Butterfly Release

Our Painted Lady butterflies have graced us with their presence for five days now.  They started emerging from their chrysalises on Friday with some hatching on the weekend.  The butterflies lived on orange slices and did well at that. 

There was one struggling to come out on Monday.  That one fell to the floor of the cage and when it did come out, it never really uncrumbled its' wings. I could see that it was not going to make it.  Happily for the class, one kind girl asked for the 'crippled' butterfly to care for it at home.  She had it a day when it escaped - luckily - I thought.

So today we embarked to the apple orchard to release our remaining few.  How active they were in the cage!  It must have been the warmth of the sunshine.  Everybody got to hold them, with some butterflies escaping in the process.  We were able to observe them as they fluttered from flower to flower.  They stayed in the area and we could still track them as we left for the lunch bell was ringing.

February Fun

The weather has been just gorgeous.  This winter has been storybook perfect.  Sometimes I admit I miss the snow and cold, but that aside, the weather has been perfect for outdoors activities.  I have never seen kids get so much out of sledding, their main hill -- a ditch by the school.  Normally the snow is too deep for sledding around here. This year, the children have been using their sleds and toboggans since the first snowfall.  They have been using the hills not just for sledding, but also as a skiing outlet.

We went sledding as part of our Valentine's Day fun.  The sledding hill at Spruce Woods Park is closed this year due to absence of snow.  Another in Brandon that was contacted is also not open.  That was good news to me (I don't like any field trips!) though the kids absolutely love spending time at the sledding hill in Spruce Woods Park for a day.  

We have a decent hill going down one of our larger sloughs.  Valentine's Day was balmy so the snow was almost too sticky at first, but after a few runs, the going was good!

Of course, I spent my time refereeing the gang.  Kids see no qualms in coming back in the same path as the others are zooming down.  How they manage without adult supervision in their own time is beyond me.

After a half hour of sliding fun, we came back to school, ready for games and snack. 

 In the morning for math time, I had a few games ready to play.  The 'Ten More'  was a great one as my Grades 1- 3 are learning about math strategies now.  It was simply throwing a die and adding ten more.  I  had the younger students use a bead frame until they got the pattern.

You can find the game here.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Add-10-More-Bingo

 I tried to have a variety of activities for the day.  This was an easy craft I found which everyone, kindergartens included enjoyed making.

http://family.go.com/crafts/craft-837271-sweetheart-songbirds--t/

Little House on the Prairie

This summer while spending a month with my sister near Brookings, South Dakota, I had a chance to visit with friends and family in Neuhof, Minnesota.  It so happened that going to Neuhof, as we got closer, I noticed signs that had peculiarly familiar names.


First came a sign announcing Plum Creek...  
when Walnut Grove came next I realized that we were in Laura Ingalls Wilder territory.

http://www.walnutgrove.org/pcpark.htm

Plum Creek Park

I never realized that though the books were historical fiction, there would actually be real places mentioned in the books that are still functioning today.  The Wilder family lived 'on the banks of Plum Creek' when Laura was a child.

The area boasts a replica of the sod hut the family spent a winter in.

  I so would have loved to see it!

  

The nearest town, Walnut Grove, though the name of the town was not mentioned in the book, 

( http://liwfrontiergirl.com/walnutgrove.html) was where the family eventually moved to for a few years.  It  houses a Laura Ingalls Wilder museum.  (It is also the site where the TV series on the books was set.)

  I merely got a glimpse of the creek and never even stopped in the town of Walnut Grove.  I hope I can someday go back and visit and explore the area.

Now what brought me to write about this?  Going through the area sparked my interest on 'The Little House' era again.  I found a book this summer called 'A Little House Reader'.  It is a collection of writings by Laura (and her family, I find)  written long before Laura wrote her well-known series when she was well in her sixties. 

Her father writes about taking a homestead near Brookings!  Carrie writes about Pa working with the railroad, grading from Brookings to De Smet!  The very same area I travelled in!  I am looking forward to finishing the book which includes journal entries, poetry, and articles Laura wrote for magazines and newspapers.

