Mystery Mousse at MCS

There is something pretty soothing about ending the day quietly stitching and chatting with friends and that is just what the Craft Club has been getting up to these past two weeks. Hard at work, but also relaxed and enjoying the time together, our third through sixth graders have been sewing bean bags and putting the finishing touches on their stylish felt bracelets some with conductive thread, allowing for it to light up. The dynamic duo of Ms. Leggett and Ms. Pierpont are the perfect pair for these high-tech, low-tech projects!

Winter in Lincoln equals...

...sledding! It's much easier to transition back from vacation when you have sleds, perfect sledding snow, and a great sledding hill - which we here at LCS are lucky enough to have! We begin each ASP day with our outside time, and the majority of students opt to spend most (if not all) of that time whizzing down the hill, running back up, and repeating the cycle over and over.

Another popular outdoor option these days is fort building. We take snow fort construction very seriously here at LCS. On this day, everyone involved had a specific job to do to ensure speedy (yet well-done!) construction, so that there would be enough time to play before heading inside. Unfortunately, winter also equals less outside time - but we make the most of it!

Those of us who choose to stay inside on these chilly January days have fun too. Lately, students have been really enjoying the game Headbandz, where you wear a plastic headband with a little clip for a card to fit into, and ask other players yes or no questions to guess what card you have. We have also been enjoying our new sets of markers, along with beautiful coloring pages courtesy of Cathy. 

January has also brought some sad news - we are no longer graced with the wonderful presence of Amy at ASP. We know she is going on to do amazing things and we are proud of her, but we miss her already! It will be difficult to replace Amy, but we will do our best to find another team member who enjoys coloring as much as she does!

Session Three begins at LCS!

Session three is off to a great start at the Lincoln Community School!  Four new workshops are being offered this session, including Stories, Stories, and More Stories with Deb Gray, Science Exploratory with Carolyn Brown, Storytelling and Dance with Grace Freeman, and Oceans, Rivers and Lakes with John Amory.  Tae Kwon Do, with Elliot Cluba, also continues to meet every Tuesday.  Check out the pictures from last week!

Tae Kwon Do

The first group of students in Tae Kwon Do (Grades 2-6)

The second group of students in Tae Kwon Do (Grades K/1)

Stories, Stories, and More Stories

A student works on creating his own book.

The group sings a song based on a book they just read.

Students read books connected with the school wide study of France, which will begin later this month. 

Science Exploratory

Students engage in a deep discussion about which materials float when put in water, and why.  They will put their theories to the test when building their own boats!






Storytelling and Dance

Students learn about the history of Lincoln through local text.

The group sings Maple Sweet, which describes the magic of the sugaring season in Vermont.

Students practice square dancing!

Oceans, Lakes and Rivers

A student uses mapquest to study the watersheds of Vermont.

A student begins creating  a 3-D study of the watersheds of Vermont.

Guiding questions and ideas for the workshop.

2016 and Ready to Roll

We ended Session II with a great dinner led by the Homesteading workshop! Homesteading leader Becky had her students make each and every item they served to their parents and guests! Mrs. Frazer stopped by to enjoy some of the goodies! I can't believe our two week break went by so fast and we are starting week two of Session III already! 

The rundown:

M/W 

International Interactions led by Roberta Kinney

Looking, Thinking, and Creating Your Own Art led by Karen McEachen

Beginning Violin led by Susan Mahony

Traveling Museum/ Ancient Egypt led by Miriam Block

T/TH

Homesteading Part II led by Becky Adams-Rose

Mini Makers led by Megan Cowette

Math Masters Part II led by Sue Bachand

Friday

Chess Club led by Mike Gray

We are very lucky to welcome back three of our workshop leaders to offer Part II of their workshops!

As a workshop leader this session I get to see a select group of students twice a week! Mini Makers is a twist on what a makerspace would be if there was one at Robinson! We target Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math! The students each week will touch on one of the subjects with a hands on experiment or challenge.

Our first challenge was to create marshmallow/gum drop structures with toothpicks. We learned about what makes a strong base and how that could help our structures become taller. We continued the lesson on the second day experimenting with 3oz cups and popsicle sticks!

Visual art has students using materials they may not be familiar with. They used their imagination and printed paper to create their own scenes. Dylan, on the left, created the woods. Each student had their own scene they created without direction. It is magical to watch their thoughts come out in art form!

Starting the new year off right at BES

   We are excited that BES is to be able to offer so many wonderful workshops. The kids are excited for the workshops, the educators are excited. it's going to be a fun session.

