Open House

We all went to Cora's Open House on Thursday, and admired all the work she and her classmates have produced this spring. At right, we have Cora's self-portrait as a marine biologist, which she said she wants to become when she's grown up. All the drawings and career proclamations were anonymous, and the parents were instructed to view them all and then guess which was their child's.

I wish I'd taken a photo of the classroom as a whole; it looked beautiful, so colorful with many impressive projects on the walls and hanging from the ceiling.

 Nan and Pop received Cora's "Flat Cora" project and took it around Somerset, and then sent it back to Cora's classroom with photos. It all looked very good, up on the wall of the school corridor with the other "flat self" projects.

 Here is Cora's sea life diorama, with the sea otter she made from clay.

 Cora made the otter was made from clay and painted it, and we glued a real shell onto its arms.

The children all wrote poems about themselves, following a set of prompts. They also made 3D images of their faces from items that help represent them.

Cora's poem reads: 

I am Cora Rose.

I wonder if I can fly. 

I see a cat meowing. 

I see a plane flying in the air. 

I taste the sweet blueberries on the bush. 

I pretend my stuffed animal is alive. 

I think my cute cat loves me. 

I touch the cat's soft fur.

I smell the red roses blooming. 

I am creative with the colors. 

I love cats I worry about nothing. 

I dream that I am flying. 

I hope I can see my Nan and Pop. 

I am Cora Howard.

 Mrs. Vasquez created a hair bow from an image of the cover of The Magic Faraway Tree.

 A few weeks ago, I helped in class and took a peek at Cora's journal. A few of the pages made me happy; here they are.

It makes us all sad that Cora only has about three weeks left of school. It's been an amazing year, with an outstanding teacher.