First Day of School with Students

Yesterday was a very exciting day at Laurel Mountain because it was the first official day of school!  You could feel the energy and excitement in the air.  It was so fun to see all of our new kindergarten students and catch up with students and friends from last year.  There were lots of exciting activities going on throughout the school day.  Students were painting, working with clay, searching for their lost bear in the woods, meeting a real puppy, making Wizard Water, creating and cooking with a solar oven, exploring the preserve, searching for a gnome treasure of the play ground, celebrating 2nd grade, eating chocolate covered crickets, just to name a few.  Our students went home excited and "Wow-ed" about school.

Over the next few weeks, all of our students will be completing interest surveys.  We ask our students to identify different areas that they are interested in. Some of the choices include clay, magic, computers, dance, long ago times, LEGOs and ocean life.  The interest surveys vary from grade level to grade level. 

The enrichment cluster topics are based on the top interest areas in each grade level.  Therefore, we are creating enrichment opportunities during the school day based on what our children have told us they are interested in.

The classroom teachers also use this information to get to know their students better, build the classroom community and create different enrichment activities throughout the school day.  For example, let's say that my class had a majority of the students mark on their interest survey that they like acting.  I am planning my plant unit and I need to teach the life cycle of a plant.  Knowing that my class likes acting and drama, I could have my class act out the life cycle of a plant.  Or I could play a game of charades with them and see if they can identify each stage of the life cycle of a plant.  By focusing on the interests of my class, I can teach them in a more effective and engaging way. 

Once I have collected all of the data from all of the interests surveys in grades K-5, I will share this information with our students, teachers and parents.