Roadside America & McDonalds

Yesterday we went on a field trip to Roadside America. As you can see from the sign below, it is considered the world's greatest indoor miniature village. :-) They just recently celebrated their 80th anniversary, so it has been around for awhile! The kids loved going around the room, pressing buttons to make different things move. Josh's sister and another new friend joined us for the day to make it even more fun!

 

It is always a tradition to get a picture in front of "Ma and Pa" before we leave!

We finished up our day with lunch at McDonald's. The kids had a blast in the playroom once they finished their happy meals. :-)

9 More Days and Counting!

I'll tell you what. This teacher is exhausted! I took over as full-time teacher in April, and it has been quite the adventure! This past week especially I think both the students and I felt the distinct pull of summer. We are all ready to be done with school!

Of course, we still have a few more days left so we are trying to make each day count. On Friday, we had a picnic lunch, played at a playground, and went on a walking trail. It was so nice to be out of the classroom and out in the beautiful, sunny weather!

One-Room Schoolhouse Fun!

We went on a field trip to Quiet Valley Farm yesterday. The students dressed up for the 1800's, and got to experience what it was like to be in a one-room schoolhouse. They also got to learn about sheep, wool and how to use a loom to make cloth. It was a fun-filled day!

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The DaVinci Science Center

On Tuesday we went to the DaVinci Science Center. It is a GREAT place to take elementary kids because everything is hands-on. You are allowed to touch everything ;-). Wow, does that make a teacher's job a lot easier!!

This place deals with every type of Science. We got to be involved in an Electricity program which was pretty amazing. Some of the kids got to participate and see how electricity works. They got to touch starfish and sea urchins, play with magnets, go through a tunnel, lift weights, pretend to be meteorologists, learn about dinosaurs....honestly, there are just too many fun things to name!

A special part of our time at the DaVinci Science Center was being able to be part of a weather program with our local meteorologist, Ed Hanna! He has done many school programs, and did a great job keeping the kids' interest with pictures and videos.

 

There was a camera man there for a little bit, and we discovered that we were going to be featured on the news!!! That was rather exciting to hear. :-) I was able to capture the moment on my phone. Not the best quality, but you can hear what he is saying. It does a teacher's heart proud when she hears her students being called attentive, devoted and sharp on TV!

 

We took one last group shot before the kids explored the fun Dinosaur room. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get everyone to not only look at the camera at the same time, but also smile? Yeah, the second after this picture was taken, they literally bolted all over the room. They just don't seem to grasp the importance of capturing the moments like their teachers do. ;-) It was a fun {exhausting} day of exploring!!!!

Bounce U

On Friday, the students on Honor Roll were able to go to Bounce U - an indoor playground filled with bouncing equipment. ;-) They were bouncing, sliding, climbing and having loads of fun together! Definitely a great way to get rid of some of their endless energy.  By the end of our time, there were rosy cheeks, and tired bodies heading to the bus. Success!!!

Check out more pictures here!

Snow Fun

With some recent snowfall, the school playground has turned into a winter wonderland! I promised the kids that if they brought snow boots, I would take them outside for recess. The majority did remember to bring them, so yesterday they had quite an adventure on the snowy mounds. The sun was so bright that the snow was practically glistening all over the playground. It was quite the lovely winter day!

"Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Christmas Party!

We had a lot of fun at our Christmas party on Friday! We played lots of games including "Christmas Bump-It", "Ornament Matching", "Nativity Scavenger Hunt", "Christmas Words in a Word", and "All I Want for Christmas". The morning concluded with Mrs. Lytle's yummy ziti and bread for lunch! 

For "All I Want for Christmas", the kids had to think up things starting with the different letters of the alphabet. I was quite impressed with how well the 1st graders did with remembering A-Z!

I couldn't have survived the party without my fellow reindeer/sister, Alayna :-)

Christmas Shopping!

This afternoon we went Christmas shopping at a nearby dollar store. Each student had 3 people they could buy something for. During this Christmas season, we wanted to focus on the spirit of GIVING rather than the spirit of getting. Most of the students were buying presents for Mommies, Daddies, and Grandparents. Some were also buying for friends, so we had to make sure we guarded our shopping baskets so certain people couldn't peek!

