Visiting an Organic Farm

      Our first field trip this year was to Terry's Berries, a local organic farm that runs a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and a farm store. We rode in a tractor, visited goats, fed chickens, picked apples, dug potatoes, and oh yeah - stomped in mud puddles! The real reason for the trip, however, was to learn about the plants they grow, and we saw many: blueberries, lettuces, apple trees, dinosaur kale, broccoli, raspberries, beans, and many more.

Here are some highlights:

 Tasty little organic "Liberty" apples. I'm sure most of these did not make it home - most of the kids ate them immediately! We learned that they coat them with clay to keep insects away instead of using chemicals, which would pollute the soil in the fields and run-off into the nearby Puyallup River.

 The students were fascinated to see how the potatoes were attached to the root of the plant.

 We swung a wide arc around these bee boxes, but saw a lot of busy bees at work here, and were reminded that without them, we would not have been able to pick the apples that were the result of pollinated blossoms.

 This is "Dinosaur" kale. I wonder why they named it that?

 Choosing a pumpkin is serious business!

 The best part about visiting a farm? The mud puddles!

Thank you, Terry's Berries!

Hooray for libraries!

      I am continually amazed at how many absolutely fantastic resources are available totally free through the local library system. We added a new element of choice to our daily literacy program last week: "Listen To Reading," courtesy of the Tacoma Public Library's e-books program. I can tell already this is going to be a popular choice throughout the year - I did not hear a peep (except for the occasional laugh) for the entire period.
      Through the program "Bookflix," students are able to access a huge library of online picture books, animated and read aloud while the words are tracked on screen. Each fiction book is matched with a nonfiction partner, and with categories ranging from Animals and Adventures to Earth and Sky, there's something of interest for every child.
      This is a great resource to also use at home, and all you need is a library card. (King County has similar programs available.) Just go to the Tacoma Public Library website: http://www.tacomapubliclibrary.org, click on the tab "eBooks, Music, and More," scroll down to "BookFlix," and enter your library card number!

These are more than just beautiful pictures!

      One of the things I have been reading a lot about these days is how the big push for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in education has created a bit of a vacuum. What is missing? The arts, and even more importantly, the engagement in learning that involvement in the arts brings to these other subject areas. So I have been really attracted to this new term that's been coined: "STEAM" - Science, Technology, Engineering, ART, and Math. This is what we do at Seabury. It's what we've always done. We realize that art does not "take away" from other learning, it enriches it. As Picasso said: "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
      Last week, we reflected on our social studies topic and developed our vocabulary of architectural terms related to medieval castles, all while sketching and painting some beautiful pictures. Ask your child: "What was the best thing you did at school last week?" I'm betting most of them will tell you about this. One of our favorite new words? Portcullis (yes, spelled with two Ls - we looked it up!): a heavy iron or wood gate at the entrance of a castle that can be raised or lowered to protect a castle during an attack or siege.

Personal Quests

      One of the things I like most about offering a lot of choice and a broad amount of leeway when we do special projects with gifted students is to watch the amazing places they take things - places I never could never have imagined when I presented the project and usually far more creative than anything I could ever have dreamed up to have students do in the first place.
      Recently, I asked the students to think about our overarching concept of "Quest," and to come up with an idea for a picture that would show their own personal quest -- real, or imaginary. The results were so varied and fun that we presented them to the rest of the classes at Gathering two weeks ago, and I wanted to share just a few with you here:

 All of the students enjoyed "publishing" their ideas by sharing them with the other classes. 

This student drew some beautifully detailed pictures of temples in mountain ranges. His quest was to climb the mountains to get to the different "air" temples.

This student created an involved story of "death and despair" in a sea battle between a ship and a submarine.

Inspired by our in-class reading of the tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, one student drew a knight who has been charged with the mission of finding and defeating the mythic "Questing Beast."

After several discussions of the feudal system, this student depicted a lord and a king battling for each other's lands -- brandishing swords and yelling "Play, play, play!" 

This one is about a quest to study magic at Hogwarts - complete with floating candles in the dining hall.

One of my personal favorites, of course -- a girl on a quest for knowledge, reading a "really good book about swords." (We've all been clamoring to spend time with a beautiful book from the library all about the craftsmanship and decorative detail that went into medieval swords and weapons.)

And finally, a real standout - this girl on a quest to make it through a garden maze, depicted comic-book/graphic novel style and complete with close up shots. 

My personal quest this year? To keep challenging this amazingly creative bunch!