Good Food is Fun!
On Tuesday, we had a visitor to our class. She came and talked to the children about nutrition and healthy food choices. As part of her demonstration, she showed how much sugar a person would consume if they had a soda every day for a year. It amounts to approximately 3 bags of sugar (about 15 pounds).
Later she talked about the "food rainbow" in which the children named a whole bunch of foods in different colors. It is healthy to have a "rainbow" on your plate, as each of the colors usually indicates different vitamins and other healthy attributes. The children then got to experience how much fun mixing and matching colorful food can be, when they were encouraged to "design" a plate with a variety of fruits and vegetables. They came up with some pretty interesting and tasty creations! Encourage your children to add healthy colors to their plate at mealtimes.
We Appreciate You!
Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered by donating their time or their resources to the school, and more specifically our annual Thsnksgiving Feast. We are very grateful for your help. We would not be able to do it without your generosity and helpfulness.
Being Thankful
The virtues we are exploring this week are thankfulness, gratefulness, and contentment.
The children have had the opportunity to reflect not only on things they are thankful for, but people, memories, and experiences. What we have is so much more than stuff. They got to discuss being satisfied with what they have already, instead of wanting more.
Reminders
- Thanksgiving Break is from November 17-25. Classes will resume on Monday, November 26th.
- Conferences are coming up soon! After the break we will have a sign-up sheet posted on the bulletin board.
Assignments
During the break, second and third graders have an assignment that is due the Monday we return from break.
- Third graders are going to research a Native American tribe and make a model of clothing that people of that tribe wore historically.
- Second graders are going to research a Native American tribe and create a model of the kind of home they would have lived in historically.
The third graders also have a second assignment due the Tuesday they come back. They need to research their family history and find out how their ancestors came to the United States. (For example: Ms. Cori's family on her mother's side came from Germany in the early 1900's on a ship, with the last name of Wiebe.)
History Mystery
This Wednesday, the school got to take a trip into the past, as the Upper Elementary put on their annual History Mystery. The students from fourth through sixth grades each chose an explorer from history to portray. They researched their historical figure and wrote a script as if they were actually this person, come to tell about their life. To complete the effect, the students also dressed as the person they were portraying.
We were visited by such historical icons as Christopher Columbus, Pocahontas and Sacagawea, as well as more recent explorers and adventurers, such as Jessica Walsh and Dr. Mae Carol Jemison.
The Lower Elementary students had all been given a lesson to introduce them to each historical figure. On the day of the History Mystery, they used their background knowledge to make a guess as to who each student was portraying. History Mystery is something they all look forward to being on the other side of, when they become a student in the Upper Elementary.
November Studies
During the month of November, in Social Studies and History, we are going to be studying Thanksgiving, Immigration, and Native Americans. We have also been studying American Government and the upcoming elections.
In Biology, we are studying reptiles. We are continuing to study stars and navigation, and we will move into the moon phases and the calendar.
As we get further into the year, we are also encouraging the students to begin memorizing math facts in addition (first grade), addition and subtraction (second grade), and multiplication (third grade). If you are looking for activities to do with your child at home to supplement their school learning, this would be a good choice. We are going to be assessing them on math facts on Fridays with their spellling tests. We will begin with simple facts and make them more challenging as time goes on.
This week, we are going to assess the first graders on addition facts +1; second graders on subtraction facts -1; and third graders on multiplication facts x 2.
Thank You
Thank you to those of you that continue to volunteer and donate things to our classroom. We made the salsa yesterday and it was a big success. The children really enjoyed being able to prepare and eat their own snack. We will be making another class snack in December.
