It Snowed!!!!!

I got to see snow!  It was only about 2 inches and it was almost all melted by dark, but it counts!  Here are a few pictures of Siloh's first time in the snow.

He wasn't so sure about walking in it at first!

Then he decided to play in it....and eat it!)

Siloh and his sister Laci

New Background

I have a new background!  The other one kept freezing up so I thought it was time to get a new one.  I couldn't find one that I loved, so I created this one.  It is a work in progress so don't be alarmed if it looks different next time you visit.

I hope everyone is having a fun (but restful) Winter Break.  I sure am!  It has not snowed here in Indiana yet, but there is a SLIGHT chance tonight!  Fingers crossed I will see some white stuff before I head back to the sunshine state. (As long as it is not the day I fly home!)

If there are any teachers following me, check out my new blog, Sunshine, Sand and Scissors!  It is a blog for primary teachers.  I created it with 2 of my amazing colleagues.  It is new.  There are only 2 posts so far and the layout needs some minor tweaking, but it's up and running!

All Aboard!

Today was our Annual First Grade Polar Express PJ Party!  It was soooooo much fun.  Our hallway was decorated with a train, Christmas trees, snowmen and candy canes.  We read the story, watched the movie, drank hot cocoa, made a retelling train, and even had a surprise visit from Santa himself!!  (We also had a fire drill.....that was interesting in our pj's and slippers:-/).  Below are some pictures.  Enjoy!

Our Golden Tickets created by Mrs. Szlosek!

Our seats were set up like a train
while we listened to the story!

Even Jingle was excited
about Polar Express Day!

                                                 

Hallway Christmas Trees and Snowman

Hallway Train Decoration

Christmas Around First Grade

Today we had Christmas Around First Grade.  We visited each first grade teacher's room for a special holiday activity.  In Mrs. Dockery's room we learned about Kwanzaa.  She made us a very yummy fruit salad!  In Mrs. Szlosek's room we learned about Christmas in Germany and the legend of the gingerbread.  The ornaments we made will be coming home tomorrow....they had to dry!  Mrs. Fischer helped us make a candy cane ornament.  Did you notice it was a pattern?  We ended the day with Miss Gilbert.  She read Mistletoe and the Christmas Kittens to us.  (Which we didn't take our eyes or ears off of, by the way!)  We also sang the Reindeer Pokey.....the reindeer version of The Hokey Pokey!  Then Miss Gilbert gave us markers (yes, MARKERS!) to color a holiday poster.   We sure accomplished a lot for an Early Release Day!

Jingle

Look where Jingle was this morning.  He knocked the markers and rag onto the floor!  We forgave him, though since he left us a note.  (It said that Santa was very impressed with his report from yesterday.  He also said he was very proud of us and if he gets another good report tonight, he might send us a treat!)

Gingerbread Man Day

We read so many versions of the Gingerbread Man today.  It was a great way for us to discuss characters, settings, and do a lot of comparing and contrasting. But here is the best part.....we did math and science with gingerbread men!!!  In Math Miss Gilbert gave us each a gingerbread man and only let us take only ONE bite.  We were a little annoyed she only let us take ONE bite, but we quickly figured out why.  We did a pictograph and then a bar graph to show which part we ate first.  Here are some pictures.  Can you tell which part most of us ate first?

Head..................Arm...............Leg.................

                                     

In all of the versions of The Gingerbread Man, the fox "helped" him across the river.  We wondered what would have happened if the Gingerbread Man would have swam across the river himself.  What better way to find out than to do a Science Investigation?!?!?!  So that is what we did!!!  We asked a question, made a hypothesis, then conducted an experiment.   Here is a picture of a dry gingerbread man and a gingerbread man after he had been in the water for 30 minutes.  Yikes!  We concluded that gingerbread men should NOT swim!

And YES, we at the rest of our gingerbread men after Math!

Grinch Day 2011

We survived Grinch Day without anyone being a grinch...even though the First Grade Teachers looked extra "Grinchy" today!  

When we got to school this morning, the Grinch had licked all of our candy canes and turned them GREEN!  Can you believe he did that???

And look where Jingle was this morning! He took Miss Gilbert's green marker and pen.

 We made a character characteristic poster for the Grinch at the beginning of the story...........

And at the end of the story!

 We learned about similies,

The Grinch is as green as a tree.  His heart is as small as a bug.

The Grinch is as green as a leaf.  His heart is as small as a bug.

And we wrote how we would make the Grinch grin.....if we ever happened to meet him!

 I would.....tell him a funny joke.

 I would.....ask him to be my friend.

In Math we figured out Grinch story problems and made patterns with manipulative cards. I was so impressed with the problem solving and team work that was going on that I didn't take any pictures!

I say Grinch Day was a success!
I hope you had as much fun as I did!!