Santa Claus Makes a Stop

As part of our Friendly Letter unit, we always write letters at Christmas time to Santa Claus. We had a special delivery on Thursday when Mrs. Thomas brought our letters to us that were from Santa Claus. The letters and candy canes were freezing from the North Pole. The package even had magical snow in it! :)

What a week!

This week we had a blast "traveling" to other countries to learn about the different holidays they celebrate during the winter months. We also learned that in order to leave the country we needed passports. So each day the students got out their passports to be stamped as we boarded The Polar Express. On Monday we begin our trip around the world and made our first stop to Africa, where we learned about Kawanzaa. The students enjoyed weaving Mkeka mats and trying a popular Kwanzaa dish called Muhindi (corn). On Tuesday we stopped in Israel to learn about Hannukah. We learned about the menorah, made our own dreidels, earned gelt (chocolate coins) while we played dreidel, and made potato latkes. On Wednesday, despite the delay, we were able to make a quick stop to Mexico, where we learned about Las Posadas and the legend of the poinsettia. The students made hand print poinsettias while they enjoyed eating cheese quesadillas. On Thursday we briefly stopped in America where we learned about Christmas, made candy can reindeer and our Snazzy Snack Rudie the Reindeer. We ended our trip around the world at the North Pole where we watched the Polar Express. It was a fantastic week and the students enjoyed learning while making a trip around the world! Check out their suitcases for all their souvenirs from around the world!

Matthew & Noah show off their Mkeka mats.

Franke & Morgan stop for a smile while playing dreidel.

Who will earn the most gelt?

Emily & Molly show off their handprint poinsettias.

Lilly in her party dress shows her adorable candycane reindeer.

Breanns & Kylie show off their Rudie the Reindeer Snazzy Snack

Mia working hard at writing her recipe before enjoying her snack.

Look sideways.... Rudie the Reindeer

Happy Holidays!

My tree is up and I even have some shopping finished! I can't wait for Black Friday! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Brownie Points

In our classroom we have "brownie points" that the students can earn for extra good behavior. The students filled their first jar of "brownie points" and enjoyed eating brownies for an extra treat. Hopefully we can earn another batch of brownies soon! Below are some photos of the students enjoying their brownies.

Turkey Treats from Syndey's Mom

Adorable "turkey treats" Sydney's mom made for our class to enjoy!

Kylie and Sydney show off their turkeys!

Turkey for Thanksgiving Dinner?

Here are some photos of our "holiday homework." It appears everyone had fun disguising their turkey so it didn't get eaten for Thanksgiving dinner!

Friendly Letter Elf

This week the students learned the five parts of a friendly letter. Here is a picture of "friendly letter elf" who helps us remember the five parts of a friendly letter. We also learned a song to help us rememeber to the tune of the "Adams Family." Ask you child if they can sing it to you!

Exploring Chemistry with COSI on Wheels

Thank you to the W.P.A. who made it possible for us to have a fun day exploring different chemistry experiments at COSI on Wheels. I think the best station was the slime station! Even I liked making slime... purple of course!

In our safety goggles, ready for a fun day of experiments!


Making slime

Making more slime.....

Hedgehog Bakes a Cake

This week we read a story called, Hedgehog Bakes a Cake. After we read the story all week, the students made individual cakes in cups. Then they completed a sequencing activity with the steps involved in making the cakes. Finally they completed some comprehension questions about the activity.

Learning about Synonyms

This week we learned about synonyms. The chant we learned was "a synonym, a synonym, it means the same." In the activity pictured below, the students were given a card and had to find their partner with the matching synonym. Some other activities we completed were playing a concentration game with turkeys, along with I have, Who has, where the students had to listen until their synonym was called.

Turkey Treats to Send Over Seas

We are thankful for all of the women and men serving our country. We thought it would be nice to make "turkey treats" to send to Kylie's dad and his squadron serving in Iraq. Hopefully they get them in time! :)

M & M Math

My math class learned about graphing, sorting, comparing numbers, and addition using M & M's. This was a tasty activity this students had fun completing during conference week.

Learning About the Season

This year we adopted a tree that we observe all year long through the different seasons. The children sketch the tree and write about their favorite activity they like to do in that season. We had a beautiful fall day to observe our tree. Hopefully we have a nice day in the winter to observe too!

It's been awhile....

I need to apologize for not posting pictures for the last few weeks. I think that I am finally caught up with everything, since my grad. class ended. Even with the hustle and bustle of the holidays coming up, I feel like I am all caught up... maybe even a bit ahead of everything since some of my Christmas shopping is finished and my decorations are up. However, my husband will be having his elbow reconstructed next Tuesday, so we will see how far ahead I stay. Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving. When talking with the class about things we are thankful for I began to think, I am thankful for all of you for being such wonderful parents and for my fantastic students... they are the reason I love my job so much! Thank you!

Happy Halloween!

I know these are a bit late... however here's a glimpse at our Fantastic Halloween Party. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a lovely time parading through the street and eating lots of treats at our party.