Our field trip to the Iowa City Fire Department was a lot of fun and helped us further our fire safety study. Firefighter Lyle gave us a tour of the fire department. We spent a lot of time in the garage looking at the tools, trucks, and heavy equipment. Firefighter Lyle even led us in a lesson where we looked for similarities and differences between the hoses they use. This quick, impromptu activity fit so well with our math unit - same vs. different! It can't get any better than real life math just like this! Firefighter Sadie showed us her firefighting suit. She tried on all of her equipment for us showing us that even with all of her equipment she is still the same person on the inside. We learned that there is NEVER a reason to be scared of a firefighter even with their bulky equipment. We also learned the importance of a practicing fire safety drills at home. In case of an emergency, please see that your family has an escape plan in place and a family meeting place. Also, please make it a monthly activity to test the smoke detectors throughout your home.
We also took a peek into the firefighters' home away from home. It was neat to see their living quarters, sleeping quarters, and exercise space. We also saw the fire station's fireman pole. Did you know that most current fire houses are without fireman poles? The downtown fire station still has the building's original fireman pole and they still use it as a means to quickly reach the garage and trucks. It was fun to watch Firefighter Tim demonstrate how they use the fireman pole. It is definitely quicker than using the stairs. In fact, it took us 72 seconds to walk down the stairs and to the garage. It took Firefighter Tim a mere 1 second to reach the garage by using the fireman pole!
After our visit to the Iowa City Fire Department we enjoyed the beautiful afternoon by eating lunch on the Ped Mall and visiting the downtown playground. We were so excited to see a "fireman pole" at the playground. The Cottontails thoroughly enjoyed the playground playing fire fighters on the fireman pole.
Last week, we took time to travel just south of Iowa City to visit Sass Family Farm in Riverside. Sass Family Farm is full of fun activities. We took a hayrack ride through the property looking at silly and "scary" Fall decorations. We visited the petting zoo, the "haunted" barn, the hay bale maze, the corn bin, and the playground. It was a ton of fun playing on the swings, the teeter totter, and the antique tractors. We also enjoyed watching the many pets at the farm. The goats were cute, the turkeys were big, and the peacocks were beautiful. We picked out pumpkins that we plan to use during our pumpkin studies in the classroom.
Before we move onto our pumpkin unit we continue to study apples. This week we identified the parts of an apple - the stem, skin, flesh, core, and seeds. We dissected apples looking for the number of seeds. Did you know? Apples can have up to ten seeds. We graphed the number of apple seeds we found in each apple. We also participated in a taste test. We tasted Jonathans, Honey Crisps, and Granny Smiths. We used adjectives to describe their appearances and their taste. We graphed the results of our taste test. Take a look at our graphs on display in our classroom.
At snack time, Sayan introduced the class to a famous apple saying, "An apple an day keeps the doctor away". He explained to us the meaning behind this famous saying and his quote led us into a natural lesson about other apple sayings including, "Apple of my eye", "American as apple pie", "The apple never falls far from the tree", "One bad apple ruins the bunch," and "Comparing apples and oranges". It was the perfect way to allow the students to take leadership in our unit's discussions.
Speaking of comparing apples, Ms. Danielle began our apple and pumpkin comparison discussions, in Spanish. It was a great way to bring our apple and pumpkin theme into Spanish. Spanish is a favorite part of our day. Three days a week Ms. Danielle leads Morning Meeting in all Spanish. It is amazing to watch the Cottontails' Spanish language vocabulary grow! During Morning Meeting, Ms. Danielle will complete our calendar activities. She will also use our Morning Meeting time to further our Spanish lessons. November 2nd is Dia de los Muertos. The Cottontails have used our Morning Meetings and Spanish class to learn about this fun holiday. A new favorite book is titled Clatter Bash. The Cottontails had fun reading this fictional book about Dia de los Muertos and were excited to identify the rhyming words. What a great literacy extension. In honor of Dia de los Muertos, the PreK-6 students will celebrate together on November 2nd from 9:00 - 9:30 am. Please join us for a variety of presentations and the unveiling of the traditional alter. Ms. Danielle has placed a sign-up sheet with volunteer opportunist at the Front Desk. Check it out!
Friday's Homecoming Parade was a wonderful event. I was amazed at the turnout of families and friends. The applause we received and the cheers from the crowd were amazing. Thank you to those that participated. It was great way to cheer on the Hawks and show our Willowwind pride. Throughout the parade we handed out bookmarks that featured our new Saturday enrichment events, Feed Your Brain. See the following blog post for more information regard this wonderful series.
Interested in other Iowa City events? Cottontail mom, Kari Yankey, emailed an exciting event my way. We'd like to share it with you, too. On Tuesday, November 15th at 7:30 Carver Hawkeye Arena is home to the Band Extravaganza. Show your Hawkeye spirit at the biggest band event in Iowa. Don't miss an evening featuring the UI Symphony Band, the big band sounds of Johnson County, the Hawkeye Marching Band, Hawkeye Golden Girl and Drum Major, the Iowa Spirit Squads, and Herky the Hawk! Kari says this is an event her family looks forward to each year and Nina is especially excited to check it out this year! Parking is available around Carver and is fairly easy to find. Check out this link for more information! Thanks, Kari, for sending this fun Iowa City event our way!
Don't forget, on Monday, October 24th we will continue our tour of Iowa City by visiting the Iowa City Public Library with the Prairie Racerunners. Please be sure that your child brings their library card.
Be sure to check out our updated photo albums for our recent adventures throughout Iowa City!
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