March 13th Maple Magic!

Let us go to the Sugar Camp 

While the snow lies on the ground

Live in a birch bark wigwam 

Cut a notch in a maple tree

Set a pail on the ground below

Soon the sap will be flowing 

Make a fire in the sugar lodge

So that we may boil the sap 

Bring all the wooden ladels...mmm

In the snow see the rabbit tracks

Hear the call of the chickadee-dee-dee

Do not stop to follow them..

Tis the season of the Sugar Camp, Tis the season of the Sugar Camp

We started off the morning with some fun indoor play, basking in the sunshine. Jonah brought in a book about the Titanic that inspired an impressive replica! 

 We played with light and learned that all of the colors of the rainbow are in light, we just can't see them all the time. 

It was Ezra's turn to teach about his animal, the Raven. My favorite factoid from his presentation was that Ravens will put nuts on the road so that cars will drive over them and crack them open-they are very clever birds indeed! Great job, Ezra!!

A silly song...

Back to the pond to check on the tadpoles that had probably gotten much colder over the past few days! 

We searched for owl pellets and sunny spots to keep us warm as we adventured on the blue trail-a new one for us. 

When we found a nice warm sunny spot, we gathered for a story about the mice who make woodpecker holes into their homes, creating mouse apartment buildings. Then on our way back we found several mouse skyscrapers! 

We found some crystal clear ice that we could see bubbles underneath. We tried to crack it with rocks but it was frozen solid. 

Taking our time on our walk back...

Now today was very special because in the afternoon our classroom was turned into a fine dining establishment with a focus on all things maple. 

Our favorite chef, Samantha, was busy in the kitchen flipping pancakes while we gave our bodies a little warming rest. 

And then, it was time! We donned some festive apparel and agreed that eating in a fancy restaurant means you need some very fancy manners and did we ever! With yes please here and an excuse me madam there you could tell we were someplace special just by listening.  

We taste tested all the different kinds of Grade A maple syrup. Dark robust, amber rich, and golden delicate as well as maple sugar and some maple sap. Soon all you could hear was chewing and yumming, it was delicious! 

Seconds, thirds, and even fourths were had by all of our maple connoisseurs. We took a vote in the end on which was our favorite one to taste. Many of the children voted for all of them :) but in the end it was a tie between dark robust and golden delicate. 

Tis the season of the sugar camp! 

March 6th. 2017

Drip. Drip. Drip. 

I can feel the sun shining

I can feel wind blowing 

I can smell the sap boiling 

Drip. Drip. Drip. 

A spring like day at Wren's Nest! We enjoyed the new morning light playing inside and catching up with each other. 

Today was our first day of our Animal Presentations! Aurelia was our first presenter and taught us all about her animal, The Jumping Mouse. She made a poster illustrating the jumping mouse that even had a key telling us important facts! She taught us that the Jumping Mouse loves digging, is nocturnal, and likes to eat seeds and berries. She drew a beautiful picture of a hawk and snake-two predators that the Jumping Mouse needs to look out for! Thank you Aurelia! 

The bright sun was warming our faces and we wondered if it was warming other places too. We decided to hike the whole yellow trail looking for signs of spring along the way. 

Our first stop was checking on the bulbs that we planted along the entrance to the yellow trail. They were sprouting!! It was very exciting, and we were careful to cover them back up incase of cold and be careful with our boots. 

Yipee! The children were excited that soon the bees would be able to enjoy their first food of the spring with our crocus and daffodils! 

Half way through the yellow trail we played camouflage and had some very tricky hiders and very sharp eagle eyes.

Jonah found spider eggs in one of his hiding places! 

We tested out the strength of this broken tree and wondered what made this big tree snap. 

At the end of the hike we played in forts and discovered treasures of the forest, like this huge artists conk that had been frozen to the ground. 

Before we said goodbye, continued whittling our sumac sap taps, after going over safety and technique. We have some very talented and focused whittlers! 

 We are savoring the last days of winter and hoping for another day of snow play before its gone! 

February 27th Sugaring Season Begins!

