Tales Of A 4-5 Something

Let's go to a world made of blocks where you can climb the highest mountains, explore the darkest caves, create new machines, ride the fastest roller coaster, build a giant statue, find precious ores...we're going to be creating the Oregon Trail! Make the mountains, hide in the biggest forts, trade with the Native people.... Steve's point of view: There are a bunch of people partnering up. I don't know what's happening yet because all I see are a bunch of gates but I did overhear something about the Oregon Trail. I'm so excited to be building this. Out of all the people I've played with I never done this but after we do the Oregon Trail we will get to settle down in the west make a house and start a farm. by Eli -- In 4-5 we are studying the Oregon Trail and we are learning how emigrants got across the Oregon Trail. Tim, our teacher, wanted us to build parts of the Oregon trail but he didn’t know how we should do it. Soon he decided for all o...

Yesterday Owen went with his family to a restaurant to see Epifanio Fuentes and Laurencia Santiago. They are from San Martín Tilcajete in Oaxaca, Mexico. They live in a village and make great wood carvings.  They gather wood and let the pieces tell them what they should be.  The make a lot of armadillos and other animals.  Epifanio carves the wood with a huge machete and lots of small knives. Laurencia takes the carving and adds bright colors and amazing patterns. Some of the pieces are so small they can be earrings and others are so huge that they would sit in a corner on the floor.  We know a lot about the wood carvings because Epifanio and Laurencia came to school last month and we saw a video and watched them do their work. It was a lot of fun to see. - Tim's Homestation     You can learn more about these artists here .

There is a lot to do at recess. There is a play structure, tag, swings, talking with friends, playing capture the flag, or playing soccer. We have been watching a different kind of soccer game that the 4-5 girls and boys have been playing at recess. They call it World Cup. We thought it was interesting so we decided to write about it. It is a very organized game but it doesn't look that way at first. Everyone makes teams. Team Canada says there thing is pizza. They were the first team to score on the first round. One of the other teams is called Cheesed Off. Their mascot is an angry goat. Aidan (a player of team Cheesed Off) is good at soccer and he enjoys it. He plays soccer outside of school on a team called Portland Phoenix. Alexander is also good at soccer and plays on Phoenix with Aidan. Today, the team Blue Raincoats players were Ben and Ben. Their mascot is a hyper bear. Team Brazil was the first team to score in the second round. CC is also a good player and likes ...

Emily Phillips came to school to talk about the Miyake Farm that is just three year olds and is in Freeport, ME. She is the farm manager and helps to grow the animals and the plants. Right now they are making winter shelters for the pigs. The food that comes from the farm is eaten at the restaurants in Portland. There are two restaurants and a new one on the way. The food must be very fresh and very good. The pictures of the food from the restaurants made us hungry! She is busy everyday taking care of the animals and likes what she does. They have American Guinea Hogs, Mangalista Pigs, Dominique Chickens, Quail, and California Giant Rabbits. All together they have 196 animals on just three acres. We thought is was interesting that some of the food given to the animals comes from local orchards and breweries. They have breeder pigs to make more pigs and feeder pigs that are used for food. We also learned that the chickens lay more eggs when it is sunnier out. The people who work at t...

Pickle Preserving     In school on Wednesday we got put into different preserving groups. I  was in the pickle and relish group. We made dill pickles, carrot and cabbage pickles and jardiniere relish. We cut cucumbers and smashed garlic. We also got to pour all different measurements. Nancy taught us how you preserve pickles. And how you keep the germs out by boiling the jar that the  pickles are preserved in. We had lots of fun and I can't wait to taste the pickles and relish!  by Maeve

All 4-5 have been processing local foods and have also been learning how different foods begin and how they ends up here in Waynflete School. Not only have we been learning about local foods we have been learning how to preserve foods. We all split up in to groups between Linda’s, Tim’s, Kai’s, and Nancy’s. Kai’s group is doing butter by shaking heavy cream and it slowly turns into butter. Also we took out the seeds of pumpkins and we are going to roast them. We have also been cutting apples and peeling them in order to dehydrate them. A group of kids went outside to get parsley too for the butter! And we will be using the butter for the bread and other foods that other groups have made. But if you can see all different kids from different homestations including Kai’s homestation, we have all learned something new and we enjoy it at the same time.   -Cocoe and Jane

When we are in school we do a lot of thinking about our learning.  We get lots of chances to write what we think in journals and on Drive.  We also share what we are thinking in meetings and book talks.  We like our school.  There is a lot going on. Some other people have been thinking about our school and sharing what they think.  Here is a wordle that was made by all the teachers before school started. Here is another wordle made by the Upper School students. What words do you think about when you think about Waynflete?

