We started class this week with a mix and mingle activity. Students moved around the classroom while listening to excerpts from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and were asked to share with a partner their thoughts about winter, the season we are leaving behind, and what they’re looking forward to about spring, which is just around the corner. Epic second-grade ballet and air guitar ensued. Then we watched a video about how different cities around the world celebrate spring.
In the kitchen, students got to work with the new salad spinners and food processors The Breakfast Project recently acquired with the District 8 participatory budgeting money we won last year. The food processor bowls filled with fresh spring goodies like green garlic, fava leaves, mint, and dill. Instead of the pine nuts traditionally used in a pesto recipe, we used dried edamame. Second graders added a little lemon juice, salt, and pepper, then processed away while drizzling in extra-virgin olive oil. We tasted as a table and adjusted the seasonings, then slathered the bright green pesto on some Tartine sesame bread and topped it with the winter refrigerator pickles we made last week. A final dusting of edible (Brassica!) flower petals from the school garden and some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese completed these mini edible works of art. Spring is definitely in the air!
