Creating Our Pumpkin Fairy House

Look what we collected on our fall nature walk. Lots of wonderful goodies!

Look how excited he is to share some of his ideas that he found in a book. We are off to a great start!

Our 'Great Pumpkin' and fall nature items await us.

Scooping out our "Great Pumpkin'.

"Ewwww! This is really slimy!

Working together to find the perfect location to put the pumpkin fairy house.

These two are putting the finishing touches on our fairy house.

A close up of our pumpkin fairy house.

What pumpkin fairy house wouldn't be complete without a few Monarch fairies?

Ella created the sign on a colorful Sugar Maple leaf that reads the Fairy House.

What fairy wouldn't feel welcomed here?

Andrew created the beautiful fairy angel "to guard the house" with a pinecone for the body, dried milkweed pods for the wings and an acorn cap for the head.

Chris painted the wooden figures black like "the Monarch's body", attached feather wings and bittersweet for a "crown". Aren't they lovely?

Our pumpkin fairy house is finally completed. We do hope the fall and Halloween fairies will come for a visit.

Welcome and Happy Halloween!

Telling Spooky Stories in the Woods!

After putting the finishing touches on our pumpkin fairy house some of the children decided they wanted to tell spooky Halloween stories so we gathered together and...

...listened intently as our friends shared their versions of some offbeat and very creative 'spooky' stories. We have learned to respect our friends and we do oa great job paying close attention and enjoy their wonderful and creative storytelling.

We begin our 'spooky' stories with a "BOO" and a shriek. This seems to set the stage for the following 'spooky'' storytelling.

These two children share a story about a scary witch and a pet ghost who become very friendly to all the children in the neighborhood.
He begins with a tale of a ghost living in a haunted house and then...

The story continues when the ghost goes down a street screaming, "boo".

This last storyteller tells us of a ' bony skeleton' who got "so scared that all his bones came apart and fell to the ground." HOW SPOOKY!

The Fairy House Halloween Night!

The fairy pumpkin house in the evening.

Wow! The lights are on inside the fairy house. Maybe the gnomes, sprites and fairies are out trick-or-treating.

Fall Leaf Crowns

The Sugar Maple tree that provided us with the gorgeous leaves for our crowns.

The leaves and watercolored headbands await the children.

The children use the materials we painted and collected to create their leaf crowns.Our colorful and festive leaf crowns!

Happy Autumn!

BOO!!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Our Visit to the Jamestown Fire Station

We learn about emergency vehicles and the responsiblities of an EMT.

Here we are with Miss Susan, a Jamestown EMT, who is using a special devise to detect our pulse rate.

We tried out the stretchers.

We tried on the EMT's jackets. They're as big as us! WOW!

Our future Jamestown volunteer firefighters do a great job holding up those heavy helmets! Mr. Kitts would be PROUD!

A German Lesson

On Tuesday, Michelle Wagner, Josie's mother, visited our classroom to share some wonderful information about German customs, rituals and traditions. Mrs. Wagner, who spent some of her childhood years in Germany with her family, brought in her children's beautiful birthday ring, identical to the one used by German families. She also shared a birthday cone called a 'schultuete', and sang 'Happy Birthday' to the children in German,too. What a delightful visit. Danke schoen!

Michelle Wagner joins us, wearing her traditional 'Tryolean' jacket, to teach the children a bit about Germany.

She sings 'Happy Birthday' in German to the children.

She explains the traditions of the birthday ring.

The birthday ring is decorated with simple handcrafted items that matches the child's interest.

This is called a 'schultuete'.

Here she explains, that according to German tradition, it is customary to receive a 'schultuete' which is a special cone, that is filled with special goodies and treats like candies, toys and simple treasures, during one's birthday celebration.

Fire Safety Week

Firefighters Gouveia and Masterson are seen here explaining to the kindergarten children the numerous responsibilities of a firefighter. During their presentation they discussed how they prepare for a fire, the various tools and equipment they use, the importance of knowing one's telephone number and street address, the procedure stop, drop and roll and when to call 911. Excellent job guys! Thank you from all of us in K-1.

The Last Monarch Butterfly

On the night of Open House, Mrs. Casey (our librarian) brought in a caterpillar that her son found that evening. We kept it in the classroom so the children could watch the transformation for the very last time. It happened quickly! When it finally emerged Mrs. Casey tagged and released it. K-1 raised and released a total of 16 Monarch butterflies. Congratulations!

Adios Amigos!