle to greet each other. I quietly provide context to Mari, which she relays to her colleagues in Japanese.

The visiting educators are here at Wildwood today as part of an annual exchange program led by author and child development professor, Dr. Barbara Polland—who also happens to be grandmother to Pelican Pod student, Sadie C.  For the past 15 summers, Barbara has hosted groups of educators as they travel throughout southern California, seeing exemplary schools in action. As she’s come to know the elementary program this year through her granddaughter’s experiences, Barbara knew that this summer she had to bring her guests to see Wildwood.

After our visit to the Pelican Pod I take the Japanese visitors to other classrooms and sites on the elementary campus.

The new outdoor classroom and Big Yard Woods really captured the visitors’ interest.  Like Wildwood’s early elementary program, our Japanese visitors’ schools have embraced the internationally renowned Reggio Emilia approach, an educational best practice from Italy that values student learning from their natural environment. But it was the arroyo in The Big Yard Woods that truly captured our visitors’ imaginations and accolades. They were enchanted by the interactive water feature, which allows students to simulate and control the flow of a life-like mini river.  I was reminded by the fact that the words “Reggio Emilia” needed no Japanese interpretation that we have ample evidence that Wildwood’s program reflects world-wide best practice.

Before departing, our Japanese visitors pay a call on Elementary School Director, Katie Rios. “They consider it a major honor to be in the presence of the school leader,” Barbara tells me.  Katie shares the history of Wildwood School and its progressive philosophy and takes questions from the visiting educators.  Finally, one of the visiting teachers, Kensuke Suzuki, presents Katie with a bag of gifts for Wildwood’s students—hundreds of origami figures in the shapes of pianos, foxes and balls that the Japanese educators folded themselves.

The sharing had come full circle.

The visiting Japanese educators with Dr. Barbara Polland (center left) and Director of Elementary School, Katie Rios (center right)

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Best Buds

May 23, 2012 at 8:56 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Our approach at Wildwood is very intentionally age-mixed. The benefits of blending kids of slightly varying ages and abilities are clear, both in the classroom, and out.

On a recent Tuesday on the elementary campus, I watched two groups of students entering the Big Yard in straight lines from opposite corners.  The 3rd graders, coming from the west, were walking downstairs after spending some time in the tech lab.  The Whale Pod, heading in from the east, entered through the Big Yard woods.

As students in each group began to recognize each other, they broke ranks from the neat, single-file lines, rushing past their teachers and toward each other.  I hear Whale Pod associate teacher, Alli Newell call across the Big Yard to 3rd grade associate, Jody Poulos, “This feels like West Side Story.”

In this Wildwood Story, the two worlds meet but don’t collide. The kids all rush each other with excitement and joy and pair off to play tag, soccer, and basketball. The students, from Melissa Capuano’s 3rd grade class and Sara Lev’s Whale Pod are teamed up as part of Wildwood’s long-running Buddy program.

“At least twice a month,” says Alli Newell, “our Pod kids spend time with Melissa’s 3rd graders.  Sometimes, like today, it’s play time on Big Yard. We’ll also have reading time together, or we’ll do a holiday-themed project.”  To which Melissa Capuano adds, “This year our classes made Valentine’s cards together.”

The Buddy program has been a Wildwood institution for decades.  Assistant Elementary School Director, Melissa Linehan, can attest to the program’s profound effects. “My oldest son, Michael, became great friends with his younger buddy in the program.  As adults, they went on to be in a band together. I’ve even heard them talk about their “buddy” time at Wildwood in radio interviews.”

Whale Pod students, Nita K. (top), and Harper S. with 3rd grade buddy, Emma L. (bottom)

The kids playing on the Big Yard today are happy keeping this Wildwood tradition alive. Whale Pod students, Nita K. and Harper S., readily offer endorsements when I ask what they like most about their 3rd grade buddy Emma L. “She’s fun and she’s big enough to give us piggyback rides,” they exclaim.  While I see a smile on her face, I also sense that Emma, weighed down by her two Whale Pod piggyback riders, good-naturedly is practicing the Life Skill of flexibility— adapting to the wants and needs of her younger buddies.

