Off to Find Out if There's Ice

First, we had Assembly.

We sang our "Say Hello" song.

The first grade shared some of what they have learned about Mexico and the Day of the Dead. They sang in Spanish and did a dance.

Out in the hallway, we stopped to play with our shadows.

Then, friends were interested in demonstrating some fancy moves, so we got in a circle and took turns.

We had so many moves that we had to go around the circle twice.

We had some time to finish our morning routine and have snack.

At Morning Huddles, there was some question about ice, and a suggestion that we should go and see if the creek had frozen. One friend knew that water freezes at 32 degrees, so we checked the temperature - it was 31!

We headed off to the creek. It felt REALLY cold!

We were surprised to find NO ICE on the stream. Friends suggested that we try farther down, where the water is "smaller."

Clear down at the dam, we finally found some ice, where the water had washed over some branches. We tried to figure out why it was there.

Then we discovered some big trees that were down.

We explored them carefully. We thought that this one may have been hit by lightening, because the inside looked burnt.

We hurried back, because we were freezing!

We had Morning Meeting.

We started a conversation about how to keep your fingers from being stepped on, that grew into a very large discussion about ways to use your head to keep yourself safe - like not sitting down in the middle of a soccer game or not playing in traffic. Friends had a great deal to say about times they had been safe and not safe. They gave each other very good advice.

Then, we had our Moment of Silence.

We read our second biography, about Sally Ride. The Catbirds were amazed. Many of them (boys and girls) asked eagerly if THEY could be astronauts. We talked about what she needed to study and what it would be like. There is some interest in finding out more - like what astronauts eat, and how they get trained.

Choice Time

One new request for today, "Wrapping Yourself Up in Tape." This proved a popular activity.

I have no real explanation for this.

We have also invented a new activity, called "The Hex Bug Game."

And then there were books!