All Over the World

 We have continued to travel around the world celebrating Christmas in the classroom! We started our weekly travels to England, where the kids got a kick from the Queen's Guard. While their Christmas is fairly similar to America's, we enjoy learning about Christmas trees, and making a craft.

On Tuesday we took a boat over to Holland to learn about tulips, wooden shoes, and windmills. We also learned about The history of Saint Nick (or Sinterklaas in Dutch) and how he showed Christian love to the less fortunate. We also made Christmas themed windmills.

Wednesday, the first graders traveled to Norway and France to learn about their Christmas. While we had fun making candles and singing carols (a Norway tradition), I think they were most amazed about the Chunnel.

On Thursday we took a trip to Italy to learn about their many cities and structures. We explored Italian cuisine by making Italian Hot Chocolate, which is a thick, rich drink. Many students agreed that it was amazing! Here's the recipe link to try at home!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/216167/cioccolata-calda-hot-chocolate-italian-style/

On Friday we visited the special country of Israel. The students were amazed that that is where Jesus walked. We then made our own nativity scenes to remember that Jesus was born here.

Phonics in Kindergarten is really moving along. The children are flying through their sight words, and have been enjoying reading many books. In a few weeks we will be done with learning the letters, and start on letter blends!

Reading in First Grade is becoming tricky, but I know they are up for the challenge! We've learned many word families like "igh", "ight", "oat". and "oast". The students also created Christmas poems this week!

Math is also moving along swiftly with addition and calendar work for Kindergarten, and quarters and temperature work for First Graders.

In other news, all the first graders got 100% on their spelling test this Friday! WOOHOO! Keep up the good work!

Coming up...

Next Thursday we are planning on going to Christian Care to spread some Christmas cheer to the residents their. We welcome any parents and siblings to join us!

On December 22nd, we are planning to have our classrooms Christmas Party! I plan on getting with all the volunteers about their duties soon. We also are planning on having a small gift exchange...more details about this coming up!