Chicago, our kind of town
Yes, Chicago is certainly our kind of town. With Lincolnwood's close proximity to CHICAGO, most of the students had existing knowledge of the urban hub that is our neighbor. After talking about Chicago's HISTORY, we retold parts of the story each day. They were fascinated to know that dinosaurs once roamed our neighborhood, became EXTINCT with the impending ICE AGE, and we are the beneficiaries of Lake Michigan because of these huge scooping glaciers. The Native Americans named the city because of its "smelly onion" aroma and the settlers that followed built up the wooden settlements that eventually perished in the Great Chicago Fire. We introduced Mrs. O' Leary and her cow as LEGEND and showed the children pictures of the only structure to survive the fire, The Chicago Water Tower. The town builders decided to use bricks and stones to prevent future catastrophes and we discovered how SKYSCRAPERS contributed to the growth and reputation of Chicago as a great city. One of our games, "Guess the Missing Landmark," includes pictures of the John Hancock Building, Sears Tower, The Bean (Cloudgate), The Water Tower, Buckingham Fountain and The Picasso. This allowed us to practice the names of some of Chicago's most well known places and introduced a bit of discussion on each. They are eager to see some of these sights, so take a trip to the city some time this summer. You will be surprised at how good they are at making connections.
To keep busy, we made our own versions of the Chicago flag, Buckingham Fountain, famous skyscrapers and Picasso-like pictures. Be sure to take time to review these "works of art" at home. They will lead to some very interesting discussions.
REMINDER: Our last day of school will be on June 5th, Thursday. Please send your child with a labeled "sack lunch" (a simple snack for himself/herself and a sample to share with one or two friends). We are preparing for kindergarten and want to "practice" bringing our lunch to school for the FULL DAY of classes. Yes, they are growing up fast.
SPORTS is the topic for our last week of school. Feel free to send in APPROPRIATE sports toys (no wooden bats or hard balls) for your child to share. We are encouraging them to wear their favorite sports teams' jerseys and hats all week long. They are already excited.
