"Mealworms. Oh mealworms. You are the best. You are the coolest. You are my favorite and I love you."

This is the song that was circulating our classroom by Abby today. She may have been vocalizing her excitement but I know everyone else was equally as excited as she was. Today was a big day for us because everyone got two mealworms to take care of! Not only is this a great lesson about responsibility, but the empowerment these kiddos feel is nothing short of amazing. Before we each could get our mealworms we learned that in order to thrive they need four things: air, water, space, and food. (You should have seen how large some eyes got when they realized that humans need these things too.) Once that we knew what they need and how we need to take care of them, we each got two mealworms to keep in a vial. The kiddos named their mealworms and spent a great amount of time observing them. (Some names: Anakin, Indiana Jones, Ms. Carlberg, Babby) I only captured a few awestruck kiddos because I was passing out the mealworms, but they are precious none-the-less.

I am so proud of these girls! They started off very squeamish
but decided they'd at least try holding the mealworm. It turns
out, they loved it! Way to use your gumption!

Along with mealworms, we had a couple of our friends perform a play for us. (They learned this while they were with Mrs. Felling during I-Time.) We had the opportunity to watch and laugh along. The play was called, "The Emporer's New Wig". The story is just like "The Emporer's New Clothes" but with wigs. Watching the excitement in the performers eyes as they proudly said their lines brought tears to my own eyes. It was also heartwarming to hear other students share with their performers what their favorite part was. It really meant a lot to the performers that their classmates came to watch and enjoyed their play. (I like when we build community so seamlessly!)

 

We are going to continue exploring mealworms, encouraging each other, and laughing our way through tomorrow. Then, we are all going to enjoy a nice long four day weekend. I have one more picture to share, because it's simply too cute not to. 

Charlene