The Rookery

Wolf Ridge - the Learning Adventure

I think I've been to Wolf Ridge with our fifth graders fifteen times now.  One would think that it would be old hat, routine.  But it's not.  Every class is based on discovery and on finding things to wonder about.  That's what makes the learning so powerful and so authentic for the students.  We might find a cavity under a spruce tree to explore or we might get to feed a raven or we might catch a perch or we might find a rare lichen or we might visit a boulder cave or we might have a chickadee land on our head.  The outlines of the course are there but the naturalists are always up for a detour or a discovery.  Our classes always run long - our students always have a lot of questions and we rarely stay on the trail.

It's a week full of first times and never befores.  It's a week full of friends and memories.  It's a week that is always surprising and always wonder-full.

A Good Time For a Talk

“People have perpetuated blackface because we don’t teach minstrel history. If these people had ever been exposed to it in a safe classroom environment, they would know better.”  This statement from Rhae Lynn Barnes, a professor of American cultural history at Princeton, struck home for me this weekend.  I had never talked directly about blackface with the Herons - and while I had intimated that it was "inappropriate" to wear an afro, I had not explained why.  But it was a conversation we were ready to have.  We talk a lot about race and stereotypes.  We've talked about the systemic and long term economic effects of slavery and Jim Crow.

I started by defining blackface and sharing the current Virginia legislature controversy.  And then I shared some of the history of the minstrel in America and how the image of the happy slave was used to fight abolition (and, later, the stereotype of laziness and backwardness was used to justify racism and white supremacy.)  White folks darkening their faces to pretend to be black and act and sing in plays that re-enforced stereotypes was a way to make racism "OK." I shared some images from the Jazz Singer and more modern blackface portrayals like Soul Man (NYT 2/9/2019)

After I shared some historical background, the Herons were (of course) full of questions.  Did blackface include wearing an afro?  We talked about the origin of the word and students realized that it did include that.  We talked about how sometimes people don't know better and that's why it's important that they know why it's not OK so they can help others understand as they get older.  They made a connection to this fall's Hitler salute in Wisconsin and how some kids there claimed they didn't know what they were doing.

One student asked if it would be OK to wear a black mask for a Star Wars costume.  "Like Darth Vader?" I asked.  "No...like Lando Calrissian" (a character from Empire Strikes Back played by Billy Dee Williams -- or, if you're not quite as old as me, Donald Glover in Solo.) Hmmm.  We talked about it as a class and decided that it definitely wouldn't be OK to wear darker makeup but a full face mask? ("Star Wars Masks", by the way, is a very interesting Internet search.)  Given the specific and very hurtful nature of White people portraying Blacks, we decided that just wearing the costume and not doing anything to one's face was a better bet - a full mask might not offend, but it might and that's what you're trying to avoid.

Another student asked if there was such thing as whiteface.  We agreed that it wouldn't be the same because there wouldn't be a connection to minstrels and that kind of propaganda.  But the concept of making one's face lighter touched on colorism and concepts of beauty in different cultures.  We talked about melanin and evolution and human migration.

Whew.  And that was all in fifteen minutes!  I urge you to continue these conversations at home with your Heron.  They are so ready to explore some of these ideas and they'll be well versed to lead the conversations when their peers want to dress as the Jackson 5 or want to have a "Ghetto spirit day" as happened in Hopkins a few years ago.  I

Conversations about race are never easy...but they do get easier.  Much like talking to kids about puberty and relationships, the more often one has a conversation, the less awkward it seems.  I'm very grateful for the professional development we've gotten to help us deepen our own understanding of race in America -- it makes me feel more prepared to field questions, but never perfectly prepared.  But that's what makes it a conversation and not a lecture.

Snowy Lessons

 

A formidable group...about to launch snowballs at me!

We ended December a special Forest School lesson.  Brandon came in and taught the Herons about the perfect cooking fire and we put together hobo packets of potatoes, butter and seasoning salt.  They were delicious (and perfectly browned...thanks, Brandon!)  The Herons were excited to try more outdoor cooking in the new year.

 

We also had our first snow ball fight of the year on Wednesday.  "Snow ball fight?  How is that curriculum?" you might be thinking.  Learning how to gauge others' reactions and monitor your own reactions is a crucial part of snow ball fights, sports and, indeed, working with other humans in general. 

