Autumn's Here

Hello Dear Families and Friends,

Today was our fall celebration; we took the day to enjoy, appreciate, and truly celebrate this beautiful season. When we arrived this morning, the sky was dark and a storm looked to be very close by! Seemed a perfect time to stay indoors and make biscuits and homemade butter. I have to say, we sure have some talented cooks in our classroom. The biscuits turned out fluffy and delicious.

right out of the oven

We even made our own butter. We shook and shook until most of us could shake no more! Pretty soon our cream was a soft, yellow lump of butter. Tommy even said our butter was better than the kind from the store. I would have to agree.

shaking so fast
it's a blur!

a perfect fall treat

As the day went on, the storm passed and the sun shone in the windows and onto our artwork. It felt as though the sun was asking us to come out and play.

cover for our monarch folder

tracing with black glue

 I went for a walk in the leaves today. 
They rustled and crunched as I kicked them away.

our youngest gets a piggyback from our oldest
after falling behind

Inspired byVirginia Brimhall Snow's picture book called Fall Walk, we went on our own walk and collected leaves that had already fallen to the ground (we were sure to not pick any off of plants or trees). We found leaves of all shapes, sizes, and colours. When we got back to the classroom, we pressed our leaves between some paper and heavy boards.

Let's take a few home to press in a book. 

When you want to remember, open and look.

(image and poems from Fall Walk by Virginia Brimhall Snow)

We also came across something very interesting in Virginia Brimhall Snow's book today: a painting of a leaf just like one of Roger's leaves! We weren't too sure at first, but we compared the leaf's shape and margin (the side of the leaf) to a sample we had from Roger. The shape was a match and both leaves were toothed! The book told us Roger was a Linden Tree. I had never heard of a Linden tree, but when I did some further research, Linden Tree is another name for Basswood. And we do have Basswood where we live! Tomorrow we will do some further investigating to be sure we are correct.

And speaking of investigating, did you know we have invited a small creature to join our class for a little while? Myles is certainly the caterpillar whisperer. He found another furry caterpillar last Friday and we are studying her closely. This time, we think we have found a Tent Caterpillar. We are hoping we can see her through her lifecycle so we can meet her as a moth and be sure! We will keep you posted.

Well, that's all for today. Until next time, may you enjoy the autumn days!

With Love,

Ms Hadfield and crew