Let us go to the Sugar Camp 

After snow days, sick days, and home days it was good to be back at Wren's Nest celebrating the start of Maple Sugaring Season with Ms. Karen who was subbing for Samantha.

We starting the morning with blocks and painting and had a special circle where we hear the Abenaki story of Gluskabe who changed maple sap into maple syrup long ago. 

We learned that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup! 

We found some scat on the pink rock on our way to the farm. We saw that it had mostly hair and some berries, so we decided it probably belonged to fox. 

We adventured up to the pond to see what changes Mrs. Thaw had brought. We found receding ice and tried to break it by throwing rocks.

It was a busy day by the water for pirates...X marks the spot!

The pirates were trying to free their ship using a found rope. The ship was frozen stuck but with Jackson's help it transformed into a jumprope and friendly round of tug-of-war. 

We went on a walk to explore the other side of the pond, and it was like entering spring. The pond was completely thawed on the other side. We saw the water pouring in the from the far corner and wondered if that was helping it thaw more quickly. As we looked closely we were amazed to see that what we thought were weeds were actually tadpoles-thousands of them!! Too many to count, we all agreed, but we made a little wish for them because winter isn't over yet. 

We crossed 3 streams on our walk down the white trail, a new one for us. We found plenty of silver along the way but many of us really wanted to find gold! 

Back at Wren's Nest we enjoyed a good lunch and got cozy with our books.

Ms. Karen challenged us to 15 minutes of quiet reading, something her second graders used to do, but we were able to go for 20 minutes!

We colored in sugaring pictures that reminded us of Gluskabe's story. 

Back outside Jonah finally found some gold! 

And a few of us harvesting some sumac and began a whittling project. 

Happy 

And we're back! January 30th

"Groundhog in your hole so deep. 

Lift your head and take a peek, 

If your shadow makes you LEAP! 

Curl back up and go to sleep!"

A funny name and an important task. Groundhog day marks the middle of winter. It is halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox, a day assures us the light is returning soon. Some signify this turning point celebrating Candlemas, a day to gather the beeswax stubs of candles burned through darkest winter and with them create new ones. I can certainly feel the light returning and even the stirrings of spring...Robins sing and sunsets linger. 

With this, we gain a whole new gratitude for winter in all its frozen beauty. Let us play with it while it is still in our grasp! 

Finally back together after a restful winter break, teachers and students were so happy to be reunited. What better way to ring in semester 2 than with 2 amazing and huge hornets nests. Samantha brought one from her house, and Wyatt brought the other...what a coincidence! 

 We decided that Samantha's nest would be devoted to science. So she got to work with a pair of shears and we all waited to see what the inside looked like. We saw eggs, larvae, and many dead hornets. Samantha had done her research and learned that as soon as the first hard frost hits the queen leaves the nest and all of the remaining wasps die. 

 The first thing we noticed was the smell! Phew...we soon figured out that the source of the stink was probably the dead wasps and larvae left in the nest. 

 A bald faced hornet, killed by the frost. 

A closer look....

 With all the wintry weather we used our senses to observe and explore ice. Frozen water balloons created an egg like ball with a watery yolk inside that gave us a chance to feel and see the different stages of ice as it freezes. We compared these to the huge icicles on the chains of the green roof of the eco lodge. Samantha brought bubble wands and soap to create ice bubbles. While we were never successful in making an ice bubble, probably a bit too warm and windy, we noticed how cool it was to watch the solution freeze in the wand. One crystal formed and delicate icy film was spun across the ring. 

 The delicate crystals forming. Even a breath could break the "glass"!

 We discovered a skating rink at the bottom of the sledding hill! The children became zambonies, clearing the snow from the smooth ice with their arms and legs. 

 Sliding around our rink was a lot of fun. 

 A very big universe, indeed. 

At the end of the day we went on a walk about the land that we had been missing. We checked on the places that we planted our bulbs and dreamed of what it might look like when they finally bloom. Our last stop was to the bean teepee. Another reminder of what is soon to come.