Out to the tall grass

Away we went on Monday to the tall grass north of town... out by the baseball field. We did what my science teacher hubby referred to as Vegetation Plot Samples. The English teacher will tell you that we looked at, picked, and counted the stuff that grows in a meter square.
I had my hesitation until I found a batch of milkweed that had recently opened. I remember loving them when I was little. The innards are soft and fluffy. Yes, I know that there are farmers out there wielding a heavy club at me right now.
We also had a student pick up a fruit pod of some sort... curious enough he opened it and smelled it and shared the experience with those around. Oddly enough we all smelled something different. I thought it smelled like rhubarb. The student thought pumpkin. I was excited that he simply did that on his own and then shared. Yeah!!!!
We also had a pile of..... hmmmm.. to put it delicately... animal droppings. I wanted to collect and examine to see what the animal had eaten... but alas, I was outvoted. Probably a good thing.
The students got right to work and worked well in their groups. They were documenting in their lab notebooks and were actively engaged in the activity. The next class period they will attempt to identify the samples of vegetation they collected. Then we'll move on to classifying animals and plants by genus/species/etc.
Today those same students worked on reading for detail in a non-fiction text. They catch on soooo quickly.
It's homecoming week here at AHS. Coronation was last night and we crowned a very happy couple King and Queen for the week. Tonight the VB team plays in Parkston and Thursday at home. Then Friday is the Big game against Marty. Then homecoming is done!!!! Yeah.
So.. our student council arranges and organizes the parade and all the compnents. With guiding influences from the administration. Do you suppose they know that they are learning along the way?
Our seniors are ankle deep in their senior ventures. Their first deadline is October 7 and that is the proposal. I think they are believing that if they don't start, then the whole process isn't really going to happen. This is our 4th year and every year has been a new journey. They will do just fine on this whole process once they begin... now to get them to begin. :)
My freshmen are writing a story... one step at a time. They all believe that they can just simply jump in and the story will come out without any prior planning. Well... we may have a few Ernest Hemingways in the class, but for now.. I want to know how they will do.. one step at a time.