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School Information:
Pittsfield Elementary (Website)
2543 Pittsfield Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-997-1218
Teacher Contact Info:
Jen Duman
duman@aaps.k12.mi.us
We were very excited to have visitors from the Coach Foundation visit our classroom on Tuesday. The Coach company from Briarwood Mall adopted our classroom through adoptaclassroom.org. We were able to purchase a document camera and a multitude of supplies (Elmer’s glue, paint cups, sentence strips, glue sticks, and more!) with their generous donation.
Today, Coach came to us with another gift. They had a school supply drive at their store and collected a HUGE box of supplies for our classroom. We were overjoyed! We are so excited to have this partnership with them, and hope to see them again in the future.
So next time you are at Briarwood Mall, make sure to stop by the Coach Store and recognize them for their generosity!
On Thursday we had a field trip to the Leslie Science and Nature Center. We explored using our senses, met some cool animals, and hiked the woods. A great time was had by all, thank you to all the parents who came along!
It was a crazy, busy, exciting day today! We started our day by illustrating our “White Ghost, White Ghost” books, and talked about questioning strategies with Mrs. Lauer’s class. After lunch, we visited the Halloween maze in Mrs. Lauer’s room. We read some Halloween stories and then parents began arriving to help change into costumes. I am SO appreciative of all the support we received – We had a plethora of goodies, and lots of help with everything we needed. We paraded around the school, and then returned for our party. After eating our goodies, we played Ghost Bingo and finally ended with a “Whodunit” game. A great time was had by all, Happy Halloween!
This week we talked about our 5 senses. In small groups we first used our sense of sight when looking at our pumpkins. We knocked on them and listened to what we heard. Then we cut them open and smelled the aroma. We reached inside and described what the “pumpkin guts” felt like. Finally, we tasted pumpkin from a can. At the end we all worked together to create a face and carve them.
Students earned tickets in our pumpkin cup throughout the week for good behavior. On Friday, 5 students had their name drawn from the cup and got to take a pumpkin home.
First things first, I want to apologize for getting a bit behind on the blog. I’ve been having some trouble with memory on my computer and I was unable to download any new pictures. Now that memory is no longer an issue, it’s time to catch up.
We had our first publishing party, and students were proud to share their newly found author status! Students shared their stories with their tables, took comments and questions, and then toasted their amazing work with juice boxes and “pencil pretzels!” I am so proud of them all!
On Friday we had planned to walk through the neighborhood to the RedBud Nature Trail. This is a beautiful trail through the woods which ends at Sheffler Park. We were going to collect Fall Leaves and other natural things for our Collections From Nature Unit. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans for us…
We kept our fingers crossed all morning, and at 10:15 it seemed to be only a bit misty outside, so we decided we would begin our walk. Unfortunately, by the time we all used the bathroom and went over the walking field trip safety rules, the mist had become drizzle. So we sat down and I began to explain the backup plan, a Fall coloring activity, and tried to wait out the weather. Right when we were about to begin coloring, the drizzle seemed to subside, so we tried again. The rain seemed to wax and wane for quite a while, and I was afraid to risk walking the few blocks to the trail, because if it began to pour we would have nowhere to take shelter. So we did what all good classes do, and used the lifeskill of flexibility. And we collected from our natural environment. Which was the sidewalk around the parking lot. And honestly, the kids didn’t care, and an educational, fun, wet experience was had by all!
Today we had nursing students from The University of Michigan come in to present the “Teddy Bear Clinic.” The Teddy Bear Clinic teaches students about healthy habits. Students traced their bodies and pasted in their organs, Drew pictures of germs and discussed the importance of hand washing (with fake germs they could see under a black light) and practiced exercises to keep healthy. We were very lucky to have these visitors!
