Budding Artists!

     The public library has K-12 student art work on display right now.  It is a feast for the eyes!
Congratulations to BMP, LF, LB, and AR.  Their pieces are "on loan" to the library right now.
Check these out!  Special thanks to art teacher, Mrs. G., for all of her hard work.

Leprechaun Trap Building During Choice Time = Serious Fun!

     Here are some scenes from when the kids were building leprechaun traps. We didn't capture one. However, a mischievous little guy made some silly messes in our classroom, including walking barefoot on the morning message.  The kids enjoyed it, though, because he left them each one chocolate coin and one lucky keeper coin.  Who knew St. Pat's could be so much fun?

YouTube.....Carefully Monitored Fun!

Because I have an interactive white board in the room, I use lots of YouTube clips related to whatever we are doing in class.  Here are some recent favorites that have cropped up.  I always preview every video and explain why to the kids.


Check these out!



Vowel Bat 




Pete the Cat:  Wheels on the Bus




Skip Counting with a Leprechaun

I love this!

     
     Not long ago, the kids went to their special, and I was puttering around the room getting ready for math.
I looked over on the white board and saw this sweet message, "I like Hatch."
Now, I know we need to work on the word like and the ch diagraph. However, this authentic writing warmed my heart.

Treat Basket Time!

     During vacation, the kids had an opportunity to earn a choice from the treat basket by practicing their reading at home.  Practice at school and at home is critical for these emerging readers.

                                                      L takes her time choosing just the right prize.

Graphing Practice

Just before break, the kids practiced graphing.  Being able to graph items independently is one of the 2nd trimester math goals.

Spelling Vests

     I got these letter vests with budget money this year.  I love them!  We spent time practicing word families and popcorn words on Friday, too.  Mrs. Fisher and the kids had brainstormed a bunch of
-an words earlier in the day. 

Check out these cuties spelling fan.

Tasty math!

Yesterday we did number stories using Swedish Fish.  When we finished practicing our adding and subtracting, we got to eat our "catch."  Thanks to Miss T. for providing the tasty treat!

Welcome to the Blog, L!

I got permission to put a new face on the blog.  Here she is!

ABC Patterns

     One of the goals for math during the 2nd trimester is to be able to generate a 3-part or ABC pattern independently.  We practiced one day recently.  The kids had loads of materials to choose from to "show what they know."  However, the linking chains were the most popular that day.

So many photos...so little time!

I took tons of pictures of the kids in December.  Below is a sample from Winter Wonderland at the middle school and our waffle morning.  Note the extreme cuteness of kindergarteners in pajamas.  There are also some picts of kids helping unwrap class gifts.

Building Little Pig Houses

At the conclusion of our Three Little Pigs unit, the kids worked in pairs or trios to design and create a structure that would withstand the huffing and puffing of the wolf (my hairdryer dressed up a bit).

The planning, creativity, and team work made this one of my favorite events of the year.

Huffing and puffing to test out its strength!