Dear Rainbow School,
It was the darkest one. We’re going to have so much fun. We’re going to see a skeleton. We’re going to see a night owl. We’re going to see a witch. We’re going to see a dinosaur. It was the darkest one. We had so much fun.
With candle fire and camp fire and presents and yummies. Thank you for celebrating the darkest time of the year with me. The dark needs the light, and the light needs the dark.
Love,
Teacher Michelle
Dear Mulberry,
You had a plan today. You were going to climb the tree. You decided to move the triangle from the Pine Forest. It scraped along the concrete. Yikes! The sound. You asked if I would carry one side while you carried the other.
I reminded you that if you fall from high onto the hard concrete your chances of breaking a bone and getting hurt increase. You put the triangle on the dirt between the concrete and fence. You climbed up on the side of the triangle nearest the tree. You were able to reach from the triangle into the tree and sit between all the big branches.
Another person wanted to climb into the tree too, so you spun around so your legs hung out the side away from the triangle. The second person climbed up the far side of the triangle, the side away from the tree. Their legs are not as long as yours. They had to reach a little farther and use their arms to pull themselves into the tree.
They made it. The two of you sat in the tree. Pepper the squirrel peered down at you from the branches above. Others came over and climbed the triangle. There was no more room in the tree, so they went to play leaf chase.
Love,
Teacher Michelle
Dear Oak,
Little Sheep felt afraid, but brave. Spotted Dogs were there and White Dog too. They would scare off the wolves. The wolves howled but didn’t come near. Then along came a T-Rex. Big Sheep wasn’t afraid.
They fought. There were lots of big booms. Then Little Sheep had an idea. They gathered all the dogs together and said, “Pizza.” It turned out T-Rex didn’t like pizza or steak or hamburgers or chicken. T-Rex wanted a little girl t-rex to eat, a pink one.
Little Girl T-Rex came, but she didn’t want to be eaten. Instead we all ate pizza and candy. Then T-Rex built Little Sheep a house. The roof was tricky. All the animals wanted to move in, and that was tricky too.
Love,
Teacher Michelle
Dear Oak,
In the Dark House, someone pointed out the shadows on the ceiling. Everyone felt a little scared of the shadows. They fluttered and moved. What could they be? Everyone was brave and watched the shadows. They encouraged each other when they wanted to look away. I wonder what made the shadows. I wonder if you can make a shadow with your body, your hands, or an object.
Love,
Teacher Michelle
Dear Oak,
There’s a mountain in the sandbox. Some say it’s made from lava. Others say it’s not. I saw a mama pat pat patting the mountain smoothing it all around. I went to the mountain and saw that I’d made foot prints, and hand prints, and leg prints. I decided to pat pat pat it smooth again.
You went to the top of the mountain. “Up.” You went down the mountain. “Down.” “Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down.”
Love,
Teacher Michelle
Dear Mulberry,
There was a bear in the yard. There were three of you in the Dark House. The bear growled at the curtained door. Bear claws raked the air. The three screamed and ran out of the Dark House. The bear chased them up Rainbow Mountain. The three disappeared into the Dark House again. Another bear came.
The second bear growled at the first and bared its sharp claws. The first bear just stared. I wonder if bears are scared of other bears. The first bear roared its terrible roars into the Dark House. The three ran. Now there were two bears chasing the three.
Love,
Teacher Michelle
Dear Oak,
I have two journals that I write in. A journal is a book with empty pages that we can write and draw in. Some journal pages have lines and some don’t. Someone brought their journal to school today. It was in their face, and that was their morning news.
They kept their journal next to their snack, so whenever they took a snack break, they could take a writing break too. I wondered if they might read what they wrote to us. Sometimes the writing in journals is just for the writer and for no one else to read or hear. There are even journals with locks if you want to keep your writing secret.
This journal had a calculator in case the writer wanted to do some math writing. Two huge dinosaurs met one small dinosaur for a tea party. How many dinosaurs were there?
Love,
Teacher Michelle
Dear Mulberry,
“Let’s play dinosaur. The Apotosauruses were grazing under the green leaves by the Hello Goodbye gate. The T-Rex family didn’t want to wrestle when the Stegosaurus family asked. The Parasaurolophus couple seemed to be translating who wanted to wrestle and who didn’t.
They also were looking for pockets to stick their heads into. The male crest head couldn’t fit in any pockets and was cold. The female got snuggly. Her head was in a pocket exposing her belly to tickles. Of course we asked before we tickled. She said yes.
Then there was the shoe.
Love,
Teacher Michelle
Dear Oak,
There were three of you in the dark house. I couldn’t see you. You were inside. I was outside. When I walked by, I heard you say, “I made a 5. Look.” Someone else said something about a trap. Another said, “Look, the Bat Mobile.” Inside the dark house, there’s a light table, and there was dark sand on top of the light. You were using your fingers to write in the sand, making pictures and telling stories with light.
Later, I wondered about the traps. You told me about scorpion and dinosaur traps, and then you told me about a tornado door that if you opened it, a tornado escaped. Yikes! Suddenly booby traps sprang up around Rainbow Road where you could get trapped forever or fall down a drain and get eaten by a shark.
Love,
Teacher Michelle
