Christmas Cheer!

Every year I LOVE doing Christmas activities with my class. This year I was a tad disappointed that I didn't have the time that I would have liked. With only four days of school and curriculum to cram down their throats Christmas took a back seat. However, we did find a few fleeting moments to celebrate this wonderful season.

Santa showed up during our Christmas party!

We made little clothespin magnets for their pictures

Christmas cards for their parents!

Christmas themed pencil holders

ornaments - glitter of course!

pencil holder turkeys and Thanksgivingness!

I decided that it would be fun to change the look of our pencil holders each month. For November we made turkeys - and they turned out so cute!

Thanksgiving activities! TeePees and Indian design coloring pages

I'm Thankful turkeys

Random silliness!

Merry Christmas!

Sorry I've been short on posts lately! The craziness of the holiday season has literally sapped my energy. I'm glad for a break! And the kids were sooooooo ready for one. I just wish it was a tad bit longer - but I'll take it! My ambitions during the holidays are to get in much relaxation time, read a new book (I just finished reading "The Hobbit" by J.R. Tolkien and it is a must read for those who enjoy a good fantasy!), bake some goodies, blog more, and spend a few hours in the classroom preparing for the munchkins return. I'm looking forward to spending time with family and friends!

I wish you all a joyous holiday! May all your Christmas wishes come true.

Merry Christmas!

It's On!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have a fierce competition between my class, Mrs. Ross's first grade class and Mr. Capps 6th grade class (who always wins!) to bring in the most canned or dried food items. Our goal is to bring 500 items and so far we've collected 207 from our class - WAY TO GO!!!!!!!! This is the last week to bring in the food items so please make sure that you donate by Wednesday. We are currently in 2nd place behind Mrs. Ross's class and would LOVE to win the first place price - which is a root beer float party for the class. We also have been discussing how the food is going to help people this Christmas who can't afford many things - a worthy cause to say the least! I hope you all raid your pantries this weekend, or your grandmas pantries or your aunt and uncles pantries and give what you can!

Thanks so much for those who have already donated a lot - you are appreciated!

Competition!

We are competing with the other elementary classrooms - and we want to win! We are collecting canned and boxed food items for those that are less fortunate this Christmas. We would love to help out the community as well as earn a root-beer float party for being the class with the most food. Our classroom goal is to collect 500 items. Is this possible? I think so - so let's get collecting!

The items are all due in the classroom by the 23rd. You can begin bringing things to class starting Monday!

I'm Thankful For . . .

Every year at Thanksgiving time I look at the children that sit in my classroom from 8 until 3:45 and I am thankful for each of them. I will be completely honest and tell you that at the beginning of the year, each year I always think to myself "will I ever like these kids as much as I liked my last class?" And every year at about this time I can honestly tell you that each one of them is unique and special and I truly love them all for who they are. As a teacher it is my job first and foremost to teach them the curriculum that the state of Idaho says that they have to learn but I believe I have to teach it to them within their limits. So - it takes me a few months to actually understand each student and how they learn best.

It is at this time of the year that I take ownership of them as "mine". They are "my" kids and I treat them as such. They are special and more than ever I want to teach them not because I have to but because I care about them and want them to succeed. I take pride in them, I respect them, I truly enjoy them, I laugh with them, I cry inside at some of the things that they have to endure at such a young age, I bandage them when they are hurt, listen to them when they are sad and comfort them the best I can. And when they have to exit my classroom at the end of the year many tears are always shed on my part - I have had to learn to love and let go every year in 9 month increments and it is always tough - always.

So - because they have all become so special to me I would like to pay tribute to each child and tell them why they are special to me and why I am so thankful for them. (Notice the nicknames - I don't call them these names consistantly but occasionally they are spoken)

Emmary (Emmy) - you are so loving and kind and respectful. You will always ask questions when you don't understand, help others that don't understand and when given the opportunity you love to talk my ear off telling me all kinds of things. - you are truly special!

