The cards are all done! I finished making them while I was sick, and I wrote them out over Thanksgiving weekend. Except for a couple of address checks and international stamps they are ready to be mailed. So glad to get this done so early!
Archive: November 2009
Okay, actually the 4th and 5th graders just got a refresher on this in October before moving on to learn Google Earth (which I’ll talk about next month). They’re old hands at it now.
Read more on This Month With 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade: Using the Catalog and Dewey Decimal System…
In October I started working with 2nd and 3rd grade on how to use the library. Each grade focused on something different, but they both did really well with it.
After our back-to-school housekeeping activities in September, I walked the 2nd graders through the sections of the library. They choose books from the shelves in 1st grade, but it’s in 2nd grade that we really started talking about what the different sections mean. We talked about fiction vs. nonfiction in 1st grade, but they needed a refresher on that. We have 4 sections in our library where students can check out books: Fiction, Nonfiction, Easy Reading, and Biography. We defined all the sections and spent A LOT of time practicing which books belong where. I explained that the spine labels have the book’s address, and I gave them some basics on how to use that information to find where the book lives. I explained the alphabetical order of the books in general terms: in 3rd grade I really go into how to find books in the nonfiction section. I don’t go over the specifics of Dewey Decimal until 3rd grade, but I do talk to the 2nd graders about the nonfiction books having numbers, and the other 3 sections having “F”, “B”, or “E”.
Read more on This Month with 2nd Grade: Learning the Library Layout…
I didn’t say much yesterday about the actual food I put out for Thanksgiving dinner!
The roast turkey recipe was from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Pretty straightforward. Adam made the mashed potatoes, my mom made all the veggies and stuffing.
I’m completely exhausted after a full, busy Thanksgiving Day. I had a great time with my family, and it went off without a hitch. Here are some photos.
The table set up for everyone.
The spread going out.
The Thanksgiving appetizer and dessert table.
More of the spread. From the left: crudites and cheese, then crackers with 3 kinds of dip (Scallion and Chive from WF, homemade Salmon Mousse, and Roasted Red Pepper from WF). The tray of crostini has an assortment of basil, prosciutto, and mozzarella then bruschetta, then mascarpone, bacon, and apples (a variation from #40 on this list). Chips, pumpkin pie, brownie bites, and down at the end the Thanksgiving fondant cake extravaganza. The layers were too short, so everyone thought it was a hat. It was not supposed to be a hat.
Crostini closeup. These went like wildfire.
And then finally, here are some photos of the cake coming together (I finished it around 1 this morning).