Wailele, The Water Cycle, and Butterflies

Inquiry
Our study of Wailele is still exciting your children. They really enjoy the process of forming hypotheses from what they think they know and working collectively to come up with more developed ideas about everything from where Wailele's water comes from and why there is a fence around it to how the water cycle works. Today we confirmed several of our hypotheses by interacting with Mr. Hank Howlett, MPI's Director of Facilities and Maintenance. He was our expert who could answer all those questions the children have been contemplating since their first visit to Wailele. Be sure and ask your child about what they learned. Next week, we will have Ms. Rianne Graves and Ms.Torry Montes coming in to tell us more about what life was like around Wailele in ancient Hawaiian days, at the time MPI was founded, and up until the present. Ms. Montes' 6th graders have collected oral histories from longtime Manoa residents, and she will share what her students discovered about the history of the valley and MPI. Ms. Graves will offer a cultural perspective that she gleaned from her kumu hula, Uncle Kimo, also a longtime Manoa resident. All of our Inquiry activities are being videotaped, and we will soon be sharing our experiences through podcasts. How to do a podcast is the teachers' current Inquiry! 

Book Fair
Our class will visit the Book Fair tomorrow to check out what's available and get ideas about books we can put on our classroom "Wish List." The Scott family has already given us money to buy books in honor of their son's birthday, which we celebrated last week. As always, your generosity is very much appreciated!

I prefer that parents accompany their children to the Book Fair for actual purchase of the books because some listed in the catalog may not be available, and there will likely more than just those in the catalog. Thank you for your support of your child's love of books and reading, as well as for supporting our classroom and the school.  Remember that March 6th is Family Day -- with refreshments!

Book Projects
One child has done an excellent presentation, and another will present tomorrow. The children enjoy the creative aspects of the projects and learning about fascinating new books to read. Thank you, again, for helping with these!

Butterflies
We were able to accompany four caterpillars through their metamorphosis and send them on their way out into the world to continue their cycle of life! We actually saw one emerge from its chrysalis. Check out the photo gallery for pictures of a butterfly walking from hand to hand before it flew away. What a lovely miracle of life to share with children!

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Assembly Performance

February Assembly Presentation
The Magic Stone Keiki and Ms. Graves' 6th Grade Hawaiian Culture and Hula Class performed our class 'olelo noeau (Hawaiian proverb) and the MPI 'oli (chant) for the Elementary School this morning. We have been collaborating with Ms. Graves and her class to learn Hawaiian pronunciation and meanings and to practice the 'oli and 'olelo noeau for almost two weeks. We have made new friends and enjoyed learning together. Today we put it all together in the lovely morning sunshine surrounded by the beauty of Manoa Valley. It was perfect! The wisdom of our 'olelo noeau speaks about how a person with a little patience will not achieve much in life, but a person who accepts challenges and perseveres will accomplish important things. That is an important lesson for all of us! Everyone was touched by the voices of 35 children chanting the 'oli composed by Ms. Graves (RGL's mom). The 'oli speaks of the gifts of Manoa (your children) and asks for the protection of the guardian of the valley, the pueo, now and long after they have graduated from MPI.

Dr. Ichinose's Message
This week Dr. Ichinose spoke about the need to accept responsibility. He shared a story about a famous football coach who told his players, "Don't whine, don't complain, and don't make excuses."  The story he read illustrated the importance of those values for all of us. 

Book Projects
I am encouraging the children to finish and present their book projects in the next couple of weeks instead of waiting until the week before Spring Break. That is already a busy week, so I would like to have most of the projects presented well in advance of that!

Jump Rope for Heart
Mahalo to all of you who so generously donated to the Jump Rope for Heart last Friday. It is an event that is always enjoyed by all! After the fun of jumping together for an hour, we returned to the classroom, and the children insisted on dancing to end the day. Mr. Cutter joined in, and we were all impressed by his fancy footwork and "Funky Chicken!"

Valentines Day
A big mahalo for all the wonderful cards, candies, balloons, and other gifts that you gave me and the children in honor of that special day!

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A Rainy Day Visit to Wailele and Chinese New Year!

Wailele
The children donned raincoats and ponchos and off we went to Wailele just after a heavy downpour last Friday. I was reminded of how much children love puddles and mud! Some of their observations: there were lots more ponds on the football field, the water level in Wailele was much higher than the last time we visited, and there was no stream running into the pond. HMMMMM! And, of course, there were more hypotheses about where that water comes from.  We are currently searching for an "expert" who can explain how this "pond" is fed.  Any ideas?

The children have drawn their version of the "Water Cycle," and we are mind-mapping what we think we know and want to know about that subject. Many of the students had a good idea about parts of it, and some knew all about it.  We will be learning more about the Water Cycle in the weeks to come. At the end of our inquiry, we will draw the Water Cycle again and be amazed by how much we have learned.

The children are putting finishing touches on their "Legends of Wailele," and we will soon be exploring haiku poetry using our sensory impressions at Wailele as inspiration.

China
Our study of China was enriched today by the celebration of Chinese New Year. The children learned to say "Happy New Year" in Mandarin and Cantonese. Mr. Trowbridge came in and wrote the Chinese characters on the board for us, and we had a great discussion about dialects from different areas of China.

The lion dancers brought great joy and excitement to the campus this morning, and Mrs. Yoshikawa, Mr. and Mrs. Eng, and Mrs. Saruwatari organized a wonderful afternoon of learning about and making a Chinese zodiac, doing  calligraphy, listening to stories from China, and eating gau and Chinese fortune cookies.  A big mahalo to Mrs. Yoshikawa for planning this wonderful event, to all the parents who helped, and to everyone who sent the money or the little red envelopes for the lion dancers and the children. 

Next week I will be showing my slides of China in 1978.  I will let you know when, so you can attend if you would like.

Be sure to check the photo gallery tomorrow for great pictures of your children enjoying their learning.

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