just when you thought the apple fun was over, we had more!

just like our individual apple pies, we made a huge one for our classroom (with left over paint from our little ones).

i love, love, love seeing a little mouth bite into a big apple.

some kids brought their own apples for show and tell, we had extras for anyone else who wanted one.

and here is the way i lesson plan:

i’ve tried lists and forms, blocks and columns…and all of those end up looking like this.

we’re on to B week, lesson plans already scratched through and added on to…yeehaw!

we’ve got a lot of hard, hard workers this year…and Tshirts to prove it!

i just picked up the latest shipment, so if you ordered one, you should get it soon!

introducing the children of 2011-2012.

the ten year anniversary of 9/11 didn’t enter our school family conversations.
we won’t have school on monday, so maybe it won’t find it’s way in on tuesday.
but the messages of conflict, war, violence, pain, suffering, abuse,
redemption, love, hope, resolution and justice remain.
back in 2001, we were in the same classroom we are in now.

i was 7 months pregnant with micah and 3 year old naomi was in the classroom.
we were up to our elbows in playdough and covering paper with crayon.
there were no cell phones, no radio, no tv in our room.
i found out from mamas who came in bewildered and confused,
wondering if they should leave their children.
most did.
for 2 more hours there were children in my care.
for 2 more hours, i would build a bubble.
for 2 more hours, i would not let the terror enter.
for 2 more hours, i would keep them in the bliss of ignorance.

10 years later, when there are images and stories that can make all of us ache,
i want young children to have this message from fred rogers:

“When I was a boy and would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”

we made apples for our “apple store” by scrunching up paper bags and taping them up!

the good thing is that this store takes all forms of payment because these apples were pricey…anywhere from $5 to $14 a piece.

i love to work in regular “store conversation” and hear the preschoolers’ responses…
do you take credit cards?  um, yes.
how late will you stay open today?  um, thirty thirty.
is your manager here? um, maybe.
can i have a bag for this? um, sure. (smile and no bag given)

i also find myself instinctively avoiding too much eye contact with a new apple store worker. i can see the nervousness in some…they aren’t sure who they are acting as, they don’t know this information yet, these aren’t even real apples. so i avoid eye contact until we build up some store worker/customer rapport and pretend to be rummaging in my purse looking for my money.

:: :: :: ::

we pretended we didn’t have scissors again and tore paper for our red apple project.
this was a tricky thing to pretend since the scissors were right there!

disclaimer:  borderline uncreative…but strangely satisfying and comforting.

:: :: :: ::

then we did our apple pie project. we spontaneously changed the project so that instead of sprinkling the cinnamon on top of the wet paint, we mixed it in!

oooooooh, like real bakers mixing ingredients!

then we even added some sugar from the coffee cart.

let me tell you….our room smelled good!

a great thing we did to get the excess paint off brushes was walk over to our art roller and paint it up!

:: :: :: ::

preschoolers could bring apples for show and tell.  we sorted them just like apple farmer annie.

then we ate them during story time.