Eagles Take Flight: Creating a Strong Foundation for the Year (ages 9-11)

by Abra Kessler

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The Eagles class is a busy place, with students working well independently, in small groups, and as a whole class. This is only possible with the work we do to build community. This is done in all aspects of our day. We have ongoing conversations about how to treat each other on the field, in Hawgolwood, and in the classroom. An acronym that we focus on is T.H.I.N.K.: before you speak, think “Is what I am going to say: true, helpful, important, necessary and/or kind?” Sometimes it’s really important for a student to express themselves and be heard about something that upset them, but it can be done in a way that is received well. 

We started the year talking about the Constitution of the United States, and created our own class Constitution, complete with a Preamble. The students contributed their ideas and we agreed on which of the ideas are necessary to include, as well as the wording we should use. We revisit the Constitution throughout the year. 

This is the inaugural year of Vermont’s Kid Governor and our 5th graders were excited to be one of the 65 participating schools. Our class learned civic education through this program: lessons about state government, voting, elections, and civic participation. The 5th graders identified issues that impact their community and state, such as mental illness in children, homelessness, the drought, advocating for children with disabilities, raising awareness about lead paint and lead in water pipes, and promoting outdoor education. They then researched their issue and created platforms complete with a 3 point plan as to how they, as 5th graders, could make a difference. We focus on process at Red Fox, and the work that went into these platforms was impressive. It was certainly a thrill to have our chosen candidate make it to the state level as one of the seven cabinet members as well!

Another program the Eagles have been involved in is Global Read Aloud. This is a program where many classes across the country, as well as the world, read the same book and then have opportunities to discuss the books with one another through mail and video calls. One of our favorite parts of Global Read Aloud is the Mystery Meets, which is when we do a video call with a class and try to guess where each other is. We have U.S. and world maps in front of us and we ask questions that help us narrow down where the guest class is. The students use cardinal directions as well as time zones to guess. This reinforces our focus on sense of place and geography. The book we are reading for Global Read Aloud is "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes about the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. This is a wonderful introduction to our study of U.S. history and geography. This book is also rich with story and description and it enables us to have in-depth conversations about character, theme, and imagining life through the perspective of the characters. 

Our students also engage in daily math and reading groups. Every student is in both of these groups, and after having assessed their beginning of the year skills, they are placed in appropriately challenging groups. These groups are fluid, and students may move into a different group depending on their skill level for the topic we are covering. They are also multi-aged, so students can spend time with friends from other classes.

We are now getting excited for our Solstice Poetry and Music Recital just before the December break. The students have chosen their poems, and we are practicing memorizing them and effective ways to present them, including pace and intonation. 

There is always a fun study or event to look forward to at Red Fox! 

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Guinea Pigs

By Allison

Our class has two guinea pigs, Kiwi and Mango. They live in a cage in the middleish of the classroom. The cage has two huts inside of it. One of the huts looks like a mini house made of wood. The other hut is like the other one but without walls and they have little wood blocks. The blocks are different colors like red, blue, and green. They have a water and food dish, a container for hay, and toys to chew on. The guinea pigs enjoy carrots, hay, and dried fruit. I enjoy holding the guinea pigs. I usually hold Kiwi. He is black and brown. Mango is an orangish brown and a chestnut color. In the mornings people can usually hold them while they read. Every week there’s a new pet care person who gets to take care of the guinea pigs. This requires them to give the guinea pigs food, water, and hay. Once a week the pet care person has to clean their cage. When I was pet care and had to clean the guinea pigs’ cage, someone helped me. Guinea pigs are social animals and don’t like to live alone because they would get lonely, bored, and really depressed, so we have two guinea pigs. The guinea pigs squeak when you do something they don’t like (they also squeak when they do like it and to communicate with each other). Guinea pigs are my fourth favorite rodent. 

