Potluck!

Our class read the book Potluck last week.  This was a book about children with names from A-Z bringing food to a potluck that began with the same letter as their name.  Then the kids paired up and made an A-Z list of fruits and vegetables, with some help from Lois Ehlert's book, Eating the Alphabet.

We each picked a letter to find a fruit or vegetable for and brought everything in today!

The kids were introduced to ugli fruit and figs, dates and nectarines.  We focused a great deal on all the sounds each item began with and then settled into a wonderful feast. We wrapped up our potluck by having each student write about a fruit or vegetable he or she liked to eat.  Even with so many new foods introduced, most kids stuck with their comfort foods, like carrots and grapes.  Thanks so much to all you parents who helped us pull off a fun and educational experience!

Popcorn!

Today Miss Heidi came in with her popcorn popper.  We read Tomie DePaola's book, Popcorn, and discovered that popcorn was found in a bat cave that was 5,400 years old.  Then Miss Heidi showed us how her popcorn popper worked.  The kids were astounded to know that when I grew up there were no microwaves to make popcorn.

We talked about how the volume of popcorn changes after it has been popped.  We know that you need to add a heat source to make the popcorn pop; and as a special bonus, when you add heat to butter it melts to pour over the popcorn.

Each child read a popcorn book and is taking it home to share with their family.  We all made a list of how popcorn looks, sounds, tastes, feels, and smells.  Then we each wrote a fact we learned about popcorn.  Now we are left wondering what else heat can changed.  Stay tuned!