Happy Birthday, Jesus!

The boys and girls in our class were in celebration mode all day today, and with good reason. We were celebrating Jesus' birthday today! Yes, it is a few days early, but we all agreed that an early birthday party was a fantastic idea. Dressed in pajamas, we sang an enthusiastic Happy Birthday to Jesus, blew out the candles, and enjoyed a delicious birthday cake together (thank you Mrs. M)!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Birdseed Ornaments

Our Snazzy Snack this month was not for us to eat, but for the birds! Our focus in Science has been the seasonal changes in Winter. We have learned that not all birds migrate south for the winter, and some birds, including bluejays, cardinals, and chickadees, stay throughout this chilly season!

This week we made beautiful bird feeder ornaments to decorate our trees and treat the birds! We gathered our ingredients:

We mixed 1/4 cup of warm water with a package of gelatin, and then stirred in a cup of bird seed. We mixed two different kinds of seeds together to make a really tasty treat for the birds!

Then we packed the mixture into a cookie cutter and poked a straw through one spot so we could tie a string through it later. It was very messy, which is probably why it was so much fun!

We waited a few days for the ornaments to dry, then threaded a piece of yarn through the hole left by the straw. Look at the beautiful snacks we made for the birds!

Happy munching, birds!

The Friendly Beasts

This past week we prepared for the birth of Christ by rehearsing and performing our Christmas Concert! The focus was A Traditional Christmas, and the students learned timeless carols, including Silent Night and Joy to the World, which were woven in between the Nativity Play. What a wonderful experience it was to focus on the true meaning of Christmas!

We performed The Friendly Beasts, a peaceful song about the animals present in the stable the night Jesus was born. The children sang about what each animal did to welcome Jesus into the world. The donkey carried Mary, His mother, to Bethlehem. The cow gave his manger for a bed and the sheep shared his wool for warmth. The doves cooed from the rafters, soothing Jesus to sleep. The children's performance was beautiful.

Here are some special moments from the concert:



Thank you to the parents who sought out supplies and created such precious costumes for the children to wear. Thank you to Mrs. Montgomery for taking the photos of our class performing during the concert, used in the video above.

This week marks the third week of Advent. Throughout Advent, we have been discussing how we are preparing our hearts for the arrival of Jesus, and students are encouraged to take time to pray and find ways to share kindness with others.

May your families be blessed with peace and joy throughout this Christmas season!

Addition: What's Your Strategy?

What's your strategy?

The students are well into addition to 12, and while the problems are fairly simple to solve, the challenge often comes when they are asked, "Well, how did you sove that? What's your strategy?".

Our Math curriculum aims to arm students with a bank of strategies they can draw upon to solve a problem. This enables students to develop a deeper, more meaningful understanding of addition, subtraction, and numeracy overall, and requires them to think about the problem.

Posted on our wall are strategies that can be used when solving addition problems. As we are introduced to a new strategy, it is posted on the wall. Here are the strategies we have worked with so far:

Posters courtesy of Step Into Second Grade

(1) Draw a Picture / Use Counters
This strategy is fairly straightforward. Students know that pictures do not need to be fancy and detailed, but do need to be neat and functional. Counters do not need to match the problem exactly (e.g. using real cats or dogs), but can be used to represent the problem (e.g. brown counters for cats and white for dogs).

Here is a student solving a challenging word problem using counters:

There are 10 marbles in a box. Some are yellow. Some are green.
There are two more green than yellow marbles.
How many yellow marbles were in the box?

(2) Doubles

Doubles are math facts that use the same number, such as 4+4 or 6+6. To help students remember their doubles to 12, we learned a catchy little song.

(3) Counting On

This strategy can also be called counting on from the bigger number. For this strategy, students put the bigger number "in their head", then count on. For example, when solving 2+7, students put the bigger number in their head, in this case it is 7, and then count on two more. Say, "7 (touch forehead) ..., 8, 9". Students are encouraged to touch their forehead when they put the bigger number in their head.

Using the counting on strategy for 2+7.
7 (touch forehead) ... 8, 9!

ZAP IT! Game

We have really enjoyed the game ZAP IT this week! Students play in small groups. Each group receives a cup of popsicle sticks. On the sticks are math facts (and for now, they are all addition problems with answers no bigger than 12). A few sticks in the cup say ZAP IT.

• Set the timer for 3 minutes.
• Take turns pulling a stick from the cup.
• Keep the sticks you get correct.
• If you pull the ZAP IT stick, put all of your sticks back.

Can you tell the addition strategy this
little one is using to solve his addition problem?

Students have been using their doubles and counting on strategies to help them!  Why not make this game at home? If you are interested and would like a set of popsicle sticks, I would be happy to send a pile home. Or just buy a box of popsicles and get licking!

Next up? Subtraction!

Building Snowmen ... Indoors!

How can you build a snowman indoors?


Make a bagel snowman!

 We have winter fever in our class, and Bagel Snowmen were the Snazzy Snack that we made and enjoyed!

Snazzy Snacks are simple "cooking" activities, layered with opportunities for language and math instruction (originally featured on Mrs. Bainbridge's blog). We make a snack each month. We enjoyed Applesauce in September and Monster Mash in October. Although we are a few days shy of November, we couldn't pass up the chance to build snowmen ... indoors!

First we gathered mini-bagels, cream cheese, chocolate chips, cheezies, and pretzel sticks. Next, students split their bagels in half and took turns spreading on some "snowy" cream cheese. Then, with just a few chocolate chips, pretzels and a cheezie, the bagels suddenly became snowmen! Finally, we munched!


We had a wonderful afternoon! Here are some highlights:

This free picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

While this activity undoubtedly looks like lots of fun, there are many teachable moments and opportunities for learning. Thank you to those parents who kindly donated the ingredients for our Bagel Snowmen!

Dream Snow

Our playground and field are covered in snow, so it was fitting this week to read Eric Carle's book Dream Snow.

In the story, a farmer falls asleep and dreams that snow covers his farm animals. This book is very clever! Clear plastic sheets, with "snow" on them, can be lifted to reveal the animal underneath! The students loved this!

Inspired by a similar project on Mrs. Bainbridge's blog, we began creating our own version of Mr. Carle's book, but with a twist! Students were each going to write several clues about an animal of their choosing. An illustration of the animal would accompany the clues. Just like in Mr. Carle's book, a clear page with painted "snow" would cover the animal, so it would be lifted up to reveal the animal hidden under the snowbank!

Here is the criteria the students followed for the project:

Children got right to work writing clues for an animal of their choosing. They were very secretive about their animal, and worked nearly silently on their clues.

Students were challenged to write four clues, each beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period. As well, students were required to spell Word Wall Words correctly (weekly spelling words posted on the wall).

Once we completed our clues, we moved on to our illustrations. Students drew their animal, as secretly as possible, on a snowy landscape.

The very best part of the project was adding "snow" to a transparency placed over each student's illustration.

We all had a laugh when it wasn't just our animals getting covered in snow!

Because of their fantastic work, the hallway near our classroom is packed with curious students, reading the clues and peeking under the snowbanks! Well done, Grade One!

Now that the projects are complete, the students will self-assess their projects based upon the initial criteria provided. This is the time when they celebrate their work and find a way to improve as they grow as writers and illustrators.

We enjoyed some time on Friday afternoon making Christmas wreaths with our buddies! The students made so many wreaths that we will not only hang them here at school, but hope to have some hung at the Ardrossan Rec Complex! Be sure to visit there soon to see our artwork!

Our wreaths were inspired by this project,
shared on Small-Town Life.