Kids learn how to assess their own feelings:  Are you still having fun?  Are you starting to get angry?  Are you starting to take things personally?  How do you maintain your cool (not literally)?  They also learn how to take a more global view of the situation: How do you make it fun for others?  Who is being included? How do you connect?  They watch for cues from others, too:  When did you go too far?  When is someone playing along? When have they had enough?

Alliances are made and broken.  A snow ball occasionally hits a head (or makes its way down someone's back).  Learning how to laugh and watch and adjust one's actions are key skills to learning how to work together in any setting.  We had a great time (and, whew, did I get clobbered!)

We had to miss Forest School on the 12th because of our performance rehearsal. The Herons resorted to desperate measures to stay connected to nature. (Zoom in to see the pine needles.)

We tracked the shadow of the sun on December 19 (the closest sunny day to the solstice) and compared our results to the measurements we made in the fall.

 

Finding Fractions

Fractions. Even for adults, the word can bring on a shudder. Often, we were taught mnemonics to help us remember things that weren't supposed to make sense: “If the bottom is bigger, the number is smaller,” “The big number goes on the bottom” or “Ours is not to wonder why, just invert and multiply.” These are counter intuitive at best and, at worst, incorrect. Often fractions were taught almost as a different subject – as though the rules of math didn’t apply. No wonder we shudder.

But fractional thinking is crucial in problem solving and comfort with fractions enables students to make rich connections among math concepts. For that reason, fractions make up a large portion of the fourth and fifth grade math standards (both Minnesota standards and the Common Core). What is the best way to teach them?

If only it were that easy.  It turns out there is not one best way…we must approach the subject flexibly so that students create many levels of understanding.

Models

We use circles sometimes to represent fractions. But we also use bars and sets of objects. We use measuring cups and graduated cylinders. We return to the number line again and again to show where these numbers fit into the system that students are already familiar with.

We focus initially on fractions students have an intuitive sense of – halves, wholes and then thirds and quarters. These are our benchmark or landmark fractions. We come back to them again and again to compare numbers and to test out conjectures (will this always work?)

Then we use the model to expand into more abstract numbers – things we can’t draw like hundredths. Anchored in the concrete, students are able to extend their understanding to the abstract.

Tackling Misconceptions Head On

Asked which is bigger, 3/4 or zero, many students will initially say zero.  By working with fractions on a number line, examining improper fractions and considering real world applications such as cooking, students can challenge that misconception and shift their understanding. But you can’t just tell students that proper fractions are bigger than zero and less than one, they have to discover it for themselves. They have to trust a concept before they will use it independently. My saying it is so doesn't make it so. Many times I think we’ve “got” something and when we return to it the next day, the concept is wobbly again. This kind of learning takes time.

Using Conjectures to Build Understanding

When adding fractions, students will often add the denominator as well as the numerator. When dividing by a fraction, students will often multiply (numbers are supposed to get smaller when you divide, right?!). This past week I did a series of number talks around dividing by a fraction. In previous number talks, these students had realized that to multiply fractions you could multiply the numerators and the denominators. I didn’t just tell them this. We did several number talks multiplying a whole number by a fraction to see what happened and why. We then transferred that understanding of what multiplying by a fraction was doing to multiplying two fractions. We began with fractions that students could visualize – some students noticed that the answers could be obtained by multiplying numerators and denominators. Did this always work? Yes. Why? The students worked to understand the mechanics. Once we were assured that it always worked, we dubbed it “The Sam Method” for the child who initially proposed it (even though it is the standard US algorithm.)

Then we went on to tackle dividing by a fraction. We started with whole number dividends again, using familiar fractions and analyzing what it means to divide. 6 ÷ ½ for example could mean “how many halves are in 6” just like 6÷2 could be interpreted as “how many twos in six” Armed with that knowledge, students can construct an answer.

