It's hard to believe it, but November is here. It is time for us to get out the cornucopias, dust off our mittens, and find our turkey basters. I love this time of year. The experience of bundling up as the days grow colder, watching the wind blow the fall leaves through the air, the opportunity to gather together with family and friends, and the scent of freshly baked goods are delightful to me. After the haphazard days of summer I welcome the chance to snuggle up with my family and enjoy each other's company.
This month we will be touching on the topic of being thankful for all the things we have in our lives and all the people that fill us up. We'll enjoy the season change while studying leaves, and we'll be lucky enough to have a visit from the Canby Fire Department. It will be a quick and fun-filled month.
We will have our Friendship Feast this month. The children will learn the classic folk tale of Stone Soup. We will make our own version of stone soup and eat it together at our feast. It is such fun to do this in the classroom. It is a nice way to send them off to Thanksgiving week ready to greet their families and think about being thankful. I am looking forward to it. Your child will choose a vegetable that they would like to add to our soup and they will be asked to bring it to class. We will prepare the soup for cooking in class, I will cook it at my home, and they will eat it in the next class period along with some other items we will cook together. Fun times.
The last week of the month we will focus on fire safety and awareness. We will have a visit from the firefighters from the Canby station. This is a fun experience. Some of the children are nervous about it, so this is a good opportunity for you to chat about it with your child. Check some books out from the library, or look at some fire safety websites to help start the conversation.
What follows is a break down of how the month is planned. If you have any questions please feel free to email me or catch me after class. Here goes:
Monday, Nov. 5: Today we will read the book, Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. We will make collection bags that the children will use to collect natural materials to make their own leaf man. We will make some fall-colored leaves with blotter paper.
Wednesday, Nov. 7: I will have a substitute this day. Julie O'Connor will take my place in class today. She is a former teacher for the school and is FABULOUS!!! The children will be in good hands. 3s-The children will do some leaf rubbings with fresh fall leaves and paint a leaf shape with a color wash. If the weather is not terrible they will have a chance to rake leaves into a big pile and jump in them! 4s-The children will put to use the collection bags they made on Monday collecting natural materials for their "leaf man." They'll do leaf rubbings and rake leaves while outside.
Friday, Nov. 9: 3s-We will make a face on the leaf we painted on Wednesday. We'll cut out feather-shaped colored paper and send them home for the children to label what they are thankful for. These need to come back to class on Wednesday, Nov. 14. We will learn the story of Stone Soup and the children will choose a vegetable to add to our soup for next week. 4s-Today we will assemble our "leaf man." We'll learn the classic folk tale about stone soup. The children will choose a vegetable that they would like to add to our soup for our friendship feast. We will cut out "thankful feathers" to send home and be labeled with thankful thoughts. Please send all thankful feathers back to class by Wednesday, Nov. 14. The children will decide where on our class turkey they would like their feather to be placed and talk about their thankfulness. It is a fun and important exercise.
Monday, Nov. 12: NO SCHOOL TODAY. VETERAN'S DAY HOLIDAY. Enjoy!
Wednesday, Nov. 14: PLEASE SEND ALL THANKFUL FEATHERS WITH YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL TODAY. PLEASE SEND YOUR CHILD'S CHOICE OF VEGETABLE WITH THEM TO SCHOOL TODAY. 3s-Today we will be making our own stone soup for our feast on Friday. The children will cut, chop, slice and dice them into a big pot. We will also make vegetable prints and make flubber! 4s-Today we will make soup. Please be sure to send your child with their choice of vegetable. We will work together to chop and slice veggies. We'll also make veggie prints and stringy flubber. It should be fun.
Friday, Nov. 16: FRIENDSHIP FEAST!! 3s-We will be preparing for our friendship feast that will occur at 11 a.m. We will make corn bread and an apple pie-like dessert. We will discuss our thankful feathers and play a little outside. Families are welcome to join us for our feast at 11. 4s-See previous. :)
Monday, Nov. 19: Field Trip!! We will travel on the nature trail that leads to the Canby City Park located behind the Safeway store. We will gather at 1:00 p.m. at the Mormon Church Parking lot located on the corner of Elm St. and 13th St. Please send your child's snack in a disposable bag. We will leave the church at approx. 1:15 p.m. and walk through the neighborhood to the entrance to the nature trail. The trail can get fairly muddy and wet so please be sure to send your child in a rain coat and boots. Planning on the worst weather will make your child more comfortable. All families are welcome to join us. The trail is not an appropriate place for strollers or the like, so if you have a younger sibling that isn't mobile use a backpack or similar equipment. We will be doing this trip three times throughout the school year so we can examine the changes of the seasons. The children will bring their collection bags that we made earlier in the month and I will bring a few magnifying glasses and binoculars. If you have some of these items please feel free to bring them along. We will go on this trip rain or shine, so please be prepared for the weather. It is tons of fun and the children really delight in it. It is one of my favorite activities over the school year.
Wednesday, Nov. 21-Friday, Nov. 23: NO SCHOOL. THANKSGIVING BREAK. Enjoy your time with family. Be safe!
Monday, Nov. 26: Welcome back. This week we will focus on firefighters, fire safety, and fire awareness. Today we will start a project that will stretch through the week. We will make a picture of a fire truck that the children will do quite a bit of cutting different materials in order to assemble. We will play with water and hoses and tubes and we will learn about what kind of equipment a firefighter needs to do their job.
Wednesday, Nov. 28: 3s-Today we will be visited by the firefighters!! They will bring a big engine and a medic unit. The children will have a chance to see all the knobs and dials, etc., as well as go inside the trucks. It is a lot of fun. They will also make their own fire hats to wear. 4s-The firefighters will come to visit today! We'll make fire hats and a story book about firefighters.
Friday, Nov. 30: 3s-We'll finger paint with red and orange paint today to make "flames" to put in our dramatic play room and we will make a picture of a fire truck with straws. 4s-We will do some finger painting today and we will finish the fire truck we have been working on since Monday.
Thank you to all of you for taking the time to chat with me for phone conferences. It was so nice to have a chance to see what was important to you. If you didn't receive a call for a conference please contact me! I want to talk with you.
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to your child and our school. I am appreciative for you everyday. Please know that there is a happenstance every day that makes me so very thankful for all of you! Enjoy your time with family this month and try to get outside to check out the changing season. Have fun! ~Anne.
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