Welcome to Ms. Jue-Leong's Class

Room 7

March 21, 2008

Friday’s Message:

Walkathon Writing/Math
After the Walkathon, students shared how many kilometers they walked. (They had made predictions before the event) The first writing assignment of the week was to tell how much more or less they walked compared to their guess. Then they wrote about it. I told them to tell about it from start to finish. I prompted them by giving suggestions of what to write about. They could include the time they started, how they felt, who they walked with, did they take a break, anything they wanted to tell. I asked them to end it with their feet and/ or what happened when they got home. How they rested their feet/bodies!
We also found out how many kilometers we walked as a class. Students used unifix cubes to show how many kilometers they each walked. As they combined their unifix cubes, they made “trains” of tens. Ask your child how many kilometers our class walked!
(Only one student had a “good” estimate of our total kilometers walked. Everyone underestimated!)

Spring Harvest
We finally harvested part of our abundant garden. All the students got to cut a leaf of spinach, swiss chard, red chard, and lettuce. In small groups, they pulled out radishes.
I cut off two big heads of cauliflower. Then they helped wash the vegetables and cut them. They also peeled rice noodles apart. It was all tossed together in a wok, a traditional chinese stir-frying pan. We made vegetable chow fun. In Chinese, “chow” means fry, and “fun” means noodle. Kids told me they had fun. We got to chow down. Of coarse they ate the chow fun with their chopsticks.

A Taste of Ireland and Mexico
Grant and his mom, Peggy, made Irish Soda Bread from Ireland on
St. Patrick’s Day. We learned that Ireland is a small island; it’s about same size as West Virginia. There are 4 million people on Ireland; the Bay Area (where we live) has 9 million. It is a lot more crowded here than there. They speak English just like us, but the weather is cooler because it is so far north.
Of the bread, we found out that originally it used only four ingredients: buttermilk, baking soda, flour, and salt. Peggy did a variation by adding an egg, butter, and golden raisins. We also learned that baking soda is the ingredient that makes the bread rise. Unlike yeast, baking soda is fast acting. Irish soda bread is quick and easy. The kids sifted the dry ingredients together , then stirred in the buttermilk. After the dough was mixed, it was baked for 30 minutes. In Ireland, they eat Irish soda bread with their main meal, supper/dinner. Often it would be eaten with soup and stews. We enjoyed our bread just by itself.
Jacky brought bolillo from Mexico. Sometimes this bread is called pan frances; different parts of Mexico refer to this bread by different names. But everywhere in Mexico people will have bolillo in the afternoon with a cup of milk or coffee. It’s also a favorite to use to make “thorta,” a big sandwich. Bolillo is made of wheat flour, water, salt, sugar, and vegetable butter. Bolillo is famous around the world.

Persian New Year and Bread
Sam and his mom, Dolly started by explaining that the Persian Empire was one of the greatest empires of the ancient worlld. Using the world map, they showed how far the Persian Empire once stretched, from Greece to India, also touching parts of China and Africa. Now, Iran, is considered Persia. Because of its roots, the Persian new year, Norooz, is celebrated in countries besides Iran. Norooz starts the first day of Spring; it means “new day.” Springtime is a time for rejoicing. It’s a time to celebrate warmer weather, the melting of snow, and the rejuvenation of the earth. This celebration last 13 days, during which people don’t work or go to school.
Haji Firooz is a funny guy who comes out with a red dress and hat and black face and sings and dances in the streets and does funny things to announce festivities. Sam had a Haji Firooz doll that he shared; it put a smile on all the students faces. There is also a Persian Santa Claus that gives gifts to children and tells them stories. Children get to run through the streets banging on pots and pans with a spoon; they knock on doors and ask for treats, similar to our Halloween. There is also a time when seven small fires are set, and adults and children jump over them singing a chant that celebrates the renewal of life, taking in the redness, warmth, and energy of the fire.
As with many celebrations, tables are set with special foods. There is a “haft seen,” where the items symbolize the family’s beliefs and values: sweet dry fruit of the lotus tree (love), wheat pudding (sweetness), apple (health), gold coins (prosperity), crushed sumac berries ( the color of sunrise), vinegar (age and patience), and garlic (good health) . There is also a bowl of spring sprouts (sprouted wheat or lentils) that signify rebirth. The last day of Norooz is spent outside the home. It’s like a national picnic day where everyone goes to the park or mountainside. They take the spring sprouts that are starting to turn yellow by this 13th day. They toss it into a flowing stream or creek; this symbolizes their sicknesses and problems floating away.

Then we had Persian breads. Sam brought lavash, barbari, and sangak from Iran. Iranians like to eat their bread warm and fresh every day. Traditionally bread was baked in special big oven at home (similar to pizza ovens.) In villages, some people still bake their own bread, but now most cities and towns have bakeries. Bread is eaten with every meal.
Lavash is a very thin bread. Sam brought both regular and wheat lavash.
Sam asked the class if they thought there was yeast in this bread. The kids said “no,”
but there is. Lavish is just rolled until it is very, very thin. Our lavash was fresh and soft. But if left out, in a day, it could get hard like a cracker. The students compared this lavash
to lefsa, matzoh, and a tortilla.
Barbari is made of white flour and is a thicker bread. This bread seems to be more popular with Turkish speaking people.
Sangak is made of brown flour. It is baked in special ovens where pebbles are at the bottom. When the pebbles get really hot, the heat of the pebbles bake the bread.

Star Students
***Jordan Klein*** was the star this week. Next week ***Mari Takata *** is the star when we return from Spring Break.

There is no homework over the Spring Break. Just read and record in your Reading Log.

HAPPY SPRING!

Posted by jueleong at March 21, 2008 01:55 PM