Catching up!

It's time send out an update of a few items that went on in our classroom in the past two weeks!  Last week, on the day before Thanksgiving, we were treated to another fantastic cupcake creation from Trisha Schlipp, Zavier's mom!  The kids were SO VERY EXCITED to see what she came up with, and were even more happy to eat them!  Thank you so much for making our holidays extra fun Mrs. Schlipp!  We appreciate your efforts so much!

Zavier is so proud and excited to share his treat with his classmates!

 

 

This turkey is ALMOST too cute to eat!

Last week we also began our work with math fact fluency.  The goal is for first graders to know their addition and subtraction facts to/from 10 by June.  Our math series does a great job teaching many different strategies to help kids with their facts, but sometimes it takes a little extra effort.  So we began 'Bubblegum Math' in class.  Flashcards for math fact strategies, beginning with the easiest strategy, will come home weekly.  Each Wednesday the kids will be given a 1-minute written timing on the same facts.  12+ correct facts in one minute = a gumball sticker on the bulletin board for that strategy as well as a REAL gumball!  If less than 12 facts are known, the same set of flash cards will be sent home to continue practicing until the following week.  This is a great way for kids to move up at their own pace.  Of course, reviewing the flashcards each day with your child will also help him/her move ahead quicker.  There are 12 sets of flash cards to pass by June, but those who are able can work on extension strategies (up to set 19!)  Wouldn't it be neat to see a gumball machine on the bulletin board with 19 gumballs in it???   The kids are excited to try to reach their goal!

 

This week we had so much fun in Social Studies!  We've been learning about Christmas traditions, and have made some beautiful creations for our classroom!  We began by making three different ornaments for our tree.  First, we traced our hand, turned it around, and made it into a Santa face!

 Next, we used math to create an ornament.  Using pattern blocks, we discovered that 2 green triangles fit on a blue diamond.  3 green triangles fit on a red trapezoid.  And 6 green triangles fit on a yellow hexagon.  SO... we assigned numbers to the shapes:  green triangles (1), blue diamonds (2), red trapezoids (3), and yellow hexagons (6).  So the kids created a design using paper pattern blocks and then, on the back, wrote out a matching equation.

On the back of this one:  6+2+2+2+2+2+2+1+1+1+1+1+1=24

Finally, we created angels after decorating the robe/wings. 

Here is our finished tree after all three ornaments were made (although we placed a few on our other plants in the classroom):

Another fun activity this week involved reading MANY different 'Gingerbread Man' stories!  We compared and contrasted the different versions and did a little writing project about where we thought the Gingerbread Man was running!  Many creative ideas were given (Candyland, Gingerbread World, chocolate river and many more)!  We then decorated our own gingerbread man to staple at the top and display on the bulletin board.

 

We also read a book called "The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy" this week.  The story is about a puppy who wanted a boy for Christmas.  He searched everywhere for a boy, even asking several dogs with boys if they would give up their boy.  Finally, he found a Home for Boys, and joined them, giving Petey 50 boys for Christmas!  It was a heart-warming story.  The kids then wrote on paper ornaments about one very special thing that THEY would like for Christmas.  Our bulletin board looks cute!

 

A fun project we completed was our "Curly Santa"!  I showed the kids how to create spiral curls for the beard by cutting a circle in a spiral motion until they reach the middle of the circle.  They had fun making his beard and the hallway looks spectacular!

 

Finally, we made wreaths to hang from our ceiling.  As of this posting, only the green holly is cut out, but we will complete our wreaths on Friday afternoon!  The photo below is an example of what they will look like!

 

Well, as you can see, we've been very, very busy the past couple of weeks!  We love to use our small muscles to improve our fine motor skills with cutting, coloring writing and gluing!  Our classroom and hallway is filled with the holiday spirit!