'Tis the season of science & giving!
By now, your young scientist should have taken home a bag of bones to show you. This week we had a wonderful hands-on lesson that demonstrated how food chains work. Since our school mascot is the owl, we’ve been doing quite a bit of reading about owls. We learned that owls swallow their prey whole and then regurgitate a pellet. These pellets contain the undigested bones and fur of their prey.
Delta Education is an organization that distributes the pellets. All pellets have been dried and sanitized. I can assure you that the class had no qualms about dissecting their pellets! Just look at the photos in the gallery; you will see eager scientists, immersed in the process. Over the entire afternoon, the students made comments about the types of bones they found. I’ve also enclosed a few photos of a few complete skeletons. We determined that our owls ate mice, shrews, voles, and even other birds. The class used a bone-sorting chart to identify the bones.
Also, many thanks to Mrs. Johnson for bringing our shoeboxes down to Central Union Church. We collected sixteen boxes for Operation Christmas Child! I was able to pack the boxes into a shipping box for them to be sent overseas. I know this was a heartwarming activity for you and your child. The children were so proud to bring in their boxes for those less fortunate. One second-grade boy shared that he received a thank-you letter last year from a boy in the Philippines! The boy used the stationery that was sent to him and even included a photo of himself. If any of you receive a note of thanks after the holidays, be sure to have your child bring it in to share with the class.
Speaking of thanks, we all have so much to be thankful for, not only at this time of year but every day! I am so thankful for the privilege of teaching your children. They are kind, enthusiastic, caring, and simply wonderful. I’m also grateful for teaching here at MPI. I’ve been fortunate enough to teach at other schools, and I can say that MPI truly is a caring community of dedicated professionals. Lastly, I’m thankful to you, the parents, who support your young learners in so many ways. I truly feel blessed to be a part of a school that values children, parents, faculty, staff, and administration. We’re all on this learning journey together! Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving next week.
Posted at 3:48 PM| Permalink
October Fun
What a busy month we have had. Your children have been immersed in learning about animals. Please check the class photo gallery to see some of the learning. We have had two guest speakers this month. Our first visitors were from the Dolphin Quest Program. Our speakers showed us a slide show about humpback whales. Although our class knew that no two humans have the same fingerprints, we learned that no two whales have the same fluke markings. You may have noticed a photo of your child outside wearing a fluke. We were pretending we were whales, and we acted out how whales communicate with each other, fight off predators, and have to avoid ocean pollution.
We also had a wonderful docent from the Honolulu Academy of Arts come to our classroom. As you can see, she brought many beautiful pieces of animal artwork, sculpture, and paintings from around the world. The best part of this program is that it allows the children to see, touch, and view the art at different angles. This way, when we go to the Academy of Arts tomorrow, we’ll be prepared to use only our eyes.
Lastly, the photos of pumpkin carving and Spooktivity speak for themselves. Thanks to all the parents and grandparents who came for pumpkin carving, the children really enjoyed your company and carving expertise. It also allowed them practice counting by 10’s. We had a grand total of 1,946 seeds in five pumpkins! Thanks to the Ruggieri family for roasting the seeds; we’ve ben enjoying them all week long. We were glad to hear that all children had a safe and fun Halloween.
Posted at 1:56 PM| Permalink