Life Among the Elms

When there are no answers

We created electromagnets today in class.  I prefaced the instructions by explaining that any electrons moving along a conductor create a magnetic field.  I went further to explain that even though we use this fact all of the time (in motors and generators for example) there is still a lot of mystery.  We don't, for example, know the precise relationship of electricity and magnetism nor exactly what a force is (even though we thoroughly understand the effects of the force.

I shared this with the class because I think it is extremely important that they know that science is not a fixed set of information but an evolving understanding of our universe.  There are still so many things that we don't understand but that they may solve in their lifetimes.  (I asked them to dedicate their scientific papers to the Elms if that should happen).  It's so exciting to me to know that we don't know -- and the students shared my awe.  One immediately piped up -- "It's got something to do with the iron...I'm sure of it."

We made our electromagnets.  As usual there were joyous shouts of, "It's working!" as partnerships picked up staples with their nails.  (It always surprises me the awe of the students at their own success, even after they've seen an experiment demonstrated to them -- it's so important for them to do it themselves.)  Hypotheses on how to create a more powerful electromagnet were quickly formed and written (add more coils, move the coils closer to the staples, use more volts).  We'll try out the ideas tomorrow.

When I got home, I was curious about just how much we do know about the electro-magnetic connection.  It's certainly more than what I learned in highschool (or at least more than my physics teacher understood well enough to explain to us).  Whenever I see the words "special relativity" I know that I'm in rather over my head.  For those of you who might be able to explain it to me, here's what Wikipedia has to say:

The magnetic field forms one aspect of electromagnetism. (See also relativistic electromagnetism.) In a simplified form the magnetic field can be thought of as the relativistic part of an electric field. More precisely, magnetic fields are a necessary consequence of the existence of electric fields and special relativity. A pure electric field in one reference frame will be viewed as a combination of both an electric field and a magnetic field in a moving reference frame. Together, the electric and magnetic fields make up the electromagnetic field, which is best known for underlying light and other electromagnetic waves.

Our world is full of mystery.

This Book Doesn't Have Anything

When students first started doing independent research in kindergarten -- dot questions were ideal.  Now, however, their research needs to dig a little deeper and we encourage many dash questions and even a few stars.

The next step is to identify the "umbrellas" that the questions fit under.  If students just focus on the questions, they often put on blinders as they read.  Books that don't explicitly answer the question are deemed worthless.  Broadening out their research to umbrella sub topics that include their specific questions aids in note gathering.  Now students are on the look out for things that are related to their questions, not just direct answers to those questions.

We're now working hard to really break down non-fiction paragraphs and find the information in them.  We teach the students how to take notes on cards and we model "note language" in which students write down key words on a card instead of complete sentences.  This is a difficult process for most fourth graders.  They often will read through a paragraph chock full of information and proclaim "it doesn't have anything."  On the flip side, some students will write down every word of a paragraph, unable to tease the facts out of it but unwilling to dismiss it.

To aid the process, I will sometimes act as a book on tape and have students stop me when they hear something that might be useful later.  We train them to write down specifics like names and dates.  We also encourage them to write down new vocabulary.  Little by little, they learn how to deconstruct non-fiction texts so that they can re-construct it in their own writing and teaching.

For more information on the approach, check out our honors project resources.  The fourth graders mirror the fifth grade process, just in miniature.

Around the World...

Isabel P.''s aunt, Barb, came and told us about her journey around the world today.  She and her husband took 19 months to travel from Europe to Asia to Australia to Africa to South America.  She's an amazing photographer and the students often gasped as an image came up on the screen.  My personal favorite was a series of shots showing the edge of a glacier collapsing.

Barb did a great job pointing out some of the differences in every day life -- and emphasizing that differences were neither good nor bad.  It's a valuable reminder in our competitive world where we are always hungry to compare and rank.

The kids asked great questions and were left wanting to do projects on everything from Machu Pichu to Mt. Everest to the Cuban Embargo to the Great Wall of China.  Thanks to Sarah for bringing Barb to us and organizing the presentation.

Traditiooooooon, Tra-di-tion.

O.K., so it's hard to catch the allusion to Tevye's Fiddler on the Roof song without a sound clip but I haven't figured MP3 blog links out yet.  Thank you for your understanding.

