I'm back... catch up time!

Hi everyone!  I have had a crazy start to the new year.  You don't even want to know why I haven't had internet access at home (unless you realize that 3 kids with 3 new ipods + wi-fi internet = huge $$$$$)!  I have heard stories before and thought that would never happen to me... I have to BITE my tongue.  Seriously, I did not know there was a limit on GB usage... and evidently it can happen fast.  Once it was explained to me, I deleted my device from those ipods and let's hope my next bill will be back to normal.  I will have to say my internet company had pity on me since instead of 3 0's, my bill is down to 2 0's but what a fiasco!  So... I'm back to blogging and thought I would catch up a bit.

My kiddos wrote their goals when we came back to school.  Yes... I'm that far behind.  Some of my first graders really put a LOT of thought into their goal. So our door reads "Ringing in the New Year!"  Here is a picture:

I have to share some of their fabulous goals so take a look at these up close!

Awww... that just melts my heart!

I know what song comes to mind when I read this one.... :)

What a great goal!

I guess I have some musically talented first graders!

I also wanted to share with you our homemade snowflakes.  We read the book Snowflake Bentley and then created our own snowflakes from paper.  To make them more sturdy we glued them to blue construction paper and then on the back the students were to write what would happen if they were snowflakes?  I saw a lot of creative writing.  Here are some pictures of how they turned out:

I LOVE this one!  How adorable!

I am glad to be back blogging.  I have a few more things to share but will create seperate posts for those.  Happy Saturday!



X-mas gifts for parents and teachers~ Gift tag freebies!

So here are some CUTE little buckets I found and decided to give as gifts to my K-1 team members.  I filled them with Tootsie Rolls and added a label and some ribbon.

My team teachers are a talented bunch and it is truly a JOY working with them!  So if you would like to use this for next year, here are the labels I created MINUS my name. 

When you first pull them up in google docs they look white, but once you download them they are green. 

And so while I was feeling crafty, I whipped up this label for a parent thank you gift for my two AWESOME room moms and another parent volunteer that helps me out tremendously on a daily basis!  I got the original idea from Melissa at Domesticated Lady- but her label is for teachers.  So even though mine are NOT as cute as hers, I thought it might be cute as a parent thank you gift. 

Here are the labels if you would like a copy. 

Again, these look different when you first pull them up in google docs, but should be okay after downloading them.  Let me know if they are not. 

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas Break!  I am loving my first day off so much that I haven't managed to even get out of my PJs yet!  It is THAT kind of day ~ Enjoy!



Charlie Brown Inspired Christmas Party

Today if my first official day of Christmas Break!  I thought I would share a few pictures from our Christmas party that was inpired from Charlie Brown.  One of my awesome parent dads made this Charlie Brown Christmas tree for us!  He cut it from one of his own trees.  {please excuse the mess in the background}.

I can't believe I didn't take pictures before my lovely students started devouring our treats, but I thought I would share a few pictures of these cute labels for our snacks - including some in the CUTEST dog bowls from (where else) but the Dollar Tree. 

My favorite was the puppy chow labeled "Snoopy's Snack Mix".  Adorable!

And how cute are these popcorn holders?  Charlie Brown cartoon printed cones! 

Here is a banner and a game we played during our party.  The game was called "Pin the Ornament on the Tree".  The one closest to the big ornament was the winner. 

My parents found some really cute ideas from the blog "Oink - The Blog of Piggy Bank Parties".  I would have loved to go over board with the Charlie Brown stuff, but we ran out of time.  If you are interested check out this post that has tons of pictures and ideas for a Charlie Brown theme. 

Here is a picture of the finished product of the craft my kiddos put together at the party.  We had 5 stations set up so the kids could add each item:  brown sugar, flour, chocolate chips, sugar, and recipe label.  They were very proud!

We also had a visit from Santa... YES!  Can you believe he came ALL the way from the North Pole just to visit us on our party day?  All my students had a picture taken with him and got to tell him ONE thing that they REALLY wanted for Christmas.  Here are a couple of pictures so you can see he was AUTHENTIC!

Santa even commented on this little guy's shirt!  Heh, heh!

What a VERY special TREAT this was for us!  Santa is such a kind, kind man.  The kids asked him if he brought his reindeer and he explained that today he traveled in a pickup truck out here in the country...{FORD - that is}!  He left his reindeer back at the barn at the NP. 



I wanted to share ONE last thing. We have a holiday luncheon for the kids in our cafeteria.  I'm not talking about what we serve... but HOW we serve.  The cafeteria is decorated in lights and music is playing.  The tables are lined with red tablecloths and candles.  The kids don't drink out of milk cartons but are served milk in Christmas cups.  A few of the 5th grade students help serve as they bring the food to the kids. I found this tradition to be so unique and special I just had to share.  The pictures do not even do it justice but this may give you a little glimpse into the beauty of it all!

