Merry Christmas!

As I stepped into school this morning, I could feel the electricity in the air!   The big day we have all been waiting for finally arrived!   What a great day we had today!   Here is a run down of our fun filled day.  I have photos of some portions, but will describe our day so that you feel like you were there.

Our day started out as it normally does.  We did Xtra Math (the teacher in me HAD to do it just one more time for 2012) along with our free reading/book basket time.   Next were calendar activities.  We then finished up our class books incorporating various shapes.  These books turned out amazing!   They are a hit in our classroom library as well.  

Then, we celebrated Isaac's birthday and the start of our Christmas festivities with his cupcake treat (thanks Mrs. Warnock!) and juice boxes.  Believe me, we did not need any more sugar treats on top of that today!

Next, we finally got to open our wrapped books from each other!   What a neat experience it was to see the excitement on their faces when they received a new book from a classmate.   See the excited faces below:

Next, each child received a gift from Mrs. Ferrell.   A spiral notebook, box of crayons and box of markers kept them busy for 20+ minutes of free coloring!

Our next activity was a craft.  The kids made red/green macaroni necklaces with a Christmas tree in the middle.   Fortunately we had indoor recess today, because several kids needed the extra time to finish their craft.

After recess and lunch, we had our Friday Show and Tell time, and made a Student of the Week booklet for our friend Carter, who will not be returning in January.   Since he had not had the opportunity to be Student of the Week yet, we made his book for him as a special memory of our class.

We then had a little more than an HOUR of laptop computer time!   The kids have had the opportunity to play some nifty holiday games on the Cool Math 4 Kids website, but craved more time.  Since we watched our holiday movie yesterday, and the laptops were available, we grabbed the chance to play on them!   If you have a bored first grader over vacation, Cool Math 4 Kids will keep him or her busy for an hour or more easily!   

While we were playing computers, we had a surprise visitor!   MR. FERRELL came in to visit and brought Christmas cookies for everyone!   It is always a big hit when he visits (did you know he came in to make turkeys with us in November???)  and the kids not only enjoyed the cookies, they also got to show off their computer skills as well.

The final part of our day was Christmas caroling time in the gym with the entire school!   

After Christmas caroling, Mrs. Klomparens announced the winners of the hot lunch bike drawing.  Each time a child ate hot lunch this week, a ticket with his/her name went into a bucket.  Today, one boy and one girl name were drawn out of the bucket!   The winning boy was none other than Isaac!   It was also Isaac's 7th birthday today, so he really had a fantastic day of celebration!

Isaac's reaction upon hearing HIS name announced as the winner!

What a birthday!   I think I know someone who will be outside even in cold weather!

Thank you parents for the opportunity to partner with you in your child's academic, social and emotional growth this year!   It is truly a gift I am thankful for each and every day!   I am blessed beyond words with these precious children.   Have a wonderful break from school and enjoy your family this holiday season.  Don't forget to do a little reading, math flashcard work, visit Xtra Math on your computer, and come back to school in 2013 well rested and ready to buckle down to business!  We have a lot of fun and learning to do in the new year.   I can't wait to get started (well, maybe I can wait just a couple of weeks).   

Merry Christmas to everyone, and a blessed New Year!   See you in 2013!

Jodie Ferrell

Grayson

This is Grayson!   He is our Student of the Week.  Grayson's favorite color is PINK.   He would love to visit Lego Land someday.  Sponge Bob is his favorite television show to watch.  When Grayson grows up, he would love to be a house fixer.  He has three pets - a turtle named Freddie, a cat named Blackie and some fish.  Grayson's favorite book is "My Lucky Day".  His favorite sport is bike riding.  Grayson is special because he loves to snuggle with his mom.  His favorite thing to eat is CANDY!   The very best thing about Grayson is that he is a good helper.

CODE Cash Treasure Box!

Did you hear the news?   Or maybe you heard the roar last Friday afternoon!  Our class finally won the CODE Cash Treasure box!   Students at Hamilton Elementary earn CODE Cash for various positive things they do at school.  Each classroom has a box to store their CODE cash in, and the box is turned in each week.  There is a K-2 treasure box, and a 3-5 treasure box.  Items in the treasure box include appropriate grade level games and activities that the children can choose to play in class.  We have been trying very hard to 'win' the treasure box, and we finally succeeded last week!

CODE stands for:

Choose safe behaviors

Own your actions

Demonstrate Respect

Exercise your brainpowers

Check out the photos of our kids enjoying the treasure box activities at center time!

Carter, Abbi and Jordyn play Sorry!

Tommy and Abby play Connect 4.

Isaac and Maddie play Sorry!