Ally girl - what a priveledge to be able to teach you in kindergarten and now in 2nd grade. Your social abilities make me smile - you are a friend to everyone and that is fantastic. You are a smart girl with a bright future. Your smile brightens my day :)

Erika (Er-ee-ka) - I can tell your hugs from anyone else's - you practically knock me down :) You are so special and I was so glad that you are in my class again. You are a very smart girl who is such a hard-worker and you never hesitate to help others.

Jonathan (JonJon) - You make me laugh. You are a very bright student who work hard and are everyone's friend. You make me smile :) I enjoy having you in my class.

Andy (smiles)- You always have a smile on your face. You continue to surprise me with what you are able to understand even though you speak Spanish at home. You work hard and are a friend to everyone. Thank you for setting a good example.

Alfredo (Fredo) - Everything is a race or a competition to you. You enjoy timed tests and trying to be the best in all that you do. You try really hard to be good at everything and I appreciate that.

Travis (Trav) - You are a little ball of energy who flitters around the classroom either skipping, jogging, shuffling, etc . . . It makes me laugh inside even though I'm constantly telling you to walk! You are a joy to have in class.

Laura (Freckles) - I am so glad that I was fortunate enough to be your teacher for a second time. You are so fun to teach because you love to learn. I'm so thankful for you and your kindness towards others. Your face brightens my day!

Kylee (Queenie) - You are our little Queen B and you make me laugh. I love your dramatic flare to life. You enjoy being social but are a good friend to everyone. You work hard and are always honest! I love the way to like to dress up and be girly (never change that :)

Kynlee (Kole) - You are my serious one. I enjoy the challenge of getting you to smile and when I do it brightens my day. You are very well-behaved and a great friend to all. I love having you in my class!

David (Davy Jones) - Oh Man - the loudness! You have one volume and that is loud! And the random sounds that you make are interesting (not always appropriate) - but I smile when I think of your craziness! It is who you are and I appreciate your honesty and your ability to be a good friend to everyone. You are extremely bright and I look forward to seeing how you use your natural academic talents in the future. I'm so glad you are in my class!

Skyler (Sky) - I'm so thankful for the example that you set for the rest of the class. You are always kind, always hard-working, always on task and never misbehave. Thank you for your gentle spirit and your kindness towards others.

Halo (Mr. T)- You are so much fun to have in class and make me laugh almost every day! I appreciate how you are a great friend to everyone and how you try really hard to get things done and do your best. I'm so proud of you for that! And I'm so glad that you were able to be in my class this year! Keep up the hard work!

Morgan (Blondie 1)- You have such a fun personality! You are smart, outgoing, kind and honest! You love to learn and I love to teach you. You enjoy sharing and I trust that you could probably take over teaching for me and do a pretty good job! I'm so glad I was able to teach you again!

Luke (Skywalker) :) - You enjoy being the class clown! You love to make people laugh. When you try hard your work is amazing and I love to listen to the stories that you write - you have quite an imagination. I'm glad I was able to be your teacher again!

Esther (Blondie 2) - You are a treasure my dear girl! You are so much fun to teach because you soak up everything that I say (who doesn't like that?) I'm so glad that you were able to be in my class this year. You are a great friend to everyone and are always so kind!

Laci (Laci Gracy) - You are a sweetheart and always make me smile. I love the hugs each morning - they brighten my day! It's been fun to get to know you and you set such a great example for the rest of the class to follow.

Meleni (Mel) - You are so sweet and kind to others. You work hard and seem to enjoy learning and school. I appreciate that you ask questions when you don't understand. Your sweet smile makes my day!

My kids are a treasure! And they are truly "my kids"! I take complete and full ownership of them each day and I do it gladly. They are the reason that I go to work each day and I can't think of a better way to spend my day.

Thanksgiving week!

This week will only consist of two school days. We will be doing a variety of Thanksgiving activities during these two days and will not require the students to study spelling words or have a spelling list or test this week. I appreciate those of you who consistently work at home with your child on their spelling words. This last week was difficult for them and I was pleased with the results.

