We Keep Growing...

No matter how much we grow...
we are never too old for a fresh fruit popsicle. 

Growth and Change Over Time

Our year has focused on Change and Growth Over Time. We have launched into studies of how our community has changed, the Civil Rights Movement, global warming and its work on changing habitats especially in the Arctic and how bodies, ideas, families and individuals grow and change over time. Students have worked to weave an understanding of self and their world into nonfiction and fantasy writing, as well as creative play and independent reading. As we set out to let our butterflies go after they had laid their eggs and set up camp in the Racerunner Room for 34 days, we looked inward at how our own lives are getting ready to change, just like those of the butterflies. School is almost over and this means a variety of things for all of us: a change in schedule, missing our friends and new adventures ahead. Take a look at the list of CHANGE that the Prairie Racerunners are preparing for. Thank-you to the family and friends who help encourage change and ease our tears or anxious hearts through growth. 

Change by the Prairie Racerunners

1. no summer travel plans
2. my Mom's new job
3. I'm getting a turtle
4. ballet is over on Monday
5. summer vacation is coming
6. I'm going to visit England and soccer will end
7. going to my first sleepover away from home or my parents
8. 2nd graders are going to 3rd grade
9. big sisters are going to college
10. mom started going to yoga
11. I have a new pet snake and a new shirt
12. home school
13. cancer
14. growing smarter

We Grew As Chess Players!

1st-6th Grade Chess Club Participants

A handful of Racerunner Participants

Top of his age group and 2nd place 1st-6th Tournament Winner

Our Prairie is Growing

Spreading the seed that we researched, measured and ordered!

It was windy so we had to stay low to the ground so that our seed and  sawdust mixture would stay put!

Pretending to be prairie buffalo...
stomping the seed in the ground.

Working with partners to spread the seed!

Ms. Michelle demonstrates burying the seed. 

Popsicles to celebrate planting

Partner Love

We Grew as Readers

Relaxing as we watched Discovery Life: Insects, Fish and Birds
in celebration of meeting our reading goal for the last 5 weeks!

Lemonade, Popcorn and Annie's Gummies make for a great Movie Treat!

We Grew As Writers and Scientists

Friends wished their butterflies well as they prepared for departure.

Reading our Butterfly Letters on a Wednesday Morning 

Some letters were funny.... 

Some letters were serious...

 

Others were very matter of fact.

Painted Ladies loved the orange slice bowl...
they hated to leave.

One last hug good-bye.

Good-Bye Butterflies

When We Have To Say Good-Bye 

by the Prairie Racerunners

• When Dad and me go to Cave of the Mounds without Mom - I wave.
• When Orson goes to college
• Leaving my Nan in Pennsylvania
• I say good-bye to Grandma and it makes her really sad
• to my family in Florida when I leave with my Mom
• When Mom went to Romania and Dad and I went to England
• When I move 
• When I went to California without Oliver
• Mickey our babysitter when she stays late at night
• When I see Dad each month
• When my uncle died.
• When my pet duck died.
• When my cat ate my fish.
• When we say good-bye we have this thing called emotions

Bid Ado Fair Feathered Friends
Well it has reached that time when we must say good-bye to the butterflies. Secretly my own heart is broken to take them out of the classroom because when I'm working here in this quiet space I can hear the flutter of their soft wings, and in the warm glow of the morning sunshine there is a flurry of students huddled around our flying friends...observing, chatting, and wondering. This group of students has truly engaged this stage of the life cycle as they determine which food they like best, and where they


fly or land. These are the precious moments we will hold dear in our heart long after our 2011-2012 school year has ended.


Letters to the Painted Lady Butterflies
Please take a moment to read some of the letters students wrote for their Painted Lady Friends. They are endearing, educational and so reflective of this group of students.

Dear Butterflies,

How was your caterpillar's life?

I hope you have a good time in this life. 

Love, J.C.

 Dear Butterflies,

I love you! I hope no bird eats you. You are so beautiful. 

I hope you had a good weekend. Do you remember being caterpillars? Do you remember me? you were so different when you were caterpillars! I will always love you. I will love your new generations just as much. Don't worry about your new generations. They will live well. Can you fly? I wish I could fly. There is food for you not he bottom of the butterfly home. I will be sad to see you go. 

Love, C.F.

 Dear Butterflies,

Stay out of the jar on the nearly closed splice with the leaves in it! 

Is the nearly dead one doing o.k.?

Are you ready to move? 

What or which sponges, fruits do the majority of you like? 

All of them? Would you like different ones?

Love, A.W.

 Dear Butterflies,

Do you like to be a butterfly?

Do you want to be a person?

It seems cool to taste with your feet.

Butterflies are cool.

Butterflies are amazing.

Butterflies are what scientists need. I love you.

Love, E.O.W.

Dear Butterflies,

I hope that you have a great time in the Butterfly home. We have a lot of food for you. 

There must be a lot more Monarchs than Painted Ladies. 

I hope you had a relaxing time in the chrysalis. 

Love, H.L. 

The Earth Between Our Toes ... 

and In Our Fingernails

Soil Separation

Collecting Samples

In honor of planting our prairie seed this week, I thought it appropriate to share some muddy moments from our year. If you remember we studying Pebbles, Rocks and Silt this past winter. This was a beautifully integrated study with our K-6 Prairie Restoration Project along with individual inquiry about geology, archeology and of course...worms!