I remembered stumbling upon this blog once.  

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

The writer, Debbie Reese, of Native American descent, writes about the 'Little House' books and why they should not be used in an elementary classroom.  Check out the website.  Especially read the posts on the 'Little House' books.  I found the posts interesting and eye-opening. 

This one was especially captivating.

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2008/07/selective-omissions-or-what-laura.html

I also enjoyed reading the comments that readers leave.

In one blog post she writes about a teacher who read the 'Little House' series to her students every day.

"The reading apparently gets them calmed down after playing outside at recess. She adopts different voices as she reads to the children, using a "snotty" voice for Nellie and a sweet one for Ma. I wonder how she reads "The only good Indian is a dead Indian" (the phrase appears in the book four times)?
I wonder how many Native kids she's read to in those 32 years? She is in Arizona...

How many kids, in these 32 years, heard her say "The only good Indian is a dead Indian."

I wonder how the Native kids felt hearing that, and, I wonder what effect it had on the non-Native kids?"

This is thought provoking.  I too have read the books to my students.   Did I find anything amiss?  I can't remember.  Too often I think,"It's just a book!"  Do I make my students aware of these discrepancies?  What impressions do these stories leave our students with, though unintentionally so?  

What I do know is that I will be reading these current selections with not only a clearer mind to the historical facts, but also a more critical outlook on the 'biases' of the time.  

All images are from http://www.walnutgrove.org/index.html.

Spruce Woods Sliding

Last Friday our Grades k-7 students went sliding at Spruce Woods Park.  The trip was much anticipated as last year's  trip was forfeited for skiing with the older students.  

We left after 9 and stayed until 4.  We were summoned home on account of a storm coming in and roads being closed.  Well, roads were fine and we missed the blizzard that blew itself out before we got back.

The park features the nicest sledding hill ever.  No lift taking you back up, but that is fine for those of us who see it as a form of much-needed exercise. 

We used an assortment of sleds, with a favourite being a huge home-made one! 

(always kindly loaned by Acadia)  That is the only one I am brave enough to go down with as the size and weight make for a smooth ride.  Yes -- there is the one bump that is never missed but that goes with the fun!

Of course, there is the trek back up again, which for me is the deciding factor on how often I actually slide down.

The scenery is spectacular! 

We picked what was going to be the warmest day so far.  Not quite true, but it was still in the warmer range, around -10 degrees C.  There was a bit of a wind which was especially felt at the top of the hill.  Great that it was on our backs coming back up again. 

The site also has a skating oval, hockey rink, and curling area, all in the great outdoors, free for all to enjoy.  The kids really enjoyed the oval. 

And whoever said curling required brooms! 

These little guys surely didn't have any. 

Call before hand and fires are lit in the cabins!  So much appreciated.  That means that we always have a place to change wet clothes and to warm up for another round of fun.  The cabins also housed our food supply for the day including hot chocolate and coffee.

  

Old newspapers can still be enjoyed!  2005!!  

Someone is kindly saving newspapers to light the cabin fires with.

As you can see by the pics, the skies were varied, from bright sunshine to overcast, 

changing throughout the day. 

 A fine way to spend a winter day indeed!

Apples for Fall

Here and yonder, high and low,

Goldenrod and sunflowers glow.

–Robert Kelley Weeks (1840–76)

...and apples!

It is that time of year!!  Love it!  Apples, harvest, cool days, cooler nights -- what is there not to like about fall?

This apple is one of a few gorgeous ones from a small Norkent (I think) apple tree in our back lawn.  They were early this year.  Normally we have to wait till almost frost before we pick this variety.

Apples are more abundant in the apple orchard.  This is another variety, also picked in late fall, and according to our former gardener, after frost.  We have a few of these trees and they are loaded with apples this year.

Apple cider, pressed today, not yet from the larger apples, but from Rescue crab apples, picked here and in town.

Who can resist to taste it??