Activity: What's Missing?

Good morning Roots families,

What a snowy last day of March! I thought we sent winter off to bed already. Please, spring, WAKE UP!

Today I'm sharing an activity that we often do with Roots students, that you can do at home. It's called "What's Missing?" This activity helps children develop critical thinking skills, especially memory recall and object identification.

Select a variety of objects (the number can depend on the age of your child). Identify the objects for your activity partner. Ask your partner to close their eyes while you hide one of the objects. Then, ask your partner to guess which object is missing. After your partner guesses, reveal the missing object to see if your partner guessed correctly.


Adults and children can take turns in both roles - as the hider and the guesser. You can use items found in or outside of your home. The video above provides a sample of object ideas: kitchen utensils, colored paper, nature specimens, and articles of clothing. You could also use fruits and vegetables, or shapes, numbers, letters, or names (drawn on paper) to reinforce academic content.

We hope you enjoy doing this activity at home!

*Note: In the video, I incorrectly identified my nature specimen as moss rather than lichen! They are easy to confuse. For more information about the differences, see this post written by a MOSS student.

Mira's finds spring!

Mira went to catch her horse Misty to take her for a ride. Before she put the saddle on, she brushed her hair and noticed that there was a lot of hair coming off.  We thought about this and decided that winter must be leaving us, and spring is on it's way! Misty is getting rid of her winter coat because it is not as cold. She gets rid of her hair by shedding it, or letting it fall out, and will grow a new coat for the summer. This happens every spring! Don't worry she won't be bald because her new hair is growing at the same time her old hair is falling out!

Avery’s finds with text hopefully

Inside the house Avery found his triangle shape with his toy that you can change around, a lot of 6's on a measuring tape and his solar powered ball (that's out of juice :). He describes the trees as green except this morning since they are once again covered in snow, he walked through a puddle at the store yesterday, we have been seeing birds and spotted a blue jay the other day but didn't see any yesterday due to weather, and he noticed lots of signs on our drive to deliver lunch to dad who unfortunately wasn't able to make it home with the road closed. He misses everyone but overall is doing well. We hope everyone is hanging in there as well!

Scavenger Hunt

Hi Roots Friends!

Your teachers will be posting here daily for you Monday-Friday with messages, stories, songs, and activities. To start off the week, we challenge you to a scavenger hunt!

For this hunt, you will have to look inside your house as well as in whatever outdoor space you have available nearby. Find each of the things below to complete the scavenger hunt and then post or comment telling us about some of your finds - What did you find that was green? What is triangle-shaped in your home?

Hoyt found signs of Spring

Download full resolution images

Available until Apr 27, 2020

Clara found a creek - Signs of spring

"I was pointing at the creek, and all the snow was melting. And then I noticed this was a sign of summer. And I also noticed another sign of spring because the birds were coming back." Clara

A Sign of Spring in the Sky

Trace saw what looked like some white dots in the sky today. He thought they were floating balloons until he noticed that they were in the shape of a V. He thinks they are white birds flying North to find some warm weather. 

Trace Experienced a Sign of Spring!

Trace has been noticing signs of spring at his house, too! Today, he parked his car in front of the garage door to go inside for a snack. When he came back outside, he noticed his car was covered in water! Trace wondered where the water was coming from, and investigated. He said, "Oh, I know! It's dripping from the roof! I think the snow is melting from the sun!"

Zoom in on the picture to see the water droplets on Trace's car, and the giant smile of a boy who gets to play outside without a heavy coat - another sign of spring!

Signs Of Spring

Wilson Ingle still has plenty of snow at his house in New Meadows too.  He is excited to report that rhubarb and chives are beginning to appear!

Signs of spring at Avery’s house

Happy spring quarantine!

