Sit Spots

On Friday, we spent some additional time outdoors as the gym was occupied (due to Picture Day).  Students were creative with their free time outside.  One group of students were busy tracking 'yappy wolf' paw prints all over the yard.  Another group of students were playing a 'Ninja Spy' game on the playground equipment.  Other students were showing great teamwork as they worked in pairs to boost friends up onto the monkey bars.  We finished our time outside with 5 minutes on individual Sit Spots. 

A Sit Spot is a child selected space where he or she can observe nature.  I encouraged the students to choose a spot on the school yard where they could get comfortable all alone (away from other classmates).  Mrs. Patterson has been teaching about the 5 senses in Science and therefore I encouraged the students to take 5 minutes to do some deep belly breaths and really focus on the present moment using their 5 senses.  We came back together as a group to share what we could see, smell, hear, and feel (we didn't taste) during our outdoor Sit Spot session. 

Some students quickly mastered how to relax and be calm on their Sit Spots, while other students found it challenging to be still and tune out other classmates who were nearby.  We will continue to practice Sit Spots occasionally when we take our learning outdoors.