On Thursday, both first and second grade classes went to Jo-Ann Fabric Store in order to begin our project. This was our first of many field trips of the year. These types of short trips into the community tend to be my favorite - genuine experiences that give children practice in using manners and other life skills. Each child got to pick their favorite fleece fabric from the 40% off selection - there were SO many to choose from! It was interesting to see which children who knew instantly which fabric was the perfect one, and which children simply could not decide from the embarrassment of riches. We also picked up 25 pounds of stuffing, for all those fluffy pillows. Since we were using our normal math time for the trip, we encouraged the children to engage their math brains by using a bit of measurement (I think they all know what 1/2 yard looks like now!) and trying to figure out what the total of our bill would be.
On Thursday afternoon, I gave my students a little lesson on hand stitching. We practiced three basic stitches - the running stitch, the overhand, and the blanket stitch (we love this one). Red Ted Art does a really nice job doing kid-friendly Youtube tutorials of these stitches - plus others - and you get to hear a lovely accent as well!
We had so many parents and one lovely grand parent join for the field trip and/or the sewing morning. Some even brought sewing machines.
This really is a special place.
Oh! Many of our curious students really wanted to know how the sewing machine worked. If you like, you can show them this:
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