100th Day Activites

100th Day of School!

Today was a wonderful day! We did so many activities to celebrate our 100th day of school.
We started the day with everyone piling in wearing 100 objects and carrying their 100 objects! I was classic to see the creativity and time that went into their shirts!  We then created our 100 item necklaces created with Fruit Loops – clearly it was a wonderful accessory to their shirts!
Next we added on the accessories by creating 100 Day Crowns. They not only had to cut and color the crown they also had to mark it with 100 tally marks – a new skill we’re working really hard on!
For reading stations we also had to show what we’d look like in 100 years! Students had to describe some characteristics of older people to complete this challenge. I heard: crinkly, soft, wrinkly, no teeth, white hair, gray hair, wobbly, shaky, and even no hair! Then they had to take a paper towel, crinkle it up and open it – creating a wrinkly face. That was their starting point. From there the had to draw details of what they would wear, what their hair would look like, and who would be around them. Look below for their creations!
In the afternoon we had some math related activities to celebrate reaching the 100th day of school. First we went on a penny hunt. I hid numbered pennies around the room and once the students found them, they had to match them up to the number grid. We found all but 2 pennies – they are still MIA! I am sure one day I’ll come across them!

Then they had to create a 100-item snack.  Yes, 100 items!  The students moved around the tables in groups to create their snack. We also created and counted 100 students on our school bus! Then lastly we had to sort our 100 objects.  Students brought in a variety of objects so it was fun to see them all laid out.
An additional thanks to Jennifer Ceminsky and Roxanne Larson, they were in the room in the afternoon to make sure everything went smoothly and everyone completed their sorting.
Tell your child to kiss their brain, because they successful passed the 100th day of school!

 

Braeden will be a dad when he's 100 because that's when you can be a dad!

Katie wants to be a teacher forever!

 Alex will just play outside when he is older because he won't be in school anymore!

 

Olivia will play frisbee outside when she's 100 because she won't have to work anymore! 

President's Day

On Tuesday we celebrated Presidents day by talking about some famous president's in our history, what significant changes that they made, how they became president, and where they live. We also discussed how they all have the potential to grow up and be great leaders and even presidents! 

We created George Washington hats and completed writing projects on: "When I am president I will..."

Here is what they had to say. Ladies and gentlemen, meet our future leaders!

Make a Smilebox photo slideshow

Happy Valentine's Day!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Valentines, Candy, and Games...OH MY!

What a wonderful day we had on Friday and I have so many parents to thank for that! The entire day was filled with excitement, anticipation, stories, exploring words through detective work, and learning!
The last hour of the day we held a Valentine Party. We ended up having eight parents altogether which helped tremendously. We started by opening up our Valentine's and investigating to see all the yummy treats we had inside. Then we had Kahle's mom come in to be our Friday Friend. She read one of her favorite Valentine stories, "Franklin's Valentine" by Paulette Bourgeois. She came in for Health Helpers day as well. She is very animated and the students love when she comes in to read to them!
We then set up five stations:
Station One was a Love Story Reading Station, once again Lynn read to the students. This time she read through, "Be My Valentine, Amelia Bedelia" by Herman Parish. The kids really seemed to enjoy the book and having that time to let their bellies relax!
Station Two was an Ice Cream Station! Not just plain Ice Cream, but we created an Ice Cream Sundae station where each student got to create their own personalized sundaes, adding whichever toppings they enjoyed. There were a lot of messy, yet smiling faces at this station! Thank you Jason for making sure everyone was full and having fun!
Station Three was a Memory Match Station. I think the students spent more time giggling at this station then matching their cards. Braeden's dad, Jim was creating his own guessing games with each group. It was very entertaining to watch!
Station Four was a Surprise Station! Anna's dad, Garrick did a very good job when I handed him this station. It was just "supposed" to be a word match station, but since I had enough parents, I decided to let them open a surprise balloon gift that I found. If you haven't seen them, you must! The kids were in awe of them! You just hit this little bag and there is a chemical reaction that makes an inner bad inflate it. Some students were nervous, where others were very curious! Thanks for being so adventurous Garrick!
Station Five was Heart Bingo Station. The students love playing Bingo. we play it with our site words, letters, and beginning sounds. This is a great way to practice Capital Letters, Lowercase Letters, and Star Words at home! Kenneth's dad, John, brought extra treats to hand out to the special winners! Thank you John for practicing letters and playing Bingo! Since I had so many parents I had the opportunity to take a lot of pictures and even some video recordings! Hope you enjoy the slide show and hope there weren't too many terrible tummy aches when they got home!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Speical Thanks for attending the Party and Lending a Helping Hand:

Jason and Jennifer Ceminsky

John Kopp

Garrick Rudolf

Lynn Schreiner

Jim Steiret

Jessica Bejarano

Alicia Kelly

Lynnita Schmidt

Fun in February

Oh how I love February! 

January was just an off month where we have to get back into our routine, get DIBELed, push through the cold, and overcome the many struggles with our inside out snowpants, tough boots, and missing mittens!

But now it's time to put away the mitten art, snowflakes, and snowmen and bring out the groundhogs, hearts, and 100th day projects! Love is in the air and I am loving it! Here are a few Valentine projects we've created! 

Remember that our Valentine Party is on Friday, February 12th from 1:30-2:30. We will play games, open valentines, eat ice cream sundaes, play bingo,  and read stories! Don't you just love Valentine's Day?! 

Groundhog's Day

On Friday, we discussed the tradition behind Groundhog's Day, read a short story about Groundhogs, created a art project, and then the students had to vote on the Smart Board indicating if they thought the groundhog would see his shadow, or not see his shadow. They all had different reasons for their choice:

"The groundhog told me what would happen so I know that it's going to keep snowing."

"I think that it will be cloudy out, so then when the groundhog comes out he will bring the sun with him."

"The groundhog doesn't want to live in the deep, dark, dirty den anymore, so he will want it to be sunny."

Well the poles are in today and after reading "Ten Grouchy Groundhogs," we watched the video stating:

On February 2, 2010 Punxsutawney Phil, the Groundhog from Pennsylvania proclaimed:

“As the sky shines bright above me, my shadow I see beside me.

Six weeks more of winter it will be!”

I guess I'll go grab my scarfs and mittens again!