On Thin Ice

Despite the terrible snow conditions, I decided that today should be the first day for cross country skiing in the elms.  Usually, I'm lucky if I get everyone into skis the first time we go out (and I'm also lucky if my fingers haven't become completely numb trying to help 20 kids into their bindings.)  Today we were all off and skiing within 20 minutes and next time it will be much faster.  The snow/ice was terrible for real cross country skiing but it was great for turning our little sledding hill into our own ski resort.  Alas, we didn't have a ski lift -- perhaps an opportunity for a pully project.  Hmmm.

I love skiing with children.  They are fearless in the face of new sensations and skills.  When we moved to Minnesota, my husband and I had never skiied but went out and bought cross country sets because, well, it seemed like the Minnesota thing to do.  The first time I went cross country skiing I ended up screaming in disgust, "Walking is so much easier!  This is stupid."  I then took off my skis and hiked back home, almost crying in frustration.  But today I had several students who were on skis for the first time.  They fell, sure.  They struggled to get up.  They fell again.  And again.  But, on the way to putting away our skis I heard one say, "That was awesome!"  Other students exclaimed that it felt easier than it had before -- they were finally getting the hang of it.  If only we could all learn new things so gracefully.

On the subject of ice, there are several large ice rinks being cleared on the playground.  As I watched today, students from every grade were crawling around together pushing snow to the edge of icy clearings.  I love it when these types of large, organic projects emerge on the playground.  It's when I see all the work we do in our social curriculum come naturally into play.  Older kids help younger kids, problems emerge and are solved.  Everyone feels important.  It's a great thing to see.

We are working on an exploration of pentominoes in math.  Pentominoes are five squares that share at least one whole side with another square.  The first day we discovered just how many of these shapes there are (12) and today we used our spacial skills to imagine which ones could be folded into boxes.  All of this work was done in groups and students had to explain their thinking to groupmates so that everyone reached consensus.  Tomorrow, students will try to cut boxes apart into pentominoes -- each student making one cut per box.  The key is being able to talk about one's reasoning.  If you don't already have a set, pentominoes make a great gift.  The central challenge is to make as large a rectangle as possible by interlocking the pieces.

And, yes, the careful observer will notice that the ski picture is one from last year and a large excavator now stands where we once skiied.  I forgot to bring out our camera today.  Next time we'll get some action shots.

Comments

[Simon]

Michelle and the Elms,
I loved hearing about your ski adventures. It brought back happy memories for me of skiing at PCCS with the kids. I was a chaperone up at Duluth this past weekend with the high school nordic ski team. PCCS alumni were everywhere!
Maybe it's time I started a Ski with Simon club out here at ARTech...
ST