Friday, December 20, 2013

Polar Express Day!


 
I'm pretty certain I already mentioned how wonderful these kids are, but I will say it again.  These kids are awesome!
 
We had a fun day today.  We started off in the gym with an all school sing-a-long.
 
We came back to the classroom and had a little fun with What Does the Fox Say.
 
Then we started watching Polar Express.  After lunch we enjoyed some hot chocolate and popcorn!
 
 
I hope you all stay safe and have a wonderful Christmas! I look forward to seeing my first graders NEXT YEAR.  I can't believe it is already 2014!
 
 


Thursday, December 19, 2013

Christmas Party

We had so much fun at our Christmas Party today!  The kids are always so well behaved when we have a party.  They were so calm, cool, and collected. Joshua's mom made an AWESOME snowman toss game!
 
The snowman was the perfect opportunity for some cute pictures! 




They were able to enjoy some delicious treats!  Thank you to Anthony's mom, Owen's mom, and Kianna's mom!
 


I love these kids!

 
I really enjoyed seeing the kids celebrate today.  It is always fun when their brothers or sisters join the fun!  Thanks to everyone who contributed to the party and I can't wait for Polar Express Day tomorrow! 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Globe Trot Scott Visits Sweden!

 
Today Globe Trot Scott sent us a package from Sweden.  We listened to the book The Tomten and learned all about Swedish traditions.  We talked about St. Lucia Day, which is on December 13th.  Scott said he had a lot of fun dressing in a white robe and wearing candles on he head.  Families in Sweden do this to help them remember St. Lucia.  Another tradition they have is to eat buttery buns topped with yummy raisins.  Tomten the Christmas gnomes travels around and delivers presents just like Santa.  Kids leave him porridge.  I think I would prefer the cookies!  After we learned about Sweden, the kids made a Tomten out of toilet paper rolls.  They had a lot of fun and did a fantastic job following directions.
 


 
Reminder...Our Christmas Party is tomorrow afternoon at 2:15. 
 
A special announcement from Mrs. Laue:  Friday will be Polar Express Day!  Send your child to school in his/her pajamas!
 

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Hujambo!

Hujambo means hello in Swahili!  Today Globe Trot Scott sent us a package from Uganda.  The kids were really surprised to learn that Africa is a continent and not a country.  I still think a few of them don't quite understand the difference and we will continue to talk about it over the next couple days and when we get back from Christmas break.    We learned that in Uganda they decorate their Christmas trees with little drums, tinsel and balloons.  Their Christmas dinner usually consists of chicken, rice and sweet potatoes.  Sounds delicious to me!  After learning about Uganda we watched a video of African drummers and then each student had the chance to play a drum.  Thank you Mrs. Durand for letting us borrow one!

 
We also learned a new math game today.  It is called Kakooma and it helps reinforce addition facts.  The website to play it is www.kakooma.com

Please make sure you are sending your child to school bundled up!  They wait outside in the morning and go outside for recess as long as it is 5 degrees.  5 degrees is really cold.  Yesterday the nurse did not have enough gloves to loan out.

I encourage you to share our class blog (www.mrslaueslittles.blogspot.com) with your family members at Christmas.  What a great way to keep Grandma and Grandpa in the loop.  Did you know you can sign up to receive an email when I update the blog?  Just look over on the right hand side where it says follow by email.  Enter your email address there and then follow the directions in the follow up email it sends! 


Monday, December 16, 2013

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Everywhere you go!  Okay, okay, I'm done singing now.  But it delights me to look out the window and see snowflakes falling this time of year (come December 26th it can all go away). I also love the excitement and buzz snow creates with the kids, it reminds me of building snow forts and having snowball fights with my older sister and little brother when I was a kid.   On Friday, we had a Winter Extravaganza at school.  Kids rotated through stations in different grade levels.  They made snowmen, snowflakes, had hot chocolate with Mrs. Brockway and make gorgeous paper chains to decorate our halls.  The kids had so much fun going and meeting other teachers and creating pieces to be displayed throughout our halls.
I wasn't able to get many pictures of my students at the Winter Extravaganza because I was busy playing games with other kids, but I was able to sneak away for a minute to get some pictures of the paper chain station.

G'Day Mate!

Globe Trot Scott recently spent some time in Australia.  Did you know that it is summertime in Australia right now?  I can't imagine a warm Christmas.  There is something special about curling up by the fireplace with a cup full of hot chocolate on Christmas Eve that I wouldn't want to give up.  In Australia, they can't build snowmen at Christmas time so they build sandmen.  Today we learned about Christmas in Australia and then made some sandmen out of construction paper.  We also got confirmation that another package would be arriving tomorrow.  I wonder where else he has been!

 






Thursday, December 12, 2013

Exciting Day in First Grade!

We have had such an exciting day today!  We started out the morning learning that we had WON a contest in Successmaker!  Every once in a while Mrs. Holub has contests in the lab.  This month the contest was to see which class could get the highest average of problems correct in three sessions.  We finished in FIRST PLACE!  Which means we get to have some fun in Successmaker after Christmas break and we get a certificate to hang outside our classroom.
 

