Fun times!

We have had quite the exciting week with some breaks from our usual routines! Yesterday my class and another had an exciting field trip that the students were really looking forward to--dog sledding! Our class went to the Siberian Outpost in Johnsburg, WI. We have been going on this field trip for the past several years, and it is consistently a favorite of the students. During social studies the students learn about life in the 1800s and westward expansion, and to go along with their learning, the students are reading the book Stone Fox. On the field trip, the students get to have some fun time petting the dogs and watching them get hooked up to the sled. Then comes the highlight of the trip with rides on the dogsled! Following the dogsled ride, the students get some hot chocolate and cookies, and then they get to learn about some of the in ins and outs of dog sledding. They also learn a bit about the origin and history of the Iditarod. It is a memorable field trip for the students and one that they will still talk about at the end of the year.

Our other big event for the week is a whole-school Olympic opening ceremony. Each classroom is matched up with a country. The students walk into the gym in an Olympic procession, being led by a large flag for each country. Once all the classrooms are in, the gym teachers introduce the different countries that are represented. Then some of the fourth graders from the host classroom, South Korea, showed the students how to play some Olympic-themed activities that the students will get to do in gym class next week. We finished it up with a little history about the Olympic torch and flag, and then the Olympics were officially opened! It was a fun celebration! The country our class is representing is Ireland, and my 3rd grade colleagues will tell you that I'm a little bitter about it. It's not that I have anything against Ireland, but rather I'm jealous of the countries that the other 3rd grade classrooms have. You see, Ireland only has 5 athletes competing in the Olympics, while 3 of the other 3rd grade classrooms have around 115 athletes and one classroom has 225. So, yeah, I'm feeling a bit envious, especially since Ireland isn't really favored to earn any medals. But you can be darned sure our classroom is going to do some heavy celebrating if they do! We can hope...but in the meantime we will  learn a bit about Ireland and watch some clips of the events the Irish athletes are participating in.

Mindfulness thought for the week: Whatever you are, be a good one.  --Abraham Lincoln

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