Festival of Trees

Here are a few pictures from our field trip to Downtown Greenville to see some of the trees from the festival.

Multiage on World Tour!

Multiage students are VERY excited about the Holiday season! For the next few weeks, we will be taking a world tour to learn how the holidays are celebrated in different countries around the world. Yesterday, we decorated our suitcases...

Today, we jumped in an airplane and headed to...MEXICO!

WHen we were on the "plane", we listened to Christmas music. As soon as we crossed the border from the U.S. to Mexico, our music changed from "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" to "Feliz Navidad!". We learned about how families in Mexico celebrate the Christmas season. Did you know that they start their celebrations on December 16th and the season lasts until February 2nd? We also learned the legend of the Poinsettia. Then, the children made their own poinsettia using construction paper. Check them out in the Christmas center in our classroom!

We have many more countries that we are planning to visit! So, more to come!

Our Thanksgiving Feast

Our class learned so much about Thanksgiving this month! They can tell you all of the whos, whys, and whens...I even heard a story of one of our friends (politely, of course) correcting someone at church when they gave the incorrect date for when the Mayflower sailed across the Atlantic. Of course, we had to culminate our learning in a big way! Check out these pictures of the most adorable Pilgrims and Native Americans I know.

"Yellow Feather" (Molly-Breeze) and Pilgrim Lizzie

"Dancing Princess" (Abby) and Pilgrim Ariana

Pilgrim Rachel and "Pink Unicorn" (Madison)

Pilgrim Tyler and "Flower Deer" (Lea)

"Dancing Dolphin" (Savannah) and Pilgrim Zander

Pilgrim Claire and "Samoset" (Drew, AKA Heap Little Running Mouth...haha)

"Hunting Eagle" (Lucian) and Pilgrim Elena

Governor Amy and "Heap BIG Running Mouth" (Mr. Cory, he of the good sense of humor)

Enjoying our feast!

Turkey, green beans, mac and cheese...does it get any better?

We are thankful for our friends.

Yummm...delicious!

A funny side story: The turkey was wonderful! However, it was too large to fit in the oven with the pans of pizza Ms. Sue was cooking for the rest of the school. So, Heap Big Running Mouth had to cut the turkey apart so we could have it cooked and ready to go. Here's the aftermath...he looks like quite the savage! I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving! I am thankful for the pleasure of watching your little ones grow and learn more and more each day.

Reptiles and Amphibans

As part of our Animal Classification unit, we learned how to differentiate between reptiles and amphibians today. We learned that reptiles lay leathery eggs, aren't usually born in water, and have rough, dry skin. We also learned that amphibians lay jelly-like eggs, are born in water, and have smooth (although sometimes bumpy) moist skin. Then we made completed an activity to show what we learned.

Labeling the paper. "Amphibian" is a long word!

The finished product

Insects and Spiders

We are learning about animal classification during our science time over the next few weeks. This week, we learned how to identify insects and spiders! Thank you to everyone who sent in egg cartons! We used these to make models of insects, connecting the legs to the "thorax" and the antennae to the "head".

I'm no artist, but they served their puroses! The labels are removeable and we have fun placing them in the correct places.

Insect creation involves intense concentration.

Carefully placing the legs.

They have to be bent at just the right angle...

Poking them through

Preparing for the final touches

Antennae are very important

Adding a little decoration

Eeek! It's a colony of creepy crawly insects!