**I hope you are all enjoying the Thanksgiving weekend. I am thankful for a great class of students and their very supportive parents!
**We had a super busy 2 days! Our field trip to Brookfield Zoo was wonderful! The good weather made it possible for us to spend most of our time outside. The students spent their free time exploring big cats, penguins, rhinos, gorillas, monkeys and various activities at the Hamill Family Play Zoo. At the Great Bear Wilderness exhibit, we enjoyed a classroom experience with Bob, our instructor. He guided us through an introduction on bears of all kinds, looking at artifacts and providing activities where they could compare themselves to the different types of bears. The students got to touch real bear fur from both the brown and polar bears. They looked at paw prints from both and used their bodies to see how many students it would take to equal the size of a brown and polar bear. He then took us out into the great bear wilderness to view the bears. We had lunch outside and even saw Christmas trees decorated by local towns in the area (Oak Park included!) on display along the walking path. Our bus ride home was quiet and reflective (some napping students!) When we got back, the students completed a written reflection and illustration about their day. A big thanks to our volunteers--K. Mikos, J. Brock, B. Chyna, G. Garcia and I. Henry for their help! Our PBIS Olympic Day was also a hit! The students tested their running, jumping, team building and problem solving skills with various movement activities. They really worked well together and had lots of fun!
**Route to Reading Rotation 4 begins Monday, November 28th. At that time, students will receive notification of their skill placement.
**We are now in Trimester 2 of our school year. Report Cards will go home on Friday, December 9th.
**Our Annual Gingerbread Baking is set for Friday, December 9th beginning at 12:30 pm until dismissal. We have 5 volunteers so far but could use 4-5 more. Email me if interested. Create, decorate, bake and share! No baking experience needed!
**Looking ahead to our next cross-curricular theme--Traditions and Celebrations--I am looking for guest speakers to come and present to the students on their particular family traditions and celebrations. We will be studying the use of lights as a unifying theme in many winter celebrations. We have volunteers to speak on Sweden's, St. Lucia Day and France's celebration on St. Nicholas Day. Remember, it can be any tradition/celebration your family has. See me for more details.
**A BIG SHOUT OUT from Ava and Tyler's big sisters--It's the 11th Annual Girl Scout Toy Drive--November 28th-December 19th. The Irving Girl Scouts will be collecting new, non-violent unwrapped toys, games and books for children ages 0-13. They will also accept donations of wrapping paper and tape. There will be collection boxes located in the main office and in the hallways on each floor. All items will benefit children in the Austin neighborhood in association with the Fraternite Notre Dame. Let's help out!!!!
**Kindergarten Winter Concert is Friday, December 23rd at 9:30 am in the Irving Auditorium with a family reception following in our classroom. Stay tuned for more info.
This week:
It was all about MOVEMENT both fine motor and gross motor! We did not have regularly scheduled classes this short week. Monday had us walking and exploring on our field trip. The students used their fine motor skills to reflect and draw about their experiences. On Tuesday morning, the students participated in the PBIS Olympic Day. Here they used just about all of their gross motor skills including their thinking skills to perform each of the activities--Human Knot, Rescue Relay, Crossing the Peanut Butter River, Egg and Spoon Race were just some of the events. After our morning events were finished, the students studied about what it was like to be on the Mayflower in 1620 and what life was like for children their age at that time. We also took a look at what life was like once they arrived at Jamestown. The students used their gross motor skills to make butter. This was an activity that children in 1620 might have done as a family chore. Call it food science if you will--changing a liquid into a solid and using your upper body to shake the container of whipping cream until changes occurred. Pretty cool! After lunch, the students used their motor skills to work in the lab on Lexia. Back in our classroom, we readied the room in preparation for creating our Bear Paw Snacks. The students used their fine motor skills again to shape the dough and create little "toes" on their "paw." The paws were baked and enjoyed with our butter and honey. The remainder of the time was spent in community with each other building, conversing, drawing and sharing. A perfect ending to a busy 2 days! We are thankful for each other!
Literature: "If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, " "Who will Carve the Turkey?" "Thanksgiving is for Giving," "The World of Bears," "Duck on a Bike."
