Yellow Band: By Land, Weeks 5 & 6

"From each according to their ability, to each according to their need."Fractions, parts of a whole. Here in the Yellow Band, we are each an important part of the whole. But, we're not each exactly the same, unlike the equal parts we've been dividing shapes and quantities into.Last week in Class Meeting, we read the book They All Saw a Cat. It's all about perspective--everyone sees the cat differently, yet each of their perspectives is beautiful in it's own way. This idea has permeated a lot of our different explorations, from sharing thoughts and problem solving strategies for vitamins at Morning Meeting, to solving problems at Class Meeting, to writing based on our book club books.What's more, our study of the Pony Express led us to an exploration of native peoples of North America. It was important to me to bring the kids' attention to the 'discovery myth,' the idea that the west was discovered by the European settlers as they moved across the continent. A lot of the texts we read about both the emigrants and the Pony Express included this type of language. So, we've been spending some time trying to learn about the plains tribes, especially the Sioux, and using resources from the indigenous perspective whenever possible. Oh, and it also informed some of our math-art connections and vitamin work--of course!Oh, AND, we started new projects! Nicole is working on a 3D map, and Nathan is working on a fence styled after a fence the Bees fell in love with in Mendocino.This past week, we started giving the kiddos in the Beehive more choice in the morning activities. So, we now have Hive-wide choices 3 mornings and 3 afternoons each week. Our goal is to take cues from the kids, notice the skills and areas each child feels confident, so that we can build from there with each Red and Yellow Bander. Expect to see more pictures and captions about students from both bands, as I'll get to work with the Red Banders a lot more moving forward!