Christmas Around the World continued

It has been a REALLY busy week.  I have not done a good job of taking pictures of our adventures and I apologize.  I wanted to still let you know about the places we 'visited' and the fun things we learned about.
On Tuesday we 'traveled' to France.  We practiced the tradition of leaving a shoe out and Pere Noel came and delivered treat bags in all of their shoes!  We also enjoyed a yule log while working on or scrapbook page.  That same afternoon we learned about Italy, which has many of the same traditions.
Then the GRINCH showed up to read to us.  The Grinch made me hold the book and yelled at me for not turning the pages fast enough.  The kiddos got a kick out of that. 
Wednesday we set off for Sweden.  While in Sweden we learned about St. Lucia and how the oldest girl in the family would dress in white with an advent wreath on her head.  She would bring buns and coffee to her family.  I had a student come around and pass out mini cinnamon rolls to the students while they worked on their page. 
Today we went to Germany.  We talked about how the tradition of the Christmas tree originated here.  They would put candles on it at first, which sounded like a rather dangerous idea.  We also discussed the advent calendars (which we have in the classroom.  The students have gotten a little treat everyday from me), Christmas markets, and gingerbread.  While working on their page today I passed out gingersnap cookies for them to taste. 
Our last stop tomorrow will be back home in the United States of America.  I will spend the morning discussing some of our own traditions.  Then we will read the Polar Express, a tradition of my mom and I's.  After that, I have some activities for them and we will hopefully be able to put in the movie leading up to our party.
I have truly enjoyed celebrating the season with the students. Thank you for allowing me to have such a great time 'traveling' with them.  I taught this material in addition to our regular curriculum so I know the days were very busy and exhausting for them.  The sweet treats may have wound them up a little as well. I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!   

Christmas Around the World

We started our Christmas Around the World Unit this week.  I will admit this is something I like to spend at least 2 weeks on, so the poor kiddos are having to do it at hyper speed with me.  Yesterday we started by "visiting" Mexico.  We talked about the story of the poinsettia and their focus on the religious alters of the holiday.  I played Feliz Navidad while they worked on their scrapbook page.  Our classroom aide is from Columbia and was able to share more of the intimate Spanish traditions with us.  The holiday begins for them on Wednesday the 16th and will go through February 2nd. 

In the afternoon we "traveled" to England.  While listening to The Holy and the Ivy we learned that the Christmas card started in England.  We also talked about the foods they ate and the Christmas cracker they had at dinner.  The cracker is not in fact something you eat, but a wrapped tube that is 'cracked' open to reveal a paper hat and small trinkets.  I looked high and low, but couldn't find any to bring in for the students to have. 

Stay tuned for our exciting adventures to come!

NAHS Mini Musical

Today New Albany High School theater students came and put on "A Frozen Christmas Carol."  It was so much fun and many of the kiddos joined in on the singing!

Reading Celebration

So the kiddos have silly stringed our administrators, pied them in the face, and this morning they did the "Whip and Nay Nay!"  This time they had all the teachers join in.  It was so much fun.  I think it is safe to say the kiddos really enjoyed it. Mrs. Vanderhoof was able to snap a few pictures, but they are blurry due to her laughing so hard!  Haha!  I can only imagine what they will have us do the next reading benchmark we reach.

Hershey Bar Fractions

Well today I continued to teach the kiddos about fractions.  I had a very difficult time with fractions as a student so now that I am a teacher I will always teach them with CHOCOLATE!  I read them the Hershey Bar Fraction book and then they each got a snack-size Hershey bar to practice fractions with.  We had fun separating them into different combinations and then after identifying the correct fraction they were able to eat them.  I sent home a similar worksheet for a full size bar in case any of them wanted to do it again at home.  They do not have to return it.  It is just if they want to try it again. 
I was a terrible teacher and didn't take any pictures of them eating the fractions... I did notice that our elf Winter stole one though, so I took her picture.  She also wrote the students a little note on the board before relaxing in our marble treasure chest. 

Elf on the Shelf

Well it happened!  An elf came to visit us this year.  This is my first year with an elf and I couldn't be more excited.  The kiddos voted and named her Winter.  During writing they wrote friendly letters to her and when they came in today she had written them back and picked out her favorite book for us to read.  I can't wait to see all of the crazy things she will do! 

 

Reading Group Fun

Today one of our reading groups finished a book of animal advertisements.  They had the opportunity to write their own advertisement during our group time.  They did such a good job!

Shape Sort

Today the kiddos did a shape sort activity using the treats many of you donated.  I cannot thank you enough for all of your help collecting these items.  They had so much fun!!!

Ice Cream Sundae Party

Our class had earned a compliment party!  The kiddos voted and we had ice cream sundaes today at the end of the day.  They have had some great behavior so it was awesome to celebrate with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and sprinkles!  

Today's Visitor

Today we had Sacagawea come and visit our classroom. She talked about the history of Native Americans and also about the first Thanksgiving. She read them a cute alphabet book explaining when the pilgrims came over.

Speech Contest

I'm so proud of our speech contest kiddos!  Max and Shalee did such a great job presenting today.  Way to go!!!

Max taught us all about how to make string art!

Shalee showed us how to make rubber band bracelets! 

Learn At Every Turn

Today was such a fun day!  The kids had such a great time at Learn at Every Turn.
We visited 5 different classes today. Our first stop was to learn about our teeth from Denzinger Family Dentistry. Then we split in half and some went to a track class and some went to a soccer class. 

 

Next we went back to our room for a science lesson with an infrared camera!

 

 

Then after lunch we headed to a class about scuba diving!

 

The last class we went to was a drama class with Floyd Central's Theater students. Elsa even made an appearance.

 

Here are just a few other shots of the day!