                                             

                                                                    We Dig Up the Best Dirt

Students engaged in a variety of activites throughout their year at Willowwind involving mud. We harvested in the fall at Echolective Farm with our friend Derek, worked with Ms. Christine to prepare our garden for planting, and we planned the beginning stages of our Prairie Restoration. This was the most challenging as we had to determine the best plants for our soil, and then... where the Prairie should start for environmental, aesthetic  and social (playing hide and seek) benefits. 

Dirty Hands are a must for the best learning!

In class our Morning Meetings were full of discussions about dinosaur bones, geodes from Colorado and India, and ram, horse and bird skulls found in Iowa. During science we learned all about soil erosion, various types of soil textures such as sticky clay and gritty sand or smooth soil across the world, and experimented in soil separation experiments. Of course, science would not be complete without applying our various knowledges to creative writing. Friends spent many hours as the voice of worms and beetles in their Soil Adventure writing that started in February...some are still writing the adventure today as they learn more and brainstorm a variety of ideas. 

Mixing the Soil

The different rocks that we studied include  scoria, tuff and basalt. Friends discovered the layers of soil starting with pebbles, sand, silt, rotted organic material and organic earth layers. We enjoyed sifting and sorting the various types of rock before we tested their weight and separation abilities. 

We found a butterfly in dewy spot of the garden....another important purpose for protecting our soil.

Friends discovered that the best way to prevent wind erosion in the Plain States is to use mulch, burlap and plants to protect the soil. They also read about tillage and why that is important in mixing old plant materials with the new. We found ways to create wind breaks with plants, and discovered that gully, and sheet erosion often lead to flooding! Did you know that we lost 6.4 million tons of soil per year due to erosion, and development? 

WORMS!

Geodes

Recording Data
We are fantastic scientistic observers


Hopefully friends plan to make further discoveries in the dirt as they play at the beach, travel the world and hang out in Iowa 

Daily News Takes Heart

A Very Special Necklace for a Strong Fight

Daily News Discussions
Daily News is one of our favorite parts of Morning Meeting. This authentic writing component to our day sparks conversations that transcend the walls of our classroom, sparks further inquiry and ignites passions for history, social justice and nature. However, they also allows us to make connections of heart and spirit among each other.  Thank-you for being supportive of this exercise at home and engaging your children in conversations that go beyond "How was your day?" I wanted to share with you the array of topics discussed in the last few weeks. Wow! Aren't these children thinkers?

Daily News Titles 
1. Dad's Birthday
2. Ball Pythons
3. Tough Tyson: America's Most Beautiful
     Bulldog
4. Ancient Pygmy
5. Buster the Beagle Dachshund Mix: No Legs, Can't Use the Bathroom and Needs a Home
6. Are We So Different? An exhibit on shades of skin color on display at the UNI Museum until June 9th
7. Anne Frank: A Little Jewish Girl only 13 years Old
8. Brother's Surgery

A Big Friday in the Racerunner Room

The Butteflies Emerged

On a quiet Friday morning our BSP friends sighted the first fluttering of wings in the Butterfly Home. As the day progressed, they noted that more color came into the wings and after lunch three more butterflies had emerged from their chrysalis. We prepared their food mixtures, recorded their emersion date and made observations in our Science Journals. We couldn't get enough of watching our friends who had come to us with 16 legs and now have two wings with the most beautiful coloring. Friends enjoyed writing beside the Butterflies and even read them a book or two. 

Reading a book to our butterflies. Love. 

Getting Into Character

Hirmini left Hogwarts to illustrate the Life Cycle.


 The Prairie Racerunners were very successful in raising money for Relay for Life! On Friday we dressed as our favorite characters as apart of this cancer fighting fundraiser. We had fun sporting costumes, jewelry and headgear. 

Ariel came up for air to visit the Painted Lady 

Captain Jack Sparrow joined Writing Workshop

Snow White fed an apple to the butterflies. Non poisonous of course

                                               

I'm a superstar!

The Willowwind Spelling Bee

The Racerunners Prepare to Spell Well

1st Grade - 6th Grade had the opportunity to participate in the Willowwind Spelling Bee on Friday during GD. Carly did a great job of reading the words, using them in sentences and defining the words we didn't know. A huge thank-you to Paige Duncan for organizing another great Spelling Bee. Each participant received a participation certificate and a Willowwind Spelling Bee Pencil for their great courage in this event! This is the first year that 1st graders have been invited to join in the challenge, and most of them were up for it! The winner from Willowwind will go onto the Iowa State Fair this summer and compete with other 1st and 2nd graders from Iowa. If he or she is not able to go, then our 2nd place winner will go in their place. Carly made sure the teachers got in on the fun too! Ms. Brooke and Ms. Michelle were the first down. Ms. Brooke missed "camouflage" and Ms. Michelle, whose word was much more difficult, was out on "delicatessen." Tough words! It was great fun for the kids to see their teachers and Head of School attempt the words and struggle just as they do. Thanks for supporting this challenge from home. 

The Prairie Racerunner Spelling Bee Winners

 Reading Buddies

After such a big day of character dress up, butterflies emerging and spelling bee jitters, we were excited to venture downstairs for one of our last Reading Buddy times with our preschool friends. We read them many books and magazines about butterflies, as well as character favorites from the classroom. This quiet reading and bonding time is quite the treasure for our Racerunners. It was the perfect way to end our big Friday.