Kristen Saunders: Lots Happening on Learning Lane

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Lots Happening on Learning Lane

This week we decided in light of Johnny Appleseed's birthday that we would do a Learning Lane celebration and learning rotation. Students in Learning Lane were grouped into multi age groups; they then went to a Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade classroom in the span of three days. While they were in those classrooms they learned about apples, how an apple tree changes throughout the seasons, Johnny Appleseed, and they experienced tasting and graphing about different apple products. It was not only a fun experience, but it was a chance for the older students of Learning Lane to mentor and help the younger students. Those that had been a part of Learning Lane last year jumped right in and helped those that were new, and those that were younger then them. It was wonderful to see 1st graders helping K students find their way to the correct room, and to see 2nd graders helping K and 1st through the activities.

This activity was also important in helping students to get to know the teachers of Learning Lane a bit better in a fun way. Part of the idea behind Learning Lane is to build community among students of different classrooms and grades. By doing this they can work together to learn and grow as students. Also, it provides a wide array of learning opportunities for students to be met right where they are in different subject areas. One of the areas in which we provide this setting is through guided reading, and this week we also started our rotation for these reading groups. We have all been working on transitioning between classrooms, setting the routines, and explaining centers with our reading groups. Next week we will all be starting guided reading.

Also, in the midst of this 2nd grade is learning about butterflies so, we were invited over to see a caterpillar forming its chrysalis. It has been a busy and exciting week!

Here are a few highlights from our Learning Lane week!