Last Friday, our class shared a Thanksgiving meal of “stone soup.”  A great deal of preparations were involved before the culminating activity of the shared meal with our classroom community.  We spent the earlier part of the week reading different  versions of the Stone Soup folktale.  This included comparing and contrasting the  versions from different counties, sequencing  the events in the story, analyzing the moral in the story, and chanting the Stone Soup poem.

A very big thank you to all of the families for the donation of the vegetables that went into our soup.  Interestingly, onions were the most popular of the contributions! Students were thrilled that not all of the onions made it into the pot!  A big thank you as well to the parent volunteers who assisted students with washing, peeling , and chopping the vegetables. After allowing the soup to boil, simmer, and cool, we enjoyed our feast with some crackers and juice. Even though the soup was not universally a hit for all palates, it was a great way to celebrate learning!

Last Friday, September 22, our classroom said a fond farewell to summer and officially welcomed the season of autumn.  We reminisced about all the things students will miss in the summer and what they looked forward to in the upcoming season.  Afterward, we wrote a classroom poem called Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by pairing up the summer and autumn words.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn

Goodbye flip flops, hello rain boots

Goodbye tank tops, hello sweaters

Goodbye beaches, hello ice rinks

Goodbye Freezies, hello soups

Goodbye, lemonade, hello hot chocolate

Goodbye swimming, hello hockey

Goodbye vacation, hello school

Goodbye shorts, hello splash pants

Goodbye strawberries, hello pumpkins

Goodbye bubble tea, hello hot tea

Goodbye Folk Fest, hello Halloween

Goodbye biking, hello skating

Goodbye cottage, hello new t.v. shows

Goodbye green leaves, hello red leaves.

Afterward, we painted a  tree that showed the change of season.  We discussed the changing colour of the leaves from green, to yellow, red, orange and brown.

A warm welcome to all the families in Room 103!  This is officially the first blog entry for our classroom.

What a busy and exciting few days it has been!  It has been a pleasure to get to know all of the students.   We have spent the past few days getting to know one another through our “summer homework.”  Many students have had a chance to share some of their special possessions and family photos with one another.  This is also an opportunity for students to ask questions and make connections with their peers.

We have already gone to our very first field trip!  Our class went on a walking tour of the new construction on Waverley Street as part of our study local community. Students were full of wonderings and noticed so many aspects of the construction.  What an observant and curious group of grade 1 and 2 students!  We will use the these questions to drive our learning during the year.