lcg 10/25

Hello parents,

The weather outside was frightful, but inside was delightful. We had a full and fun day.

As the children came in they worked in their cursive notebooks-- they are all at various stages of knowing cursive, but they seem to enjoy the chance to practice. No pressure-- just a chance to write.

We had a surprise today-- Erin Brennan-Burke has returned to the class! We were all very glad to see her, and welcomed her back warmly.

We did our opening, and some singing, then launched into some bean bag games and some vigorous marching games. Then we settled into form drawing-- noticing how a star is a mirror image, we practiced drawing it in the air and on each others' backs before we put it on paper.

We continued to practice on recorder-- please be sure your child brings a recorder (and handwork) to class each week. We had time for a bit more singing too. We don't always have time each week, so it was fun to be able to sing so much today.

Melissa came in for handwork-- we continue to move along on crocheting. Lauren Sample sat in with us-- you are welcome to come and crochet-- whether you know how to or not!

Then we had a delicious snack, courtesy of Emily and her mom, Jaye.

We had a boisterous and dizzying 10 rounds of "Oats, Peas, Beans," before settling down for our main lesson.

I told several Iroquois stories-- "Ga-oh and the Four Winds" and several stories of He-no, the Thunderer. We all made beeswax figures from the stories.

LOST & FOUND
Someone (Emma?) left a navy blue "American Girl" hooded sweatshirt. I'll bring it next week, or call me if you want to arrange to get it sooner.


OUTSIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR MUSIC & TEAM-BUILDING FOR THE EVERGREENS
More details will be coming, but Danielle Milligan is working on setting up a time for us to have a music workshop with a bluegrass musician. We hope to have more information soon.



I'm off to watch my Chicago White Sox on their continued march to World Series victory! My grandfather attended one of the 1919 "Black Sox" World Series games, my dad attended a game in the 1959 series, but unfortunately my brother wasn't able to get tickets. But we're all so excited! Go Sox!

Extra credit points will be awarded for students who can name the White Sox line-up!

Warmly,
Lynn

Dear Maples class Families and Friends,

We had a busy, lovely class this week. The afternoon started out with watercolor painting. Many thanks to Bonnie and Lauren for helping that to go smoothly. Using blue and yellow, we let our imaginations be inspired by details from last week's fable " The Toad King"--the green branches of the bird's tree, the dark gloom of the toad's hole and the bright ray of sunshine that illuminates the Toad's self-deception. After painting, we gathered in our circle for our verse, a riddle and several Halloween-inspired poems, working one of the poems into a hand-clapping game. We recalled details from last week's story again, drawing pictures in our main lesson books. A little rhythmic bean-bag tossing followed as we counted by fives and tens. We worked on our new recorder piece, "Warm Hands Warm", our most complex piece yet and had solo pieces performed by a few of our Maples, songs they've learned at home.
During snack, Anne read to us a selection from "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, about Almanzo raising a milk-fed pumpkin. Handwork was peaceful and productive as we listened to music while we knitted.

A mysterious message we found on a piece of paper led us into the hallway on a "hunt for Halloween letters." As we passed the empty Fellowship Hall, it beckoned us in to do some marching to our number verses. We had just enough time to close our circle and play a few rounds of a guessing game that we enjoy before it was time to say "good-bye".

Have a good week!

Sue and Anne