I've asked the students to bring an empty paper towel roll to school on Monday for an art project. I understand that it is late notice and apologize for that. If you are unable to get a paper towel roll by Monday I may have a few extra that I can scrounge up.

I apologize for not posting anything on the website recently. My husband was in Guatemala for two weeks and took the camera with him so I was unable to capture Halloween pictures or Veteran's day assembly pictures.

Halloween!!!!

Oh Halloween - teacher's most favorite day :) Actually, I really don't mind it - I have always loved fun and parties. The only thing that ever presents a challenge is managing the classroom on a day like Halloween. Luckily, I have 10 years of practice under my belt so I have a few tricks up my sleeve - However, every year is still a challenge and I leave the classroom after they've all gone home with a big sigh of relief.

This year I decided to dress up a little darker than I ever have. I've always wanted to be the bride of Frankenstein so that they could call me Mrs. Franklinstein all day. So - after years of wanting to do it - I actually did - and it was fun - and I enjoyed it - and so did my class. I greeted them in the morning with the lights off and the rule that they had to call me Mrs. Franklinstein for the day. I even changed my school ID card to say Mrs. Franklinstein with my picture being a copy of the real bride of Frankenstein.

The costumes that the kids wore were great - they all did such a great job at getting ready themselves. I was impressed (probably because the last two years I had to prepare a bunch of kindergarteners and that was fairly comical). We had our little parade around the school and then came back and had a fun Halloween party put on by our room mom. It was great!

I wish I could have gotten a lot of fun pictures on this day but unfortunately my husband is gone and he took my camera. Luckily, Mrs. Forsgren came and saved the day and took a group picture of all of us.

And YES - only 18 kids - Wahoooooo!!!!! So thankful!

Red Ribbon Week

This past week was a whirlwind of activity and late nights. I was busy planning parent/teacher conferences as well as making sure I did all of the necessary activities involved in red ribbon week and also trying to think about planning ahead for November which is only a few short days away - AHHHH!!! Where has the time gone!

Red ribbon week was a ton of fun and I wish I would have taken more pictures but again - that takes time - and me actually remembering to do it. I did get a few though and we had a great week of assemblies, prizes, door decorations, dress-up days, poster contests and the book fair - whew!

I also would like to thank all of the parents for great conferences! I feel so blessed to work with such amazing children! They are the reason that I come to work every day and I LOVE it! At this point in the year I am beginning to understand how each child works, how they learn best, what they can and can't handle, etc. and now that I think I have a firm grip on this group of kids I can get my game face on and teach them properly! I enjoyed talking with each of you and look forward to the rest of this schoolyear.

So - apparently I only took 1 picture - on pajama day! We all felt so comfortable we had our reading lesson in the reading corner snuggling teddy bears and learning about ants!

Red Ribbon Week Day #2

Pajama Day! You have no idea how excited I am to go to school in my pjs tomorrow! Silly me did not get a picture of the kids today in all of their "redness" - it was pretty fun! We had a rockin assembly where the kids and teachers participated in rely races of some sort. I think the kids enjoyed it! AND we did get some learning in today - hurray! Success!

Red Ribbon Week

Don't forget to dress in all red tomorrow for red ribbon week. The class wearing the most read gets a prize at the assembly. I would LOVE it if Mrs. Franklin's class came out on top!

Spelling Lists

I am going to do my best to remember to post the spelling list for the upcoming week on Fridays. I know that for some of you it would be beneficial to have a few extra days practicing those spelling words. The five challenge words are for those students who received a note regarding a change in their spelling list.

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Nampa Smiles

We had a fun classroom visitor on Thursday afternoon - a representative from  Nampa Smiles dentist office that came to talk to the class about taking proper care of their teeth - my class did so well sitting quietly for 30 min. They were very alert and asked appropriate questions (you just never know :)) They got to meet Mr. Smiles himself and all received free toothbrushes, silly bands as well as a certificate to go get a free sealant for their teeth, or $25 off any dental procedure at Nampa Smiles.

