I feel like I should warn you - there is a LOT of pictures on this blog post! :)
I couldn't help it when I brought my nicer camera. I think I'm going to need to bring it more often.
The week before Christmas break was SO much fun!
Even though we had a ton of fun, we still did a lot of learning!
The favorite thing we learned this week, was when we measured different things in our desks with our linking cubes.
The students got to work with a partner and measure 4 things in their desks with linking cubes and figure out which one is smallest all the way to the longest.
They had a blast with this and did such a great job!
I might be a little biased, but I think I have the cutest and most hard working class in the first grade. Seriously, look at these faces. I can't help but smile when I do!
We got to have a Grinch Day! The students did different activities involving the Grinch, and in the afternoon we compared the book to the cartoon movie. We did the same thing with the Polar Express the next day.
The got to write about how they would make the Grinch grin. These turned out so unique and so cute!
I forgot to post about these last week, but they made their own scene in a holly bell! I always love doing these because I love projects with their hands.
On Tuesday, we had a Polar Express movie watching party! Everyone was invited and got to wear their PJs! Yes, I am wearing footie pajamas, but pretty much only for the picture. Hah. :) The kids had a blast! We got to make a train, read about the store, compare it to the movie after watching the movie, and we got to drink some delicious hot cocoa. Yum!
This is the train we got to make out of candy. I used elmers glue for this project...but next time, I think I am going to use hot glue. They still turned out alright after they dried, but once the students picked them up some of them started to fall apart. :( Oh well, next time! A huge thank you to the parents who brought the different things for this activity and for the hot chocolate!
On Wednesday we made Magic Reindeer Food!!! I made it simple by using oats and glitter.
We also made ornaments for the parents. I put their picture in the middle and they put the puzzle pieces around it. I then hot glued the string to the back then sprayed them with glitter to make them extra special.
The Connecticut PTSA is doing a project for the Sandy Hook Elementary. They asking people to send them snowflakes to make their school a winter wonderland for when they return in January. My class made the beautiful snowflakes and I sent them off to the PTSA in Connecticut. If you would like to make your own snowflakes at home, you can send them to:
Connecticut PTSA
60 Connolly Parkway
Building 12 Suite 103
Hamden, CT 06514
They need to be delivered BEFORE January 12th, so make sure you send them with enough time to get to the PTSA by then.
I love how they turned out! While we were making them, I told them they wouldn't be able to keep them. I didn't tell them anything about Sandy Hook, I simply said that they were going to go to a place where the kids need to smile because they are sad and these will help the kids smile.
On Friday, we did our Christmas program for the school! They all did a GREAT job! First the second grade did their songs:
Then it was 1st grades turn! What a good lookin' group of kiddos. They did such a great job!
Next, we decided to have a little fun! The first grade was in charge of this, and we decided that since it was such a hectic week, we wanted to do something a little bit out of the ordinary and get everyone's minds off of certain things. So, the teachers did their own little musical number! We sang and danced to the Chipmunks Christmas Song! We had BLAST! We even got a standing ovation by the crowd. ;) Seriously, it was so much fun and I would love to do something like that again. I am so lucky to work with such wonderful people! They are my work family and I love them all!
We even got the men in the school to sing "The Grinch"! Okay, they mostly just mouthed it, but that's okay. It was still fun!
Mrs. Ford's class in 2nd grade was doing a readers theater that day for the Grinch, and one of her students was all dressed up like the Grinch! He ran up and scared Mr. Weller. It was SO cute and he was smiling from ear to ear!
Since the picture above was blurry, I went over to his classroom so I could take a picture of him. So much fun!
We also got a very special guest come to visit us! Can you guess who?
I can not tell you how loud that gym was when they saw Santa walk in!
They had so much fun seeing Santa, and I think we succeeded at getting our minds off of certain things and simply having a good time.
Later in the afternoon, we had our Christmas party! They played a lot of fun games! They played a game where they had to put the different parts on the reindeer. (Antlers, tail, nose)
They also played a Hershey Kisses Relay. They had to walk backwards, sideways, swim backwards, and other fun stuff with a hershey kiss on their heads!
They also made this cute craft with beads and pipe cleaners!
I made these gifts for the other first grade teachers. I have to say THANK YOU to pinterest for giving me the idea! It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but it was worth it. The only one that turned out the way I wanted it to was this one:
The others turned out alright, but the J leaked crayon or something, which was weird. But oh well!
A HUGE thank you to all of the parents that helped out with the last week of school before Christmas, especially the parents that helped with the party! We all had a BLAST! Thank you so much for everything you do! I am the luckiest teacher in the world and can't wait to go back to school in a week and see your kids again! Thank you for everything!
