Tuesday
When we arrived at The Mariners' Museum today, our first stop was to check on the progress of the cafe renovations! We peeked through the glass and can tell that the kitchen area looks complete, but some work still remains in the seating area, which has more than doubled in size! We hear it may be open sometime in February, and will be under new management, too. We'll miss our friend Jake, who always took good care of us, but we're looking forward to meeting the new vendor and trying their food, too!
Wisteria (in the red) and Erika (purple with white sleeves) met us at the front and introduced us to another staff person who wanted to work with us, Michael. We chatted for several minutes while catching up with everyone's news, and then made our way to the education room.
Erika led our lesson today on waterways and geographical features of the Mediterranean. We learned many terms that we may have heard before, but weren't positive of what they meant. For example, "archipelago" means a group of islands. Did you know that there are 6,000 islands in the archipelago of Greece, but only about 200 of them are inhabited?!
We learned that a narrow passage of water is called a "strait," a narrow strip of land is an "isthmus." When the term "island" came up, so did our hands! We knew that one, but then we learned that a "peninsula" is land with water on three sides. (Even though we live on a peninsula, we weren't sure about that one!) These were just some of the geographical terms we learned about, and found, on the map of the Mediterranean region.
To help us better learn the terms, Erika put pictures of each one on the screen and gave us kinetic sand and a small blue board (water) so we could made models. Michael worked with Sam, Laura, Abraham, Liz, and Devin B. Abraham was proud of his island, while Sam was working on making a strait through his land.
Laura was proud of her small archipelago, but wouldn't say "archipelago" for Lisa!
Sweet T and Patrick made islands that we could have named Twin Islands! Patrick was proud that Devin touched the kinetic sand, because Devin doesn't usually like things that might feel "funny."
After our geography lesson, Wisteria, Erika, and Michael showed us an updated gallery that is a work in progress. The floor has been painted as a map of the Mediterranean region and the diplays around the room are, and will be, artifacts related to that region from the past to the present.
There will also be games to play so that visitors can learn more about the countries and cultures in the Mediterranean region. We want to check this out on one of our future visits!
There is even a replica of a boat that we were able to climb aboard. All 14 of us who were present today could fit inside! While we were up there, Wisteria told us about some ideas she and Erika have for a future lesson with us - they would come to our place and help us cook Mediterranean cuisine! We are definitely interested in that lesson!
Of course we had to get a group photo with Erika, Michael, and Wisteria. They gave us lots to think about today and got us excited for the year to come in our partnership with The Mariners' Museum!
After returning to the center, we ate lunch, had Choice Time, read more from Island of the Blue Dolphins, and then had a belated dance warm up for today's movement activity. We also celebrated National Compliment Day by sharing positive thoughts with each other. Patrick made Erik smile when he complimented him for being a friend we can all count on!
We also celebrated National Peanut Butter Day by enjoying these tasty no-bake cookies that Carol prepared for us while we were busy dancing and complimenting each other! She made extras so we can share with the library staff tomorrow, and also have some for dessert when we cook on Thursday. Thanks, Carol! They are delicious!
Wednesday
The first thing on our Wednesday schedule is to send a crew to help shelve books at the JRES Library. Today happens to be National Library Shelfie Day, which is a day to show your love of books by grabbing a selfie in front of your favorite book shelf...get it, "shelfie?!" Mr. Nonnemacher was happy to take a "shelfie" in front of one of his favorite shelves!
Adia loves to read and always has a good book handy. She took a "shelfie" at home and was excited to share it with us so we could see her personal bookshelf. As Annmarie, Michelle and Devin T noticed, she has a lot of great books at home!
Alexis had something to share today as well. She had taken a trip to Blacksburg to attend the Duke vs VT men's basketball game, only to see her team lose. But, she "won" because she got to meet a few of her favorite players! On the way home, she visited UVA's campus and brought each of her friends a blue or orange pencil. Aww, thanks, Alexis!
Our learning continued this week as we studied Chinese, or Lunar, New Year. We learned from our BrainPOP video that it's not on January 1 because it's based on when the second new moon appears after the winter solstice, and that can be anywhere from January 21-February 20.
We were disappointed that we couldn't buy lunch at The Mariners' Cafe yesterday, but a consolation was that it left today open to order Chinese takeout as we celebrated Chinese New Year! Everyone was very excited to place their orders, which included shrimp with Chinese vegetables, chicken or shrimp lo mein, sweet and sour chicken, beef pepper steak, and the most popular order, chicken with broccoli. Each lunch also included an egg roll and fried or white rice. No complaints from anyone! Thank you, families, for supporting us in this treat!
Something fun we did today was make a thank you pizza card for Sam's grandmother, Nina, who has been our friend since the beginning of the AoA back in 2016. She recently made a generous donation so we can order pizza a couple of times when we go bowling! We wrote her a nice letter, but also created this pizza activity for her to "play" with. There are lots of toppings and on the back of each one is a special message. They can be arranged however Nina likes, and every time she "plays" with her pizza, she'll be reminded of our appreciation! We're putting it in the mail to her this week, but she will read about it here before it arrives in Arizona where she lives! Thank you, again, Nina! We love pizza and are very grateful for your gift! We hope you have fun with your pizza making kit! 😊
Thursday
What a great time we had today! After dance warm up, we worked together to prepare lunch and decorate for our friend Jeff, the artist who was coming to visit with us again. We had Alexis, Patrick and Laura getting our silverware and napkin rings ready, Sweet T, Dev B, Liz, Drew, Kate, and Xavier working on decorations, Sam and Erik prepping garlic bread, and Abraham cooking our pasta sauce. They were so efficient!