This past Friday, we considered this problem ¾ ÷ 1/2. Again, we could logic it out (there are 1 ½ halves in ¾). Some students created models in their head to figure it out. One child said “I used the Sam method…and got 3/2 but was that just a coincidence?” Hmmmm…could you just divide the numerators and then divide the denominators? It was not an algorithm I had ever used (I multiply by the reciprocal when I divide by a fraction) and my first instinct was that it wouldn’t work…but then we worked it out thus:

3÷1 = 3. 4÷2= 2 You get the answer 3/2 (which is correct.). We chose another example and gave it a try. ¾ ÷ 1/8 We knew the answer was six (because there are two eights in a fourth.  Now to apply the “Sam method.” 3÷1 is still 3. 4÷8 is ½. That leaves us with 3/ ½ . The kids were stuck. What does that mean? Then one remembered, “Wait, a fraction is division so we could divide again…3÷ ½ “ The group chorused, “Six! It works!” (There are six halves in three).

The Power of “Basic” Facts

Knowing one’s multiplication facts can unlock the mystery of fractions for many kids. I was working with my exploration math group to discover equivalent fractions. First we used a fraction wall – a model that shows stacked bars divided into halves, thirds, fourths etc. Equivalent fractions share a vertical line in the wall.

We looked at all of the equivalent fractions that we found for a third. What did all of these fractions have in common? The students who knew their multiplication facts right away saw that all of the denominators “were threes” others saw “you can skip count by threes to them.” This relationship was much harder to recognize for the kids who didn’t yet know their facts. It seemed somewhat arbitrary that all of these fractions were equivalent. They could see it on the fraction wall but they couldn’t extend the concept beyond the fractions modeled in the picture. The kids who did have more familiarity with their “3 facts” could start to formulate a method to find equivalent fractions.

One child suggested that you could get an equivalent fraction by doubling the numerator and denominator. We tried it out on the fraction wall and then using numbers they were familiar with…yes, the conjecture was true.

Two more students suggested that you could also triple or quadruple each number…it didn’t matter how much bigger you made it as long as you did the same thing to the numerator and denominator. We tested that out, too, with a fraction we felt comfortable with – one half. Sure enough it worked.

A third child asked if it would work with division. This was a little trickier to imagine with a model. I suggested that it would be like gluing pieces together so 4/6 divided by two would become 2/3 because we would group (glue) two pieces together. Did division work? We checked out a few more examples and concluded that, yes, it did work, as long as you divided the numerator and denominator by the same number.

Students with basic fact fluency saw the relationships much more easily and were less confused than students who didn’t have their facts. It might be compared to color blindness – the person next to you is seeing something clearly that you can’t see at all. With support, everyone can see it…but students without their facts are slow to see the relationship independently and use it in novel situations.

Experience Counts

The more context students have for fractions, decimals and percentages, the better. They can lean on their number sense and instinct to make sense of the abstract, number only representations of fractions. Why don’t you add denominators when you are adding like fractions…well, would putting three quarter cups in your recipe give you three twelfths of a cup? No, you’d have three quarters. Knowing that…feeling that, can help students make sense of the algorithm for adding fractions when they are ready for it.

Fractions need not be confusing and mysterious. When children have the time and experience to discover fraction relationships everything can fit together.

Growing Up with Special People

One of our visitors to Special Person's Day remarked, "This is my last Special Person's Day!  I'm really sad."  I was sad, too.  This was a family I've known for years.  She'd watched her granddaughter perform as a kindergartener -- so excited to be on "the big stage" but a little lost in that way of kindergarteners.  She'd gotten a (very) extensive tour two years ago when her grand daughter was a greeter as a 2/3 and now, this final year, she was able to see an confident kid up on stage (who had earlier very ably served coffee and cookies to the assembled.)

Each grade level contributes to Special Person's Day.  Like many aspects of school life, students' responsibilities growing as they do.  In fourth and fifth grade, we hand write invitations (some of us using our new-fangled cursive skills) and deliver them to community members.  We practice how to greet people we don't know and how to extend the invitation to them.  The fourth and fifth graders can also volunteer to be servers.  We hold a training session during recess during which they learn how to offer coffee and cookies, how to pour safely and gracefully, how to problem solve, how to watch for cues that people need more, when to approach a table to offer more (i.e. not every 30 seconds -- 4th and 5th graders are naturally very attentive servers) and much more.  They take their responsibility very seriously and I was thrilled to be told by a grandpa who is in the service industry that our students had done a very good job.

