A peek at our week…

My apologies for the delay in this post.  Between report cards, holiday crafts, STEAM projects, Wonders and AIMsweb assessments and writing projects, we have been out straight!  It is hard to believe that this is the week before winter break.  We have been crazy busy, the last two weeks.  We have just about finished up with our Unit 2 Wonders Assessments.  This has been a long process,  and the children have worked incredibly hard!  I am so proud of hem for keeping focused, and working through this assessment.  I can’t wait to share their progress with you!  We still have a couple of pieces to finish up, but will probably wait until after winter break, as we are out straight with activities this week!  We also finished up, today, with the benchmark AIMsweb assessments.  I was very proud of the children’s progress!

 

Last week, after finishing most of the Wonders assessments, we completed an elf delivery STEAM.  The children were challenged with the task of creating a parachute that would allow the elves to deliver packages safely.  I was quite impressed with the planning, and parachute building that the children did.  We talked about creating a parachute that would resist the air, and snow the decent of the elves, and packages.  This was a lot of fun!  The children assumed this would be an easy task, but quickly realized that they had to revise many of their plans.

Since we have been out straight with assessments, we decided to shift gears this week.  We have some amazing science experiments, STEAM projects, and arts and crafts to do!  This week, in our classroom, we learned about snowflakes, and conducted an experiment with borax, to see if we could form our own crystals, similar to the way that ice crystals are formed.  I’m so excited to see the end results!  We never know how they are going to turn out!  We have also been busy finishing up some “gifts”, that are so cute!  I hope you enjoy them as much as we have!  In class, we have also been finishing up a writing project, based on the book “Snomen at Night”. The children wrote some pretty creative stories about what happens with their snowmen at night.  Finally, in class, we have been counting down the days before winter break.  Each day, I have a small “treat” for the children.  Monday, 5 days before Winter Break, brought a week without homework!  It was funny to see the mixed reviews at this gift.  I asked the children to try and spread some kindness, instead of homework, or to spend some time with family.  I have loved reading some of the things that they have done, on day one!  Tuesday, 4 days before winter break brought reindeer noses (junior mints).  The children created and solved some math facts, sorted fact from opinions, and a completed few other activities about reindeer noses.  Wednesday will bring a bag of “elf pillows” (peppermint pillows).  We have a bunch of fun activities that we will complete with them, from math problems, to some short writing tasks.  On Thursday, 2 days before winter break, my teacher will give to me a heard of animals (animal crackers).  We are going to do some sorting, graphing and other tasks, with a bag of animal crackers.  This is a fun way to count down the days until break!

 

On Friday, shhhhh… this part is a surprise.  We will be having a Polar Express party!  The children will get “homework”, or an invitation to the party on Thursday night.  This will contain a ticket for them to attend the party.  We will invite the children to wear pajamas, and bring a small blanket to watch the movie!  We will have popcorn and hot cocoa (as the movie suggests), as treats!  It will surely be a super fun day!

 

This week, the children will also be visiting every second grade classroom, in the afternoons.  They will be making potpourri, conducting a STEAM project, and making moon dough.  This will be a wonderful way to spend our afternoons.

 

Just a reminder:  we are collecting items for our theme basket.  Our theme this year is LEGOS – Build it!  We will be collecting items through January 17th!  Donations can be sent in, at any time!  Thank you in advance for your help with this!

 

I will be sending out sign-ups for conferences, right after break.  I am very excited to share all the wonderful progress the children have made, with you!

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