One dark and stormy night Nancy had an idea that we should felt rocks. Nancy asked us to bring in a rock. She told us that heart shaped rocks are hard to felt,  but rounded rocks a are easier, smooth ones are easiest,  and they should be the size of our palm. First we chose a color felt and we got some soapy warm water. We laid out the felt and folded It onto the rock. We dunked it in water with soap. We put it back and forth in our hands. We were tightening the wool fibers. The rock was soapy and warm and the wool was shrinking. Some rocks like Joe's, fell out of the wool. Others stayed in tight. After they shrunk we dried them by putting them in the sun. Then we decorated them by adding buttons, embroidered them, and  sewed on french knots. Some people left them just felted. Each rock has its own look,  personality,  and is unique, like all of us.  by Nancy's Homestation

As part of our local foods study we visited Sunflower Farm and Creamery in Cumberland and learned about goats and the cheese making process from Hope Hall. Created with Padlet

On September 23rd we had the honor of having Jay Avis come visit us at Waynflete all the way from Vermont. We think Jay could beat any survival expert in anything. Jay goes out into the wilderness for long periods of time with nothing but a knife to whittle tools to help him through his tough, fun, experiences. We met Jay through Kai's husband, Chris. They met at Chewonki. He visited because we are learning about local foods and wild edible plants. The character Sam Gribley from My Side of the Mountain  is doing a lot of the same things Jay knows how to do. Jay showed us how to make clothes out of hide and we learned that you need to massage the hide with brain from the animal or eggs to soften it. Jay gave us a presentation at school and showed us edible mushrooms, homemade baskets, how to make a wood bowl from fire and coals, how to make string from milkweed fibers, and some cool shelters that some of his friends made. Then we went with Jay to the Fore River campus. He showed u...

We are studying local foods in unit class. We went to the Cumberland Fair to look at local foods and animals. We saw two huge muscular ox pulling weights. The farmer was hitting them with a switch and we were not sure if that was good or not. We also saw pigs, cows, chickens, and alpacas. We sat in the stands and watched kids like us show their goats and some won blue ribbons because their goats were the best for going to the market. In the exhibition hall we saw huge jars of pickles and jelly. There were old fashioned tools and a lot of crafts. We even saw a pumpkin that broke a record. It was 1,165 lbs! It was HUGE! Lots of us were excited about the food. We all got a treat.

On  the lower school field  we have a garden that has cherry tomatoes, kale, swiss chard, onions, garlic, lettuce cabbage, leeks, rhubarb, sunflowers carrots and brussel sprouts. We also have all different  types of herbs like rosemary, parsley, and basil. In 4\5 we made tabouli and picked cherry tomatoes.We also harvested some lettuce, cherry tomatoes and herbs and we brought them to the Waynflete cafe.  We took some pictures with our ipads that helped us observe the plants a little more closely. The second and third graders  have harvested their Three Sisters Garden and made soup for there Wabanaki study.Over the summer our plants stayed healthy because Waynflete Summer Camp and parent volunteers helped water and care for the garden . We are looking forward to doing more harvesting this fall especially with are K-1 buddies!   by Grace and Maeve

We use many different tools to keep track of our thoughts when we read. Today we used Padlet along with our post-its. Here was the question: What jumped out to you after starting the book, My Side Of The Mountain? Created with Padlet

We started our new unit with a Game Show.  There were lost of questions to get us thinking about Local Foods.  We knew some of them but others were hard.  Do you want to try playing it?   Click here . Maine is a role model for the rest of the country. Check out the data on Farmer's Markets and CSAs

On Friday we went to Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park. Ranger Tammy and Ranger Michael showed us around the park. They showed us a lot about the animals and plants of Maine. We went to the state park to learn more about nature and to kick off our new lit book, My Side of the Mountain. We learned about true hibernators, the animals who torpor*, and the animals that are active all winter long.  We also talked about migration and played a game like hopscotch to learn about the troubles when animals are migrating.  We saw squirrels, chipmunks, slugs, spiders, and caterpillars. Some of us even tried to take a peek at the Osprey's nest. After the tours we had lunch and recess. Some of us got soaked but it never rained.  We jumped in the puddles, shook water from the trees, and slid on the wet grass. It was probably the wettest field trip we will have all year. Interesting Ideas we learned: The woodchuck's heartbeat slows to one beat every 15 seconds and their body temp gets to ...

We are ready!!

The 4-5 Program got off to a good start with a half day.  Morning Meeting, community building activities, and meeting new and familiar faces were all part of the day.  Tomorrow will be our first full day of the school year and we are ready!              

                                        We are very excited to start the school year with you. Before you arrived, we shared ideas for teaching and learning, made some plans for field trips, and even moved the rooms. You can see how the rooms looked on August 19th and what they looked like on September 2nd. Everything is ready, except for the most important part. YOU!  We look forward to learning with you. Together we will make plans for a successful school year. We will see you soon! The 4-5 Team BEFORE AFTER