Keaton and Olivia play Dr. Seuss Matching.

Mackenzie and Evan play Connect 4.

Vera, Josie and Brandon play Trouble.

Koltin and Ethan play Blokus.

Jaelene and Keegan play Trouble.

Grayson and Elijah play Slap Jack.

Mackenzie

This is Mackenzie.   She is our student of the week for this week!  Her favorite color is PURPLE.  Mackenzie would love to visit Chicago soon.  Her favorite television program is Victorious.  When she grows up, she would like to be a teacher.  Mackenzie has a pet bunny and a cat named Snowy.  Her favorite book is called My Lucky Day.   Softball is Mackenzie's favorite sport.  She is special because God loves her.  Pizza is her favorite food.  But the very best thing about Mackenzie is that she is nice to everyone!

Another ODC visit!

Here is a riddle for you:   What is a baby fish called?   (Read the blog to find out!)

We began our week with a second visit from Ruth Cronk from the Outdoor Discovery Center!   Today's lesson was about animals!  She began her visit by reading a book called "Animal Babies" by Bobbie Hamsa.  This book describes various animals with the adult and the baby name for each.  Mrs. Cronk then showed our class some posters with animals on them.  She discussed the way some animal babies look very similar to the parent, and some look very different than their parent.  She also talked about different animal families including the reptile family, amphibians, fish, birds and mammals.

Mrs. Cronk then passed out posters with adult and baby animals on them.  Our job was to find our 'partner' (adult/baby) and be able to name them when we went around the circle.  Finally, Mrs. Cronk brought in some real animals to show us.  We were even allowed to touch some of them!  After our lesson, the children drew pictures of adult animals with their baby, and labeled them.

 It is amazing how much the children already know, but with Mrs. Cronk here, all their knowledge was extended and so much more specific information was learned!   We are so fortunate to have these lessons!    Enjoy the pictures below and be sure to read the captions so that you can learn as well!

Mrs. Cronk reads "Animal Babies" to the class.  The book showed
various adult and baby animals and gave the names for each.

Mrs. Cronk explains the next activity.  We had to flip over our cards,
quietly find the partner (parent/baby) and discuss the name given
to the adult and to the baby.

We went around the circle after finding our partners and told the names.

Mrs. Cronk brought out a painted turtle.  It is a reptile, which means it is cold-blooded.
It lays eggs and the baby hatches from an egg.  Every turtle shell has 13 scales (called scoots)
on it's back.  How can you tell if it is a male or a female?   Males have long nails!

Mrs. Cronk brought along a taxidermy Eastern Screech Owl to show us.
Owls have stationary eyes, which means they can not move them left or right.
To compensate, they can twist their heads 270 degrees to look for prey or
predators!  They have sharp talons, a sharp beak, and feathers on their feet,
so they do not need to migrate.  Owls are nocturnal, so they hunt at night.
Baby owls are called owlets.

The green frog comes from the amphibian family.  Frogs need to stay wet in
order to breathe, but toads (also an amphibian) do not need to stay wet.  Both start
out life from an egg, then hatch into a tadpole.  Froglets and toadlets are the next
stage, and finally, the adult.  They are cold blooded and hibernate in mud in the
winter.  Only males croak to attract females.  

Mrs. Cronk brought in a fish.  Fish must stay in water at all times.  They have
scales and breathe using gills.  Mrs. Cronk also brought in a Blue spotted salamander.

Sassafras is a rabbit, which is a mammal.  Mammals are warm blooded.  She was
purchased from the Critter Barn when she was a year old.  If you find a baby
rabbit (called a bunny), let it be!  Bunnies will not survive if you take it away
from it's mother!  The mother has very specific milk that cannot be replicated, so
it would die if it still depends on it's mother to eat!

The children drew pictures of adult animals with their baby.  They also
wrote the name of each!

Mrs. Cronk enjoyed watching the children create their pictures.

Do you know the answer to the riddle?????

A baby fish is called a FRY!   You can remember that if you think of going to a fish fry to eat dinner!

Thank you to Mrs. Cronk and the Outdoor Discovery Center for a wonderful lesson!  We look forward to seeing Mrs. Cronk again in February!

Keegan

This is Keegan!   He is our student of the week this week.  Keegan's favorite color is light blue.   He loves to visit Chicago whenever he can.  Keegan's favorite television program is Tom and Jerry.  When he grows up, Keegan would like to be a sailing instructor!  He has three pets - a cat named White Paw, a fish and a hamster named Hammy.  Keegan's favorite book is called Percy Jackson.  His favorite sport is bike riding.  Keegan likes a lot of foods, but his very favorite is tacos.  He is special because he is nice to everyone.  But the very best thing about Keegan is that God loves him!