Here is a picture of some of my girls enjoying their holday lunch.  I think one of them had already taken a bite of their mash potatoes.  YUM!

They even have a special table for the teachers to make them feel extra special. 



I hope everyone enjoyed their last few days of school before the break.  It may have been a little hectic but the smiles and joy of my little ones were worth it!  Merry Christmas!

Grinch Twist... made by my first grade "whos"!

So we did the Grinch thing.. And who doesn't just L-O-V-E the mini-grinch unit by Deanna Jump?!  Anyway, flying by the seat of my pants, we took the Grinch project a little further.  We read the book "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss and was fascinated by all those little whoville characters.  If we were going to write about how we would make the Grinch grin, well then we were going to pretend to be whos in whoville.  So on a whim I took the kids pictures, glued it to a piece of black construction paper and wrote each kiddos name above their picture in white crayon.  If they were a girl their name was (Insert girl name here) - Lou Who.  If they were a boy their name was (Insert boy name here)-Woo Who!  Too funny... but they just giggled and loved it!

They were then given an array of construction paper, ribbon, yarn, pom poms, and a menagerie of craft items to decorate themselves as WHOS.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out - but the end product was super cute! (At least I think so.)  Take a look at these whos...

What do you think?  Like I said it was a whim ~ and they l-o-v-e to do projects involving pictures of themselves.  My little whos had fun and enjoyed telling me how they would make the Grinch grin. Didn't mean to post twice tonight but couldn't help sharing.  Happy Friday!

Painted Ornaments Christmas Gifts

We made our parent gifts this week.  I say parent gifts, but actually my students make them for whomever they choose... grandma, grandpa, sister, brother, etc.  I bought these ceramic ornaments (that are VERY strong considering).  One of my students knocked two off my shelf and believe it or not they did not break!  Whew!  Anyway, they only cost me 60 cents each!  I have a supply of paint pens from years back that I break out on the day we decorate these ornaments.  I am always pleased how they turn out and each one is unique.  Here is my example that I show the kids.

So then they get to work painting and decorating their ornaments.  Here are how a few turned out.  Beeeeauuutiful!

This little guy has a sister named Myla - My ornament said Nyla for my niece. He copied my design but turned out super cute!

On the back I write our class and the year so each time they hang it on the tree, hopefully they will remember our time together.

And finally we package them in tissue paper in these cute little red bags that they decorate.  We add some ribbon and wah-lah!  They can't wait to take these home and give them to their relative.  Here are some of the bags they decorated.

Just thought I would share what we've been up to in Room 23.  Hope you are having as much fun!  Only 2 more days for us...Have a fantastic weekend!

Glitter Fun... and pinterest crafts!

It was time to break out the glitter and let's just say our room was one big SPARKLE!  Take a look at this mess!

Friday we finished up our projects we have been working on the last couple of weeks.  First I have to share this AWESOME book I found in the library!  It inspired the "If I Lived in a Snowglobe..." writing project.  My kids LOVED this book and it inspired some creative writing.

After we read the book, my first graders wrote about what it would be like if they lived in a snowglobe.  We used this writing paper.  Feel free to grab it, if you'd like.

After they wrote their stories, my students made their own snowglobe.  We used a special kind of snowy irridescent glitter that made them look real! 

We were so proud of these!  While the glitter was out, we used it to decorate some snowflakes to hang out in the hallway.  We had glitter on our faces, clothes, hair, E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E!  How does that happen?  We tried to be so careful.  We listened to Christmas music and let the sparkle fly!

Here is a little pinterest inspired craft that I just HAD to try out.  I think they turned out adorable and they were all unique!  Did anyone else try these wreaths? My first graders did everything but staple them together.  I have had many compliments on these!

Some students put their first name and some put their last name! 

What is amazing is my first graders have been SO well behaved!  December first we made stockings from Construction paper and hung them by our cubbies with care.  I was able to contact Santa and ask him for a little favor.  Every night he sends a couple of elves to our classroom to check out our behavior chart.  All the boys and girls that are on green or above get a little something in their stocking.  On our last day of school (December 20th) my students get to take their stockings down and see what those elves have left them for being such good little boys and girls!  It's been difficult - but NO PEEKING is allowed.

Some items hang out the top...

Finally, here is what our hall looked like after we hung up our snowflakes, snowglobes and writing projects.  OH, and I almost forgot.  We made our names using cut out christmas lights (another pinterest inspiration!)

Here is a close up of our names in lights.



I just love this time of year!  We have a special parent guest coming this week to present a lesson about Hannakuh and we will make our parent gifts this week as well.  I will share those when they are finished.  I did the same thing last year and they turned out adorable.  I have lots of assessing to do this week, so I hope our behavior incentive continues to influence their choices.  Have a great week!