GO LAKERS!!
Another great field day is in the books! The weather held off almost long enough for us to complete all of the games! We started at the bowl for a dance party and all-school pep rally to get everyone excited and full of spirit! Next, we each took a turn to jump in the all school Hawks vs. Eagles long jump game! After we jumped the biggest jump we could, we moved to the green in front of the lower school for a water balloon toss. We tried to toss and catch a water balloon as many times as we could! The water from the balloons made a little splash as it broke. The ball and spoon relay race took concentration as we tried to quickly walk while balancing a ball on a spoon without dropping it. Many students found the sack race took coordination and determination, but also was exciting to be able to use a pillow case in the game. Our third game was leap frog. The children laughed as one partner was curled up and the other took a turn to hop over. As the thunder rumbled, we moved inside to complete our last event: bucket stack. The class was divided into six teams and had to take turns running to the other side of the gym to grab one bucket. The challenge was to stack all six buckets to create a pyramid. As always, we took this opportunity to discuss good sportsmanship, following directions, and cheering each other on! GO LAKERS!!
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Jordan introduced his mom, dad, papa, and nana. He and his family shared a tradition that they have had for four generations: Jordan, his dad, his grandpa (Papa), and his great grandpa. They call it family golfing. Often on Saturdays and Sundays they like to go golfing together. Their favorite place to golf is Chenequa Country Club. Jordan has been golfing since he was about three. His dad, mom, and papa taught him. Jordan’s favorite club is his driver because he can hit the ball far with it. When he was five, he got his first birdie (one under par). The guys all like to wear matching shirts. Both his mom and Nana golf too but don’t have matching shirts. Nana is usually Jordan’s caddy. When they are done golfing, they go to the clubhouse and enjoy a treat. Jordan and his family showed the children how to golf and invited each of them to give it a try. Out on the green the children took turns hitting a ball towards a target with a number. After several tries the children, all gathered inside in the pod (the SK Clubhouse) and enjoyed a special popcorn/kettle corn/Pirate Booty treat. What a wonderful tradition passed down through the generations!
Marlow and her mom and two brothers, William and Isaac told us about a couple of their family traditions. Since their family doesn’t have any traditions that have been passed down from grandparents, they decided to make their own. In their family they practice gratitude. They have a gratitude jar that they fill with slips of paper that tell what they are grateful for. As a family they take turns sharing their gratitude with one another. Sometimes they do it daily, sometimes they do it weekly. They try to write them down as much as they can. When it is the end of the year or the jar is full, they read all the slips and feel grateful all over again. Marlow and her family provided a jar with a special label along with slips of paper for the children to start their own gratitude jar. Another tradition they enjoy is making different boards. On different holidays or special days, they create a themed board filled with lots of yummy goodies. At Christmas they made a Santa board. Marlow’s favorite boards are the Easter one and the grilled cheese one. For her recent birthday, her mom made a special pink board filled with different treats. Marlow’s mom made a delicious “After School” board for all the kids to enjoy.
Rhea and her family shared one of their Greek traditions. Rhea’s grandparents are from Greece and have passed this special tradition down to her family. For New Year’s Day they make a special cake/bread called, “Vasilopita” to honor Saint Basil who is the saint for the poor. The cake/bread is made with orange zest and orange juice and is covered with a sprinkling of powder sugar. Sometimes they write the year on it. Inside the cake/bread is a coin which symbolizes strength and luck. When the cake/bread is cut, they cut a piece for God and one for every family member. Whoever finds the coin will have good luck for the year. Rhea found the coin this year. When Rhea’s dad was a child, he often found the coin. In fact, he had a whole collection of coins. He thought that his mom made sure he got it since his name is Vasily which is a form of Vasilopita and means king. In remembrance each child received a special bag which included the recipe for Vasilopita, a special Greek cookie called Koulouri, and a golden coin. The children were also treated to a piece of cake. The Taras’ tradition is to say a prayer before eating. The class enjoyed the yummy treat and Mrs. Booth was surprised to find the coin in her piece of cake and looks forward to a year of good luck.
