Song of the Witches

During the week, we practiced reading Song of the Witches. There were many words we didn't know so we looked them up to understand what strange things the witches were putting in their brew.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Fillet of fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork and blind-worm's string,

Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble:

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Cool it with a baboon's blood,

Then the charm is firm and good.

Macbeth: IV. i. 10-19; 35-38

William Shakespeare

Map Reading

On my way back from Illinois, I stopped by the Michigan Welcoming Center and picked up a map of Michigan for every child in the class. As a group we talked a little about the topography Michigan: that it has two main peninsula, along with several islands. The children discussed and showed each other places they had been, such as crossing the Mackinaw bridge. Some children played a "I Spy" type game in which they choose a popsicle stick with one of the pictures from the map key and tried to find the corresponding images on the map. They found hospitals, airports, elk, and rest areas, just to name a few.

Hope you continue to explore and play games with the map at home.

Down on the farm

Why do we go on field trips? Teacher instruction and learning from books is important but real life experiences make the learning come to life.

You can read lots of books about cows and goats but to actually feed one yourself....it can't be beat.

And how does picking fresh herbs and rubbing them through your fingers to release the incredible fragrance and then tasting them, walking by a stack of hay bale, or pulling carrots right out of the ground, enhance what you know about a farm and change what you understand the next time you hear about a farm. I argue it is irreplaceable. I hope you feel the same.

Thank you to Heidi, Freya's mother, for making the contact with Tantre Farm and helping us arrange the trip. And thank you everyone at the farm for a memorable afternoon.

Building a camel out of recycled materials

First you build a hump.

(boxes, bags, newspaper and bubble wrap)

Then you cover it.

(papier-mâché)

Find "used" camel colored pants,

and stuff the legs with plastic bags and newspaper...

Get a big empty paper tube and saw it to the size of a camel neck...

Paint the hump (left over camel colored wall paint)

Have an adult assemble the parts and .....

Voila, a camel

Umbrella Walk

One of life's simple pleasures is a walk in the rain with an umbrella. There is something so pleasant, listening to the sound of the rain tap over your head.

And there is

nothing like an umbrella walk to maintain everyone's sanity on a rainy Friday.

Yummy

After snack on Monday, all the children told Clementine they wanted the recipe for the applesauce cake. So here it is:

Here's the applesauce cake recipe, from The Farm Cookbook.

1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar (works fine with less too)
2 cups flour
2 cups applesauce
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. vanilla

Mix oil and sugar, add applesauce and mix in dry ingredients. Pour into an oiled and floured 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes,

it's super easy! (says Linette, Clementine's mother)

And did you notice, probably unbeknownst to Linette, she was right with this month's theme. She got the recipe from the Farm Cookbook.

New chapter book

We have temporarily left "The House at Pooh Corners" to visit a farm in America during the 1950's. For the next couple weeks we will get to know Fern, Wilbur, and of course, Charlotte, in Charlotte's Web . Later, this fall we will return to some more adventure with Pooh and his friends.

Pillows in use...

Friday sewed 2 sides of our pillows using the sewing machine. This morning, we stuffed the pillows and sewed the 3rd side by hand.

This afternoon we used the pillows during story time. As you can see, they were a great success.

Story problems

In math we have been working on story problems. We have worked on problems using a variety of techniques. In this photo the children drew a picture and then we wrote the numerical problem (4+4+1=9). Other times, I wrote a word sentence on the board and the children figured out how to write it with math symbols. The children did work sheets in which they had to solve picture and word problems and then drew their own pictures and problems on the reverse side of the sheet. They also had real life problems to solve for instance, we have 3 tables in the room and I put a chair at each table. I asked the children to figure out how many more chairs we needed to have enough for each child (8 children). They came up with several ways to solve the problem: "you would need 5 because 3+5=8" "you could put put 2 more chairs at 2 tables and one more at the other"(3+2+2+1=8), "you could have 3 chairs at one table, 2 chairs at the other table, and 3 chairs at the other table" (3+2+3=8) and I introduced:"if you have 8 children and there are 3 chairs, you can subtract, 8-3=5.

These exercises help children understand there are practical applications to math and that their is more than one way to solve a problem.

Reading

Learning to read is a magical thing. Some children seem to read almost automatically, while others learn through a step by step procedure. And just like walking and talking, every child learns to read on their own time schedule.

Reading is part of almost everything we do. It is part of everyday life. Reading does not just happen when a book is taken off the shelf; nor does learning to read. . We read for a variety of purposes: to gain information, for enjoyment, for instruction. We read to know which bathroom to use, to know what cereal we are eating in the morning, and where and how to drive. It is the same thing in the classroom. The children unravel the mysteries of reading by reading signs, reading boxes, and reading instructions. Singing songs, saying rhymes, listening to poems and stories all help children become competent readers as they experience the sound and rhythm of language. Having conversations, listening and telling stories help build children's communication skills and expand their vocabulary, which helps them become readers.

In our class, children are at all different stages of learning to read. Some children are a the beginning stages of reading. They can read the names of family members and a few familiar words like STOP. Other children, have very developed reading skills and are competent, independent readers. But, no matter what level of reading the children are at, there are ways for them to successfully participate in reading activities.

During the day there are many opportunities to read and listen to stories. I read to the children, they listen to books on tapes, they read independently and to each other.

The best way to support your child's reading at home is to takes time out each day to read to your children and have your children read to you.