WPNS News

Dear Oak,

Glue so sticky and gooey, it drips in long strings from the paint brush onto the paper. It drip, drip, drips round drops onto the paper. It falls in a column of glue and puddles on the paper. It oozes in a stream following the arc of your hand to land in a curve atop the paper. It slowly trickles to the paper as you move your hand straight making a line of glue on the paper.

You work and work with glue, brush, and paper every so carefully until the whole page has curves, lines, dots and puddles from edge to edge to edge.

Love,
Teacher Michelle

Dear Oak,

Only one will fit in the nest. One climbed out. Another climbed in. A third came over to climb in too. There looked like there might be enough room for two. Now there are two who fit in the nest. One doesn’t want to be touched. The other asks as they climb out of the nest, “Can I touch you?” There is not enough room in the nest for two and no touching.

Love,
Teacher Michelle

Dear Mulberry,

You sat on my lap. We watched. There was a monster, not too scary. The monster smiled. The monster chased the children. They ran into the Sleeping Barn. They ran up Rainbow Mountain. They ran down Rainbow Mountain. We sat and watched.

They ran to the Hello Goodbye Gate. They ran up the ramp. They slid down the slide. One child had a box. It wasn’t a box. It was a shell. It was a house. Soon three children had houses. One child rolled in their house like a snail.

Love,
Teacher Michelle

Dear Oak,

“I hate everyone!” The small angry mouse roared in their very biggest voice which didn’t come out very much louder than a squeak really.

The squirrel heard and chattered and chittered angrily, “I hate everyone!” The racoon heard and hissed angrily, “I hate everyone!” The bobcat heard and snarled, “I hate everyone!” The bear heard and roared in a fearsome roar, “I hate everyone!” Rainbow school shook.

While the angry ouchy booms caught and spread like a fire gusted by the wind, you skipped merrily carrying your baby and keeping them safe. I heard you singing, “…I love you. I love you in the morning. I love you in the noon. I love you in the evening and underneath the moon …”

I noticed the bear went quiet listening. The bobcat listened. The raccoon listened. The squirrel listened. The mouse listened. Soon they were scampering and running and climbing. They’d caught the love for love is stronger and fiercer and more powerful than even the biggest bear’s fearsome roar.

Love,
Teacher Michelle

Dear Mulberry,

One of you helped me fold up the box. They wanted to put scissors in the box and deliver the package to their house. The scissors were red. Red is their favorite color. Scissors stay at the scissor table. No problem. They found cars to put in the box for special delivery.

Three of you unfolded the box. All three took the box to the Music Garden. They painted it. They painted the cars. They drove the cars through the paint making tire tracks through the paint.

Another person waited on a bike for someone to drive them. Emergency! Emergency! Two people came over to help. One drove. One gave pushing help. Uh oh! The bikers reached the three painter drivers. The bikers wanted to go. The painter drivers were in the way.

No problem. The painter drivers directed the bikers to drive through the paint after they moved the cars and their toes out of the way.

Love,
Teacher Michelle

Dear Oak,

I want to spin. You want to swing. Spin. Swing. Spin. Swing. Louder and louder. We could spin and swing at the same time. No? No. First, let’s spin. Then we will swing. Okay? Okay.

You can get on here. We have to stop the swing, so they can get on. There’s room for you.

Love,
Teacher Michelle

Dear Oak,

You were putting on your jacket. You asked for help from each person in Oak before you asked me. I helped, and someone helped me help you. We take care of each other at Rainbow School.

Two people had different ideas. The yes and the no got louder. Someone got boomed. I got sand in my mouth and eyes. It’s hard to wait your turn. Corinna helped and someone helped Corinna help. We take care of each other at Rainbow School.

Someone asked me if I was okay. Thank you. I wasn’t. I don’t like sand in my face. I had a hard time getting it out of my eyes. Someone made me soup with rice to help. It was delicious. Sometimes things go wrong, but we can check in on people and make things right. We take care of each other at Rainbow School.

Love,
Teacher Michelle

Dear Mulberry,

I saw you sweeping leaves and dirt into a dustbin. You were taking care of Rainbow School. I grabbed a broom and started to help. When I had a little pile of leaves, you held the dustbin, and I pushed the leaves into it. Another person came along. They wanted to help take care of Rainbow School too.

They asked me for my broom, and I gave it to them. They wanted to push the leaves into your dustbin. You announced that you wanted to sweep by yourself. I got another broom and dustbin, and they swept leaves into their own dustbin. I brought over the green bin for leaves and food scraps and used paper like tissue or paper towels.

You both dumped your bins in. We were taking care of our planet by using the green bin. We were taking care of each other by helping each other sweep. We were taking care of ourselves by letting each other know how we wanted to help and be helped. We were taking care of Rainbow School.

Love,
Teacher Michelle

Dear Oak,

Our three Rainbow School rules:

Number 1: We take care of ourselves.

Today, I saw someone come to the snack table when they were hungry, sit down, and eat squishy red pink snacks. I wonder what things you did today to take care of yourself.

Number 2: We take care of each other.

Today, I heard someone asking about how to help someone be safe when they want to get somewhere they can’t get themselves. I wonder what things you did today to take care of others.

Number 3: We take care of Rainbow School.

Today, I saw someone go over to our sink and turn the water off. I wonder what things you did today to take care of Rainbow School.

We’ll have a special Taking Care edition of Oak Rainbow Rocket News on Friday where you can share the ways you take care.

Love,
Teacher Michelle

Dear Mulberry,

Hmmm… I’m feeling hungry. It feels like there’s a tiny dinosaur with a big roar stomping around the empty cave of my belly. I think that I’ll catch me some shrimp and make a shrimp quesadilla with cheese and spicy salsa. That will be just the ticket!

First, I have to catch the shrimp. Before that, I need to sail my ship to where the shrimp live. Aha! There’s some shrimp. Wait a minute! These shrimp are a lot harder to catch than I thought they’d be. They run so fast.

Phew! I finally caught about a half dozen. Let me get them on top of my tortilla. Now, I’ll put on the cheese and spicy salsa. Last, I’ll put on the top tortilla. Gadzooks and crocodiles! My shrimp are running away. Maybe, I better just have an almond butter and honey sandwich instead.

Uh oh, now where did that almond butter get to?

Love,
Teacher Michelle