Christmas Party Day

The only day when we can goof around all day is the day before Christmas vacation.  We had a really fun day! The students K-4 were able to sign up for one of three movies the day before.  In the morning they could go pick up a popcorn and pop before going to their movie. 

At 10:00 the K-4 students split into two groups and traveled by bus to the nursing home and the assisted living facility to bring them a Christmas card and to play Bingo.  That was a lot of fun too! 

When we returned we ate lunch and finished the movie before the parties began.  The party was so fun!  Santa even stopped by for a visit!  The kids played "Pin the nose on the Snowman", played Christmas Bingo, and decorated a gingerbread man with frosting and candy.  They had a yummy lunch including pizza!  Then to top it off they opened their bird puzzle from me and they exchanged gifts from each other.  It was a great day! We dismissed at 2:00 that day for a nice Christmas break.

Christmas Concert

This was the children's first concert and they performed on the stage in front of a large group of people.  They sang Jingle Bells and also jingled some bells.  They were outstanding!  They got a huge applause!  Way to go kids!

Are you getting coal?

This boy's mother teases him that maybe he will get coal in his stocking for Christmas, so I had to laugh when I saw his journal page.  He told me what he wanted to write and I helped him sound it out. The word "reindeer" was on our Christmas word chart, but he must have lost track of how many "e"s he wrote down. 

He said, "Reindeer are pulling coal."

I asked, "Where are they taking it?

He said, "To the dumpster!"



Building Birds

At Center Time today, these two boys built birds and told me all that they knew about them.

A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

The Cattle Egret

Handprint Art Projects

Here are two art projects that I created using each child's hand prints. They enjoyed these art projects!

Hot Cocoa Party

Due to the very cold weather today, we had our first hot cocoa party!  The kindergarteners were so happy when they came in from recess and saw the hot cocoa and animal crackers at the table. 

Bald Eagles

After I'd sent you the email over the weekend, I'd heard that some of you have taken your children below the dam to see all of the waterfowl, gulls and Bald Eagles.  We had counted 60 Bald Eagles on Saturday and I'm sure that there were more.  Some of those who had went asked me about the dark or different looking Bald Eagles.  Those are the young, immature Bald Eagles.  It takes the young ones five years to reach adult plumage.  Male and female Bald Eagles look the same and I believe that the female is larger than the male as it is with many raptors.  Here are some photos that I took when I was there.  Some of the trees had many Bald Eagles in them.  I think the kids would really enjoy seeing them, if you are interested in a trip.  The dam is only 30 miles from town.  The best place to look is below the dam and there is a road on both sides that you could take.  The two students in class that went were wow-ed by what they saw!  More about Bald Eagles at:
http://sdakotabirds.com/species/bald_eagle_info.htm

What would you give Santa for Christmas?

I would give him a bird card.  I would draw a picture of a Black-capped Chickadee on the card and I would write, “I like Santa Claus!”  - M.M.

I’d give him chocolate chip cookies and milk.  – E.B.

I would give chocolate cookies and milk to Santa.  I would draw him a picture of a Snow Bunting because they live at the North Pole and he must like them!  -J.S.

I would give Santa a pumpkin pie, apple pie and milk. 

–J.B.

I’d give him a dove Christmas cookie and milk.  I’d draw him a picture of a Boreal Chickadee because he might not know about them.  I will write its name on the picture.

–T.W.

I will give Santa a can of orange pop and green, frosted cookies.  I’m going to draw a picture of his reindeer for him and a picture of him giving the presents too.   I will give Santa some milk and his reindeer some carrots.  – S.B.

I will give Santa some milk and gingerbread cookies.  I’d like to give him a teddy bear too!  – J.G.

I would give him the movie “Jack Frost” and the other movie called “Frost”!  I would also give him his own Furby toy.  I’d give him a cake with a real, live snake inside that he could keep!  I’d give him instructions on how to hold a poisonous snake.  First, you walk over really slowly, and then you fastly grab its mouth shut with your fingers.  Then you grab its tail and put it in its cage.  I’d tell him to put some rocks, water and insects in the cage too. That’s it!  - A.H.