Happy Holidays!

Whoa...can you believe the first half of kindergarten is over??? Where does the time fly? We made it! Goodbye 2013, hello 2014! Simply amazing. This is going to be a longer than usual blog post so brace yourselves.

Our Kindergarten Winter Party on Thursday was such a blast! Each classroom had a couple different reindeer-related activities and students could go to each activity whenever they wanted for an hour. It went by pretty quickly! The kids' reindeer antlers and red noses were adorable--such a good touch to the day!

Pin the Nose on Rudolph

Musical Chairs

Cookies and hot cocoa treat

Antler Toss

Reindeer Relay Races

Reindeer craft to hang on the fridge at home!

Elf on the Shelf Spottings

Playing in the math area

At the whiteboard station

I am sure you all heard, but Buddy accidentally got touched while we were cleaning up our reading stations, and he had to fly back home to the North Pole to get taken care of at the Elf Hospital. We were sad to not have Buddy in our classroom for an afternoon, but we also wanted to make sure he had all his elf magic back. As a way to show him that we cared and were sorry, we wrote him a Get Well card.

Buddy's note

The next day, Buddy faithfully returned in good spirits to our classroom and appeared 100% better.  Phew--that was a close one!

Dear Boys and Girls, I went to Elf Hospital and got some medicine to get my magic back. The doctors took good care of me and now I'm all better! Thank you for your sweet, thoughtful Get Well Card. Santa has it back in the North Pole. He was happy to see how much you care. Love, Buddy the Elf

Hanging on top of the Smartboard

Making a mess with party streamers!

On Friday, he left us a special donut treat at our table spots. 

He also made a gingerbread house and wrote us a farewell letter saying he will return again next December!

Tis the Season of Giving

Our class raised over $160 in donations for our Scholastic Pajama Drive--WOW!!!!! The kids were so astounded as we counted up each dollar and coin last week. Our class and the other two kindergarten classes pooled our donations together and were able to buy a total of 44 sets of pajamas to send to the PJ Drive! I told the class that they should feel very proud of themselves because we were able to help other boys and girls who are in need. For each pajama set given to a child, that child will also get a brand new book to read! 

Each day, we kept track of how many people did chores and collected money.

Holy Moly!! What a huge accomplishment.

Holiday Gift from Us to You!

The kindergarteners got to choose either a reindeer or polar bear ornament to give as a gift

Learning how to write a letter

Decorating our cards

Okay, so we got to think a little bit about ourselves and wrote a list of things of what we would like from Santa. Plus it was a good way to get some writing in! What kids want these days are a bit different from when I was their age... It was fun for me to see what things are popular now and what things haven't changed.

This one started off with "Can I please have.." What good manners!

Look, we made our own Santas!

Polar Express Stations

Blends in words

Ending sounds in words

Rhyming words

Word families

Building and writing CVC words

Ten frames

Reading and writing number words

Collecting and interpreting data

Plus 1 more than a number

Third Grade Buddies

They made snowman/girl glyphs

Our Pajama Party was a success on Friday. We snacked on popcorn and watched The Polar Express. Last week was surprisingly very calm for being so close to Christmas; that definitely made me a happy teacher. I was able to open my presents from the class that afternoon and told the boys and girls that I am so thankful for having such bright, curious, and positive students. They're honestly the best gift I could ever have. Material things are nice and all, but that isn't what is most meaningful. It is working with you and them that really makes my career at Jeffers Pond worth it all! I mean it. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND SEE YOU ALL IN THE NEW YEAR!!! I can't wait to see what 2014 will bring. :D