We had the opportunity to show our volunteers this week just how much we appreciate them! Whether it be helping out in the LMC, brightening students days with birthday books, making photocopies, or chaperoning field trips, we are so grateful for the time, energy and support that the parent volunteers provide us so abundantly! Thank you!
It has been allergy awareness week! We wore teal to show our compassion for and understanding of food allergies! The children watched a Brain Pop! video, took a class quiz (we scored +9/10!), and colored bookmarks (to be laminated for safe keeping) to remind us to be understanding and empathetic towards others with allergies.
We dove deeper into our social studies unit on the history of Arlington Heights this week! After studying the prairie and learning about the Potowatomi and how they used the land to survive, the children imagined what it was like to be a pioneer traveling west in a covered wagon.
They thought about what items were NEEDS that they needed to pack in their covered wagons, and which were WANTS- we might not have enough room for those!
The children enjoyed creating a diary of their adventure, imagining what it would be like to pack a covered wagon and hit the trail headed west!
Field trip day! The kids were so excited to be on the bus headed to the Arlington Heights Historical Museum!
Mrs. Judy and Mrs. Patricia set the stage by reading "Covered Wagon, Bumpy Trails" to the children. We imagined the Dunton family moving here from Oswego, New York in 1835 in their covered wagon!
The children practiced packing their own covered wagon with tools and supplies that the pioneers would have needed on their journey such as seeds, a coffee grinder, a washboard, lightweight dishes, a lantern, and pots & pans.
Mrs. Judy showed us the inside of a one room log cabin which functioned as the living room, dining room, kitchen, closet, and bedroom. We thought about how tight it must have been to have your whole family in such a small space!
We learned about the saying "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!" The settlers would tighten the strings that formed the bottom of their bed, and they slept in mattresses that were stuffed with prairie grasses that might have tiny bugs in them! Ouch!
The children learned how the pioneers would churn milk and cream into butter! They took turns shaking some heavy whipping cream in a jar, and we were so surprised to see it thicken into butter right before our eyes!
Heading into the coach house to learn about the job of the town blacksmith and carpenter
Learning about chores and children's games in the 1800's including.... hanging laundry on the clothesline
and then using the clothes pins to play a game to pass the time!
Carrying water in buckets from the river..
pushing a wooden hoop with a stick!
tossing corn cobs into a bucket...
cleaning the rugs by beating them with a stick...
grinding corn...
more clothes pins!
more water!
Learning how the blacksmith would fit the horses with horseshoes
sweeping!
the children pretended they were learning in a one room school house with children of many ages at once!
they wrote on slates, viewed books that were not as interesting as the books we have today, and recited sayings from the teacher!
There were some really neat dioramas that showed various scenes that represented the 1800's. Scott is pointing to a block of ice being pulled from Meyer's pond!
Emily is standing near an early Arlington Heights train depot.
Heading into the Muller home
Learning how the telephone worked long ago- without buttons!
Viewing Mr. Muller's office
Looking at old photographs and thinking about about why there were no smiles...
Looking at the interesting art hanging on the walls from picture rails- this one was a wreath made of hair!
Here we are guessing about a variety of tools in the kitchen including an apple peeler, a cherry pitter, and a toaster!
The children enjoyed sampling old-fashioned games that the children played long ago!
Mrs. Peters enjoyed them too! :)
Samantha and Emily played a game that helped them practice milking a cow!
Our hard working and amazing 2nd grade learners!
On our way to the Arlington Heights Memorial Library!
Stopped for a fun picture along the way :)
Scott was still enjoying his previous pose...
We were so excited to see some of our Dryden students' art work on display in the library!
Miss Julie greeted us and shared a fun story with our class.
Then she piqued our interest in the upcoming summer reading program at the library! We played 20 question to what was in the box!
Then she helped us get our wiggles out with some catchy tunes!
We headed from "The Hub" in the library to Kids' World.
Miss Julie showed us where to find the best books, movies, music, and games!
Thank you Miss Julie for getting us so excited about visiting the library! We are so excited to read this summer!
Off to our final destination, North Park for lunch. We noticed the First Presbyterian Church that William Dunton brought to our town!
We enjoyed this beautiful sunny day with a lunch outdoors. What a nice change from our usual routine!
Class photo in front of the pretty flowers!
What a whirlwind! The children and I learned so much on our field trip today. We enjoyed being out in the fresh air and taking in an such an amazing authentic learning adventure that just couldn't be replaced in the classroom. Thank you to Mrs. Aiello, Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. Barber, Mrs. Colella, and Mrs. Peters for coming along on our trip!
