Happy Diwali! Marcel the Shell, Recipes for Fall

Happy Diwali!
This week for our Grade Two Social studies unit 'Traditions and Celebrations' we learned about the Hindu festival Diwali. It was extra special as we have a few students in the class who are experts on the subject and could answer questions for some of us. We started the week gathering information by reading a few books and watching a movie. 

We learned about 'Rangoli' designs and had fun colouring some of those during 'read aloud' time. (By the way, we have started 'James and the Giant Peach' by Roald Dahl...I tried another author but they are pretty keen on this author).


For art this week we decorated our clay diyas and took them home right away. Enjoy!

Internet Fun!
Have you met Marcel the Shell? Kind of cute and I've asked Mr. Cann to buy the book for the library. 

Have you checked out Howard B. Wigglebottom yet? I've put the link here and under the tab 'Fabulous Websites' with a bit of an explanation. Check it out!

Recipes: I've put this on my website before but it is an awesome soup recipe for this time of year! I've made it and can vouch for it's success.
http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/pumpkin-soup/

Here is another hearty fabulous soup recipe for this time of year. I've made this one too and it is amazing. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Cannellini Bean and Kale Soup with Shaved Parmesan
(Makes 6-8 servings; recipe adapted from The Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone.)

Equipment:
I used my Crock-Pot 5-Quart Smart-Pot for this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped small
2 T minced garlic (or less if you're not a garlic fan)
2 tsp. dried Italian Seasoning (contains oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme and rosemary)
2 cans (15 oz. can) Cannellini beans and juice (or use 4 cups cooked cannellini beans and a little water)
1 can (14.5 oz.) petite diced tomatoes with juice
8 oz. finely chopped kale, washed if needed (about 8 cups finely chopped kale)
4-5 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I used 4 cups, but next time I would probably use 5)
4 fresh sage leaves, or 1/2 tsp. dried rubbed sage
1-2 pieces of Parmesan rind to add flavor (optional)
freshly shaved Parmesan, to garnish (optional)

Instructions:

Heat the oil in a large heavy frying pan; add the onions and cook 4-5 minutes or until they are just starting to brown. Add the garlic and Italian Seasoning and saute 1-2 minutes more, being careful not to let the garlic brown. Spray the slow cooker with non-stick spray; then put onions and garlic into the slow cooker.

While the onions are cooking use an immersion blender or food processor to puree the cannellini beans and juice, keeping them a little chunky if you prefer. (If you're using freshly-cooked beans I would add about 1/4 cup water.) Finely chop the kale (cutting away thick center ribs if you have them) and wash kale in the salad spinner if you're using garden kale.

Put the pureed beans, chopped kale, chicken or vegetable stock, canned tomatoes and juice, and sage leaves (or dried sage) into the slow cooker with the onion mixture. (Add one or two pieces of Parmesan rind if desired for extra flavor.) Cook 4 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. Serve the soup hot, with strips of Parmesan shaved over if desired.

This soup will keep for at least a week in the fridge, and it freezes well.

Visualization as a Reading strategy, Giving Thanks

Class Trip to Safety Village
The Grade Two students enjoyed their visit to Safety Village. We enjoyed a beautiful autumn day. The students listened to a presentation about traffic signs and their meaning. They learned about Railway crossings and how the colour and shape of safety signs all have meaning. Officer Lawrence then took us out to the Safety village where students took turns driving the jeeps through the village. It took some student time to master driving on the right side of the road. As well, some students learned you must keep both hands on the wheel while driving. Hard to wave at your teacher and still drive safely :)


Reading Strategy of the Week
Each week we focus on a different reading strategy based on the book 'Reading with Meaning' by Debbie Miller. This week Mrs. Homewood our learning resource teacher, introduced us to a new story book called 'Imagine a Day' by Sarah L. Thomson. Students listened to the story without looking at the pictures. Instead, they had to visualize what the words meant, by painting a picture in their minds. To conceptualize their thoughts we integrated this reading strategy with our art. Using a new type of artistic media (watercolour paper and watercolour pencil crayons) we painted a picture based on the sentence we were given from the book. The ultimate goal is to create a class book, inspired by Thomson's book 'Imagine a Day' that we can put in our own classroom library. Books created by our class are always a popular read by students!

Here is the book that inspired the art:

Here are some of our artworks taking shape!

After our art was finished, we looked at what the illustrator of the book drew. Often, the students had more creative ideas or similar ones to the artist. They found their creativity was affirmed and are beginning to use 'visualization' as a strategy when they listen to my 'read aloud'  chapter books. 

Canadian Thanksgiving
Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I enjoyed having the family over at my home for a great dinner. So many things to be thankful for this year. The students were really creative making their coffee filter turkeys for the window. They do make me smile...