Just a quick post...

Dear Parents,

First, two reminders:

1. Library (Day 5) is tomorrow. Please make sure students bring back their books. I know there have been a few kinks with the system, but please bear with us and let me know if there's an issue as soon as possible so I can help resolve it.

2. Photo money is due tomorrow as well. I've been removing photo packages from Mr. Zippy and sending them down to the office as they come in. Regardless of whether or not you have purchased a package,  all students should receive a class photo in the weeks ahead.

Today I asked students to think what I could possibly have inside a paper bag that I let them examine from the outside. I gave them the clue that it was something that started small but would get bigger.

Some of the guesses included:
--a pumpkin (our book was about pumpkins, so many students guessed this)
--pumpkin seeds
--leaves
--a toy train
--a pickle
--some beans
--a baby hippopotamus (I'm pretty sure they meant a stuffed animal, and they were being quite serious about it)

It's interesting how students use some of the information around them to build predictions, but not necessarily all of it. For instance, the bag was much too flat to contain a pumpkin (...and much too dry to contain a pickle.)

The pumpkin seeds have hopefully sparked off an investigation of our two class pumpkins. J brought in a Jack-O'-Lantern for her show and share last week, so perhaps the ending is predictable, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens anyways.

Next week, I hope to post in more detail about mathematics in our classroom. It will also be Ms. Fish's last week in our classroom.