Spreading Holiday Cheer
We have a new friend, whom we named Elfie (quite fitting I think)! He comes to visit us each day and brings with him a note of encouragement as well as an act of kindness to spread to others each day! It is really fun seeing all of our friend's faces light up each morning as they search the room for our friendly visitor and work hard to spread kindness to others! So far we have helped clean up trash around the school and written Thank-You letters to Mrs. Paulen, Mrs. Kinnie and to our custodians, Ashely and Tom, for all of their hard work and we made sure to wish them all a Merry Christmas!
In addition to the daily fun our new friend brings, we have been finding additional opportunities to extend our learning! Last week Friday, after reading about Little Red Riding Hood, we spent our afternoon working in partner groups to design, build (redesign and rebuild at times) a basket for Red Riding Hood to use to help carry 'food' to her grandmother. Our friends had to discuss with their partner, a plan for their basket - what it would look like, how it would carry the 'food,' etc. Together they had to design, through drawing, what their basket would look like and then work together to build it. Finally, they had to fill the basket with 50 cubes (great practice in 1-to-1 counting) and then carry their basket 120 steps around the classroom/hallway - this was a great extension of what we have been practicing in math as well! When finished they had to work on some negotiation and problem solving skills in another way - they had to decide who would get to take the basket home! It was interesting listening to some of the conversations that they were having when determining who would keep their project!
In your child's folder on Friday was a 120 chart. This is meant for you to keep at home and practice with them often. We are working on counting to 120 (a big 1st grade goal) and apply these kills we have been learning in a variety of ways. This includes counting by 10's, 5's and 2's as well as counting on and back from any number. There are a variety of ideas on the back of the chart for you to try with your child. Place it on your refrigerator for easy access and happy counting!!
On Wednesday of this week, we went to a super fun assembly called Jump with Jill. We learned about the importance of eating healthy and exercising. It was a lot of fun. Not only did we learn important lessons, but we got to dance, sing and exercise the whole time too!
This week we focused on a gingerbread story comparison, reading The Gingerbread Man, The Gingerbread Girl and The Gingerbread Pirates.
We took time each day to work on comparing and contrasting the stories to find similarities and differences among them. On Friday, we were able to work in teams to build boats for our gingerbread men/girls so that they could successfully escape the sly fox! The tricky part was agreeing on a design, building it and making sure it floated! It is so fun getting to apply our learning from reading into creative, hands-on ways!
I would like to send out a big THANK YOU to our Secret Christmas Readers this week! Thank you Ms. Jessica and Ms. Amanda for coming in at story time and reading some fun stories to us! It is definitely fun coming back to class from lunch and seeing someone special waiting for us and listening to them read to us!
As you can see, we have been extremely busy here in first grade! We are SO excited about the upcoming holiday and all of the excitement that it brings, however we are also working on focusing when it is time to learn and practicing self control - it is important to know when it is ok to be silly and when to turn that off and do our work. This can often be a struggle when routines are changed and new things are added to our schedule. We will continue working on this as we adjust to slight changes to our schedule to accommodate for various upcoming activities (and snow days as they arise).
This upcoming week we are excited about Santa Shop. This is a great opportunity for your child to purchase gifts for the family at a very reasonable price. It is so fun seeing the excitement kids have when being able to give to others. Our PTO sponsored Santa Shop offers the opportunity for your child to purchase a gift or gifts for members of their family that they get to pick out on their own, wrap and deliver! The best part is that each gift only costs $2! What a fun way to get into the giving spirit and not break the bank! Our PTO will be set up in the library on Wednesday and Thursday this week with volunteers helping students shop. If you are able and willing, they are still in need of stick on Christmas bows to attach to the wrapped gifts (they will be selling around 1600 gifts)! A note when home on Friday with additional information as well as a 'wish list' for your child to bring back to school next week with their shopping money so they already have in mind who they are buying for!
Additionally, as a reminder, I will be placing our final Scholastic Book Club order before Christmas on Monday morning. If you are still looking for a good book for your child to bring in to our class book exchange or are looking for some last minute fantastic gifts for Christmas now is you chance! They are guaranteed to be delivered before Christmas and will be here in time for the exchange! You can use our class code MCVDY to order online! If you are unable to purchase a book for the exchange please let me know ASAP so that arrangements can be made - I will make sure there is a book for your child to give!
Please remember that as the COLD weather and snow has arrived it is extremely important that your child comes to school dressed for the weather! Please make sure that your child has snow pants, boots, a winter coat, hat and warm gloves or mittens every day! Sometimes thin cotton mittens just aren't enough to keep their fingers warm - they get wet and then we have super cold hands and fingers.
I hope that you have a fantastic weekend and are able to enjoy the beautiful snow outside. As much of a summer/warm weather person I am, I still do love the look of the snow....now the cold....not so much! Stay warm and recharge your batteries for another busy week ahead! I will see you Monday morning for our Monday Morning Meeting my Fabulous Firsties (and be on the look out for Elfie....I wonder where he will wind up next)!!!
