It was a very fun week!  

It was a very long week, but fun.  

And the kids were wonderful for me all week.  

I always look forward to seeing them because they make me smile, even when I am having a rough day!  

I love being a teacher!

In reading we learned about s clusters.

In math we learned how to add 2 to a number.

We are still struggling with this, so if you have extra time at home, all of the kids could use some help with this!

We also had lots of time for fun projects to get us ready for Christmas next week.

We made a Riddle Book.  I really enjoyed it, and I hope all of the kids did too.

 I loved this project!  We have really been working on sentence structure, and they had to write about what they would do if they lived in a snow globe.  After they were done, I spray painted them with glitter.  They all look so cute!  I am even going to keep them up until January, since it isn't just a Christmas project.

These are just a few of my favorite.

 During story time, we read a story where Santa got stuck in the chimney.  It was such a cute story.  

So after, again to work on our sentence structure, they wrote about what they would do if Santa was stuck in their chimney.  I am really happy with how they turned out.  

And I couldn't help but laugh at most of them!  

What a creative class I have!

We also made holly bells, and they had to draw a picture (it didn't matter what the picture was) in the bell.

I love projects where they have to trace their hands.

I think it will show how much they grow through the years.

 Like I said, I love traced hands!  These are the cute reindeer we made.

Over all, it was a very successful week and I really enjoyed it.

I am in Utah now, going to my grandpa's funeral, and not feeling too well.

Hopefully I will be back on Monday...

Thank you parents for all that you do!

Well, I feel horrible.  I didn't take a single picture this whole week!  Not one.  Can you believe it?  Yeah...neither can I.  I am so disappointed...but it's okay.  I'll make up for it next week.  It has been a stressful week for me, but that doesn't really matter and is not an excuse!  Next week, there will be pictures.  I promise!  But I'm still going to fill you in on some of the things we did this week!  I am sure your kids tell you everything we do every day, and if they don't, ask them.  If they say they don't know, they really do know.  I promise.  Every day at the end of the day (the last 10 minutes of the day) we talk about EVERYTHING we learned that day.  So trust me, they all know :) 

We are getting into the harder concepts, and I love seeing their faces when they finally understand something.  We have been learning things that they didn't learn in Kindergarten (that was basically the first few weeks of school) and I am enjoying it much more, as are the kids I'm sure.  I also am a strong believer in incorporating music into learning.  They seem to remember the concepts better if they are put to a song.  For example, last week we learned a song about contractions (it is to it's) and when they were showing me what they know about contractions (taking the test) I could hear some of them whispering the song to themselves to remember how it goes.  Each week we are basically learning a new song or chant to help us learn something new.

We haven't been doing rotations this month (music, P.E., science, social studies) so I have been able to teach them about Christmas in other countries, and we will also have time for other Christmas crafts, that we normally wouldn't have time for.  This week we spent our afternoons learning about Christmas in Sweden, Germany, Italy, Mexico, and Holland.  We learned how to say "Merry Christmas" in each of the different languages.  Germany is basically impossible to say and remember.  At least for me.  My husband went to Germany for a couple of years and when he speaks German, it seems so easy.  If you are trying to read it, it won't sound the way it is supposed to.  But I was surprised when many of the students remembered how to say it the next day, and I couldn't remember it at all.  What great memories they have!  It was really fun to learn about a few of the different countries around the world.  I learned a lot, so I hope the kids did as well!

I know Thanksgiving has come and gone, but I just want to thank every single one of you for all that you do for your kids.  I am truly grateful for everything that you do at home with them to help them at school.  I have a room full of wonderful parents this year and I couldn't be happier.  I am also very grateful for all 19 of my students.  They are all very sweet and polite, not to mention funny.  They always make me smile every single day.  I always look forward to seeing them every day, and they remind me why I wanted to be a teacher.  I am thankful for each and every one of them, and for all of you parents.  Thank you for all that you do!

I apologize for not having pictures this week.  Next week we will.  I promise!

Let me first apologize for not updating last night.  

I got home from work ready to make a blog post, and the internet decided it wasn't going to work.  

The internet is STILL not working, but we figured out a temporary solution. 

So this week we learned SO much, and they did so well with it!

English is a hard language to learn, and I am always so impressed with how well they do.

We learned about contractions and r blends/clusters.

We also learned some new things in math.

Adding 0 to a number, subtracting 0 from a number, and we finally got a new coin to learn about and count...DIMES!  They were so excited because counting pennies was just getting too easy :)

I decided that it was time for them to switch out crayon boxes.

They were getting pretty beat up.

I was trying to wait until after Christmas, but we didn't make it.

Can you tell which one is the new one?

We also started our Christmas crafts and activities this week.  

And we are just getting started!

First, we had to make out December calendar!

 This is our tree that I made and they added the ornaments.

They decorated the ornaments on the front, then on the other side they wrote a gift they could give someone.

The gift had to be something you couldn't give in a box.

For example, help someone stack a chair, give a compliment to someone, help someone who is hurt, etc.

Each day until Christmas, I turn one over and our goal is to give at least one person that gift by the end of the day. 

 They made their own stockings!  Each one is different and I love that.

 Letters to Santa!  We made 2 letters this week.

The first one they took home and left it there.

This one they had to keep here until December 21st.

I LOVE reading what they all had to say.

Our Christmas program was on Wednesday this last week, and it went so well!

They did SUCH a great job!

A HUGE thank you to the mom's that helped put the program together! 

We have such a great class this year and I am so grateful that I get to be their teacher!

We are almost half way through the year, and I get a little choked up thinking I have to say goodbye at the end of the school year.

Thank you parents for all you do!