Makayla hears her teacher and peers begin to sing the song Building Bridges, which signals the beginning of Morning Meeting. She knows that by the third time, she needs to have her Poems and Songs book and be seated in the circle. One of Makayla’s peers chooses a song that the class sings together while another student picks a poem and decides how the class will recite it. Makayla is greeted by a peer, as is every student. After this there is a group activity and a student reads the morning message and leads others in searching for different adjectives, something they have been studying.  Before moving on to the next activity, one of Makayla’s teachers will walk the class through the daily agenda.

Makayla then moves to the first of three morning workshops. In her Numeracy Workshop, the class is working on gaining experience using different measurement tools. After the whole-class mini-lesson, (which today is about the way a new measurement tool is used), Makayla will work with a partner to determine the most appropriate form of measurement to mathematically describe objects. Makayla and her partner will plan, estimate, conduct and reflect upon each measurement experience. After the work time, the class will come back and share their results and plan their next steps.

Makayla joins her class in a brief music and movement activity led by one of her teachers.  When she hears the chimes ring, Makayla knows it is time to get her Writer’s Notebook from her cubby and meet at the circle space. The class is studying effective ways authors take the reader on a journey through time. 

During the mini-lesson, the class will explore different words or phrases to transition from one paragraph to another using the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry. The class will critique the effectiveness of each word or phrase. Next, Makayla will have independent writing time to work on her writing project. She will focus on the words she can use to take the reader on the journey she wants them to experience. Today is Makayla’s day to conference with her teacher, so she can expect to have one-on-one time to seek feedback, ask for help, and share what she has completed, transitions that didn’t seem to flow, and discuss their techniques.

Makayla and her class then have a 15-minute movement period where they do yoga before moving into Reader’s Workshop. When the chimes ring, Makayla and her classmates know it is time to get their book bags and reflection notebooks and meet back in circle for the Reader’s Workshop mini-lesson.

The class is examining different techniques authors use to shift time within a given text. The purpose of the lesson is to help readers be more effective in following time shifts. After the mini-lesson, where the teachers and students use the book A River Ran Wild to identify effective shifts in time, Makayla goes to her book nook where she knows she can read best. She pulls out a book that is “just right” for her and begins reading with her Post-It Notes in hand. As she reads, she marks spots in her book where she sees the author using words or phrases to shift time. The teachers will be conferencing with individual students, but today is not Makayla’s day for a conference, so she will make note of problems or triumphs that she encounters to bring to the share time. After a 20-minute independent reading time, Makayla and her classmates share their experiences in the circle. They make a list of words or phrases they encountered.

Today, Makayla chooses to sit with a group of her peers and one of the intermediate teachers. Makayla’s family chooses to participate in the school lunch program, which is provided by a local vendor that specializes in locally grown organic meals. After lunch, Makayla plays outside in the courtyard with a group of friends.

When Makayla returns from her lunch/recess time, she heads to the art studio for her Art Workshop. The art specialist will be teaching a mini-lesson on how artists use color to demonstrate emotions. Makayla will experiment with different colors to express the emotions that she has listed as frequent ones. After an independent work time, where the art specialist will conference with individual students, the class will come to a circle in the studio to discuss new understandings about using color in a new way. 

After her one-hour Art Workshop, Makayla will move to her P3 room.  Her room for this project is with the intermediate teachers. Makayla chose to participate in a project that is focused on brown fields in the neighborhood. Today, Mikayla’s class is looking at neighborhood maps from 20 years ago and comparing them to current neighborhood maps in small collaborative groups. Their task will be to identify the areas that have become brown fields in the past twenty years and to hypothesize about why they think this happened. The long-term project will be to work with a local community development corporation to create a development plan for one of the brown fields in the community.   

After Makayla’s P3 time, she will move back to her family room. At the end of the day, the class reflects on the day’s experiences and new understandings. Makayla waits anxiously to hear which of the nine reflection possibilities the class will use that day. The reflections represent the eight multiple intelligence areas, as identified by Howard Gardner, and the last reflection is a student choice. Makayla’s friend rolls the nine-sided die and lands on the Linguistic Intelligence. This means that each group of 4 or 5 kids sitting at a table will write a “haiku” about their day.  Each group will share their haiku before leaving. 

Makayla then packs up her belongings, checks her mailbox, and says goodbye to her teachers and friends before going to her designated spot to meet her carpool. As she walks out of the building, a member of the Project School staff is there to ensure Makayla’s safe dismissal.