December 21

WE DID IT!   We made it through our week before our winter / Christmas break!  The students were filled with excitement and energy.  Ending the week with an arctic blast which kept us inside on Thursday and most of Friday, did not help, but we managed to get some projects completed and focus on the work before us.

In literacy we learned about the letters v and w.  When we get back from break we will learn our last two letters of the alphabet!  We also learned three new sight words: to, we, go.  We read a new sight word book titled We Go.

We completed our Gingerbread theme.  We read several more versions of the familiar tale of the Gingerbread Man.  This week we read a second version of the Gingerbread Man which featured some different characters and had a slightly different storyline with the characters stopping to rest along the way (rather than continuing to chase the cookie).  We read the Gingerbread Girl, featuring the younger sister of the Gingerbread Boy.  While this version of the book had a similar formate, the story ended with the Gingerbread Girl capturing and befriending the fox.  Then we read my personal favorite, The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.  The Gingerbread baby had a familiar storyline, again ending in a twist where Mattie, the little boy who made the cookie, was captured the Gingerbread Baby in a sweet, little Gingerbread house he made.  Finally, on Friday we read Gingerbread Friends, also written by Jan Brett.  In this new version the Gingerbread Baby sets off to find a friend.  When he is unsuccessful he returns home (being chased by the villagers and the fox).  When he makes it home safely he is surprised to find that Mattie had been busy making many gingerbread friends for the gingerbread baby to play with.

We concluded our unit with decorating our own gingerbread friends!  Thanks to the families who contributed cookies and icing and decorations to make this happen!

In math we completed our first module of our math curriculum.  We celebrated with a number fair on Thursday where students become number detectives.  Each child picked an envelope with a secrete number inside.  Then, each student set out to create a display showing their number in as many ways as possible without writing the numeral.  When our displays were competed we went on a museum walk where the students had to use their detective skills to figure out what the secret number was.
On Thursday, students painted Gingerbread characters and then used buttons to add details of the face and clothes.  Each child had to use 10 buttons.  Then they completed a number sentence about their buttons (how many on the head + how many on the body = 10).

We did a Mystery Science lesson on Thursday about why Bears (and some other animals) hibernate.  While some students thought bears hibernate to stay warm, we learned that animals actually hibernate in the winter in order to conserve energy do to the lack of food in the winter. 

When we returned to school after Thanksgiving, we planted a Paperwhite Bulb.  Since then we have been watching it grow and measuring its growth.  Students have been excited to see the rapid changes that have happened to this fast growing plant.  This week we created a graph of the growth of the plant.  We have noticed that in the last week the growth has increased drastically, growing several inches in just a couple of days.  Students also noticed that the tallest part of the plant has a tip that is swollen.  They predict that this is where the plant will blossom flowers.  Ms. Kris will be taking care of the plant for us over vacation.  It will be interesting to see what our plant looks like when we return to school in January.

My favorite moment of the week as in making Happy Holiday cards on Friday morning which we

hand delivered to all the support people in our school who help us learn and take care of us.  Students used holiday/winter stamps and then wrote a message of Happy Holidays inside.  Students addressed the card to the adult receiving the card, then we walked around the school finding each teacher/ support person to give their card to.  The kids were soooo excited to do this and were so well received by everyone adult!  It really felt like the spirit of giving.

PLEASE empty your child's back pack!  There are several things in it.  Inside their Friday Folder is a hand made gift and card for you!  There is also a wrapped gift from me for each child in their back pack.  Additionally, students decorated two cookies, one which they could eat and the other to take home.  These were wrapped up and students put them in their bags.  Last, we made bird treats for ECO.  When we postponed ECO,  I told the kids they could each take on home.  They are made out of peanut butter, coconut oil, and bird seed.  They were frozen into Gingerbread Man molds, however when they were left out at room temperature they became really soft. They were wrapped in plastic wrap.  I hope they did not make a mess in their bags.  If they did I apologize!  You may be able to refreeze it and still hang it out for the birds to enjoy.

ECO make up date:  Friday January 3rd.

Alas...it appears that I forgot to bring my camera home, so I will have to add pictures of our Gingerbread Cookie decorating later.

Wishing you all a joyous holiday season filled with family, love, and good cheer!