Michelle and Adia worked in the kitchen to make a fresh and colorful veggie tray. They were efficient, too!
Jeff arrived just as we finished our preparations. His plan was to work with us using water colors. First, he gathered us around while he demonstrated the "puddle" technique, which we were going to try as a way to explore color combinations and blending. He told us to put drops, or puddles, of water on the paper, and then dab a little color in it to observe what happens.
It was fun to watch the colors "ooze" around in the puddles, and to see how pretty the designs would be when we put two or three colors together. While Jeff was making the rounds to give guidance and encouragement, Ms. Vallone (JRES Assistant Principal) popped in to say "hi." She was impressed with our art work!
Patrick was experimenting with the colors of W&M's Tribe and the Atlanta Braves. Laura, who loves to use many colors whenever she does art with any medium, did the same today, and created water puddles with a variety of colors. Jeff enjoyed watching their creativity before moving on to check out Xavier and Nan working at the next table.
Michelle was tickled to pose with Jeff and also show off her new artist's apron. We all know she loves dinosaurs, and they are well-represented on her apron. She and Jeff are showing off their water color masterpieces, too! Very nice, both of you! Jeff is going to be out of commission for a spell as he undergoes hip replacement surgery. We wish him the very best, and we'll be sure to check on him as he recovers. See you again soon, Jeff!
Our water color art is so beautiful. It's always awe-inspiring to see what our guys create on a blank canvas! Thank you for working with us again, Jeff. We appreciate your support of the Arc of Abilities and your great work with our gang! They love hanging with you!
Jeff joined us for lunch and we thought our pasta, veggies, and garlic bread turned out very well. There was great conversation with Jeff as we ate, and it was the pefect ending to a very nice morning of creativity!
After Choice Time and read-aloud, we settled in for a Chinese New Year yoga adventure with Jaime. It was a new episode, which explained how the 12 animals of the calendar were chosen.
It was the perfect story for Jaime to create a new yoga routine to, as we went through the poses of all 12 animals. We got a great stretch today!
Friday
Our Eaton work day was canceled, so we came up with an educational and active Plan B! After our usual dance warm up, we learned how ice skates were invented when we watched an episode of Mystery Science (the new name for Mystery Doug). We learned that the first ice skates were invented when people tied bones to their shoes! Annmarie, Laura, and Dev T thought that was pretty cool!
Our next activity was math related. One group worked on addition with regrouping. Patrick and Alexis were self-checking their work by completing a picture puzzle. They did well!
Kate and Michelle got their answers correct, too! Great job!
Nan worked with Sweet T, Sam, and Drew on the concept of subtraction. They were very accurate with their calculations!
Laura, Annmarie, and Xavier had finished their subtraction with Carol's help, so they moved on to a sequencing activity. It was a good day for brain work!
After our math work, we did a fun GoNoodle indoor recess activity, but forgot to take pictures. We wiggled, jiggled, jumped, and even yodeled! Then, before lunch, we listened to a couple of chapters in our read-aloud, The Island of the Blue Dolphins, which we hope to finish in January........... There was a part today where wild dogs howl, and Michelle couldn't resist recreating the scene with a few of her friends. (This is great!)
We read another chapter of our book after lunch and then got to play kickball in the gym since the students had a holiday today.
We play by our own rules, and no matter which team we are on, we cheer for everyone (just like in corn hole).
Go, Drew! Today's game was a lot of fun!
Speaking of fun, our next fun activity was indoor corn hole. We had hoped to take a walk at the park this afternoon, but decided it was too cool (windy) after lunch, so we stayed inside. We cleared the tables and set up corn hole in our room.
Last week we mentioned that Erik was working on adjustments because his aim is good but his throw is powerful and sometimes lands beyond the board. We're excited to announce that Erik's adjustments resulted in points for his team today!! 👏👏
Likewise, Liz has been working on the arc of her throws and she earned points for her team today as well! 👍
After losing the last two games to the Minions, the Virginia Corn Thunder was victorious in today's game, but everyone thought this was a fun way to end the week! Congrats to the Corn Thunder!
Here is what we have planned as we usher in February next week!
Tuesday: Christina is coming! She's going to help us create a painting masterpiece, AND she's bringing cheeseburger pies for lunch! We'll add fruit and a lite dessert for a fun lunch after a fun morning. After lunch we'll take a walk in the park, assuming the weather cooperates, and play a game of bocce just to change things up a bit! We plan to finish our January read-aloud, too.
Wednesday: It's February 1st so we will prepare our February calendar and begin our "love"ly room decorations for the month! We're also going to watch the movie version of Island of the Blue Dolphins since we enjoyed the book so much, with it's vivid descriptions of how Karana survived for years on a deserted island. One more thing we will do today is make special cards for The Arc's Anna, who is expecting a baby girl in a few weeks! Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is available but the menu isn't posted yet!
Thursday: It's PSP Work Day so please wear your PSP shirts. It's National Tater Tot Day, so the Cooking Crew will make chicken and tater tot casserole for lunch. Since it's February 2nd, we'll also celebrate Groundhog Day! Plus, it's National Optimism Day, and we have a lesson for that, too!
Friday: We will begin a new read-aloud today that takes place during the Great Depression, so we will be able to pull some future history lessons from there. We'll return to our state study, learning about #8, South Carolina. It's National Bubble Gum Day, so we will have fun with that, and we'll end our day with yoga, so dress to stretch. Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is available, but the menu isn't posted yet.
We hope everyone has a nice weekend!
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