Melissa Capuano adds that the buddy program also provides her 3rd graders the opportunity to practice another Life Skill, Responsibility.  “We’ve had some great conversations about what it means to be the big buddy,” she says. “Because they’re larger, they have to be conscious of how hard they play.”  “And,” she adds, “the 3rd graders are great at holding each other accountable for being good role models for the Pod kids.”

Some of these friendships may be fleeting; other Wildwood buddies will remain connected throughout elementary school and beyond.  Both ways, our goals are met, as Wildwood’s day-to-day commitment to community building is realized, and resonates in our student’s lives.

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The power of words

March 7, 2012 at 3:29 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

At Wildwood, words and relationships matter, and that’s clear even when you drop in on the K-1 Whale Pod and spend some time with our youngest students.

I arrived before class started and most students were already in the room, anticipating their day.  Some set up chairs at the four small, kid-sized tables.  Others check the day’s schedule to see when they’ll have science and time on the big yard.  Others were checking in with each other as a few parents lingered in the room, socializing and giving good-bye hugs.

Jeremy F. leads morning meeting in the Whale Pod

Everyday, the Whale Pod begins the school day with morning meeting.  Sitting on the floor rug, the eighteen students eagerly await the start. Jeremy F. is the meeting leader, which involves a lot of responsibility. First and foremost he gets to sit in the leader chair.  “Who has news?” Jeremy asks his classmate: eighteen hands go up.

“Morning meeting helps kids transition into the school day,” says Whale Pod head teacher, Sara Lev.  “It’s structured so that every student is recognized and, if he or she wants, allows every student’s voice to be heard.”

The news shared today includes; loose teeth, updates on grandparents who are on the mend, and casual invitations. One student, Max A., explains a new game that he’d like his classmates to try with him today on big yard.

Jeremy then chooses a green dinosaur-tipped pointer and leads the class through the morning message that Sara has written on the board; a message purposely embedded with grammar and punctuation mistakes for students to find and fix.  “Developing literacy skills is extremely important for emergent readers at this age,” Sara explains.

Jeremy F. reads the morning message

After Jeremy leads the class through attendance and the day’s schedule, Sara thanks him and finishes morning meeting with a fun round of freeze dance; the students have been sitting patiently for nearly twenty minutes after all.  Then, the Whale Pod is ready for Reading Workshop.

Today, Ryan Grant will lead the workshop.  Ryan, a student teacher from Antioch University, Los Angeles, has been with the Whale Pod since early January, being mentored by Sara Lev and the pod’s associate teacher, Alli Newell. Today, Ryan will lead the class in a lesson on poetry; specifically the power of poetic imagery.

Ryan reads a haiku aloud and asks the students to visualize the images that come to mind.  With all eyes shut, he shares a translation of a famous Japanese poet, Matsuo Bashō:

An old silent pond…

A frog jumps in the pond

Splash! All is silent again

Nita K.’s drawing

Smiles emerge the students’ faces and Ryan sets their work in motion, asking them to illustrate on paper, any images that the poem elicited for them.  Working at tables and on the floor, the students fill their papers with all manner of blue ponds, green frogs, and turbulent and peaceful waters.  When it’s time to come together in a circle and share, all students are eager to jump in and make a splash with their images.

Nita K., was very pleased with her picture’s simplicity as she shared with the class.  “It’s right when the frog jumps in,” she says, “right after it’s really loud and it’s about to get quiet again.”  Looking at Ryan, I can see the satisfaction on his face.  Nita had captured the power of poetic imagery- when words freeze a moment in time and the mind creates meaning, which can be conveyed and shared with others.

Connections start to grow here, and the Whale Pod day is structured to obliquely emphasize that what we say matters, and what we hear matters. At Wildwood, we believe understanding each other, and ideas, depends on close reading and strong relationships.

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Come out and play!

February 16, 2012 at 9:39 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

At Wildwood, play is important, encouraged, and often, inspired.