Even though it is the last Special Person's Day for some, I know they'll be a part of many of the student's special days in the future.  How lucky our students are to have so many folks celebrating their growing up.

 

 

New Voices - New Knowledge

We had such an amazing week in the Herons.  On Tuesday, we were able to teach the rest of the school what we had learned during our pre-Revolutionary America theme.  And then, on Wednesday and Thursday, we were able to learn from new teachers.

Susan Percy joined us for Forest School on Wednesday.  She is a naturalist from Arizona and joined us on our ramble.  We practiced our "dear ears" and our "owl eyes" and then we went for a walk where we practiced our forensic skills - puzzling out the tracks we were finding everywhere in the snow.  We found vole holes and mice tracks and many, many rabbit tracks.  We also found dear tracks that had filled in over time.  We are still watching out for the mink tracks that we found last year.  Nothing so far.  Have they left the area?  Will they come back?

Susan also brought us a treasure trove of flora and fauna from Arizona. (I can't even imagine the conversation she had with TSA.)  The Herons were amazed by the desert oak she brought -- so different from our oak trees.  We also loved comparing the different kinds of prickly pear -- the rabbit ear being our favorite by a long way.  The Herons had great insights about the adaptations that enabled these plants to survive in the desert.  Thank you, Susan, for starting this conversation that is sure to continue.  It was a perfect morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Herons finished their flag (2 years in the making) with an
annatto dyed section.

On Thursday, the Herons were able to learn from another guest teacher, Constanza Ocampo-Raeder, an environmental anthropologist from Carleton.  Constanza brought 13 different textile samples and invite the Herons to inspect.  They were asked to assign a value to each one. The Herons took their work very seriously and I was pleased to see how much this year's handwork informed their work.  They carefully examined the backs of the textiles to see if they were machine made.  They were fascinated by the different techniques used by the craftspeople.

Constanza shared the story of each textile with us.  One was created by hand with tiny stitches and dye made out of insects.  Another was created almost a hundred years ago by a woman who was one of the last five people to speak her language.  One of the students' favorites turned out to be a machine made blanket that had all artificial pigments (but was beautiful, all the same). And, by the way, what is "beautiful" and how do different cultures conceive of beauty?

Whew!  We followed that heady discussion with some good old fashioned pounding.  Constanza brought annatto seeds and cochineal bugs for us to pound into powder and then use as dye.  The Herons happily pounded and dyed away for the remainder of the day.  It was a perfect afternoon.

Both Susan and Constanza commented on the way the Herons asked questions and were so engaged with what they were learning.  How could we not when given such amazing opportunities.

 

To Culminate

The energy leading up to a culminating event is palpable and consuming.  One of the ironies of documenting the work of a classroom is that our very busiest moments when the most is going on are the hardest to capture.  In the lead up to a culminating event, every child is independently moving through their work -- and I am relegated to the busy gofer: finding the hole punch for someone, OKing the spelling for another, crafting a search string for a third.

To culminate, according to Webster, is to reach a point of highest development especially after a long time.  It originates from "culmen" Latin for "to summit."  I find that much of the learning of a theme occurs during the preparation to teach in a culmination.  The ideas that were just forming have to solidify.  The information that was a little hazy must come into focus.

In this theme, we learned a lot...on our first day getting ready for the culmination, we filled the board with what we knew:  the geography and economics of the colonies, the escalation of taxes, the lives of indentured servants and slaves...Students then chose what they wanted to teach and how they wanted to teach it.  They filled out a planner to share their ideas -- and then the real work began.

Often students would have something like "I'll teach about children's games" or "I'll teach about trade" on their planners.  But what about those things?  We role played being at the event and having a "customer" come up to learn.  The Herons learned that there were a lot of specifics they were unsure about. "Why weren't they allowed to trade with other countries?" "How would you be punished if you didn't pay?" "Was it against the law to be in the Sons of Liberty?" A second round of research commenced and we filled in a lot of blanks.

But how to say the things we know?  How to engage with someone who walks up to you?  Finding the words to express what you know is the final step.  Nothing can be left indistinct (and, on top of that, we're trying to stay in character!)

The play was put together with lines from our discussions, journals and homework reacting to what was happening.  As we've practiced, the diversity of viewpoints and the chronology of the events leading up to the Revolution have solidified.  They really know it -- and now they're ready to share it.

