Fall Nature Walk

Our reading theme during October was "Nature Walk," so one beautiful fall day we took an urban nature walk and collected leaves.  Later, we sorted the leaves by their attributes and then created leaf art.  So much fun!

Swimming Lessons @ the YMCA

It's a good time to be a 2nd grader in the Basin!  The Y is hosting FREE swimming lessons for all 2nd graders this year, and we were lucky to be one of the first groups to participate.  The bunch not only had a fabulous time, but learned valuable lessons in swimming & breathing techniques and survival skills.  Thank you, YMCA!

The Bunch!

Each instructor had a group of 3-4 kids, so they got tons of individual attention.

Survival skills!

Relay races!

They had some free play on our last day :)

1-2-3-JUMP!

Storytelling with Mr. Ralph Watah

Two or three times a year we are treated to Native American storytelling from local storyteller Mr. Ralph Watah.  This fall we heard "How Chipmunk Got His Stripes," and also "How Bear Lost His Tail."  He also told a mini-story of "How Coyote Made the Night Sky."

We are looking forward to snow falling so Mr. Watah can come back to tell "How Baby Turtle Tricked Coyote." 

latest artist studies--Piet Mondrian and Gustav Klimt

Every other week we study fine art.  We examine pieces from art history, and make an opinion about whether we like it or not, and why.  Then we usually try out some art with different mediums. 
A few weeks back we studied primary colors and the abstract art of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian.  Then we used our rulers, black Sharpies, and brilliant paints (dried tempera) in only the primary colors to create our own. 

This week we studied Gustav Klimt and his "Tree of Life."  The bunch loved the details and imagination in the tree.  This is a perfect fall project!  We then ripped tissue paper and glued it to paper, and followed it up by painting our own curly-cued trees.  So beautiful!

Cornelius Family Pumpkin Patch

We were so excited to get out to the Cornelius Family Pumpkin Patch today!  We have been writing pumpkin poetry and studying the life cycle of pumpkins this past week.  We even watched a time-lapse video of a 405-lb pumpkin grow!
The bunch had a fantastic time picking out their pumpkins and identifying the 15 different varieties out at the pumpkin patch.  We learned that the Cornelius family grew around 60,000 pumpkins!!! WOW!  They are open to the public each Saturday in October, and you can also find their pumpkins at Sherms Thunderbird.