Turkey Talk and Hawkeye Hustle News

Can you believe it? November already! I can't believe we have been together for two months! Time sure flies when we are having fun! Since we took home our jack-o-lanterns and spiders that adorned our classroom and hallway in October, we needed a new hallway decoration!  So, we made beautiful turkeys! The children brainstormed what they are thankful for first, wrote about that on the turkey tummy, and then added the head, feet, rainbow tail feathers and feathers around the writing. Not only do the kids enjoy creating a craft, there is more involved than they think! The fine motor skills needed to write, cut, curl the feathers around a pencil, and glue are important. It is always interesting to me to see what they are thankful for in their writing as well. Last, putting a craft together correctly after viewing me make one is always challenging.

Now for the BIG NEWS !!!!  I am certain you heard, but just in case... two big announcements were made to end our day and week at school.  As you know, the Hawkeye Hustle occurred last week. This was a new fundraiser for our PTO. Instead of selling items, the children asked for donations from family and friends to help support Hamilton Elementary School in exchange for a full day of 'Hustling' at school.  Grade levels took turns running, hopping, walking, skipping, dancing and more with Mrs. Petersen, our P.E. teacher, leading us.

Well, in exchange for the hard work, some incentives were offered to the students. First, four students were randomly drawn from all students who contributed to the effort to receive a prize. Second, the top earning student from each grade was awarded $50! Last, the top earning classroom was awarded a pizza party in the near future and $100 to spend in their classroom!

And the big announcements... our own Ryleigh was the top earning first grader!  Congratulations to Ryleigh!

Ryleigh was so excited to hear her name announced!
The cheers in our classroom for her were so loud!

The next announcement drew screams and high fives!  OUR CLASS earned the top selling prize!  Kids were running around the room, jumping up and down, and I think I even saw a few happy tears!  I almost felt a little sorry for the other classes (but not really)...So thank you to all of the parents for helping your child with this important fund raiser! The PTO uses the money so wisely and all the children benefit greatly at Hamilton Elementary School in so many ways because of this wonderful group of parents!  

We will have a hard time deciding what to spend our
$100 on, but I know it will be put to good use!

Way to go kids! We are so proud to win this award!

One calm picture to see the smiles! Notice Ryleigh holding our prize?

The only way I can get them to pose for nice photos is to promise to add in a crazy one at the end!
I like Isaac's pose, but everyone loves to be crazy!