The children started working in their alphabet books before spring break. While working on their books they are practicing how to correctly form both upper and lowercase letters. One letter is focused on each time. During this handwriting time, a demonstration of the letter for the day is done on the chalkboard. The children then practice forming the letter with their finger on the floor or in the air. Next they work in a small handwriting book. First they practice writing the uppercase letter and then the lowercase letter. After that they use the dictionary to find two objects that begin with the letter they are working on. First they draw the pictures and then they label them with the words. Then they color them. Reflection: The children are excited to write in their handwriting books and are proud of their work. The expectation moving forward is that the children will form the letters covered to date correctly in their daily work. Practicing writing letters helps the children learn proper letter formation, size, position, proportion, and line usage. Through this practice small motor skills are strengthened. Forming letters correctly can minimize writing fatigue and will assist the children as they transition into cursive in the older grades. A huge thank you to everyone to attended the Grandparents and Special Friends Day event! The children were so excited to host all the guests into our classroom, play games and complete activities, and show off their journals and portfolios! Some activities included watercolor painting, a math game, loose part flower building, and word searches. The weather cooperated and provided us with perfect picnic weather! This week was a special week as we prepared for our spring music concert! We had several rehearsals in which we had to be extra careful listeners and practice our concert etiquette. The bobcats were thrilled that they were featured in "Down by the Bay!" The verses they sang were created by them in their reading groups. They had to first brainstorm ocean animals and then create rhymes to go with each animal! The children were very proud of their verses and excited to showcase them to the entire school at the concert! A huge thank you to Mrs. Smyczek for all her hard work in coordinating such a great performance! Miliana was joined by her mom, dad, grandma, and sister to share their family tradition of special birthday celebrations! Each year, the girls choose their birthday theme. The night before, Millie goes to bed early, to allow ample time for her parents to decorate the house. She is woken up with a special birthday song and everyone has a dance party before seeing the rest of the house. Millie was excited to share her past birthdays.
Millie’s mom listened to the same birthday song as a child, but only Millie and her sister get the big birthday celebrations now. Millie’s favorite type of cake is chocolate, but this year she had funfetti. Millie chose a “Wish” theme to celebrate in our classroom. We each tried a delicious cake-pop as a special treat!
In honor of Earth Day, Melania and her family decided to start a new tradition of planting flowers. Every year they plan to plant flowers on Earth Day. This year they planted marigolds and wildflowers in their backyard. Melania loves flowers, especially purple ones. When Melania’s Nana was a little girl, she lived in Los Angeles where there wasn’t a lot of green space for her family to plant. Instead of planting in the ground, they planted flowers in pots. The children were invited to write about ways they can take care of the earth on a special Earth paper. They also got to do a fun maze. Melania and her Nana passed out individual bags which included a pack of seeds and gardening gloves along with a little snack. That was they can help the Earth by planting some seeds at their homes.
Abbie was joined by her dad, Eric, and mom, Kelly, to share about their family tradition of making lefse. Lefse is a traditional Norwegian food, made out of potatoes, sugar, butter, flour, and heavy cream. In the late 1800s, Eric’s family emigrated and settled mainly in North Dakota and Minnesota. Eric’s entire family gathers the night before Thanksgiving to make large batches of lefse. To make the lefse, you must collect the ingredients. The potatoes are peeled and boiled before they are riced. Once the potatoes are ready, the rest of the ingredients are mixed and kneaded into dough. Then, the dough is placed on the griddle. The dough only takes about 30-45 seconds on each side to cook. We learned that the dough does not taste good raw, like a cookie dough might. Family members are designated jobs such as rollers, flippers, and Eric’s grandma is the protector of the finished lefse as people try to sneak them to taste! Abbie’s family showed a lefse stick which is a long, wooden stick that is used to flip the cooking lefse on the griddle. Abbie’s family really enjoys putting cinnamon sugar on the lefse as a topping, but there is a variety of toppings that can be used, like butter, powered sugar, and even meat! Eric shared that he might still have family living in Norway, but he isn’t sure. He has not yet traveled to Norway, but hopes to someday visit where his ancestors came from. After learning more about Abbie, her family, and this special tradition we were invited to taste some homemade lefse that Kelly made. Everyone tried a bite and several children thought it was DELICIOUS! Lastly, Abbie’s family brought small gift bags with the recipe, cinnamon, and the Norwegian flag. We noticed that it has red, white, and blue, just like our American flag! It was such a pleasure inviting Abbie's family into our classroom and learning more about her family!
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2024
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