4/23-4/28

On Monday, EC, SK, and CL volunteered to sort out the beach glass from our Friday beach field trip. Here's part of their conversation:
"Hey, there's three different kinds of blue."
"There's three kinds of pink, too."
"The green doesn't go in that bowl."
"Where does the red go?"
"Where does the pink go? No, there's a different pink."
The children used thinking, problem-solving skills, and cooperation to classify the treasures they found.

Using Legos can inspire the children to use their imagination to create stories! TKS, JD, BM, CL, LY, and GA made vehicles out of Legos. Some of them wanted to tell stories to go along with the vehicles. LY made up a story about a truck, a bicycle, and a snake. CL told a story about a tow truck, and TKS told a story about a truck and a bus.

The games we brought to share with the children have been a great addition to our day. The children are taking time to teach their friends how to play the games and doing a great job of taking turns. LY taught RB and BH how to play Poles and Ladders!

We have been practicing our songs for our May Day Program. Ms. Vitarelli, a Kindergarten teacher assistant, came to teach us the motions to one of the songs, Pupu Hinuhinu. We are all looking forward to performing for you. It should be a wonderful show!

We visited our art display at the Honolulu Hale. This was an awesome way to show the children how much we value their work and support their learning. Thank you to all the families who were able to help Ms. Jordan set up on Monday and to all who visited the gallery with us. Ms. Browning took time from her busy day to see the exhibit with us.

We finally celebrated EKS's birthday! We originally celebrated her sun ceremony on the same day we celebrated Easter, but we wanted to make her day special. Mom, Marsden, and Gammy came to school and brought Jell-o! Yum!

As Mrs. Hussey mentioned in her Thursday letter, a 105-year-old alumnus presented the school with a koa mirror to remind the children to appreciate all the learning they're honored to experience at MPI. Mr. Haga is 100 years older than our Golden Owls!

The Party Planners are wrapping up their party details. We are anxiously waiting for a reply from the busy President Rice as to when we can use his oven. The party will be the day after we bake our cake!

Our Red Owl group (BW, BH, KO, and EC) went next door to see what questions Ms. Kazari's class has about moving up to our class. The threes asked lots of questions. "Do you have a train set that goes around a big Christmas tree?" "Do you have a kitchen and stuff to cook with?" "Is it okay to run around in the room?" The Red Owl group will discuss their answers and how to present these answers to our neighbors.

Before Spring Break, we attended a puppet show put on by the 8th graders. We had hoped that someone would be inspired to make puppets and put on a puppet show. Just when we thought the children had forgotten about it, RB put up fabric between two chairs and said she was going to put on a puppet show. We asked her whether she was going to use the puppets we have in the class or make her own. At a Reflection Meeting, RB shared how she made a turkey puppet out of paper. We shall see what develops!

Ms. Revard's class started a planting project on their lanai. The class shared the project with us, telling us about the parts of a plant and the importance of taking care of plants. What good timing, since our class just started a planting group, too!

The Plant Group, RB, TK, GA, and MF, shared their experience at our Reflection Meeting. TK said, "First thing we did was put the dirt inside the planter box." RB said, "We used a cup so our hands don't get dirty." GA said, "We put out a mat that has planting seeds." MF said, "Then we watered it." This group will be recording the growth. Hopefully, we will grow something before school ends.

We traveled on the city bus to Safeway in Manoa. It was the first bus ride for many of our children. GA noticed that the adults had to pay money to ride the bus. When we got off the bus, he asked where the money was. MF said the money was "still on the bus. The bus owns it."

Mr. Justin gave us a grand tour. We visited the deli where Aunty Lisa told us about her job responsibilities and gave us some cheese to sample.

Mr. Mike talked to us about the produce department. The children loved the hose he uses to keep the produce fresh. He patiently answered our questions about the price labels. The children were also interested in the produce scale. Ms. Laura asked them which weighed more, a potato or a bag of potatoes. She showed them how much each weighed, demonstrating to the children how to read the scale.

Mr. Justin took us into the refrigerators in the back. Our entire class fit into the huge rooms that keep the food cold and fresh. We even stepped into the freezer for a second!

We went to the seafood section, where Mr. Justin showed us a 10-lb. salmon. Ms. Kris showed us what the fish would look like when it was cut up into fillets and steaks.
We finished our tour in the bakery department, where Mr. Wes showed us how he makes frosting roses.

On our way back on the bus, the children noticed graffiti and litter on the bus. The teachers explained that it was against the law to draw on property that doesn't belong to you. We mentioned that some people make poor choices and, as you get older, you will have to decide to make good or bad choices.

This field trip came to be as Ms. Laura had such a wonderful time going to Safeway last week with the Party Planners and Ms. Leigh. She came back to school and called Safeway to see when they could give us a tour. Not only did we learn a lot about the store, but by stepping out into our community and using our community resources, the children were able to see a grocery store through a different lens. By talking to the employees, the children are able to make sense of how a grocery store works and hopefully are able to appreciate the store and how much work it takes to run it.

The day after our Safeway field trip, CL, TK, GA, JD, and BW made a large beautiful thank-you card for the Safeway team. They drew pictures and wrote words about what they remembered about our field trip.

Aunty Suzanne (EKS) taught us a new song in Japanese to the tune of "This Old Man." The children were challenged to sing and "patty-cake" to the beat, which was difficult for some. Thanks again, Suzanne!

The Mural Group (BH, LY, KO, and EKS) met to discuss what drawings to include in their class mural. So far, it looks like we will be including a rainbow, a sun, stars, flowers, and friends.

Reminders:
April 30th, Aquarium
May 2nd, Discovery Museum
May 4th, May Day Program
Don't forget to pick your plumeria Wednesday! Please bring them in on Thursday to be sewn into lei on Friday!

Posted on April 26, 2007 4:24 PM | Permalink