It's been an exciting week.  Pierce County Environmental Education was back to visit us.  This week we learned all about the water cycle.  We learned that it is not always an exact circle from rain to evaporation, sometimes the water is used by plants and animals first.  The children pretended to be a drop of water and traveled many different paths along the water cycle.

This week we also had our open house.  It was great that so many of you were able to come in and see what we've been working on this trimester.  The kids love having you in the classroom.

Getting ready for the holidays

The Superstars are busy decorating the classroom for the holidays.  We have a gingerbread house village complete with a train set on our social studies/science table.  The children made the houses at home and brought them in to share with the class.  We have been reading several different versions of "The Gingerbread Boy" and comparing and contrasting them.  It's amazing how many versions there are!  We are also working on patterning and fine motor skills by stringing beads into wreaths and candy canes.

We're looking forward to the Lower School Music Program this week, we hope you'll be able to join us.

Snow Snow Snow!

Snow Babies

Snow!

The Bear Cubs join us for some free play on the short snow day

Check out our awesome chalk fall trees and wind and rain watercolor.  We have some great artists!

Pioneer Farm

Jumping in the hay loft

Milking the cow

Grinding corn

Pioneer School

The wood shed

Doing the laundry

Native American welcome paint

Shooting with a bow and arrow

This week we were lucky to have Odin, the reading dog, return to our classroom.  Odin listens to each child as they read something they think Odin will enjoy.  One child picked "Dog and Cat", we're pretty sure that was his favorite!  Odin is a great dog, gentle and calm, it's a real treat to have him in the classroom listening to our young readers.

We are continuing our study of Native Americans and working on our culminating project with the Shark class.  It's a great time to be a Superstar!

The Superstars and the chocolate factory

We finished our unit on community helpers this week with a visit from one of our parents who is a dentist.  The kids learned a lot and I hear there is more brushing going on at home!   His treasure box was a particularly big hit.

On Thursday we visited Theo's Chocolates in Seattle.  It was the most beautiful fall day.  We learned all about chocolate making and tasted lots of samples in the factory.  Then we had lunch outside and watched the boats go by.  It was a perfect day for a picnic!

Halloween!

Halloween is a favorite among most young children and the Superstars are no different.  The children have been planning for weeks what they would wear and who they would be.  It's been a hot topic of conversation during snack and circle time.  The kids were treated to a great party on Wednesday and given an opportunity to show off their costumes.

On the science table, the kids are taking a VCR apart and checking out the insides of a pumpkin.  If you notice a sudden interest in screwdrivers, this is why!

Fire Trucks and Storm Drains

This week the Superstars were visited by the fire department and Enviro Challengers.  We learned more about the job of a firefighter and got to check out the rig.  During our class with Enviro Challengers we played games about things that go down our drains.    While several kids thought the fire fighters had a pretty cool job, they weren't quite as enthralled with cleaning out storm drains.  We all agreed it would be better if we were more careful with what went down those drains instead of having to clean them out!

We are also working on our critical thinking skills.  We are practicing using all of our senses to describe things, this week we used our sense of touch to figure what an object was without using our eyes.  With a little practice, we got pretty good at it!