Friday was such an exciting day for our children. Diwali is a new holiday to most of the children so they were wide-eyed and full of questions when they walked into Beth's classroom and saw the festive clothes and decorations. Rita Patel, Benetta Holt and Pitu Patel all had on beautiful, new outfits with sequins and silk. Their jewelry sparkled as much as their clothing and we all were mesmerized. Rita and Benetta explained the five days of Diwali and what is celebrated on each day. They shated statutes of different gods and goddesses and a box of bangles for girls to wear.
We next headed back to our room to paint our diyas (candle holders). I gave each of my girls bindis to place on their foreheads and took a picture. While painting, Yutika came to the room dressed in her new Diwali outfit. She was absolutely beautiful!
Next we headed to the blacktop to see the rangoli designs Benetta drew out. Several students were coloring in the designs with colored sand. I expect we'll see more of these designs now that the children have experienced making them.
We ended the festivity with tasting Indian food. Pitu Patel brought specially prepared potato balls, sweet chips and spicy chips. The class was still talking at lunch today which of these were their favorites. Many thanks to Rita, Benetta and Pitu for making this wonderful event happen. It is so important for all of to appreciate cultures different from our own and sharing special holidays is a fun way to learn.
Today was less exciting but full of activity. We did two fun letter L activities. First I gave the children a page of pictures and told them to cut out nine. Next they glued them to empty boxes to make a rebus story. They had no idea what the words said so they had no clues to help with their selections. After everyone finished, I read their "stories" out loud. Of course they were silly and loads of fun.
Our second activity was placing an L picture in a lunchbox, tool box or cage. It seemed so easy and straight forward until Andy told me he was putting his lock on the cage to keep the animals inside(So much for right and wrong). One has to think outside the box (or cage) at all times with this group!
Today notebooks will come home with bookmarks stapled to them. This is for parents to write the date and number of books read to their child each night. No, this isn't a test but an effort to read 100 books in the next month. When we accomplish this goal I will contact Scholastic Books and they will provide 100 books to a needy classroom. It such an painless way to give to others. And speaking of Scholastic, I extended the order date for books until tomorrow. Mondays are terrible days for anything to be due. If desired, you can bring orders to conferences tomorrow or you can order online.
Please remember conferences are tomorrow. If your child gets sick or an emergency arises, please call Connie in the office and she'll relate the message to me. I look forward to seeing all of you and your child so we can share our fun.
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