The funny part about this visit is that I was quickly reminded how long a child's retention level is due to the recess bell ringing, the PTU's popcorn sale during recess and a classful of students coming back to the classroom with handfuls or Airheads and popcorn :) I just had to chuckle to myself and remind them to brush their teeth when they got home! Crazy kids!

recycling cans for a purpose!

So - we were reading a little social studies inquiry in our reading books one day and it said something about recycling soup cans for pencil holders. As we read this I got a brilliant idea - my students NEEDED something to put their pencils in due to constant digging through desks to get their pencils out every 5 min. and then 50% of the time them coming up with "I can't find mine". So - this was the solution to our problem and so we collected them and then decorated them for the Halloween season. They have actually worked quite well and have saved us some precious teaching minutes in the classroom.

Fairy Tales

Last week my class was studying fairy tales. We enjoyed reading "The Elves and the Shoemaker" and discussing the different components of a fairy tale. I have a love for fairy tales and grew up loving them so it was fun when I got to teach a lesson on them and have the students write their own fairy tale. I was impressed by their ability to grasp the concept so well and do well to construct one on their own. I'm going to share with you a few of the ones that I believed were well-written.
(I will spell the words correctly - even though some of these words were not spelled right - it's not quite as cute in type as it is in print).

Once upon a time there was a dragon and a princess. The princess lived in a castle. There was a prince who fought enemies. The also fought dragons. One day he went to the castle and fought the dragon. He went to the tower and he went to the bed and he saw the princess. He saved her and they lived happily ever after.
~ Halo Tabert

Once upon a time there was a fish in the sea who was very kind. And he was a king. So he wished upon a star. He said, "I wish that I was a wizard." And when he was asleep that night the elves came. They poked him in his head and the next morning he was a wizard. And he was very happy! Then one day he used a wand and it worked and he lived happily ever after.
~ Meleni Perez

Once upon a time there was a shoemaker, three elves and an evil witch. One day the elves went to the woods to see the witch. But when the witch opened the door she turned one of the elves into a frog. So the two elves and the little frog ran back to the village. When they got home one of the elves said, "I know what to do! The witch just needs a friend." So they asked the shoemaker to bake some cookies so that they could send them over to the witch. So they did. Then the witch and the elves became friends. And they lived happily ever after.
~Laura Forsgren

Once upon a time there was three little pirates. And they were mad because they didn't have any food. They sailed off to the shore and they found treasure and food. They pirates lived happily ever after.
~Luke Westrand

Once upon a time there was a princess and a horse. The princess heard footsteps in the woods. She was scared! And then out came a horse that was as purple as a sock and they made friends. Then they lived happily ever after.
~Anonymous

I LOVE reading what my kids write. I get a huge kick out of hearing the way that they put words together and how they construct stories. I hope to post many fun examples of their writing throughout the year.

picture spelling

This week for spelling practice in the classroom my students used their spelling words to trace a picture. They enjoyed drawing with their spelling words and didn't realize that they were writing each word like 10-12 times. It was great - and the pictures turned out really cute as well!

Aluminum cans

Please have your child bring in clean, empty aluminum cans to the classroom. We are going to be decorating them and using them for pencil holders. Any extras you can donate would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for all you do!

Spelling and Shaving cream

So - as I was looking on different blogs and websites I can across this idea to use shaving cream on the kids' desks and have them practice writing their spelling words in it. I decided that this was a great way to motivate my students to write their words without complaints or wasted paper. And besides that - it did a great job cleaning the desks.

I don't think this will be a regulary weekly occuance though - due to the extreme amount of time it took before and clean up afterwards but it was fun and the kids enjoyed it so we may do it once a quarter.

A Place . . .

A place for me to . . . .
1) inform parents on classroom activities
2) brag on my 19 wonderful students
3) post information and photos
4) vent
5) display
6) update

A place for . . .
1) me
2) parents and students (and other family member of course)
3) fellow teachers
4) friends

This is a work in progress as of now. I'm hoping to create and update this page every Friday as another communication tool between parents and their child's classroom.