Pajamas, Presents, Polar Express....and SUGAR!

What a great last day before break.  The children in pajamas always starts the Christmas break out right!  They were adorable and comfy.  We started our morning by reading the Polar Express and doing a directed drawing of Santa. We also had donuts and hot coco.  Yum!



The morning passed by so quickly.  Time flies when you are having fun.  The children opened and read a new book from me.  We finished our Stop Motion inquiry projects.  We had a little time for some math, but before we knew it parents were there to decorate gingerbread houses.  Thank you for coming in and enjoying the sticky fun with us.  I hope you have a beautiful holiday.

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Christmas Kindness

Grinch Day got the Connected Ones discussing the meaning of Christmas. One way the students thought they could show their spirit for the season was by giving kindness. We decided to become the "Random Acts of Christmas Kindness Class." We have been sneaking all around the school and community "R.A.C.K. ing" people.

Our first R.A.C.K. was for Mrs. Crum. We gave kind notes to Mrs. Crum.  Then, we wrote a little book about how Mrs. Wolverton is a rock star.  And, since the weather has been chilly, we gave the lunch aides and cross walk guards some hand warmers.  We also delivered surprise candy canes to an intermediate classroom.  Plus, we gave as many compliments and smiles as we could!

The children couldn't get enough of the R.A.C.K.ing. They were just full of ideas. So, our last homework assignment before the break was to perform a Random Act of Christmas Kindness. I was amazed with the responses. Thank you parents for supporting this project. The children were so proud of themselves and their kindness. Here are just of few of the wonderful acts of homework kindness.

I gave my neighbor chocolate!

I gave the mailman a cupcake.

 I bought a toy at Walmart and donated it to a child.  I bought a My Little Pony.

Busy Little Elves

The Connected Ones sure have the Christmas spirit.  They have been enjoying every minute of the season.  We have been writing, reading, doing math, creating art, and singing....all about Christmas.  Like I said, these first grade elves have been hard at work.  This post has just a few of our Christmas themed activities.

 

We had many Christmas literacy and math centers.  At the writing center, students used ads to "shop" for gifts for friend and family.  There was also an ABC tree where students took a letter from the letter tree and wrote as many words as they could that started with that letter. We had Christmas riddles and a Christmas stamp match center.  For math, we had a station called "Fa La La Fact Families," "Gingerbread Bump," and so many more.  There were tons of math and literacy games to practice all the skills we have been learning.  Mrs. Niemeyer needs to ask Santa for some more card stock!

Grinch Simile Writing

The story of the Grinch has a TON of figurative language.  The children were having so much fun on Grinch day they didn't realize we were still so busy learning.  One of our Common Core first grade objectives is to understand figurative language.

We discussed the similes in the Grinch and then worked on writing our own similes.  First, we brainstormed lists of adjectives that describe the Grinch.  The children came up with some great words: furry, rotten, nasty, clever, lonely.  We continued with adjectives by listing words that described the Grinch's heart at the beginning of the story (tiny, empty, cold) and the end of the story (large, caring, happy).

Then it was time to write.  The students had to use a word on each chart to write a simile.  These first graders are incredibly creative.  Here are a couple typed examples:

The Grinch is as green as a crocodile.  His heart was as hard as a rock.  At the end, the Grinch's heart was as nice as a baby kitten.  ~By Emma

The Grinch is as stinky as a skunk.  His heart was as hard as a statue.  At the end, the Grinch's heart was as happy as a kid on his birthday.  ~By Karter

We also did some directed drawing to go with our writing.  The children are so proud of their drawings.  They should be because they worked so hard!

Christmas on Chrome

When we checked out the Chromebooks this week, we used them to warm up for our math hour.  The games linked below have fun Christmas themes and practice addition and subtraction fluency.  Enjoy!

1. Reindeer Cafe

2. Cone Crazy

3. Add with Santa

4. Hidden Picture

 Addition and subtraction fluency is an objective assessed on the next report card. After Christmas break, it is only two short weeks until the end of the quarter. I will have to be assessing several of our reading and math objectives right away. Any extra practice over the holiday on addition and subtraction will be beneficial.

Grinch Day

We had a terrific Grinch day!  It was a busy, joyful day!  We started the day making a Grinch craft.  I just gave the children the paper and tracers...but no real directions.  In the front of the room, I put up the finished example.  I love to see them work through and problem solve to figure out how the pieces go together.

Of course, we read the great book How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  I have the book as an app on my phone.  The book is on sale for $1.99 on the app store.  I love the OM Book apps because the students can read along with the book.  Click here to link to the book in the app store.

After reading the story, we talked about how the Grinch didn't have joy.  Together we brainstormed a list of things that bring us joy.  Then, the students made their own lists.   They worked so hard.  We used our joy lists to complete the morning craft.  We wrote on the Grinch's smile how we would make the Grinch grin.

Here are some of the excellent examples.  

I would make the Grinch grin by telling him jokes. 

  I would make the Grinch grin by showing him love.

I would make the Grinch grin by taking him to school.

I would make the Grinch grin by being his friend.

We made some magic Grinch dust to keep the Grinches away this Christmas.  To make Grinch dust you need a small bag of something sweet.  Then you add two drops of love and two drops of joy.  You must hug the love and joy in the bag until it turns green.  I have to ask you to do the last step at home.  Sprinkle the Grinch dust on your lawn Christmas Eve to keep the Grinch away and keep all your Christmas joy.

We also had an enormous QR hunt with the entire first grade.  The Grinch tried to steal our Christmas by scrambling all our Christmas words and sight words.  We had to hunt all around the first grade classrooms to unscramble all the words.

It was such a wonderful day.  The whole first and second grade wing enjoyed Grinchy activities!  I just love our school!  And, thank you for the special snack Mockels!  Yummy!  We are working on one more Grinch day writing and art piece.  Hopefully, I will get our final Grinch project posted on Monday.