     Some of the workshops we are offering for this third session is chess, jewelry beading, tai chi, Kitchen  exploration, printmaking, space exploration, dance party, singing, photography and scholarship club for both 5/6 and 3/4. 

     We have also added a bonus workshop called looking thinking and creating your own art.

     The kids are engaged , enjoying and having fun with their new workshops. We couldn't be happier with the group of educators that we have helping us teach these workshops. 

5/6 scholars club

Chess club 

Space exploration 

Singing workshop 

     We are already busy working on our next session workshops. We hope to offer some very fun and exciting new things for kids to do after school with their expanded learning. 

Beets & Blinks at MCS

The second session of Monkton Central's ELP started this week. We are overjoyed to offer two workshops again this session with one geared for our K-2 ELPers and one for our 3-6 crowd. We are also very proud that we are fully staffed by members of our teaching team. As our visitor Superintendent Vilaseca said today during his impromptu visit, it is so wonderful when teachers are able to work in this different context with students they might not normally work with. It also builds and maintains these all-important teaching and learning relationships.

It's a beautiful thing.

Our older students are participating in an eTextiles Craft Club. What does that mean? Well, it's a mix of traditional crafts like sewing with a modern, maker twist. Workshop teacher teammates Caitlin Leggett, who is our Kindergarten teacher, and Kelly Pierpont, who teaches 5th and 6th grade, have joined up to bridge the old and the new. This week, crafter Ms. Leggett is teaching the students sewing basics. They began with a felt bracelet, decked out with buttons and felt cutouts. Super fun to wear and share! Next week, makerspace guru Ms. Pierpont will show the students how they can use conductive thread to wire their creations with a simple LED circuit so that they light up! The students will combine these two seemingly divergent fields into such fun projects as light-up stuffed animals and other blinking craft creations!

Down the hall, Stacy Carter and Jenn Livingston, two of our 1st and 2nd grade teachers, have a crew of twenty-two 5-, 6-, and 7-year-old sous chefs in their wildly popular Good Eats cooking workshop. This week, the little ones learned safe knife skills in order to make carrot, beet, apple, and ginger juice and fruit kebabs with a delightful cinnamon-honey yogurt sauce. "This is better than pizza!" exclaimed first grader Kaidin.

Thanks to the students, families, and teachers who are making expanded learning possible for Monkton's students! Stay tuned for more pictures and news next week!

~Kate Gagner, Site Director

Refreshed and excited after the break at BS.

   The kids are refreshed and excited after the Thanksgiving break. Happy to be back at their workshops and excited to continue the learning.  

    The science club is creating boats that float and bones from plates and cars that roll. They're having a fun time exploring the sciences. Carolyn Brown's creative activities are keeping the kids engaged and focused and psyched to be learning science.

     Comic book club is having a blast creating their own comics and coloring and drawing and thinking about how their superhero comic books might turn out. I hear word they are planning a comic con for the end of this workshop. Matt is a fantastic workshop educator  that makes it a blast for the children to be creative and get lost in their imagination.

    Origami club is having fun in creating their own animals and objects out of plain flat paper. They are excited to come and show what they have made and actually show how to do it too. They are learning great techniques and I can't wait to see all the things they have created at the end. 

    Violin is strumming right along. They all can play a song together stay in tune and on the beat. They are very engaged learners and Susan keeps them focused and enjoying every new aspect that they learn about music , how to stand ,how to hold the instrument and how to behave when playing in front of a crowd. They will be able to put on a fantastic performance at the end of this workshop.

   Baking with Bertha has come up with some great new recipes to cook this workshop. The kids come back with handfuls of treats and stuff they have created on their own with Bertha's help in the kitchen.  Bertha teaches them how to be safe and have fun while making food that your family and friends can enjoy.

   African textiles is engaged and making beautiful pieces of cloth with intricate patterns that they have picked themselves.Miriam Block has let them get creative while having fun getting a little messy. What could be better than that.

    The get outside club gets outside no matter the weather. Inclement weather cannot stop them they are out in the woods for foraging  for new interesting things to find and study. They've built forts, study leaves and made books about trees. For Dan this small group has given him a lot of chances to do some interesting things with them in the great outdoors. 

    The Chinese club is excited about learning Chinese numbers and letters being able to say them and write them. They've been able to make Chinese dumplings in our kitchen and they tasted and looked delicious. Jessica and the students from Middleberry College have been fantastic with our students. The children love to me the college students and ask them questions about life in China and being in America.  

      The Winter Bell group is chiming their way into a beautiful rendition of Carol of the bells. Jen Allred keeps in tune with our beautiful colored bells. And easy to read musical charts that she has made and created. Can't wait to see the final performance.