On a recent Friday morning, Class 1 students bubbled with excitement, as they had some special friends accompanying them in their classrooms.
With names like Goldilocks, Unicorn, Silver, and Buffalo, the unique visitors were none other than the students’ very own stuffed animals, (or “stuffies”), which ventured to Chapin to take part in Teddy Bear Day, a wonderful Class 1 tradition.
Each classroom displayed an array of stuffed animals – not just bears – in all sizes and colors. The stuffies, perched on desks, ranged from a rainbow ostrich, chubby snowman, lengthy giraffe, tiny teddy bear, to a stuffed alligator flaunting a Chapin sweater.
Throughout the day, the fuzzy friends were incorporated into different lessons covering a variety of subjects. Students began by using their math skills to measure their stuffies. In their respective classrooms, the Class 1 teachers demonstrated how to count Unfix cubes to determine the length of the stuffed animals.
Floor 2A bustled with energy as each student fervently measured her animal, eager to find out whose would be the smallest and whose the largest. “Mine’s 14 cubes!” one student exclaimed while another countered, “Mine was 26!”
Following the math lesson, students enjoyed a special picnic lunch in Carl Schurz Park, where they walked hand in hand, tightly clinging to their stuffed companions. “Bears can hold hands, too!” one student stated proudly, as she offered the opposite arm of her small teddy bear to a fellow student. Spread out on sheets and picnic blankets, lunchtime was joyfully spent eating, playing tag, catch, and hide and seek.
The enthusiasm didn’t stop after the park festivities, as one student happily proclaimed, “Teddy Bear Day isn’t over!” Students spent the remainder of the day drawing pictures of their stuffies, reading them stories, and using them in Spanish class, where booklets were made describing their stuffed friends in Spanish. Lastly, the students exhibited their writing talents by writing a short story detailing their stuffed animals’ delightful day at Chapin!
Teddy Bear Day was once again a high-spirited day, filled with enjoyable, educational activities and one that the students will likely remember for years to come.
