Little {RED} Hen Week {ONE}

Our days were cut short for Red Week because of the holiday, but we managed to fill them up completely!

We wore red, we spelled red, we sang about it, we twirled in it and we named everything we could think of that was red. Jace said fire trucks were red. Chance said, “Strawberries!” Claire said, Roses! Allison said, “Hearts!” Navy H. said, “Blood!” Trig said, “Our tubs!” Lincoln said, “Apples!” Ryder said, “Suckers!” Preston said, “My shoes!” And Avery said, “Santa’s Hat is red!” I like red! R-E-D!

Red Song (Are you sleeping tune)

I like red

I like red

R-E-D

R-E-D

A firetruck is red

Lady Bugs are red

R-E-D

R-E-D.

We also learned the number 1 poem and practiced making a ‘one’ as we repeated it again and again. Have your child rehearse that for you. Your children are awesome!

One Poem

Find all our number poems and printouts here!

As the children came into the classroom on Wednesday, I instructed them to cut out a set of googley eyes and a beak. Trig asked, “What? We’re making a woodpecker?” It’s a red hen! He was funny because after he had completed his chicken face he asked, “How does my woodpecker look?” Ha! It’s a hen…like a chicken! 

Our red hen hats this year turned out so cute!

Added tissue paper for chef hen hats!

 Ahh! So cute!

I began reading the story of The Little Red Hen and I stopped to show the children what real wheat berries looked like. Everyone got a chance to grab a pinch of them. Some crunched them between their teeth. Some smelled them and some just rolled them for a time between their fingers as the story went on. When we got to the part about the miller, I turned on my wheat grinder and the children got a chance to see the grain pour into the grinder and hear the roar of the motor crushing the grain into flour. “Oooh!” Madden said, “It’s like magic!” When we finished the story, I pulled all of the flour out and asked, “Who will help me make the bread?” 

I have had several requests for the bread recipe we used for the children on Wednesday.

I am happy to share for anyone that is interested.

Red Hen Bread

6 cups lukewarm water

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup oil

1 cup potato flakes

Combine and add:

2 1/2 tablespoons yeast

4 tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten

2 tablespoons Dough Enhancer

10-12 scoops of freshly ground white wheat flour*

10-12 scoops bread flour*

1 tablespoon salt

1/3 cup chia seeds

Add enough flour to make a nice firm sticky dough. *(totalling roughly 8-10 cups of flour)

Knead in Bosch (or mixer) for 7 minutes

Place in greased pans

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees after raising in pans .

Yields: 4-5 regular loaves or 12 -15 small loaves

We made two batches simultaneously with two Bosch machines. 

The room exploded with eager helpers. Everyone got to help scoop up the beautiful warm flour and dump it into the bowl or add another ingredient. We watched it churn and churn. Then, each child with a bib on, took a seat at the worktables and held out their little cupped hands to have us spray them with oil. Oh, how I wish you could have seen the excited faces, twisting and shaping dough to fit into pans. Adorable! Trig said, “It looks like a person lying in a bed!” Jace said, “It looks like a baby!” Trig said, “Yah, only sticky!” Ha!

The bread rose and baked just in time to whisk it from the hot ovens to load into bags to send home. They donned their hats and marched happily out the door with their fresh loaves of bread like a parade of proud bakers with something to squawk about. It was a great day!

  

Too much fun with these crazy chickens!

The next day, we talked about rectangles and identified many objects in the school that looked like rectangles. We glued red rectangles on a plate to create a beautiful apple masterpiece! They were just lovely. We also practiced our gluing skills, “Make a dot! Not a lot!” The children are getting better and better. I love the great progress they are making!

We played a game, Know Your Apples and we also read a story about a big sister and how well she could help out (as opposed to the unhelpful cat, dog or pig in the hen story the day before). We had a great discussion about how the children could help as well. Que said, “I could sing a song for the baby!” Jaxson said, “I could give the baby a ‘paci’! Nash said, “My dad reads us a book!” Great job, helpers.

Speaking of great helpers, Reagan was so sweet to want to help write Kaylee’s name beside her. She is so helpful, but I had to carefully back her off to allow Kaylee to have her own experiences. I hope all of you parents are doing the same, as your children work on their fun sheets. We are seeing a few names that are still coming back displaying expert parental writing skills, which makes it difficult for your child to write his or her own name at school. Breaking these colts also requires training a few fillies and studs in the process. Ha!

Next week is our American Week honoring 9-11 and celebrating our country and freedoms. We encourage everyone to wear red, white and blue, if possible. We will allow all of those to come to the treat line first.

We want to especially thank Mrs. Walters and Miss Jessica for helping with our hats this week. We could not have finished the baker’s “toque blanche” poof without them. They were spectacular!

Have a great weekend!

Much, much love and devotion,

Mrs. McClure

Miss Julie