Civil War

US VS. THEM: Straight out of the gate this morning I told the kids there was going to be a war today - a "civil war," and explained that it meant that it was the day that the Oregon State Beavers and the Oregon Ducks played to see who's going to the Rose Bowl.

I asked the kids if the UO/OSU civil war is like a real war, and they were both quick to say, "No!" that it was just a game. Then we spent some time talking about what a rivalry is, and had great fun with that. For their writing/spelling today, I had them make a good long list of rivalries they could think of. They were pretty diverse - listing everything from Dora the Explorer v. Swiper the Fox to Tom v. Jerry.

THEM'S FIGHTING SONGS!: After our rivalry exercise, it was time for music. On the menu today? Fight songs, of course! First we listened to the OSU fight song, then it was Oregon's (which is also the same tune as the Texas Longhorns' fight song, BTW). Then, in the interest of harmony and balance and because I just couldn't take it any more, I cued up Bow Down to Washington. The fight songs got the kids totally fired up - which is exactly what they're designed to do. I'm sure Bee was a ball of fire at ballet today....

BY THE BOOK: Of course we had to read a book about football today, so "Kick, Pass and Run" by Leonard Kessler it was. CJ was enthused for the first couple of pages, when the book was about football terms and formations. But then, it suddenly shifted to a frog, owl, cat, turtle et al messing around with a football they found in a field. "They're not going to play are they?!" asked CJ, the anti-anthromorph. Unfortunately, the book did turn into a story about animals playing football. Sorry, CJ. :(

THE WAY THE BALL BOUNCES: For PE, we walked up to the park and played football. Well, played with a football is a more apt description. That funny shaped ball is hard to throw. And catch. And pick up - unless you're Kirby!!!!

TAILGATING: In preparation for tonight's game, we did a little more math, reading and art - in the form of making chili, cookies and decorating.

For the first time, CJ showed a huge interest in fondant (that's usually Annabelle's forté). So I let him roll out and cut all of the fondant to cover the gingerbread jerseys. He took his job seriously and did a fantastic job. He was also really good at eating the cookies. :)