Goodbye Ms. Shamp

At the end of the semester, we had to say goodbye to Ms. Shamp. We were so sad to see her go, but happy at the same time. Ms. Shamp got a job as a 1st grade teacher and we know she will be great! I planned a surprise party for her- meaning I made brownies and didn't tell her. So, I told the kids about the surprise and they were SO excited! They wanted to hide so they could jump out and yell "Surprise!" Ms. Shamp took a little longer than we thought... and since they were all running around and I found about 8 in the bathroom... we decided to trick her by taking a rest :) She was surprised, and they thought it was the greatest thing!

"SHHHH!"

Good luck Ms. Shamp! We love you!

We love Books!

As a fun Christmas gift, we had books sent to school for the children to open before the holiday break. They loved unwrapping the books and looking to see what they received! What a fun present!

Winter Centers

Our Winter Centers were a huge success! The children had a great time rotating around the room to different activities.

Measuring out reindeer food to use on Christmas Eve!

Miss Kaitlin helped us make jingle bell bracelets- we loved those! (they made lots of noise!)

Decorating Christmas trees with M&M ornaments - counting the "big" numbers- 11-20.

Decorating cookies- YUMMY!

Ms. Shamp helped us make our own Santa hats!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

We got a big treat before our Christmas break! Mrs. Sherri, a friend of Mrs. Fitzgerald's, came to read us Dr. Seuss', "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." She even brought the Grinch and his dog Max... and candy canes for us to eat while reading. So much fun!

Christmas in Holland

We also studied Christmas in Holland. I think this might have been their favorite! We learned about Sinterklass and his white horse. He comes in on a steamboat and rides his horse to the children's houses. The children leave out their shoes, with hay and carrots for the white horse. Before quiet time, we all placed our shoes in the hallway, with carrots of course! We waited, and sure enough... Sinterklass brought us goodies! :)

Boy were we excited!

Hanukkah

Our next "Christmas Around the World" was Hanukkah. We learned a little about the meaning behind the celebration, especially the oil that miraculously burned for 8 days in the temple lamp. This is why food is cooked with oil, just like the potato latkes we made. They were yummy!




We also made our own Menorah out of paper. It has 9 candles- the shamash (server candle) is used for lighting the other 8, which represent how many days are in Hanukkah.

Kwanzaa

Before the Christmas holidays, we studied "Christmas Around the World." We learned about different cultures and ate different things too!

We studied Kwanzaa first (and did the most with it!). We learned where to find Africa on the map, and what it looks like (since Kwanzaa is a celebration of African American heritage), we made Kwanzaa placemats by weaving, and made a friendship salad!

Ms. Shamp taught us how to use the keyboard as we typed words relating to Kwanzaa.

Christmas Wreaths

Mrs. Paula came back (thank you!) to help us make another ornament for our class Christmas tree. The students strung beads to make wreaths. They were so cute!

Alligator Ornaments

Mrs. Kornuta asked us to make an ornament to hang on the BIG Christmas tree in the front of the school. After reading "The Cajun Night Before Christmas," we made alligator ornaments... using an example Mrs. Fitzgerald made when she was probably in kindergarten!

Mrs. Hallum (Mrs. Fitzgerald's mom) came to help make alligators.

Mrs. Paula also came to help us make ornaments, and to hang them on the tree! :)


So cute!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

The children LOVED putting up our class Christmas tree... and they were good at it too!