MARYBETH and RJ's CLASS NOTES

2023 is off to a great start! We resumed our study of houses and homes with a look at our own homes. We are exploring their properties and dimensions by constructing them out of cardboard, blocks and/or Magna-tiles. We’ve also been reading many wonderful book including, The Orange Splot, The Tiny Little House, and The House That Once Was, which are helping us to clarify our thinking about the difference between a house and a home.

We continue to welcome visitors to our classroom. We were recently visited by Aydin’s uncle, and artist, Miles Partington, who helped some of us build our model homes. Before that we were visited by Lula’s dad and car- penter, Kurt Gumaer, who gifted us with wooden block people that he taught us to sand. The people lack de- scriptors like gender or race, and so the children are enjoying making clothes and faces out of paper, to turn them into whatever their imaginations allow.

Last week we launched a partnership with Liz’s Senior Learners, whereby each child was assigned a reading partner or “Book Buddy.” We began the first session with introductions, a fun game, and a little reading time. We will meet weekly with our buddies throughout the second half of the school year.

We’ve also begun reading the wonderful Roald Dahl’s, BFG, whose masterful storytelling is bringing color and excitement to the dreary winter days.