Friday was the all important Valentine's Day celebration at Prairie Creek.  The traditions that we observe go back to the very beginning of the school, twenty five years ago.  Every child makes a Valentine bag.  We distribute valentines at  the beginning of the day, often with the older children helping the younger ones.  Then we gather at an all school gathering to play "Love Bingo" with our reading buddies.  The lucky winners travel through the "Tunnel of Love" receiving hugs from all of the teachers.  The fifth graders all travel through the Tunnel of Love, too, one of the many traditions that help mark their departure from Prairie Creek.  Finally, we make a "Valentine V" with our legs and open all of our Valentines, many of which are hand made.

Traditions are central to the life of a community.  We purposefully develop and nourish traditions at Prairie Creek and in the Elms.  They help create informal bonds so that the cohesiveness of the group is not dependent on one individual but each member is attached to every other member.

I love reading Bird Baylor's I'm in Charge of the Celebrations at the beginning of the school year.  In it, the speaker explains all of the wonders she's seen and how she names the day to honor those things.  We celebrate all kinds of "silly" things in the Elms -- from new sushi erasers to the day we get our Blue Books.  Traditions like "Word of the Day" and Village give structure to our day and our year.  They give children a place to be and a way to mark time.

Mr. Smith Goes to St. Paul

Today was Charter School Day at the state capitol and I went up with a few fifth graders who opted to endure long, boring waits for the chance to try their hands at being lobbyists.  We met with Senator Pariseau, Senator Dahle and Representative Bly to talk about charter school legislation and share our stories about Prairie Creek.

There is a great bill being presented this year that will iron out some of the existing issues with charter school oversight, accountability and financing.  It clarifies some of the issues that have arisen as the charter school movement grew and matured in Minnesota.  When a charter school fails or receives bad press, it reflects negatively on all charter schools.  That's why it's so important that charter school authorization be a clear and rigorous process.

The Eureka Township and Northfield legislators are all supportive of charter schools and Prairie Creek.  Representative Bly spent a morning with us this fall and Senator Dahle is coming soon.

Charter Schools and lease aid remain a mystery to much of the public.  Many, many people do not know that Prairie Creek is a charter school and, as such, is a free public school.  If you have questions about charters, please ask them -- you're not alone.  And, if you find yourself in a position to have a conversation about charters with a friend, neighbor or your mailman, please have it.  Personal connections are the best way for people to learn about our school and charters in general.

(You might be wondering what the snake and eagle have to do with charter  schools.  The Minnesota zoo was in the rotunda today sharing their animals with lawmakers.  When I pointed out to the kids that the zoo was lobbying, too, the man who runs the bird show (and who was sporting a very persuasive bald eagle) laughed and said that they call it "thanking" the lawmakers more than "lobbying" them.)

If at First You Don't Succeed...

Each night at Wolf Ridge, before we retreated to our dorm rooms, students shared  a highlight and a habit of mind for that day's activities.  Again and again, students said, "Persistence."  It is a theme for the week, one exhibited especially strongly in our Thursday activities:  the Ropes Course and Basic Survival.

The Ropes Course is about 30 feet off the ground and, for many students, the single wire is the most daunting element.  This year, although many students were nervous, they got right out on the line and made it.  Amy, our instructor,  suggested that I stand on the platform at the end of the wire.  In previous years, I've stood at the beginning of the  wire and there have been many, many dramatic minutes during which students debate about taking the first step out on the line.

I've been thinking about it a lot and I think it made a big difference to be at the end of the wire.  It's extremely hard to leave security and step out by  oneself.  Perhaps it was easier to take that first step because security was ahead and not behind the students.  It was easier to pull the students with encouragement than to push  them.  It's a lesson that will stick with me as I teach.

Basic Survival was our other Thursday class.  The premise is that the students are on a bus that crashes and they have to  construct a shelter, create a fire, and make hot water (for cocoa) in the three hours of the class.  On the surface, it looks like a lesson in fire making but it's actually a complex group initiative activity.  I actually requested that our instructor not teach the kids explicitly about fire making because I wanted them to struggle in their groups.  Struggle they did.  In the end, none of the groups were able to sustain a fire long enough to make hot water.

Failure?  At first, most of the groups felt they had failed.  (They also thought it extremely unfair that all of the adults were in one group instead of in mixed into their groups).   But during our discussion, we slowly came around to all of the very positive things their groups had done.  Many had found ways to laugh and relax.  Others had talked to each other and worked through their conflicts.  They had continued to try together, despite early set backs and disappointments.  They had tried many different approaches and had listened to each others' ideas.  They had remained cohesive groups despite the stress they were feeling.