Avery has been happily enjoying the weather with bike and scooter rides and watching some birds starting to make their appearances, like the red-winged blackbird. We have some grass staring to emerge and the first snow on the mountain plants are poking their way through the dirt, so exciting!! He's also been singing his abc's without much help and coloring with big sister. He also went fishing today with dad so we are making the most of our time away from school. Have a good spring break and he is looking forward to seeing all his friends and teachers at school soon!!

Pussy Willow Buds!

On my walk today I spotted one of my favorite signs of the start of spring - Pussy Willow buds emerging. I've always loved just how soft the buds are. When I gently touch them it reminds me of petting a soft cat. Do you have any willows near your home?

I'll be keeping an eye on the ones near my house to watch the flowering cycle and leafing out process. If you are lucky enough to live near a willow tree I hope you'll keep watch over your tree too!

Your Friend,
Stephanie

More signs of spring

Just outside my door I found a few different signs of spring. I noticed that the ice is melting off of my roof at a rapid rate, and there is barely any snow left in my driveway. It felt warm outside!

Then I took a closer look at the trees in my yard:

I noticed tiny little shoots forming on the tips of the branches of the tree outside my front window.
The trunk of the tree is still covered in snow, but it is melting quickly too. How long do you think the snow will last?

Here is another tree in my yard that is showing some fresh shoots on the branches.
I wonder how long it will take them to grow into leaves? 

Melting Snow + Be Outside, Idaho

Good morning friends!

This morning, on Friday, March 20, I was walking my dog Sam and noticed that a lot of the snow is gone from my road. I took the photo below very near to the main road.

Families, if you are looking for things to do over spring break, AND be outside, check out the list below of 100 things to do outside. 

In the comments below, let us know which of these you do over spring break! Make sure to include your name so we know who's commenting.

The above list is from Be Outside, Idaho, where you can download this list, and find more resources.

Springtime crust skiing!

Today is the first day of spring! I marked it by skiing across frozen fields of snow. The sunshine during the day and the cold temperatures at night have made a hard crust on the snow that you can skate ski right across. Here I am on the crust by the Activity Barn this morning:

I could feel spring coming under my feet and also with my ears. I heard red-winged blackbirds all around me as I skied. They are back in town and very active! Listen for them especially if you go for a walk or a bike ride on the golf course or if you live or play in Lake Fork.

Signs of Spring

 

March 19, 2020

Today, while walking, I noticed a flock of Robins! They looked hungry, like they were trying to find food after a migration back to McCall.

Insects

We know that it is spring because we have been finding all kinds of bugs. Tilly's favorite insects right now are moths. Every morning she looks outside, on our front door to see if any moths are resting there. If she catches them, they go into her bug habitat for the day and then get released that night. She usually takes them out, talks to them, and they may fly away...but that is okay! The other day, I listened as she gave a moth directions to get to our house...😂

Tilly says- Moths have six legs. All the moths I catch have six legs...do you know that? I have a big moth out right now! I am holding it, it is sitting on my hand. It blends into a tree. The moth blends into a tree. They have furry antennas. If you see something with furry antennas it is a moth. If it has thin antennas it is a butterfly.

Signs of Spring...

Afternoon playing on snowpiles wearing short sleeves, bogs, and gloves.

March Song and Story Reading!

Please join me in singing our March Song-we hope spring will hear us and come soon!

Below, Julia reads When Spring Comes.

Movie on 3-19-20 at 1231 PM from Roots Forest School on Vimeo.

Welcome to our Blog!

Dear Roots Families,

We created this blog to provide opportunities for the Roots Forest School community to remain connected while we are apart. Teachers will be posting stories, activities, and other content to share with students.

Families can comment on our posts or submit their own posts by emailing rootsforestschoolmccall.roots@blogger.com. If you email a post, the subject line of your email will be the title of the post, and text and photos in the body of the email will automatically upload to the blog as a post.

We look forward to hearing from you soon,
Roots Forest School Staff

Roots staff is staying positive and upbeat during our time apart!

We were all smiles during our first ever video conference meeting this week.