Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Meet Daisy


Let me introduce you to Daisy, our special house guest for a couple of weeks!



Isn't she adorable?!





Talk about a "deja vu" feeling! Daisy looks a lot like Christy, and some of the mannerisms are so similar. Tonight as we were sitting around the living room as a family, I had to remind myself that this was Daisy, not Christy! It feels like we have gone back in time when another dog was laying at our feet, content as could be. I had forgotten what it was like to have a dog around the house. It's going to be a fun couple of weeks!



And in case you are wondering if this dog will get spoiled, check out where she slept last night in my room...



Yes, I think she'll survive.....;-)

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Day before Thanksgiving


We read about the first Thanksgiving in Social Studies, and the kiddos got to color a picture of the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving feast.

Then, they got to create their own turkeys by tracing their hand, and adding what features they wanted. It's amazing how unique turkeys can be! ;-)





We played some fun Thanksgiving games. The favorite was definitely "Feed the Pilgrims!" A bunch of turkeys were scattered all around the classroom. Each time a student read a word or identified a number correctly, they were allowed to go hunting for a turkey. They then had to give it to the Pilgrim who was trying to find food for his family for the Thanksgiving feast.

Do you think he has enough turkeys to feed his family??



My kiddos were quite happy with how many turkeys they found to help this poor Pilgrim out! :-)



We also played another Turkey game, where each turkey had different pictures on their feathers. The children would flip over a letter card, and they would have to figure out which picture started with that letter sound. They would then cover up the picture with that card. Whoever covered up all their turkey feather pictures first was the winner. It was quite fun! We also played a Thanksgiving picture domino game. If you go here you can find the Thanksgiving domino game that we played!

On Friday, the kiddos dressed up like Indians. Today they got to wear Pilgrim hats!



Towards the end of our fun day, my kiddos joined the rest of the Elementary students for a Thanksgiving brunch! What a feast! They had pancakes, cinnamon apples (to put on top of the pancakes), sausage, juice and hot chocolate! What a sticky, sweet, yummy treat it was! :-)


Our Thanksgiving Tree - Day #5


Today my kiddos were thankful for:

1. God
2. Food
3. Christmas Eve
4. Puzzles
5. Painting
6. Daddy
7. Mommy
8. Grammy
9. Coats
10. My castle
11. Birthdays
12. Horses
13. Cats
14. Toys

This Thanksgiving Tree has been so much fun! It has definitely taught my kiddos to think of things to be thankful for. Although, as you have probably noticed, some things have been repeated, and some things may have a "Huh?" attached to it, but that's okay! We are supposed to be thankful for EVERYTHING! Last night at church, I said that I was thankful for my "enthusiastic Kindergarten class", and indeed I am! They make teaching loads of fun. :-) If I am ever feeling low, their smiles and sweetness always brighten my day. Oh, to have the "carefree spirit" of a 5 year old! :-)

But just look how far this tree has come! From being bare and lonely, to being overflowing with bright and colorful leaves! And all this thankfulness from just 4 students....What a blessing!



How many leaves in total, you may ask? I have no idea....every time I try to count them, I get all jumbled up. Feel free to try to figure it out and let me know! :-)

Monday, November 22, 2010

Our Thanksgiving Tree - Day #4


Today my kiddos were thankful for:

1. Thanksgiving
2. teachers
3. Juliana
4. turkey
5. family
6. Kindergarten
7. Thanksgiving tree
8. Mom
9. Phonics class

Friday, November 19, 2010

Our Thanksgiving Tree - Day #3


Today my kiddos were thankful for:

1.
family
2. house
3. turkey
4. Thanksgiving
5. Juliana
6. phonics
7. everybody
8. Aidan
9. my birthday
10. writing letters
11. school work
12. our classroom
13. Grace
14. my room
15. cats
16. American flag
17. play kitchen
18. friends
19. swings
20. puppies
21. Fall
22. letters

Don't my kiddos look adorable in their Indian costumes? :-) They were soooooo excited to dress up like Indians today in honor of the Indians who helped the Pilgrims find food that first Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Our Thanksgiving Tree - Day #2


Today my kiddos were thankful for:

1. Field trips
2. Jesus
3. Classroom
4. Christmas
5. Miss Follett
6. Reading
7. Leah
8. Numbers
9. Letters
10. Friends
11. Carpet
12. Books

Roadside America & McDonalds


What a FUN day it has been! The children have been SOOOO excited about this field trip ever since they heard about it a few weeks ago. It has been the talk of the classroom! It was a great way to finish up our community helper section in Social Studies and introduce our next section - learning about our country!

