Will It Sink or Float?

Will it sink or float?

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
If this question piques David Letterman's curiosity, you can imagine how compelling it is for a dozen people four and five years of age. This experiment goes through four stages, featuring critical learning skills they will rely on for the rest of their lives.

1) Prediction:
What do you think WILL sink or float? Examine the items. Pick them up. Feel them.

2) Evaluation:
One by one, place them in water and observe what happens. Did it sink or float? Did it happen fast or slow?

3) Conclusion:
Were your predictions correct? What other items could you try? How are those items like those you already did? Repeat the experiment with new predictions.

Firefighter Jana Wakefield

WHO IS THAT MASKED MAN?
That ain't no man! That's Officer Jana Wakefield of the San Francisco Fire Department! She is one of the many wonderful parents at our school. Officer Jana visited our class and showed us what firefighters do when they hear the alarm. The students marveled at how quickly she got into her uniform and, of course, the mask! Now all the students have learned firsthand that girls can grow up to be firefighters, too. (Our girls already knew...now the boys do, too!)








TODAY'S STORY
When I Grow Up, by Charise Mericle Harper. What do we think we want to be when we grow up? All too often, the answer to this question is an occupation. In this book, the answers are virtues. When we watch them exploring at school (and as you have gazed at them at home and about), the last thing that comes to mind is a "set dresser", "plumber" or "I.T. guy."

Our focus is on those that guarantee a full and meaningful life. Every student is brave, thoughtful, caring, adventurous, fair, generous, optimistic, imaginative, patient and/or lucky at any given time in the course of our day. Being able to nurture and appreciate this is why we do what we do.

All these virutes add up to one thing we want them to be when they grow up - HAPPY.