Week of 9/22 - 9/26

The transitions from home to school are becoming smoother as students become familiar with the rhythms and routines of the classroom. Occasionally, an eager student will arrive, fleet of foot, and race out the door in a bid to join friends on the playground...Or to explore the great outdoors... at least the great back yard.
We introduced a new outdoor activity this week, hammering, and it has been unanimously embraced by the students. The work includes: a child sized hammer, nails, and safety goggles.
It has quickly risen in popularity, with a line often forming in anticipation of its use. Each student enjoys the chance to pound a few nails into our resident stump

Monday marked the first day of a new season, AUTUMN. We discussed the changing leaves, the cooler temperatures and harvesting. We stepped into our backyard, to the welcome sight of a pear tree, thick with ripe fruit ready for picking...So we picked them and cut them up...
We added a few delicious ingredients (1 arrowhead mills yellow cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/2 c. applesauce, 2T pumpkin spice mix, 1 c. water and lots of loving attention)...

And after a great deal of mixing by several small and capable hands...We poured the mix into a greased bundt pan and baked at 350 for 45 minutes.

Then of course we ate it... but I am sure you guessed that. To continue this exploration of Autumn harvest fruits, Angelina brought in a wide variety of seasonal apples, eight different types to be exact (as well as a few pomegranates and some peaches from our tree). The students took turns cutting and sampling these ripening flavors of Fall.

This was another great opportunity for the children to practice their food preparation skills and the group nature of the activity, provided a setting for socializing. There was a good deal of conversation on the topic of Apples... "I like the green ones", "the purple ones are sweetest", "I like these... the Asian pears...would you like a taste", "no thank you, they taste funny", etc.

We are also singing a fun seasonal song on line:

(tune of London Bridges)

All the leaves are falling down,
falling down,
falling down,
Twirling swirling to the ground
It is Autumn.

All the leaves are falling down,
falling down,
falling down,
Red and Yellow, Orange and Brown
It is Autumn.

In closing, I would like to add a disclaimer. When highlighting an activity or theme, there is always a danger that we may overlook the nuts and bolts of the classroom and the environment. Our classrooms are a hive of productive, self directed activity. The students are choosing work from all areas of the class and are developing a focused and concentrated approach to their lessons. It is difficult to provide an exhaustive overview of our week, but it is our hope that these snippets provide a window, however narrow, onto the week and foster communication.

As always, your comments are appreciated.

Have a wonderful week and we look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.