Elf Glyphs, Class Yard Sales, Ice Storms and TGI(a)F!

Elf Glyphs = Finished!

The children had so much fun making their elf glyphs. They turned out pretty stinkin' cute! We'll make the corresponding graphs that go with these tomorrow. You can't see it, but our Elf on the Shelf, Dodger, made his own elf glyph! It was nestled between the others, and, of course, my little eagle-eyed kiddos spotted it pretty quickly. For having no thumbs, he did a great job of making his own glyph. 

Don't you just love the magic and mystery of this time of year? 

World Geography Study

We begin our passports for our world geography studies, tomorrow. I had almost decided not to do this unit this year, but my wonderful teammates inspired me to do it. Their excitement and enthusiasm is contagious. It's a marathon of maps, fun read alouds, crafts, simulated jet flights, a few snacks, and lots of Google Earth. It's so exciting to pull all of these activities together for the children, especially when I have great teammates to encourage me. 

Class Yard Sale
In addition to the world geography study, we're having our class yard sale, next week. If you're curious, you can peek at it, here. Having a class yard sale is a perfect way to engage students in counting sums of coins, making change, and reviewing basic addition and subtraction facts. I don't think my kiddos realize how much they are going to LOVE this activity!

This week has flown by! It has been a week filled with hard work and cute kids. Still remembering things I'm thankful for... Today, it is for a generous school PTO. Our staff was treated to a delicious teacher appreciation luncheon, today. I'm very grateful to have such generous and supportive parents. 

TGI(a)F!
Tomorrow is Friday! There's a slight risk of an ice storm rolling in near the end of the school day. I don't look forward to an icy weekend. I'd rather have an icy weekday that gives us a snow day! 

Have a great Friday and a restful weekend!

The Calm before the Storm?

I expected my students to return from Thanksgiving, well, all hyped in anticipation of the holidays. Not true. They've been calm, focused and completely pleasant! It's another thing to be thankful for!

Dodger, the Elf on the Shelf, popped in yesterday. The kiddos have been excited to guess where he'll be next. He surely can think of some creative places and poses! He is smart; he places himself high enough to ensure that his magic stays intact. Little hands can't reach the LCD projector!

We've been working on our study of states of matter. As you can see from the photo, it's messy, but so much fun! The children are doing a great job of working cooperatively. 

In this experiment, students are exploring what happens when two solids are mixed. They had to figure out how to separate the gravel and kosher salt, once they were combined. There were some very crafty problem solvers. Tomorrow features mixing liquids with solids. Messy? Yes. Engaging? Absolutely!

Happy Wednesday!