The Joy of Children

I am reminded again and again how blessed we are to have our children in a Catholic school where the Word of God is the divine lesson for each of us to learn.  Yes, those other subjects are so very important, but that each lesson can have God's Word freely spoken, is so very lovely.  We saw this again today as the Grade Seven buddies came to visit, this time assisting us in our Lenten Journey.

The students have learned that during Lent we are asked to fast, to pray and to give alms.

Starting on Monday, the whole school will add an extra prayer to our morning prayers, to be given in the name of those who know and those who we don't.  The students spent time together, creating little representations of these people for whom we will pray.  They will be put up in our little prayer corner at the front of the school.

The joy of having our buddies work with us is evident.

Each student thought of whom they would like to include in their prayers during Lent,

then created a drawing of that person, known or unknown,

adding the details until,

it was evident that they wanted to pray for so many, including soldiers, health care workers, policemen, fire fighters, and those who live a religious life, as well as so many others who touch our lives.

This wonderful project was found on the catholicinspired.com blog, and I am grateful for the willingness of the blogging community for sharing their ideas.            

What joy, when on a wintery day, large feathery snowfalls gently fall, and I catch them on my tongue!

Each student followed this directed drawing activity

then added the details to make the child into themselves

adding colour with oil pastels

and using a sparkly snowflake sticker to stick on their tongue!

 For the creative bloggers who shared this art activity please look here and here, too.

By the by, are you following my blog?  Please let me know by signing up to be a follower.  You are very welcome and encouraged to leave a comment, each and every time you visit.  As well, there is a place to put in your e-mail address and each time I post, the posting will be automatically sent to your e-mail.  I know, because I get my own updates!  Try it!

BLESSINGS TO YOU!

If you're smarter and you know it, clap your hands!!

Look what greeted our little darlings this morning!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Today was the 100th Day of School!

There were enough activities planned to keep us busy for days!

Thank you to each and every teacher out there for sharing at least 100 ways to celebrate this day!

I used so many wonderful ideas to make this day memorable for the students in my room.

Each student got  a "1" and two "0"'s to spur on their imagination and create something...

a wonderful guitar

a bird's nest with two eggs

a ring toss game

a monster truck

As a way to visually show what 100 looks like, the Kindergarten, Grade 1, 2, and 3 classes

all met up in the gym and counted off.  Today we had 110 students, so that large ring of kids is 100.

The last 10 got to be the special ones in the middle.  We are actually larger as we had many students away today and I heard that two more darlings will be joining our school community on Monday!

Back in the class, we interacted with 100 at a variety of centres:

We looked at how many drops of water 100 is,

made a snack of 100 pieces 

(thanks for sending in the food parents!!)

used 100 geometric shapes to create something

weighed 100 popped and 100 not popped popcorn seeds to determine which weighed more

tried to buy $100.00 worth of books from the book orders (YIKES)

used 100 LEGO blocks to create an original piece 

I found these after school as I was cleaning up...pretty cool creations!

Any excuse to dress up!! What fun they all had as they showed up in their finery, as 100 year old children!  Love the purse and pearls and the cane with the newspaper!

The children really enjoyed guessing what each child brought in their bottle.  

It really was a lovely day and I know that '100' is a solid concept for each and every student!

Valentine's Day (with love!)

The students thought they had died and gone to Heaven over this little writing assignment.  Because we are an "Apple School", using food in the classroom is discouraged, but sometimes food is the perfect motivator!  This idea was shared by "fanaticallyfirstgrade" on her blog site and seemed like the best way to bring real life into our introduction into writing an opinion.  Each student received one Hersey Kiss and one Hersey Hug.  After tasting small bits, we created a Venn diagram together.  They then decided which of the two chocolates they liked better and used the Venn diagram to create their own circle map.  They highlighted four of the ideas to then use in creating their reasons for liking that chocolate best, into sentences.  Finally, after editing, they wrote out their ideas including ensuring that adjectives were included.  The final verdict, Hersey Hugs -16 and Hersey Kisses - 1! (I have 5 students away on tropical vacations right now)

In all my years of teaching, I have never had a school organize a "dance" for the primary school students, but this one does!  My rules for attending was that the volume of the music needed to be appropriate (after all we just learned how delicate our ears are in our Hearing and Sound unit), and the lights had to stay on.  They had a blast, as you'll see from these photos...even with my old fashioned rules:

(The girls were mortified that I asked them to stand with the boys for this photo!)

