Week 11 Cranberry Thanksgiving

Our book was the perfect lead in to Thanksgiving.

Cranberry Thanksgiving is a delightful story with a big lesson about judging the character of others based on their outside appearance.

The kids had supposed Mr. Whiskers was a bad man because he had a full, scary-looking beard.  It turned out that he was the hero of the story.  It was great to see them discover this as the story was read.  And fun to talk about "judging a book by its cover."

Teacher Jennifer Wright brought in some delicious cranberry bread and taught us why cranberries float and how they are harvested.  It was fascinating!

We then worked on our scissor skills by cutting cranberries out of colored paper.  We pasted them on our papers with the yummy cranberry bread recipe from the book.

This book is highly recommended.  Such a sweet story, but as we found out, it is HARD to get your hands on one.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

When we get back we will read a classic from Robert Frost.

Week 10- More Apples

We had so much fun talking about apples this week.
After reading our book, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, we looked at the map and found where the character gathered each ingredient for her apple pie.
The kids did a great job plotting the life of an apple tree.
We then talked about the different varieties apples come in. We tasted three different apple varieties and talked about how they were different in taste, color, and size.
Class ended with a fun finger painting project.

Next week, we have a new book titled Cranberry Thanksgiving!
Teacher Jennifer is going to delight us with a special treat featured in the book. I can't wait!

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Week 9 - How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

Wow!!!  Time has flown!

This week we learned about the PLOT of a story.  Helen Mirren read our book this week, thanks to the old show, Reading Rainbow.  The story takes the reader on a trip around the world collecting ingredients to make an apple pie.  It is actually full of fun and humor.

After hearing the story we put the ingredients collected and places visited in order, making a mini-plot map of the story.

Then we made our own apple snacks.  We used measuring spoons and combined 1/8 tsp. of cinnamon and 1/2 tbsp. of sugar.  We mixed it up and used it as an apple dip.  It was delicious!

Next week there is going to be all sorts of apple talk.

Week 8 - Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

We had a classroom full of excited princesses and characters last week. Such fun!

We read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.  It is such a great classic with so many lessons.

We talked a little bit about how steam engines work.  We used a steam kettle and pinwheel to illustrate the power of steam. 

We focused on the personification in the book.  The author does an amazing job bringing to life the steam engine, Mary Anne.  We attempted to personify rocks.  We added eyes, mustaches, hair and any other characteristic they could dream up.  Hopefully, their rocks made it home and have been given a name.

As an added bonus, Teacher Genne, just happened to drop by our class and was kind enough to read some Halloween stories to us.

Next week we are taking a literary trip around the world with the book, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.