Gingerbread Houses

On Friday, December 18th, our class made gingerbread houses! The excitement had been building for several weeks as we collected ice cream buckets, frosting, and supplies for decorating. Finally, the big day arrived, everything was ready, and it was time to begin! Each child had to invite one guest as a helper. We had moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, and siblings join us as we created our houses.

We started the event by singing a few songs to entertain our guests.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!"

We got our instructions on the Smartboard by looking at pictures from last year's blog post showing the whole process. We got lots of good ideas!
Finally we could start!

The first step was to frost a foil-covered lid as a base for the house.


Fingers made good knives!

Then, we frosted an empty milk carton for the house.

Then, we stuck graham crackers to the cartons.

Frosting made great glue,

and it tasted good, too!

Then, the decorating began! We took turns going to the supply table to choose what we wanted to use to decorate the house.

This house was "pink-a-liscious!"

We even had a few pre-schoolers as helpers.

Fortunately, we had lots of napkins for sticky fingers.

The kids were very creative with all the gum drops, M&Ms, licorice, cereal, teddy grams, pretzels, etc.

Frosted ice cream cones made great snow-covered trees.

Candy canes turned into back-yard sleds.

Andes mints made perfect doors.

The frosting was finger-licking good!

This house turned into a log cabin, complete with a wood pile.

Here are some more of the finished products.

Looks good!

It was hard to resist a little munching!

Grandpas were really good helpers!

Colored sugar, sprinkles, and coconut added extra color and texture.

Hopefully, all of the houses made it home in one piece.

Thanks, parents, for all of your help with this project!

Happy Holidays, and remember to read lots during vacation!

November Students of the Month

Congratulations to our November Students of the Month:

Dillen, Nora, and Bruno.

Keep up the good work, kids!

Dress for Winter!

We had our first snowy day last week when kids needed all their winter gear. What a project, getting 23 kids ready for outdoor play. And you think your entryway is a mess? Come check out the hallway when everyone is getting ready! I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of the process. It only took about 5 minutes to get eveyone outside, and that time will decrease as eveyone gets better at new zippers, snaps, boot ties, etc.

Snowpants are a requirement for outside play on the hillside!

They keep kids warm and dry.

Boots are a must, too.


And don't forget hat and mittens!

Hey guys! Looking good!

Putting all this "stuff" on can be quite a project.

It's a lot of work, but check out all of these smiles!

Winter is sooooo much fun!

All ready!

The pictures say it all!
Please be sure to label ALL outerwear, especially snow pants and boots, since many of the children have similar styles. Last year, one mom tied a piece of yarn to the buckle on her son's snow pants, and he never had trouble finding his! The lost and found gets pretty full as the winter progresses, so if your child is missing something, be sure to check there!

Students of the Month

Every month, several students are chosen as "Students of the Month." The selection is based on a variety of different things, from good performance on spelling tests, great reading, neat handwriting, improvement in behavior, being a good friend, etc.. Mrs. Giese comes to present the awards, and the students get a certificate to take home.

Our first award winners were Gavin, Von, and Sierrah.

Congratulations!!

Veteran's Day

Our local VFW presented a short program to the whole elementary school on Veteran's Day. We learned that veterans are people who have served our country in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and National Guard.

We all stood in honor of our flag as the veterans came into the gym.

We all joined in saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

The 5th grade choir sang for us, and we watched a slide show showing pictures of friends and relatives of people in our school who are veterans. Our principal, Mrs. Giese, who is a veteran, reminded us all to "Thank a Vet!"

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!

It's that time of year again when the bugs are coming inside to warm up, at least they are at my house! Fortunately, the only bugs at school are of the paper variety, except for a stray box elder bug here and there. Our Language Arts story last week was a make believe story called "A Surprise for Zig Bug." The bugs in this story live in a hut, and they can swim, talk, play tug of war, and drink lemonade. We read about real bugs, too, and then we made our own. Don't they look great decorating the wall by the Bug Center?

At the Center, we can learn more about bugs by reading books, using a flip book, doing a puzzle, and making bug rubbings.

We learned that bugs have 6 legs.

They also gave 3 body parts: a head, thorax, and abdomen.

Some bugs have wings, and some don't.

Most bugs also have antennae.

Bugs have spots, stripes, and crazy colors.

Some bugs also have feeding tubes.

Some bugs even have stingers.

We worked so hard!

Our bugs were fun to make!