They're doing the "Cha Cha Slide."

Completely spontaneous conga line!

A huge thank you goes out to the parents for providing the Valentine's Day lunch, with this great idea of individual cups of dip with celery and carrot sticks... 

apple juice, fruit kabobs, rice krispie squares and finger jello.

No one volunteered to bring heart shaped jam sandwiches, so I brought bread and jam, and the students made their own (had to follow directions...another reading activity).  They were a smash hit!  Loved that one girl told me "My mom never lets me make my own sandwich."  Now she can take on that responsibility on her own!

 

Using an idea from Pinterest, each student made their own house, complete with their address, so their friends could deliver their Valentines to the correct friend.

The students have been members of our primary classes "Kind Kids Club" and have been doing Random Acts of Kindness each day.  They decided to make this card for our principal and surprise him with it.  They were so pleased with themselves!

Love this!  We work on being good partners in all subject areas.  Look at this group effort to get some work finished...so sweet and so rewarding to see!

Then there is this little gem...the Apple School lady came in earlier in the week to ask the students what their favourite way to "sneak in a break" during the school day was.  She was going for ideas such as eating a healthy snack, running around with friends with recess, etc.  I didn't check out the student's responses before she put up their ideas on a bulletin board in the hallway.  This is the one that kills me!

This lad says "I sneak in a break by putting my head back and thinking of other things."  I'm guessing that is me at the front going "Bla Bla Bla Bla Bla"  Oh, the honesty of children!

Look What's Coming Up!!

There is no doubt that February is a month that moves fast and furious!

After I spent two days at our fabulous North Central Alberta Teacher's Convention, I am ready to engage the students in a busy, busy week of learning with special times added.  On Tuesday we will be celebrating Shrove Tuesday, with a pancake lunch.  Ask your child why we celebrate with pancakes!  There is a religious significance to the practice.  The next day, Ash Wednesday, we will gather as a school community to celebrate the first day of the Lenten season.  Lent is a special time when you can share the concepts of prayer and sharing with your children.  The students will be keeping their own Lenten promises to Jesus for the forty days.  They are always so amazed when our "Alleluia" banner and the cross are taken down as visible reminders of what our lives would be like without Jesus.

On Thursday, we will be celebrating Valentine's Day as a class.  Starting at around 11:30 and for about an hour, the students will be treated to a 'dance' in the gym with the Grade 1 and 2 classes.  We will return for a 'sweet treat' lunch.  Could you please help?  Here are the ideas I have to keep this lunch both nutritious and fun filled.  Please let me know, by writing a note in your child's agenda,  if you are willing to send in anything on the list:

1.  Strawberry or raspberry jam sandwiches, cut into heart shapes with a cookie cutter.

2.  Rice krispie treats either shaped as hearts, or with heart sprinkles on top.

3.  Tray of cherry finger jello, cut into heart shapes with a cookie cutter.

4.  Individual glasses with ranch dressing on the bottom, filled with carrot and celery sticks.

5.  Fruit kabobs (could have strawberry, apple, pineapple, grapes and melon).

6.  Individual pink lemonade or apple juice boxes.

The following Monday, February 18, is Family Day in Alberta and the students will be home enjoying the activities you have planned, as a family.  But the next day.....they will be celebrating the 

One Hundredth Day of School!! The day will be filled with learning, all relating to that grand number.

One of the activities that I have planned is to create a 100 day snack (good opportunity to practise recipe writing!).  Each student will be making a bag full to snack  on during the day.  I must be careful because of the allergies in the room.  Could I please ask for more volunteers to send in the following:

1.  One bag of milk chocolate baking chips              

2.  One large bag of mini marshmallows

3.  One large box of goldfish crackers                      

4.  One large bag of raisins

5.  One large bag of pretzels                                    

6.  One box of "Fruit Loops" cereal

7.  One large bag of popcorn twists                          

8.  One large box of honeycomb cereal

9.  One bag of popcorn, popped                             

10. One large box of mini M and M's

Thought I would share how we sometimes have to 'get up and go' in order to shake that brain back into working order.  I have a variety of 'dance breaks' saved onto the computer, and when the students just stop really participating, I know it is time to get them up and moving!  Looks like they're having fun!

This is one of their favourites...Ice Cream and Cakie Cake! complete with instructions, before they try it on their own.  They get that old classroom floor bouncing!