We actually all fit inside one vehicle for this field trip, which was a lot of fun! They were definitely a hyper bunch of kiddos on the way to Roadside America. When we were about 5 minutes away, I told them we would play the "Quiet Game", and when we parked at Roadside America, then they could give a big cheer! The few minutes of "silence" were definitely enjoyed by Alison (Leah's Mommy) and me!



Roadside America may not look like much from the front, but when you enter the room, it's quite amazing!



The children had so much fun pushing buttons - watching trains, trolleys, windmills, cable cars, oil wells, circus parades, and steam rollers move around!



There were 3 different levels, so you got a different view from each level. Of course, they thoroughly enjoyed being at the top level!



If you look real close at the following picture, you'll see the kiddos across the room enjoying being at the top level!



The highlight of Roadside America was definitely watching the "night time scene". All the main lights slowly dim - like the sun is setting - until it is all dark, except for the lights in the buildings and trains. They then light up the American flag and Statue of Liberty, and play the song "God Bless America." They all seemed to thoroughly enjoy it!

~Miss Follett with her Foursome~


It's tradition...unless it is raining, you simply have to get a picture in front of the Amish farmers when visiting Roadside America! It was rather blustery out today, but I still was determined to get that picture before we left! ;-)



We then headed off to McDonald's for lunch! The children were excited to be there, but at this point they just wanted to quickly eat their meal so they could play, and weren't too interested in smiling for "camera-happy" me! Oh well! :P



Surprisingly, although it was lunchtime, we pretty much had the place to ourselves! The few children that were there quickly became friends with my kiddos and made play time even more fun! The blue twisty slide was definitely the hit!



Way up high, having fun :-)



Before we headed back to school, they got to enjoy an ice cream cone!





I think my kiddos would be thrilled if we could just move Roadside America and McDonald's play area into our classroom. ;-) They definitely seemed to have a great time!!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Our Thanksgiving Tree - Day #1



Today my kiddos were thankful for:

1. Summer
2. Friends
3. Food
4. My baby
5. Fall
6. Christmas
7. Roadside America*
8. McDonald's*




Every day they will be given opportunities to put more leaves on our tree. I am hoping by the time Thanksgiving comes next week, this tree will be bursting with leaves! I'll trace and cut out as many leaves as I need to in order for this to happen! We have so much to be thankful for. :-)



*Stay tuned :-)

Paper Bag Town


Today we finished up our Community Helper section in Social Studies by creating a "paper bag town". The children made "buildings" out of paper bags to highlight certain community helpers that help make up a town.







Of course a town wouldn't be complete without a motel...



A school...



And especially without a Taco Bell and McDonalds! (not pictured: Wendy's :-))



They were quite thrilled with their town!



Small vehicles were brought out to make the town feel more "alive"...



Although it was soon discovered that paper bag buildings tend to topple over with the slightest breeze, and a tape "foundation" has to be administered at times, the children had a lot fun creating this town!

Now they are BEYOND excited about our "grand finale" adventure to conclude our Community Helper section in Social Studies...Wednesday just can't come soon enough for them!

Stay tuned...yet again :-)

Friday, November 12, 2010

Stay Tuned...


...and watch as this lonely, bare tree transforms into a colorful Thanksgiving tree!


Wednesday, November 10, 2010

A+ Students




Today all four of my students got an A+ on their Numbers test!!!

It was a happy moment for us all. :-)

Wednesday, November 3, 2010