 
 
We were already super excited about winning in Succesmaker, so going to Santa's Workshop to shop for our family was just icing on the cake.
 
 Who's excited to shop???
 
 
 
Shortly after we got back from shopping, we got another package from Globe Trot Scott.  This time he visited England.  They celebrate a lot like us in England.  They hang Christmas lights, decorate evergreen trees, and send Christmas cards just like us.  In the USA, Santa Claus delivers presents to good little boys and girls.  England is just a little bit different.  Father Christmas delivers gifts in a red and green robe.  We are having so much fun learning about other countries. 
 
 
When we finished learning about England, we made Christmas cards to deliver to staff members in our building.  The kids worked so hard on them and did such a nice job. As if this wasn't enough excitement to last us a lifetime, they also got to have a party in Library.  They earned it by having great Library manners.
 

S Razhdestvom!

S Razhdestvom!  That means Merry Christmas in Russian.  While I was home taking care of Ms. Whitney yesterday, Mrs. Hamblock received a new package from Scott.  Scott recently spent some time in Russia learning about how they celebrate holidays.  He told the kids about nesting dolls and Father Frost.  Father Frost comes with his granddaughter, Snegurochka, to deliver presents to boys and girls.  Like the USA, they make sweets for the holidays, but their cookies aren't the same kinds as ours.   I wonder what else Globe Trot Scott has been up to!
 


 




Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Globe Trot Scott Visits France

Joyeux Noel!  That means Merry Christmas in French.  Scott is a busy man!  He sent us a package from France today.  We headed on over to Mrs. Carlson's classroom to learn all about how France celebrates the Christmas holiday.    We learned about Pere Noel, the Eiffel Tower, and Buche De Noel, a chocolate cake that looks like a yule log.  We also got to eat chocolate cake today. 
Thanks Scott!  We can't wait to learn about your next destination!
 
 
 
The kids really enjoyed their chocolate cake!  Look at those smiles!
 
 
*Friday we are dismissed at 11:05!
*We will visit Santa's Workshop on Thursday morning
*Our Christmas Party is on Thursday, December 19th at 2:15
 
*If you write in your child's assignment notebook that you visited the class blog, or leave a comment on the blog, your child will get to pick out of the treasure box!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Globe Trot Scott Visits Italy!

Today Globe Trot Scott sent us a package from Italy.  In Italy they have a lot of traditions that are similar to ours.  Instead of Santa Claus delivering gifts to boys and girls, La Befana delivers gifts.  La Befana is an old witch who flies around on her broom to deliver the gifts.  The tradition stems from when the bambino was born in Bethlehem and she didn't make to see the baby in time.  So now she delivers gifts to the boys and girls in hopes that one of them is the little bambino she wanted to see in Bethlehem.
 
Another tradition in Italy is something the kids do.  In Italy, it is tradition for boys and girls to sneak notes into their father's napkins telling them that they are going to be good boys and girls in the new year.  Today, we wrote our own notes and snuck them inside napkins.  Most students will be bringing their napkins and hidden notes home today.  A few of them are on display in our doorway. 

She is in deep thought!  Even the camera couldn't distract her from thinking about what to write!


 
 
The kids get so excited when we receive a new package from Scott.  I am hoping to get one every day this week!  Friday is an early dismissal day. Students will be released at 11:05.  We will be having a school wide winter extravaganza.  We will be enjoying hot chocolate, making winter crafts, playing winter games, and listening to winter stories!

At the end of the day today, we were able to visit the fourth grade science fair with our reading buddies.  The kids had so much fun learning about the fourth grade science projects!






These two were very proud of their brother's science project!
 

Friday, December 6, 2013

Globe Trot Scott Celebrates Diwali!

I want to start out by telling you how blessed I feel to be teaching first grade in Pecatonica!  What an awesome group of kids I get to come to work with every day.  Thank you so much for taking the time to raise such awesome children.  Our class has been in charge of counting and sorting items from our school wide sock/underwear/spaghetti drive.  We talked a lot about why we are donating these items and being thankful for the things we have at our house.  Our school collected 385 items in the drive!  Absolutely amazing!


 
 
Today Globe Trot Scott sent us a package from India.  He said he actually went there at the end of October, but he has been so busy he forgot to mail the package until now.  When Scott was in India he celebrated Diwali, which is a five day festival that marks the end of the last harvest.   We talked a little about what each day meant, but we really focused on Bhai Dooj, which is a sibling festival on the fifth day.  Each student filled out a survey about one of their siblings.  They are so cute! I love learning new things about each student's family. 
 
Part of the Diwali tradition is to hang sparkly lanterns inside and outside their houses.  This afternoon each student made a lantern for us to hang in our classroom.  We had a lot of fun with Globe Trot Scott's package today.  We can't wait to see what Monday brings!
Seriously, how adorable is this!