Three Cheers for the Hamilton Elementary PTO!!!

This post is dedicated to our wonderful PTO at Hamilton Elementary!   Because they care so much about the children in our school, they supply each grade level a very generous amount of money set aside for teachers to use as they see needs arise in their classrooms.   In the past, the first grade teachers have used our money for books, supplies, games, admission for field trips, bus and bus driver costs for field trips, and even furniture for our classrooms!   The three of us have different needs within our classrooms as well, so we each spend some on our own students.   Because supply money is tight, the district purchased a much smaller amount of construction paper for the school this year.  In fact, the construction paper is gone already!   So, I chose to use PTO money to purchase construction paper for our class to make our wonderful art projects for Social Studies!    First graders LOVE to be creative and show off their artistic talents to decorate our room.   The fine motor skills needed are so important for little fingers, and the pride they have when visitors or other classes comment on the fine work is very evident on their faces!

So, enjoy the photos of our wonderful creations for December that decorate our classroom and hallway.   And if you are one of our wonderful PTO members or helpers, thank you!   And if your child sold items this year for our fund raiser, you helped make many first graders (and I am certain many other children at Hamilton Elementary) very happy!

They were so busy and full of concentration, they did not even know I took
the photos of them working on their angels!

Keaton starts cutting out his pieces.

The floor was easier to work on for the many parts and space
needed to create our wonderful angels!

Hard working, creative kids!

Vera's angel is singing for us!  See the mouth?

Evan did a fantastic job on his angel!

Josie shows off her completed angel!

Some of our wonderful creations found a home on a bulletin board in our
classroom.  Others hang above our lockers in the hallway!

Our classroom Christmas tree is filled with Santa and
Angel ornaments created by the children!  It makes me
smile to see the crowded mass in one place, and the
open gap in another!  

We made "Curly Santas" to decorate our hallway.  The kids learned how to
start with a circle and keep turning the circle to make a long, curly beard!
As you can see, some of them figured out how to make some very long pieces!

Special Visitor

Today Mr. Taubert,  father of first grader Ryan, came to visit the first graders!   Mr. Taubert is a Hamilton firefighter and reviewed fire safety ideas with our class.  Thankfully, our first graders all spent time in October learning about fire prevention and safety.  Mr. Taubert was very impressed with our knowledge, but hearing these ideas is always a good idea no matter how many times it is reviewed! Thank you Mr. Taubert!

Mr. Taubert talks about smoke detectors.  He told the kids to have their
parents check all detectors in the home to be sure they are still working.
He also said if a smoke detector is needed, to stop by the fire station and
families could get one for free if needed!

Mr. Taubert said bedroom doors should be closed when sleeping.  If a smoke
detector sounds, roll out of bed and crawl low to the ground where the air
is better.  Never hide in a closet or under the bed!

Mr. Taubert shows how to feel the bedroom door with the back of your hand
before opening it.  If it is hot, do not open the door!  Go to the window and get
out if you are on the first floor.  If you are on the second floor, stay low and stay
by the window so that a fire fighter can find you right away if needed.  Each child
was also given a reflective sticker to place on the outside of their bedroom window
so that a firefighter can find children's bedrooms fast if needed.

Mr. Taubert shows the children a thermal camera firefighters use to find
people or pets in homes that are on fire.  The children all got a turn to hold
the camera and check out how it works.

Mackenzie checks out the thermal camera first.  She said when she looked
through the camera, her friends faces were dark blue, meaning they were
the warmest part of their bodies.  What a neat tool to use in a fire!

Mr. Taubert put all of his turnout gear on so that the children could see
what a firefighter looks and sounds like.  The kids thought he looked a
little bit scary, but know that firefighters need all that gear to protect them
in a fire.  They promised not to be afraid of a firefighter!

Thank you for coming in Mr. Taubert!  We appreciate you and the
job that you do to protect us!  

Koltin

This is Koltin!   He is the Student of the Week for November 11-16!   Koltin's favorite color is BLUE! He would love to visit the zoo and his favorite animal is a zebra!  Koltin's favorite television show is Wars because of the Ninjas.  When he grows up, he would like to be a vet to help fish (but not fish that bite or puffer fish!)   Koltin has two dogs named Gauge and Bailey, and one cat named Salem.  His favorite book is Skippy Jon Jones Lost in Spice.  Koltin's favorite sport is soccer and he was on the blue team.  His favorite food is crispy bacon.  Koltin is special because he plays soccer.  The BEST thing about Koltin is that he can blow bubbles!