Christmas LOL

Ok, how many times this holiday season has the primary grade teacher heard, "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg.  Batmobile lost its wheels and Joker took ballet!" ?   You know what I'm talkin' about!  Ha ha!
Merry Christmas!

Heart Strings

Each day last week during our morning song, the National Anthem, my students spontaneously clasped hands and sang beautifully.  As the mother of an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, this brought tears to my eyes.  

Cloud in a Jar

We have been studying weather and, wow, what a weather month it is!  We are experiencing temperatures 40 degrees higher than last year at this time.  We have observed many types of precipitation, too.  As a companion activity, we tried the "Cloud in a Jar" experiment today.  

Our first attempt did not work so well.  After researching further, we found we needed to light a match, hold it in the jar for a few seconds, and then drop it in the hot water (with an emphasis on NOT playing with matches/having adult supervision).  It seems we hadn't given the water molecules anything to attach to.  So.... the second time around, the smoke from the match gave the molecules something to cling to.  Using a flashlight to shine on the cloud helped, too.  We had the lights out, but putting a piece of black paper behind the jar might be effective, too.

Nature Hike, Part 2

When we were on the trail of our School Forest, we walked the rim of the pond, discussing ice safety and ice conditions.  Suddenly there was the strangest noise.  We all froze.  The ice reverberated and we heard loud thump! thump! thumps! beneath us.  There was a collective gasp from the kids and then squeals of "It's the beavers!"  We quickly retreated knowing it was an alarm sent out by the beavers.  They were warning each other of danger, and trying to scare us off.  
This was clearly a once in a lifetime experience.  It also reminded me of why I went into teaching.  

Tracking Outdoors

Ah, winter!  Mild weather makes us happy to be outdoors.  We have been hiking and exploring our school forest in search of animal tracks.  Although we're not experts, we have taken along our field guides and have done our scientific best.  (If you have input for us regarding our findings, please let us know.  Part of our research process is "seek information from a variety of sources".  Thank you.)

Our biggest challenge has been staying off the tracks so everyone can see them.

Raven tracks near our feeder.

Grouse

Fox

Beaver

Mouse

Vole or Mole

Paper Plate Santa

Sometimes you just need a project that is not linked to targets, standards, or "I can" statements.  Sometimes you need a project that lets kids catch their breaths and relax. Sort of like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.  Sometimes you need to feel that warm, cozy classroom feeling and listen to the buzz of a happy class.  

Ok, you could discuss fractions if you really can't let go. Or fine motor skills, or planning and organizing.    And, oops, I meant "recycle" rather than "discard".

Outdoor Gear Chart

Do your students drive you crazy by asking each day at recess time what they "have to wear" outside?  Mine did until I put up this chart.  A red tag means "Stop, and put it on."  So far it works like a charm!

November Projects

A parent who owns a hardware store donated these paint sample strips.  What to make with them?  TURKEYS!  The kids added what they're grateful for.  This activity paired well with
Junie B. Jones, First Grader: Turkeys We Have Loved and Eaten by Barbara Park

We reused olive jars, a little ribbon, and split peas.  We hiked around our school forest to find nature objects.  A beautiful fall arrangement doesn't need to cost a bunch.

Harvest

Our favorite fall bulletin board.  Glue outline on black paper.  Shade with oil pastels.

Tippy-Toe Turkeys - We painted the bottoms of our feet brown and then added the rest.

November - Thanks to mrskarensclass.blogspot.com. We made these last week. The kids took them home to give to Veterans in the family or to friends. Some posted these in local businesses. This one is at Marshall Hardware. Thanks, Veterans, from the bottom of our hearts!

We combined a couple of Pinterest ideas. Thanks to "who's" awesome? by artsy_T on Flickr and packhamspalette.blogspot.com

A great way to use scraps.

October

My son's second grade teacher originally made these with her classes.  God bless you, Mary Sullivan.

In the beginning....

Welcome to Open House and the first day of school.

We made acorn people to welcome fall.

Paint samples for name tags....  easy!