Farmers Market, Sumerians and Soup

We began the week examining the differences between the Sumerians and Hunters / Gatherers and discussed how agriculture helped lead to many of the aspects of civilization that we recognize today including the development of writing, division of labor and governments. Some students have decided to explore this topic a little further and are writing stories about their lives as Sumerians.

In preparation for next week's visit to the kindergarten class, we practiced reading the stories that we had picked out from the library related to farms. We focused on speaking clearly, reading with feeling and helping to understand by showing pictures and explaining new vocabulary.

On Wednesday, we headed to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market to meet local farmers, observe the differences between the market and a grocery store foods and find out what challenges farmers face in their work. We noticed fruits and vegetables in variety of colors, shapes and sizes and discussed beneficial insects, including bees and wasps, with the farmers. Before leaving we picked up ingredients to use for our butternut squash and apple soup that would serve as part of our snack on Friday.  

"Why write?" and "Who writes?"

I asked the students these questions in an effort to find out more about what think about writing, specifically who they consider to be "writers" and what they consider the purpose of writing to be. It was great to see their ideas expand as they realized the various purposes of writing as well as "who" is a writer - especially when the answer was, "me!"

Friday was dedicated to food as the 3rd and 4th grade classrooms collaborated on an afternoon snack of soup and salad using ingredients from our visit to the farmers market. Mr. B's class prepared a fresh salad with peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and feta while our class prepared a roasted butternut squash and apple soup. The students worked hard cleaning, peeling and cutting the vegetables and were proud of their work. Though some were reluctant to taste the fruits of their labors, everyone tried the soup and some even came back with empty containers from their lunches to bring some home.