Pumpkins, Pumpkins!

Pumpkins, pumpkins!!
Not so recent, but back in October we did a fun pumpkin science unit with my kindergarten classes.  It was a great unit full of fun and learning!  Here are some of the highlights:
I started by stopping at my parents' house on my way home from school one day (so nice that we now live in the same city!!!).  Little did they know that I had ulterior motives to my visit, not just to say hi.  I sat down with a pencil and paper and told them we need to compose a pumpkin life cycle song!  We had so much fun but had difficulty coming up with an appropriate word to rhyme with "long" to go with the flower line besides "strong".  If you can think of one let me know!  It's sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

I made these cute little books to go with the song for my bilingual classes.  The kids in my English classes did a similar life-cycle book, however they wrote a word on each page:

To close the unit we did some pumpkin experiments.  Actually, I changed it to pumpkin "observations" since some of the concepts I want the kids to learn this year in science are to observe and compare.  I made up a little science observation song with the 5 senses and the observation book closely follows the language in the song.  They are just learning the concept of "predicting" and to introduce it, in these observations the students "predicted" if they would like the feel, taste, and smell of the pumpkin.  They then recorded if they actually liked it or not.

My thoughts and prayers to those in Newton, CT

As a mother of a little girl whose birthday is within months of all of the first graders who were killed, I can't help but think of those families and the bright futures that they will not be able to live out.  When I see their pictures it is not hard for me to imagine the energy, the laughter and the love that all of these children had.  They were no doubt like my Olivia and danced and sang their hearts out every chance they got.  They loved to swim, play sports and color like most 6 year olds.  I wonder if any of them had a Furby on their Christmas list like Olivia does.  I look at her beautiful smile and her beautiful personality and it leaves a lump in my throat to think of 20 families losing this beauty in their lives.

As a teacher of 5 and 6 year olds it is hard to look at my students and not think about how much they mean to me and the thought of something happening to one of them is numbing, much less a whole class at once.  What the staff of that school is going through right now is beyond comprehension.  5 and 6 year olds love their teachers and they love to show their teachers how much they love them and they are not afraid to tell you things to make you feel good... I have found myself really hugging back this past week with as much feeling as they give me.  If you know this age group it is not a good idea to give in to hugs for one, because soon you could be swarmed by all 20 looking for a hug too.  But I found myself not following my own rules and if they wanted a hug, I squeezed them tight and told them how special they are.  I know those children at Sandy Hook Elementary were loved by their teachers and I can picture them in class that morning anxious for another day of fun and learning.

Also, as a colleague of educators it is impossible not to go back in the classroom after this and think....."what if, what would I do".  It is hard not to think about the teachers in Newton that gave their lives trying to save the lives of their students.  The intense fear and helplessness that they must have felt, not for themselves but for their students.  There is not a doubt in my mind that every teacher I work with  would have done the same heroic actions that these teachers did in trying to protect their students.  Floating around Facebook there is a quote that describes the educators I work with perfectly.  I have no idea who said it but I like it:

“To parents who aren’t educators, this may be hard to understand. Five days a week, we teach your kids. Joke with your kids. Console your kids. Praise your kids. Question your kids. Beat our heads up against a wall about your kids. Gush over your kids. Laugh with your kids. Worry about your kids. Keep an eye on your kids. Learn about your kids. Invest in your kids. Protect your kids. Love your kids. 

We would all take a bullet for your kids. It’s nowhere in our job description. It isn’t covered in the employee handbook. It isn’t cited on our contracts. But we would all do it. So, yes—please hug your kids tonight—really, really tight. But on Monday, if you see your kids’ teacher, hug them too.”

Just love seeing an urban school bus in the country!

In October our kindergarten classes took a field trip to the farm!  It was the perfect wrap up to our science farm unit in my bilingual classes.  We learned to compare and contrast farm animals, name their body parts, and talked about foods grown on the farm.
Here are some pictures of what these city kids got to see!!

What?? A blog?

Hi!  Thanks for visiting!
 As most mothers, sometimes I feel overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities of taking care of 3 young children, a husband, a dog, a house, as well as working outside the home! I have felt my mind flutter in so many different places that at times I have had difficulty keeping my thoughts straight.

As a teacher, I often get overwhelmed as well with the daily tasks of planning and assessing, aligning to standards, differentiating, etc.

I got the idea of starting a blog after running into a number of blogs while searching for teaching ideas on Pinterest.  It has been so refreshing to see teachers and parents having a place to journal about what they are doing and what is working.

This blog will be my outlet of reflecting on the positive outcomes of my interactions with the young children I am surrounded by everyday, both at home and in my classroom.

For my first post I will add some pictures of some stand out moments in the past month.  Moments where I did not have to think about anything else other than the three lights of my life, my children.  Moments where I did not have to think about cooking, or cleaning, or working, or being anywhere else other than present in the moment.