They were each able to buy 3 gifts because they all earned 3,000 merits in school. You get merits for getting your work done, quoting Bible verses, getting 100% on your tests, showing character etc. 

This shopping event went really smoothly, for which we were all thankful! When it was first mentioned as a possibility, we weren't sure how we all felt about it. ;-) Organization was the key though!

Wrapping paper, tape and tags were also purchased, so when we got back to school, each group could wrap their presents. I think it is safe to say that everyone is officially in the Christmas spirit now! :-)

 

A Farewell Fish Party!

You may remember our class pet from last year, Mr. Jasper Smiles? He joined us again this school year. His place of honor was on the testing table in the middle of the Elementary Learning Center.

With the winter months quickly approaching us, I really didn't want to arrive at school one day and find the poor guy frozen stiff. I decided that I would take him home for the winter months where I had better control of room temperature. :-)

Because I was taking him home, we decided to have a goodbye party for Jasper yesterday. (So much better than a funeral!) The students have grown quite attached to the little guy, and the older ones were always excited when it was their turn to feed him.

We went all out for this party! In the morning we went down to the kitchen and made blue Jell-O, putting it in a fish bowl (a BRAND NEW one!). Each student got to stir and dump something in the bowl. About an hour or 2 later we added Swedish fish to "swim" around in the blue Jell-O.

While the kiddos did their schoolwork, I was down in the Kindergarten classroom decorating for the party - complete with blue balloons, green streamers, and party hats. Jasper even got his own place of honor!

Later in the day, the students came downstairs. We had so many fun activities planned, but unfortunately, not everything could get done. However, we did decorate our party hats with fish stickers, read a story called "A Fish Out of Water", play a game called "A Fish Out of Water", taste test different fish crackers, and enjoy the blue Jell-O with Swedish Fish. The students had all written notes to Jasper, but we ran out of time to read them to him. I will have to promise to read them to him later on. Oh the things we do for a fish!! He has no idea how much he is loved. :-) One of my favorite notes I helped one of the first graders compose goes like this:

"Dear Mr. Jasper Smiles,

Can you not get frozen this winter? I really really like you but you have to go now. I will miss you!"

You know you are a teacher when you are not ashamed to wear a party hat to a farewell party for a fish! :-)

Red Lobster

Every quarter we do something special with the students who get on honor roll. The first quarter of the school year ended last week, and all 14 students made it on honor roll!

Red Lobster has a special program they recently started for students, and so we took advantage of the opportunity. The students had a great time learning about Red Lobster and all the important responsibilities everyone has to make sure things run smoothly in the restaurant.

We got to meet Larry Lobster, wear hair nets, visit the kitchen area, scoop out biscuits, compete in a coloring contest, and best of all, enjoy a free lunch! It was a great learning experience for us all. :-)

Having Fun in the Fall with Friends :-)

Strawberry Acres

Today we went to Strawberry Acres for a field trip - not to pick strawberries, but to pick APPLES! We started off with learning about what happens to apple trees during the different seasons. Then "Johnny Appleseed" told us his life story. After the story was over, the students were asked some questions about him, and one of the questions was, "Why does he wear a pot on his head?" A first grader raised her hand, and stated, "Because he wants to cover his bald spot!" Hmmm....well, you never know. :-)

The best part of the day was taking a bumpy ride in an open air bus into the apple orchard. Each student could pick 3 apples to take home with them. The field trip was then concluded with petting some animals, and even feeding them some grass. What a beautiful fall day for a field trip! 

 

 

Pumpkin Day!

On Friday we had Pumpkin Day at school! Students dressed in orange in celebration. The big excitement of the day was cutting open a pumpkin, digging out the seeds, and guessing how many there were inside.

Getting ready to cut open the pumpkin!

Beware! Stand back! Miss Follett has a knife!

 Time to dig out the seeds!!

 

 

Love their reactions!

Time to guess how many seeds are in the pumpkin!

Samantha was our winner! And yes, I counted the 588 seeds while they were out at recess. It was good for me :-)