Countdown to Christmas!

I can't believe that it is already December--and that I have survived report cards, parent teacher conferences, Halloween, and Thanksgiving--although that last one cut it close.

Good news: I really am starting to like first grade. Case in point: When I told them the plot of a book was like a roller coaster, they pretended like we were on a roller coaster. When I told them we were going to "go on a plane to go to Mexico" to learn about Christmas around the world, they squealed when I gave them their "airline tickets" and proceeded to practice saying "Feliz Navidad," so I would let them off the plane. (What a mean stewardess I am!)

Bad news: I have a chronic hatred of the mundane/I hate looking at my room for too long and I constantly want to rearrange/change how I have things set up. This means a lot of late hours at school/indecisiveness on my part. I keep telling myself that it just keeps the kids on their toes, too.

I have a trillion cute pictures documenting the past three months, but I'll only put up a few of our things. Any students' faces have been blurred in iPhoto, I do not have any ghosts in my class. I think next time I'll find a less creepy way to post the pictures.

My old word wall above their cubbies... discarded for a more interactive, accessible word wall courtesy of pinterest, dollar tree cookie sheets, and a ton of adhesive.

New and improved word wall!

Celebration after reading "Shark in the Park," we took out our telescopes to the pond to see if we saw anything exciting.

Melted, unconsumed iced coffee... I've stopped even trying at this point.

Imagine if they were actually older and I had to grade essays...

Coins are really tough--but we do know a lot about them.

Building a skip counting ladder

Character traits activity with the Hallowiener-adorable and hilarious!

Math partners working with coins

I nearly had a heart attack when I saw how long we had been in school-now we're already at 63 days.

Spicing up our writing with fancy words!

Working on our reading strategies

My personal two favorite strategies

Gorgeous new book boxes

Topiced and leveled library

Guided reading materials-yes, that is a princess tiara you see. If I'm wearing it, they can't talk to me because I'm working with one of my readers!

Thanksgiving placemats and number story activity-came up with it last minute

Thanksgiving feast- courtesy of Boston Market. Never thought this day would end-Native American headdresses flying everywhere, vests getting ripped, kids crawling on the floor, shouting for macaroni and cheese-nightmare.

I swear these photos were not posed- they really love reading and know exactly what to do!

Building towers with sight words

Reading with a buddy- elbow to elbow, knee to knee, book in the middle so they both can see

Disguised turkeys!

Finally, our latest adventure in Everyday Math is measurement-hence, we're tracing a "foot."

Usually I'm struggling to come up with activities to last throughout the week, but since there are adorable ideas on Christmas on pinterest, so now I'm off to cram in a zillion crafty cute ideas into the two weeks before break. (College really did spoil me, all my grad school friends are finishing up classes this week. So proud they've made it through their first semester and can't wait until I get to complain to them about my grad school when I get to it.)

More pictures and updates to come, and I will update more than just every 3 months...