Watchers in the Woods!

It's my favorite day of the week again - Woods Day!  Before we went to the woods this morning we talked about how we can be watchers.  It is interesting to observe students really creating bonds with one another and taking interest and ownership in their learning.  In the woods many boys and girls enjoyed working together to make seesaws from large logs, create princess castles out of trees and use magnifying glasses to observe nature up close!  The adults noticed how the noise and excitement of being in the woods is beginning to calm down and students are more interested in exploring, watching and building!  As we were walking into the woods one kindergartener noticed a large nest way up in a tree and this led to a discussion between a small group on whether this was a bird's nest or a squirrel's nest.  After lunch we did some googling and found out that it was indeed a squirrel's nest - they tend to be higher up and much larger!  I read the book The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri and we learned that squirrels are busy preparing for winter.  This afternoon while outside two boys found a squirrel nest and brought me to check it out - how cool!