At the Wildwood speedway pod students teamed up with partners: one sits on a colored, platform scooter and the other stands behind with hands on partner’s shoulders, ready to “drive” around the figure-8 Wildwood Speedway track. Fun, right? It’s also about the art of negotiation. Wildwood physical education teacher, Tyler Williams, says the Speedway includes a four-way intersection that requires thoughtful navigation. “You have to be safe and look both ways before you go through,” Williams tells the students. He cues the music and twenty students start their way around the track with smiles, laughs, and screams of joy.

Pod students prepare to “race”

The Wildwood Speedway is just one example of the purposeful play that our elementary physical education team designs for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. “The idea is to have fun,” says Williams, “but the kids are also practicing interpersonal skills, like cooperating and caring for others, and especially the Life Skill of common sense.” Williams stops the music, pausing the action, just as two groups of students get into a jam in the Speedway’s intersection.  Williams uses the opportunity to talk the students through strategies to avoid this problem again.

Like so many classes at Wildwood, P.E. is also a collaborative effort.  While one group of pod students are with Williams on the Speedway, fellow P.E. teachers Hasan Muhammad and Darren Pasco coach another group of pod students on the big yard through the finer points of jumping rope.  The students are in groups of three, two students holding the ends of a jump rope and at third poised to leap over.

Pasco tosses out a metaphor to help the kids visualize their jumps. “How do we build a house? We start with the first floor,” says Pasco, as students take their first leap over the held rope. The “house” gets progressively taller, as ropes go higher and students grunt and giggle in their efforts to make it over the rope.

Leaping over the “second floor”

Pasco explains the logic behind this seemingly simple game:  “One of our focuses with the kids at this age is on helping them to develop their gross motor skills.  We start with hopping on one and two legs.  Today you see we’re having the kids jump over a held rope and eventually they’ll learn to jump a spinning rope.” The simple joy of setting a physical challenge and meeting it, brings smiles to their faces- and to their teachers.  “The skills that our kids develop in the pods,” Pasco says, “are the ones that they will build upon as the curriculum moves more into team sports.”

Play more, learn more.  It’s something we understand at Wildwood.

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Games. Songs. Stories. Could learning Spanish really be this much fun?

October 6, 2011 at 12:58 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , ,

Its 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning, and the Whale Pod—one of Wildwood’s four multi-age kindergarten/1st grade classes, is ramping up. “¡Hola!” greets Catalina Hernandez, one of the elementary school Spanish teachers. “¿Comó estas?” As she speaks, Catalina’s whole body seems to say hello: her facial expression is exaggerated, she waves excitedly, and she practically sweeps kids up with her enthusiasm.

Children repeat the greeting and immediately launch into a quick exercise where they go around the semi-circle asking each other’s names. Then they count to 20, using their bodies to express each digit. Now it’s time for a song. We are 10 minutes into the half-hour lesson, and so far not a word of English has been spoken. Catalina cheers los niños on with, “¡Excellenté! ¡Muy bien!” This is not a class for the lazy. Catalina keeps her young charges moving at a fast clip; there’s no time to get bored.

Children learn to ask, "What's your name?" in Spanish.

At this point in their Spanish education, the Pod students are gaining confidence in speaking a new language; confidence is the foundation for the mastery that comes later. Over the next few years, students will develop the rhythm and basic vocabulary through Total Physical Response (TPR). They’ll dance, point, use their fingers, and make silly faces that they will associate with Spanish vocabulary.

Wildwood's youngest students learn Spanish through dance, song, games, and stories.

Does it work?

If Tuesday’s class was any indication, the answer is a resounding “sí.” Toward the end of the lesson, Catalina asked students to go around the room and point to something “azul.” With little hesitation, each child found a blue object. Then she asked for “rojo.” They quickly dispersed and regrouped around red objects. And so it went as she worked them through the primary colors.

Were they learning? Yep. Were they having the best time doing it? Yep. Kind of sneaky, that TPR. Learning by having fun. Sign me up.

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