Trick-or-Treat!

I hope everyone had a fun, safe Halloween. Growing up right outside the city, I have vivid memories of dragging my feet out the door after my mom made me wear a winter coat over my costume. This year we had some very moderate weather for the end of October, so I hope the kids got the most out of their costumes. It was awesome seeing those of you who went to the Safari park after school on Friday (and Michael Douglas, too). It looked like the kids had such a great time!

This week, I plan to have discussions with the kids about peace and diversity. We have been spending some time over the last week and a half talking about the countries of our world, different languages, and all of the different skin colors we find inside and outside of our classroom. We talked about peace and what some of us think peace means, and even learned how to draw the peace-sign. I know there are several of you who speak other languages and have unique family traditions. It would be great for all of the kids to learn from you about the diversity of our classroom in order to assist them to understand diversity on a grander scale. If you would like to come in one day to read a story or teach us about your culture or language, please let me know! I've started to talk with a few of you about this already.

Not only have the children started to observe themselves and their peers, they've also been making other various observations. Our student teacher, Audrey, brought in ladybugs for us to keep in our classroom. The kids spent a lot of time looking closely at how they move and crawl, how they look, and even experienced how they feel as they crawl around on their hands. Here's a quick look at some of the conversation that occured after the ladybugs' first introduction to the class:

Q: What are they doing?

Julia C "They're walking"
Dylan "They're walking and climbing up and down"
Caden "Look, they're going up to the ceiling!"
Joshua "They're flying"
Leo "I saw one walking on the wall"

Q: Where did they come from?

All "outside!"

Q: Where do they live?

"In the dirt"
"In trees"
"In the dessert"

Q: Where can we put them after we observe them?

"In the dirt"
"In the garden in the flowers"
"They can eat the pumpkins or apple pie"

After the kids had the opportunity to spend some time with our new, little friends, they each got to find a home for their own lady bug in the Community Garden.

Another addition to the classroom was our large and lumpy pumpkin. The kids decided they wanted to carve the pumpkin to turn it into a 'creepy jack-o-lantern'. They noticed the "pimples" on the outside, as well as the lines and irregularities. By the end of the week, they scraped out the seeds and pumpkin goo, drew shapes to be carved, and separated the seeds from the pumpkin flesh so we could bake them. They ate the seeds on Friday along with their own Halloween cookie they baked and decorated. They loved the seeds-- I'm not exaggerating when I say I gave out seconds, thirds, fourths and fifths to several of the kids. Many of them decided that the seeds tasted just like popcorn. I think they were a bigger hit than the cookies.

Along with baking the seeds and cookies, all of the children contributed to making our classroom supply of play-doh with Audrey. The recipe is very basic so you can do it at home, too. Let me know if you'd like a copy. When the kids get to participate in cooking, they appreciate the final product much more. With food, they're also more willing to taste it if they've helped with the cooking or baking process. Last week, we cooked two more of our squash and most of them really enjoyed it. They got to cut it, mash it, and add a bit of butter and a sprinkle of salt. So good!

Our easel has been getting a lot of attention lately. The kids have been using different textured paint brushes, leaves, and best of all, their hands to paint pictures. Many of them worked together to make a huge finger painting, which you may have seen hanging on our door. Some of them finger painted with some ooey-gooey paint, too. The texture and feel of paint always puts some interesting looks on the kids faces. Because the kids have been so interested in paint, I dug around at home to find all of my old acrylic paint from when I attended art school. Working with acrylic provides a totally different experience and look to a painting, compared to the tempera paint that the children are use to. I thought it would great if the kids could use the paint on their own white pumpkins.

After they painted the pumpkins, the kids worked so hard on creating a pumpkin patch to keep their pumpkins in. Each window-sill is covered in leaves, vines and stems-- they made such a great home for their pumpkins. Make sure to look for them on Monday. They are all very proud of what they made!

Speaking of leaves, we took a trip to central park with our journals to check out the changing leaves, and just to enjoy being outside in nature. They really wanted to take their journals along with them, so, after we all sat down to read a story together about our Earth, they all found a quiet place to sit and observe while they drew in their journals. They also wanted to take a walk by the water. I think if we could have, we would have stayed there for hours. It was a great way to spend the afternoon on a beautiful day.

Last but not least, I want to mention again how great the field trip was. Despite the rain, the kids had so much fun planting, digging, playing with worms, looking for frogs, and smelling herbs and flowers. They also got to sit in a wigwam and learned that, a VERY long time ago, people in New York would actually live in them. The kids also had the opportunity to apply what they learned in school about seeds and roots to some of the activities they did in the garden. The trip was a great success, not to mention the bus ride!! Thanks to all of the chaperones for all of their hard work.

REMINDERS:

Don't forget to sign up for parent-teacher conferences this week. They start on November 12th.

PLEASE send your child's lunch in a brown paper bag. I know you can do it, because we had all 100% disposable lunches on our field trip. There just simply isn't enough room in our fridge to house 17 large lunch-boxes. Thank you to those who have been using brown paper bags, plastic or canvas bags.

Also, starting Monday, we will be disposing of any food that is not eaten after lunch. If you would like your child to save their food, please let me know and we will keep it in the fridge for you to pick up at the end of the day. **No food in cubbies, please!!!*

Thank you for all who have been signing up for snack. A new calendar will be posted for November tomorrow morning. We had a suggestion from one of the parents to have the option of bringing in some fresh (inexpensive) flowers for the classroom. It's always great to bring a little bit of nature to the inside, so any natural materials are always welcome.

Have a great week!

Amanda