snow day fun day

We read the story Sun Bread twice this week and were inspired to make our own sun bread. In fact today was supposed to be our baking day...but the snow day got in the way! In the story, after the baker shares the warm, fluffy, puffy sun bread with her friends in town the real sun breaks through the clouds and a celebration is had by all. After reading the story in class, two (gray) days in a row, I asked the boys and girls if they thought the sun would shine through the clouds after our sun bread was made. The class was split in half on that theory. We didn't get to make our sun bread today but with just a few ingredients you can at home! The recipe is below. Happy sunny snow day!



Sun Bread Recipe

* Mix Well:
3 eggs
3 tablespoons sugar


* Combine:
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 stick butter, softened.


* Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat well.


* In a small bowl combine:
2 packages active dry yeast
3 tablespoons lukewarm milk
Let stand until mixture is foamy, at least 5 minutes.


* Add the yeast mixture to the batter and stir. Knead dough on greased, floured surface for 8 to 10 minutes.


* Place dough in greased bowl, cover with a cloth, and let rise in a warm place for about an hour.


* Punch down dough, knead for a few minutes, then separate into two portions.

* To form the sun's face, shape one portion of dough into a round, somewhat flattened ball, then place on a large greased baking sheet. With the greased end of a wooden spoon, or with your finger, punch two "eyes" in the sun; draw a mouth for your sun in the same way. (Make sure you make deep lines and holes in the dough so they won't close up while the bread bakes.) Make a nose for your sun by securely attaching a small ball of dough to its face.


* To make a corona for your sun, roll one half of the remainder of the dough into four or five long "snakes." Then curl the snakes into puffy "snail" shapes. Shape the rest of the dough into puffy triangles. Firmly attach the snails and triangles to your sun's face. (Use a little water if the dough is too dry.)


* Cover the sun and let it rise again in a warm place for about an hour.


* Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To make your sun shiny, brush it with an egg wash (a beaten egg with a few drops of water added), right before baking. Bake the sun bread for about twenty minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into center of bread . (It should come out clean.)


* Enjoy! Your sun bread is delicious plain or with butter, honey, or jam.

Sketchbooks in Practice

I was inspired by the idea of adding sketchbooks to our daily routine - we tried it today and it was a hit. After movement, the children came back to the classroom and we talked about this new (possible) routine. Everyone had there own sketchbook at a table, and they were instructed to choose a table with the writing materials that they wanted to use - as each table had a different set of writing materials. The children listened to Mozart as they drew and wrote. There were no real instructions other than introducing the idea that a sketchbook/journal is for you and in it you can put anything you want. I invited the children to feel the music as they drew.





Afterward, I asked the children how they felt drawing with the music. One student said she heard rainbows and that's what she drew. Other children were so eager to draw about their experiences in real life that they chose to draw that. It was a great experience and i think we're all looking forward to making it a daily ritual.

Inspire Think Create

This Site, Sketchbooks in Schools

offers some great ideas for inspiring drawing, writing, and creating. Take a look at the simple book you can make from one sheet of paper - posted in the You Tube video below or check out the Site to get some more creative ideas.

Make your own sketchbook

Our Shared Writing Story

This morning in class we wrote a shared story together about our snowy day off from school. I wrote the first sentence, as a story-starter and your children came up with the rest on their own! They were very eager to add to the story. I took dictation of their exact words and it turned into a beautiful story. Read our story below...


The Snowy Day

I woke up and rubbed my eyes, I couldn't believe what I saw, I looked out the window and saw snow! Then I wear my coat and rush outside. We make snowmen. We make snowballs. We fight - a snowball fight. I make a ball and throw to my mommy...hit! I threw it at my mommy. Mommy said "Don't!" I went home and melted ice.

What a great story and they had so much fun sharing their ideas. You can try this at home too, by creating a story with your child. Remember to write their words as they say them - no changes or corrections. Also, it may be best to limit your writing space so you can give your child a visual cue that their story can't meander and go on and on - as you are getting close to the end of your page you can point out that it's time to think of how to wrap up the story. This is also useful in reinforcing the idea that stories have a beginning, middle, and end. Let me know how it goes!

This activity helps develop your child's print awareness, understand the connection between oral and written language, and if you "sound out" the words as you are writing in front of your child, it will help them develop phonological awareness. This is an example of a developmentally appropriate way to support your child's emerging literacy.

An Open Invitation to Our Classroom

I would really like to extend a warm invitation to parents, grandparents, and other family members to visit our class any time to read a story with a small group of children. It's a wonderful way to bridge home and school life, it builds a sense of community, and is a great way for a small group of children to enjoy quality read aloud time with an adult. This is something I would like to do ongoing - for the rest of the year and hope you will feel comfortable enough to come in or ask me questions about it any time.

I would like to mention - We have a full library of books in the classroom in English so there are many great story books to come and read - the children will have no problem helping to find one! But, I also want families to know that you could bring in any story book in your home language - whether that is Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Farsi or other. In fact you can bring in anything even the comics from the newspaper or if you are reading recipes from a cookbook - just sharing reading and writing together would be great. It would be a truly enriching experience, especially since I am always reading in English - think how special your child would feel sharing their home language with their friends! The door is always open and I am always there to answer any of your questions about this so I hope to talk with you if you're interested.