Apples, Pumpkins, and Gourds.... Oh My!

As I always say, it's never too early in the day for some pie! Our day began with Sara, our wonderful music teacher, who took us on a musical journey to the apple orchard. Everyone helped pick apples, and when we thought we picked enough, we headed back to make a pie.

Here is the recipe, created by the children, in case you want to make it at home:

Assorted apples (red, blue, yellow, orange, rainbow)
Grapes
Mushrooms
Carrots
Tomatoes
Cats & dogs (optional)
Wash, chop, stir, taste, and bake to perfection.

While we were waiting for the pie to come out of the oven, we sang a "Waiting Medley," culled entirely from the children's song suggestions: We Will Rock You (Queen), ABC's (traditional), I Love Rock and Roll (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts), and Frere Jacques (trad.). We even had an apple pie dance party...

And by the end of our trip, we all deserved a quick rest!

When they woke, the children quickly returned to their prehistoric states of being. There have been several dinosaur sightings within the classroom, but fortunately, they are all friendly dinosaurs, even the ferocious Allosaurus, Velociraptor, and Tyrannosaurus Rex. We have learned that these dinosaurs have sharp and pointy teeth for eating meat, while some have flat teeth for munching on plants, and some enjoy eating both! We have also been talking about two-legged and four-legged varieties, as well as how some dinosaurs protect themselves with plates, horns, and spikes.
One of our new favorite (and longest) vocabulary words is 'paleontologist.' The children were able to dabble in this profession at the sand table, searching for hidden dinosaur fossils!

And then, just as the volcanologists predicted, there was another eruption our classroom! WOW! After the initial explosion, we were able to move in for a closer look...

...Fortunately, many of our dinosaurs have learned to coexist with the others in the classroom, including cowgirls, construction workers (with loud jackhammers!), and spiders. Indeed, we have many characters who appear throughout our day, and this only adds to the excitement.

The children were highly enthusiastic about the appearance of some favorite fall fruits, such as gourds, pumpkins, and squash! I guess we don't usually think of them as fruit, but they have seeds, as we discovered.


...These were but a few of the highlights of our week. Feel free to have your child bring in any dino-or-volcano-related favorites from home, or anything that has to do with prehistory. Soon we will be talking about some of the enormous animals that lived after the dinosaurs, like the sabre-toothed tiger and the woolly mammoth. Yikes!........ See you next week...