polar express party

what: annual polar express party

where: 3rd grade a

when: December 16, 2011

why: sometimes we need a day of fun!

{morning menu}

powdered sugar donuts

hot cocoa

peppermint sticks

fresh fruit

orange juice

{morning activities}

reading: The Polar Express

writing: A "story train"

doing:  Crossword Puzzle & Word Search!

{afternoon menu}

peppermint ice cream with chocolate sauce

chocolate & white nougat candy bars

gingerbread cookies

{afternoon activities}

watching: The Polar Express movie

doing: visiting and relaxing!

And of course all of these things were done in 

our pajamas.

Many thanks to all of 

the wonderful 3A parents

who contributed all the

wonderful treats for our party!!

Winter Gifts

I had a fun time with the kids making these "Let it Snow" plaques for them to take home as presents for their parents.

We started with chipboard, then layered it with scrapbook papers.

{I love how the plaques look like a big quilt when they are placed together side by side.}

I cut out the felt trees with my die cut machine. The students loved the machine, and I let them each crank the handle to cut the trees. We even made a math problem out of the whole process; we estimated how many trees we could cut using the felt I had on hand. After we had determined that we could get 3 trees on each piece of felt, they divided 21 (the number of students) by 3 and knew we would have enough because I had 7 pieces of felt.  They figured that all out on their own, and I was really happy to see them using math in an "every day" experience. I am forever telling them, "Math is all around us!!"

After the scrapbook paper, the students glued on the felt trees and little pieces of paper "lace". They also picked out buttons and threaded thin bits of small vintage string through each button carefully. They glued the buttons on the trees after deciding exactly where each button should be placed.

Finally we made hangers for the plaques with thin pieces of wire, attached a small "let it snow" banner and a piece of ivory tulle to each one, and applied lots of glitter (of course!)

So much fun!

let it snow!

reindeer & math

We have been talking about the relationship

between multiplication and division lately.

Of course the subject of "fact families" has

been talked about as well.

Today the kids made these sweet little

reindeer themed FACT FAMILY cards

to practice their multiplication and division

facts.

{ I found the reindeer face forms at Michaels. We used red buttons, wiggly eyes and some smart red ribbon to jazz

up the reindeer a bit.}

wild Christmas reindeer.

Today in class we read one of my favorite Jan Brett stories, The Wild Christmas Reindeer.

She has an amazing way with words and writes inspiring stories for little listening ears.She is also an amazing artist. 

 The students were so quiet and interested in this story. We read about a group of reindeer living on Santa's Winterfarm who were feeling anxious and cranky. The girl who was in charge of training them was bossy and rough with them, and it just created an awful environment for everyone!  Finally, as the trainer learned to be calm and patient...careful and quiet, things calmed down and everything was sorted out.

We talked about how words - and the TONE of our words - can sometimes be harmful to others. We decided it is much better to work as a team and talk to each other in calm and peaceful voices.  After reading the story, the students wrote about the "problems" and "solutions" found in this wonderful tale.  We put together a cute little winterfarm board to showcase their writing.

giving thanks, sweet thanks.

We had fun creating these little Thanksgiving hanging plaques. We started with chipboard for a sturdy backing. I copied a page from a vintage "Poor Richard's Almanac" booklet that I have. Those were cut to fit our chipboard, then we glued them down securely.  Next we attached some little turkey images (from a vintage postcard) with glue dots and then layered felt leaves and colorful buttons. The students had a lot of fun picking out just the right place for their leaves and buttons.  Finally we added a ribbon at the top, and the students wrote little papers about what they are thankful for to put on the back of their projects.

I am thankful for creative and fun projects
 like these to share with my little artists.

I am thankful as well for each 
little loving heart and hand that put 
these 

sweet reminders of 

thankfulness together.

unicef goodness

this year we helped kids all around the world

by participating in

trick - or - treat for unicef

those sweet little 3rd graders teamed up

with the 3rd grade b class

and all together

raised over $700!

here they are counting up the donations

kids helping kids.

hAppy hArvest

when: october 31

where: 3rd grade a

what: hallOween harVest pArty

why:  'cause kids just gotta have fun!

food, fun, & frolic.

life is good!