Tuesday will indeed be our "highest point of development;" I hope to see you there from 12:30-2:00 (the play will be at 1:45).  If you aren't able to come, don't worry -- I'll video tape the play and practicing with your child this weekend will be a great way to get a sense of what they will share!

P.S.  I couldn't get the caption function to work on the blog (they just changed it).  But the top picture is one of my favorite pictures of the Herons ever.  They are standing in daguerreotype seriousness with Daniel Lessin, a Revolutionary re-enactor who taught us about his character and how he developed his character.  They were inspired.  The bottom right picture is the board filled with everything we could remember from the theme.

Celebrating our Work!

 

The open mic at our coffee house.

   On Friday, the Herons celebrated the publication of our literary magazine, The Heron.  Every student

Would you want to share a park bench with this bear?

successfully published a piece of writing.  This is quite an accomplishment.  Students selected a piece and revised it based on their peers' feedback.  Then they edited the piece, considering paragraphing, punctuation, capitalization and spelling.  Students (and adult typists -- thank you volunteers!) type the work in and edit one more time.  I then provided a teacher edit.  I use Google Drive's tools to do this, often supplying grammatical mini lessons about commas, quotation marks and run-on sentences as I comment. Students review and learn from my edits.  Then they choose their fonts and illustrate their work.

    Whew!  On Friday we enjoyed tea, cookies and clementines as we read our work on the open mic.  Simon and Colleen stopped by to enjoy the festivities, too. Hopefully you had a chance to check out the literary magazine, too.

   On Thursday, we celebrated GiveMN by dressing up in fall colors.  The Herons had a lot of fun -- and I especially enjoyed the antics during an especially creative round of one of our favorite games, "Park Bench."  Ask your Heron for more details.

This is What Teaching Looks Like

Today, the Herons were asked to brainstorm how we might teach our families and the rest of the school about our theme.  In the picture above, you can see what the conversation grew in to.  In about an hour, every single student added to the plans (a partial speaker's list is on the side of the board -- I started it when I couldn't keep up.):

We could dress up and build a town (or a model of a town).  We could be in a tavern where our guests could move from table to table to discuss things.  There should be several churches where you could learn about the religious beliefs. We could use the upstairs as New England, the 2/3s as the middle colonies and the K/1s as the southern colonies.  There could be a giant Declaration of Independence that people could sign...and the signers could be there in costume to de-code what different parts mean...and maybe we could add other groups that should be included, too.  We could re-enact a battle or the Boston Massacre ("INCIDENT ON KING STREET!" a vocal group called out).  We should have a trial of the soldiers.  There could be Town Criers (on the intercom!) that could announce events that are happening.  Our guests should be trained -- they should get a name and learn how to speak like a colonist.  The could do chores at people's houses to learn about life and then earn Pieces of Eight to trade at the shops and tavern.  There could be a map with the different people -- we could use our portraits on the map -- there could be trivia questions on the map for people to find the answers to.  Kids could make paper pockets like the ones we sewed from flannel to keep their things in.  We could have a congress where people can hear the debates of the day.  There should be a doctor to diagnose you and tell you what the "cure" was.  King George should be trying to convince people (and punish them).  There should be a school where you can write with a quill, play children's games and wear a dunce cap.  Kids could collect pieces of eight that will come together at the end...or a map puzzle pieces that will be the Declaration of Independence when they're put together in each classroom afterwards...

It went on -- big ideas and small ones -- but all creative and interesting and, importantly, powerful. 

They want to teach this way because this is how they've learned at Prairie Creek.  They've learned through arts residencies where they've written their own operas.  They've learned through field trips where the walls of the classroom fell away.  They've learned in small classes where they can really be known and where they've come to see learning as something that is deeply meaningful to them.  They've learned through personal projects that they are both consumers and providers of ideas.  They've learned to make and do in art and music and in the woods.  In rich themes they've seen how learning can be immersive and engrossing.  They've learned to learn from each other.

