A Sad Tree: The Gift of Happiness

Tonight we attended our very first Discovery Center Open House. Unknown to Garth and I until yesterday afternoon, this would be a big night for Griffin, as he would be making a "presentation." Needless to say, the whole family trooped over to school this evening, video camera at the ready.

The following was taken from the program passed out to families attending the "unveiling" ...

A Summary of The Study of Leaves:

There are many things to wonder about in this world. This year, the childrean of Discovery B (Griffin's class) have shown an interrest in the cycle of life, focusing on plant life. Earlier this fall, the children found themselves surrounded by a world of color and beauty as the leaves changed and fell from the trees. The children collected, illustrated, sorted, and classified the leaves they found outside. As they continued their study of leaves, their experience extended to other languages, such as clay and wire. Interestingly, the season began to change once again and we all wondered if our study of leaves would come to an end as winter began.

When we asked the children how we could continue to study leaves, they were full of suggestions. In fact, they had so many ideas about how to continue that we began to consider how this study could be connected to our bigger question. "What is listening?" We acted on the ideas of the children and formed learning groups in our classroom. Each group was named to reflect the type of work they would encounter. And, because each group had its own specific goals, we realized that listening to each other would be very important. The Researchers, Explorers, Builders, and Designers now find themselves working towards individual goals, which will soon merge, together into a larger classroom project.

The Work of the Designer Group

The Designers (Griffin's learning group) have acceptedthe task of remembering the beauty and clor of leaves before winter. Through this process, the Designers uncovered some very personal feelings for the trees around school, especially as the weather became colder and colder. They identified trees that were sad because they had lost all of their leaves and their friends. They believe that these trees are lonely, cold and in need of some cheer. To help the tree find happiness again, the Designers designed plans based on three important ideas; love, care, and warmth. They chose a special tree to give their gift of happiness to. Tonight's unveiling showcased the first steps in the process of giving happiness to something that needs it.

Is there any doubt that I would have the kid with the loudest voice?