Food Gatherers: a lesson in compassion

Yesterday, our class went to Food Gatherers to donate food. This was a life enriching experience for all of us. It was absolutely thrilling to see our children giving something meaningful to the community. This is where a seed of compassion has been planted, in them. We had prepared for the expedition with stories and discussions. Then we carried our food to the bus. The children were all  huffing and puffing, saying, "My goodness this is heavy." At the same time , they would help each other out by saying, "I can help you carry." It really brought tears to my eyes. 

When we arrived at the facility, we were greeted by our coordinator,  Missy. She loaded the trolley, and then she took us to a conference hall with an enormous table. The children were all so excited to be sitting down next to this gigantic table. They kept on saying, " I bet the President of America sits at this kind of a table," and

"Oh, my daddy has just like this one at work." Missy read a story about Carl the Carrot, which explained  and how they rescue food, and where it goes to. Then she gave us a tour of the ware-house. The children walked out through  the freezer and were amazed to see how big it was! 

One of the great things about Missy was that she really understood how children need to be involved in order to learn properly. When she weighed the trolley with the food, the children participated by guessing how much it weighed. Well, the whole thing weighed 111 pounds. Then she asked the children to stand on the weighing machine. Again, she asked them  to estimate how much they all weighed. They took all kinds of guesses; the answer was 358 pounds. Then another volunteer came and helped unload our food unto the weighing machine. Our  donated food weighed 58 pounds. So then the challenge was for the children to figure out how much the trolley weighed!Now, a fascinating lesson on sorting took place, as our children shelved the items according to where they belonged.  Finally Missy told them about volunteering, that they had all volunteered. Ollie said, "Oh good! I am going to tell my mom, then we can come to volunteer together." Yep, parents, they need all of us - and what a great opportunity to share a really meaningful experience with your children.They were equally happy to see the donors list and to learn that next year our school's name will be posted there as well. Parents, thank you for all of your donations and and for supporting a wonderful Valentine's experience: life is beautiful!The children also enjoyed connecting with the Architecture them, as Missy explained to them who designed the building and why it was so big. One of the walls was painted orange, as the logo for Food Gatherers is a carrot. (They chose a carrot because  everything in a carrot is edible, nothing goes to waste - a good thought for young minds to ponder)

Celebrating Winter : Thank you parents, teachers, students for making it a smooth ride

Uof M Museum of Art / Russian architecture

We took a field trip to  experience the phenomenal architectural beauty of the UMMA, so that the children could see first hand how both the old and the new buildings have been  exquisitely connected into one. The minds and skill of the architects has blended masterfully in two elaborate buildings, built almost a century apart. Imogen made our tour very rewarding by giving us a presentation about the design of the columns, helping the children to notice the details of how they were put together and why. We also thought about questions like why the old wing  has dim light versus brightness of the new one,  why are the windows in the new wing frosted? The new Frankel Family Wing has more than doubled the museum's size. The new wing does not have any round columns (like the ones in the old wing), but rather square ones, which blend in with the walls. We went up the new stairways which are made from tan wood and came out from the old spiral staircase which is quite spectacular. The children were delighted with the Dialogue Table- a fascinating interactive learning tool. Our children asked many questions. I'm positive that this visit  will stay on their curious minds for a long time.We have also been spending time learning about Russian Architecture. Dr. Dubovoy ( Sophie's mom) comes from Russia. She gave us a spectacular (powerpoint presentation) tour of many different eras of Russian architecture- from the Medieval Russia - 988 until modern Russia. It is surprising to know that once upon a time it was only the churches that were built out of stone, with intricate designs.The classic onion domes first appeared in Novograd in the 11th century. Our children were so mesmerized by these amazing buildings that some of them have made beautiful designs and colorful domes as well...

Architecture is the theme for the month of February.

From prehistoric pile dwellings to the impressive structures of the Roman Empire and the towering skyscrapers of today's biggest cities, architecture tells the story of human history and culture. On every continent, major buildings offer enchanting insights into the people who built them. This is an alluring  topic to study. I am really enthusiastic about it. Students will be covering different types of architecture, but focusing mainly on skyscrapers: some of the tallest structures  in the USA and around the world. 
Children seem enchanted with skyscrapers. They often ask, "Are these tall buildings built in the sky?" We are taking advantage of this fascination to focus on skyscrapers. The first skyscrapers were built in the USA. Their popularity has spread over the years. Now we can find these towering giants in cities around the world. A skyscraper is like a small world in itself. Imagine thousands of people going to work at the same address.

We had a great discussion about what all is required to build something: land, permit, architect, bricks, cement, concrete, sand, steel, lumber and the list goes on.
This morning our young architects chose their piece of land (paper, shape, size... they had to design within that piece of land). They first had to think about what they would like to build.  They then designed their building, using geometric shapes and adding how many pieces  of squares / rectangles /  triangles they used all together! Sean said, "he loved this activity". In the afternoon, children closed their eyes and thought about the kind of house they live in, and then drew it out... Please keep on coming to our classroom and enjoy looking at different buildings that the children will be designing.



Blogger: Mrs. Adhikary

Secret number / Can you guess what number that might be?

Secret Number:
                                                                         0  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
clue :-                                                              10  11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

1. It is greater than 12
2. It is less than 16.
3. It is even

The secret number is____14_____

We did this math yesterday. The children were all very quiet , when they were listening to my direction....  think ..think.. think.. Suddenly Oliver G. said , " I know what number it is, it is 14. So he got up from his chair and went and crossed 14. Then the others said, " I was going to cross that one out, too". Parents, this is a fun way to talk about -- odd / even / units / tens , when you are driving !