As teachers, many of us cannot imagine being anywhere else.  We are able to extend our learning every week through two hours of professional development.  We are encouraged to seek out learning beyond the school.  We are able to create new curriculum all of the time! And, amazingly, we are able to buy the books and materials we need to create vibrant experiences in our classroom.  We are expected and encouraged to push ourselves into new places in our practice.  We teach in a beautiful space -- inside and out.

All of this has been made possible by your support and that of families who have come before -- countless volunteer hours, blogs and newsletters read with care, conversations with children that deepen their learning, and financial gifts.

This is the season when our inbox fills up with requests from GiveMN -- I am always in awe of the amazing work of organizations on in our community and our state.  Prairie Creek also uses GiveMN as a center piece of our fundraising.  We all wished that we lived in a society in which public schools for all kids were generously funded...but the truth of the matter is that the state's funding doesn't cover the cost of the type of education we believe all children deserve.  And so we have to ask for the rest -- in time and money -- from our community.

Please donate what you are able to Prairie Creek this week.  Spread the word, everything helps -- especially with the $15,000 matching gift that is offered.  You can donate at GiveMN or you can send a check to the school (both count toward the matching gift and will get tracked on the GiveMN website.) 

Thank you for supporting our work in so many ways -- we are truly grateful.

A Closer Look

Close Reading

This week we read the last newspaper in our Pre-Revolutionary America theme.  The Battle of Lexington and Concord shifted the debate in the colonies and the rag-tag underground Sons of Liberty made way for Washington's Continental army and open rebellion.  Together, we read the first part of the Declaration of Independence.  The language is challenging and the syntax is dense so I modeled close reading, a technique in which you move word by word through a text and parse the meaning piece by piece.  On the overhead projector (yes, an overhead projector) I marked up my original and they followed my lead:

The students then split into pairs and tried their hand at a close reading of the grievances that the writers of the Declaration felt "impelled" to list.  They did an amazing job.  Wading through the complex text, they recognized many of the outrages they had read about in our role play:  quartering soldiers, lack of fair trials, excessive taxes, having no say in government, being controlled by the military.  They even figured out some new grievances - such as forced conscription.  I was very impressed with their willingness and ability to wrestle with the words and puzzle out their meaning.

We also had a chance to wrestle with some of the paradoxes of the Declaration.  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [emphasis mine] are created equal..."  The Herons knew that even at the time, people knew this statement wasn't inclusive.  We had read a letter by Abigail Adams in which she implored her husband to, "remember the ladies" as he helped to write the documents that would become the foundation of a new country.  Other delegates wanted to include Anti-slavery language which was ultimately taken out so that all of the nascent states would sign on to the rebellion.

Our history is not simple.  The founding documents are riddled with language and systems that de-humanized people ("merciless Indian Savages" in the Declaration, for example) and yet the vision for a government of, by and for the people was, truly, revolutionary and continues to inspire oppressed people everywhere -- even here.  Indeed, the Declaration was used as the basis of the Declaration of Sentiments the founding document of the U.S. women's suffrage movement.  The Herons proved themselves ready to consider that duality.

Just this weekend, I heard an interview with Filipino author and teacher, Gina Apostol in which she talks about this more eloquently than I:

You hold these tensions in your country, and it is good for you. It is good for you to recognize the liberatory aspects of the "saving principles," as Frederick Douglass called them, and it is good for you to recognize that there was inhumanity in our original Constitution — that there was a three-fifths clause, that there was a normalizing of genocide against Native Americans. And to hold those together, and to confront that daily — it's really very difficult — but to hold those tensions together is a way to be a healthy American...

 

So I teach these things to my students, and I think that we should use these liberatory aspects of the founding documents to counteract the inhumanity that is also part of this history

I am proud of the Herons and their work to hold these truths together.  It bodes well.

 

Close Inspection

 

Checking out the hole

What might not bode so well was the Herons' eagerness to check out a giant hole during our Forest School ramble.  In the

The hole.

end, it was their teacher who put her hand (and phone) down the hole to get a closer look (after discouraging a child from sticking his head in the hole).  The whole was about 25 cm (10 inches) across and had a wide dirt field "porch" in front of it.  It was dug in sandy soil at the top of a hill in a farm field.  It went down about 70 cm (an armslength) where it seemed to branch in two directions.  Thoughts?  Our guess was ground hog or badger but we haven't yet found a definitive answer.