Yes, they would have loved to have hot cocoa, too.  But the knowledge they gained about leadership and working in groups was the true measure of success.

Lights, Camera, Comic Life

    This week feels like it has flown by!  The Prairie Creek publishing house was full of productive activity today.  All of the presses finished their images and are now putting the finishing touches on their graphic novels.  We're looking forward to our book release tomorrow, when we will get to share our books with the school and any families that can come.
    Exciting news: the Monkey See, Monkey Read bookstore in downtown Northfield has agreed to sell copies of the students' graphic novels.  The fourth graders are very excited at the prospect of being published authors, with their hard work available on Division St.  They decided that the profits from those sales should be donated to both the bookstore and PCCS.  I'll leave you with a little preview of Zeus...

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Today was a day of hiking and exploring.  We all got to go cross country skiing.  It's so much fun to see the kids ski on well groomed trails.  The conditions were perfect -- we were the first to ski on trails that had been groomed yesterday.  "Hogback Mountain" was especially popular.  With a little determination (and some skill at "chicken footing" your skis up a hill) you can get to the top of three different down hill slopes.  Mountain is a gross exaggeration but, after a minute of trying to get up to the top, one ceases quibbling.  We also found some wolf tracks on the cross country ski trail; skiiers aren't the only ones who benefit from a well groomed trail.

We spend another three hours tracking animals and looking for other animals signs, an endeavor that  had us wading through hip high snow.  Deer scat and beds were the specialty of the Elms.  The Tamaracks excelled at finding snowshoe hare scat and beds (which has a different name that starts with an "f" but which I'll have to ask the kids about tomorrow.)  We also found hoar frost around various small tunnels, a sure sign that someone is breathing down at the bottom.  Animal Signs is one of my favorite classes because of how closely the students begin to look at their surroundings.  Suddenly, a piece of bark on the trail is a piece of a larger puzzle -- was it a wood pecker?  a porcupine?  or maybe just a piece of bark.

The highlight of the day for many kids was "Chickadee Landing"  It's a set of benches decorated like people.  When one sits on the benches with birdseed in one's hand or on one's hat, chickadees (and other birds) land on you.  Sarah was one of the artists who painted the benches years ago!  The Tamaracks are already talking about how to create a set of Prairie Creek.  The loudness of the wings when a chickadee flies in is remarkable.  Both classes sat perfectly still for over 15 minutes, marveling at the chance to be a part of nature.

The sunset was beautiful here -- a narrow line of bright, bring pink red.  It was stunning with Venus rising just above it.  We made Ojibwe dream catchers and then saw a great presentation about birds.  Whew.  Tomorrow, it's off to the ropes course and basic survival.  As we say in the Elms, "Duhm, duhm, duuuuhm..." (suspensful three notes in downward progression).  MM

The Odyssey Continues

Our fourth grade publishing house was buzzing with activity today.  Each of the five presses (the Purple Mittens, the Fourth Grade Lighting Bolts, the Mighty Beavers, I Am Legend, and the Grendel Group) completed their plans for each frame of their graphic novels.  All of the text has been written, and backgrounds, costumes, and clay figures were made.  Tomorrow the students will be photographing the images (or finishing their drawings) and putting them together with the text, ready for publication.  The students have put an unbelievable amount of effort and focus into their work this week.  Everyone has been going home tired, but we've been having fun and the results are  impressive. 
                                                -Elizabeth

Perch and Carbon and Pellets, Oh My

Frozen Lake Study found us on Wolf Lake, basking in the sun and stamping our feet in the -6 air.  Students recorded data about the lake depth, ice depth and water temperature.  They tried their hands at ice fishing and even got to cut a 36 inch deep chunk of ice out of the ice yard.

In Energy Choices, we explored the different ways that electricity can be created and the benefits and costs of each one.  At one point, students got to pedal a bicycle to power a variety of appliances.  Let me just say that screen time would go down significantly if kid power was involved in running the set.  It was hard work!

We ended the day dissecting owl pellets.  Our naturalists (there are three who are working with us this week) brought around one of the owls from the menagerie that Wolf Ridge takes care of.  The owl hung out with us for about a half an hour, giving us a great chance to observe her.  Some of the students found entire skeletons in their owl pellets -- it's always a fascinating mystery.