The list goes: 

1. Hamsters 

2. Capybaras 

3. Chinchilla 

4. Guinea pigs      

Explore Time

by Cy 

Explore time is one of the most fun times of the school day. You can do almost anything, but there are still some ground rules. For instance you CAN`T sky dive, you can’t go home or go outside, but that makes up for all the things you CAN do. My favorite is Sleeping Queens or Battleship but you can do more than that like Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza, Set, Racko, Never Have I Ever, Primeclimb, S’math, Slam, Math War, play chess, and Proof. That was only ten out of about 100 of games you can play. You can also draw, play with base 10 blocks, take out the guinea pigs, practice math, read, or finish work. We do this so we can have fun with friends and play together. Also so we can work better later in the day and pay more attention to work. We usually do this later in the day and we tend to stay in our classroom, but we might go to the Hawks soon. We don`t have it every day because we have to do work. We still do it a lot though. 

Independent Reading

By Eleanor

In independent reading we find a spot that’s not next to someone else. Then we usually aren’t supposed to talk, but sometimes we do. Then Abra says, “Shhh.” Sometimes Abra comes around and asks us to read to her. Or Bonnie comes over and helps. Sometimes we use cushions. I usually use a cushion or lie down. Usually I read one of my books from home. Right now I’m reading The Star Horse. I like it a lot. It’s about this rare horse, you don’t see many of them, called a Fjord. I haven’t finished it yet, but so far my favorite part is that there’s this girl that meets the horse and they become best friends. They do shows together. I like reading books about horses because I love horses and I have a horse.

Field Time

By Hunter

During field time you can do almost anything. We usually get out to the field around 8:20 after we have put away our lunch and get dressed in the right clothes for the weather. When it is raining and you have your rain jacket and your boots on you can play in puddles. We usually start our time in the field with a game like banana tag or popcorn tag. Everyone plays the game so that everyone can get exercise. We also have time to do other things. You can play football, you can throw a frisbee, you can play kickball and other games for more than one person. Sometimes we get out our bikes and bike down the road at the edge of field if there are teachers nearby.

You can also play Dungeons and Dragons. Well, you walk around the field and make up a game that is sort of like Dungeons and Dragons. You can have a random number generator. When it’s snowing you can slide down the hill at the front of the field. You can build a snowman and you can also build a snow fortress. 

My favorite activity to do during field time is, I like to walk around and play Dungeons and Dragons. It’s fun to play with my friends and I like to use my imagination. I never thought I could play Dungeons and Dragons and get exercise at the same time.

So now I’m going to list some of the things you can’t do on the field because it’s important to know what you can’t do to know what you can do. You can’t go behind or open the black trailer, you can’t touch the lacrosse stuff, water bottles, helmets, and trash. The reason you can’t touch these things is because they don’t belong to us. You also can’t sit down and stay down for the whole field time. Well, field time is really fun and that is all I have to say about field time.

Trip to the Cemetery

by Marcel

 A few weeks ago, our school visited the Dorset cemetery with Jack and Phoebe's grandma and mom.  We went on a scavenger hunt and saw a stone that showed that a person was 100 years old when they died. My friend said he saw a lot of people who had the same first name as him and he saw a few people that died on his street. He saw someone who had two apple trees in the backyard, and he has two apple trees in his backyard, it was weird! It was hard to find all of the information on the scavenger hunt on it, but it was fun. 

                                                                 Hawgolwood

By Phoebe 

At 12:00 we have a special activity called Hawgolwood (but Hawgol for short) for an hour. Hawgol is so fun because we can do so much! We can build houses, stores, and lots of other structures. We can also play other games. Most Red Fox students have a house in Hawgolwood. Rudy, Reed, Grant, and Ryder W. live in apartments, Will and Marcel share a house, Ryder P. lives in a bunker, Wolfe has a lean-to, and Allison and I live in the Hollow, which is the name of my house. I built the Hollow last year, well, I didn’t really build it, because I started it with Cassia and Killian, but then I got sick, and when I got back, it was finished. The Hollow is sort of circular, and it has pine needles draped across the entrance. It has a nice little (fake) fireplace, and a red shelf. It also has 2 windows and one window has a desk, and on that desk is a bird's nest I found. The Hollow is a mix of businesses. Allison does therapy sessions, we also have a business called Make-A-Pet, where in the winter you shape a pet out of snow, and I dust it with ‘living powder’ (aka, powder snow) and you give an oath to care for it until it melts. It’s also a sort of gift shop for Hawgol. The swings in Hawgolwood are the BEST!!! We have a cocoon swing, a web swing, a disk swing (for those of you who don’t know what a disk swing is, it is a hanging rope that has a circular disk attached to the bottom, and you sit on the disk), and we have 2 normal swings. Hawgolwood is so much fun!

