Friday, November 21, 2008

This week, we’ve been reading books about life long ago. Yesterday we read a story about two children who were aboard the Mayflower. One was a boy and one was a girl. The girl was a passenger. The boy was an apprentice. The Mayflower set sail from England because the Pilgrims couldn’t practice their religion. The king wouldn’t let them. We learned that the voyage took two months. It wasn’t easy being on the ship. There was a bad storm and people got very seasick. People had to stay below the deck, where it smelled bad and people ate cold food. We also learned that people long ago used chamber pots. Today we read Sarah Morton’s Day. We learned that kids long ago had to do a lot more work than kids do today!

Yesterday, Darren, Kevin, Rebecca, Sophia, and Michael made cranberry sauce with Kevin’s mom. Everyone washed their hands and then the cranberries. The cranberry sauce was made by mixing sugar and water. Then we added the cranberries and let it cook for a little while. The cranberries were popping and the liquid was starting to bubble. The liquid turned red. As it cooked, it started to get mushy.

Today, Zoe, Sammy, Gianluca, Kaitlyn, and Bartosz made pumpkin pie with Kaitlyn’s mom. The pie was made by mixing sugar, pumpkin, milk, pudding, and Cool Whip together. Then the filling was put into the graham cracker crust. Zoe thought it didn’t look that interesting in the beginning but at the end it looked delicious!

Yesterday morning, Ms. Stern, Sophia, and Nolan went to the computer lab to talk to parents at the Coffee Chat. They went to talk about the Smartboard and how we use it in the classroom. Nolan and Sophia did the talking. They did a fantastic job! Ms. Stern answered some questions that the parents had and explained how it helps the learning in our class. She was so proud of her star speakers! Later that morning, a few more children joined them in the library to be interviewed by students from TZE about what types of technology we use. They were filmed by the students while they spoke.

Lots of turkeys have arrived back in school, safe and sound. Here are our turkey disguises:
Isabella-owl
Mia-ballerina/cheerleader/superhero
Gianluca-spy
Axl-Jets player
Kevin-scuba diver
Joshua-Superman
Rebecca-gingerbread man
Sophia-artist
Darren-Mets player
Kaitlyn-Dorothy (from the Wizard of Oz)
Daniel-ninja
Anthony-snowman
Zoe-hula girl
Sammy-Indiana Jones
Michael-Santa Claus

It’s not too late to send them in, if you haven’t done so already!

Remember, we are going on our trip to Philipsburg Manor on Monday. Please make sure that your child has a labeled bagged lunch and is dressed appropriately. We will be outside for the trip. Thanks and have a great weekend!