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