Cooking Pesto and pasta  

By Rudy

In October, the Hawks made pesto with the basil and garlic from the Red Fox garden and put it on a plate with crackers to share with the Eagles and Owls. It was good and I never had had it before I tried it. I’m usually more up for trying a new food when it’s made at Red Fox. The pesto was made from basil, garlic, olive oil, salt, and parmesan cheese. At Red Fox we have a garden and we grow lots of things in it. One time, we made roasted potatoes and chimichurri (an Argentinian sauce made with parsley, vinegar, and garlic) for a treat. Another time we cooked apple crisp from apples we picked on a field trip to Mad Tom orchard. Then, the day after the Hawks surprised us with pesto and crackers, the Hawks AND Owls surprised the Eagles with (drumroll please) pesto and pasta! The Hawks and Owls boiled noodles, shredded cheese, and scooped pesto all to make this delightful dish, which was shared in the cabin for lunch. Served with the pesto and grated cheese on top, it was delicious and it was THE BEST lunch EVER. Cooking at Red Fox has always been my favorite activity and I hope we can cook again soon.

Newsletter About Newsletters

By: Ryder

At school we have a writing activity called a newsletter. You start by picking a topic about an activity that we have done recently and write the who, what, where, when, why, and how of what you did during that activity. Then you watercolor a picture of the topic you chose. First you draw out the sketch with pencil. Next you draw over it with a thin sharpie. Finally, you watercolor it and paste it in your notebook. 

In November we all pick one of our newsletters and type it up onto the iPad and make it better so it can go onto the website and everyone can see it and see what we do. The teacher will also take a picture of your watercolor and put it with your newsletter on the website.

In the classroom we have a big sheet of all the activities we have done recently. The leader  (the leader day rotates between students daily) will draw the name cards (the name cards are just cards with the student’s name on them) and whoever`s name is drawn will choose what activity they write about. 

Life Skills

 By Sebastian 

We do Life Skills once a week at Red Fox. This is a time when we go outside, and sometimes we stay inside, and we do activities like rock painting, fairy houses, cooking, art, finger knitting and crochet, and we harvest the vegetables in our garden. One of my favorite activities is rock painting. I made a basketball and a character from Among Us. I also made a crystal. I painted that one pink and purple. This was my favorite rock that I painted. It’s a little harder to paint on a rock because it’s smaller than paper. I brought them home and put them in my room.

Mystery Meet

By William

What is Mystery Meet? It is a part of Global Read Aloud. This is a program that our school is participating in. We are reading the same book as a lot of other classes. This year we are reading Will’s Race for Home. In Mystery Meet we call people on the computer around the world. It is so fun. We lie down on the rug and try to guess where the other class is from. We use maps and geography to ask questions about where they are. Some questions we ask are: Are you in North America? Are you in the US? Are you near Vermont? Do you touch one of the 5 great lakes? Do you touch the Atlantic Ocean? After we guess where their school is they guess where our school is. Then we tell them facts about Vermont, like that we were the first state to abolish slavery. We also tell them facts about our school like how we go outside for 1 ½ hours a day. It’s always fun to hear the reaction of the classes going, “Whaaat?”

Chickens

by Wolfe 

Hi, my name is Wolfe and my newsletter subject is our chickens. We have to take care of our chickens. We feed them poultry grain, and we give them fresh water every day. This year we sadly had to get new ones because last year all our chickens died because of a coyote. Last year we had one named Blue Cheese. We also had McNugget, Oreo, and Penguin. I think it’s nice that our school has access to chickens. It's also nice that we spend so much time with the chickens. I love holding them. Here's how to: First, pick them up while holding their wings together so they won’t flap in your face. Second, you are holding the chicken. We use the eggs to cook. We also keep track of how many eggs they lay–an average of 4 eggs a day. We also have jobs that involve taking care of the chickens and taking their eggs. I like having that job because I already know about chickens because my grandma owns North Meadow Farm so I get to learn about chickens and animals.