Merry Christmas

I hope all my sweet firsties and their families are having an awesome Christmas. Before we left for Christmas break we celebrated with a little party in class. Here are some captured moments! Thanks to all the moms and dads who helped make this party a great one! I couldn't do it without you!

Swing Time!

Last week the weather was perfect and was cause for Mrs. Millican and I to take our turn to swing. One student urged us to get off since the bar was bending....it really wasn't!

Here I am getting ready to jump....



Check Out Jackson's face in the second picture. I had just jumped. He just can't believe it!


I landed a little rough, but no broken bones. This is what teaching is all about. Being able to be a kid sometimes!

PJs, Movies, and Hot Coco

Today was Pajama Day. We watched the Polar Express with the rest of the first grade. Then after lunch I shared my favorite childhood movie, The Fox and the Hound with the class. I also brought out the Pinterest in me and made homemade crock pot hot chocolate. It was super yummy!

Craft Time Goes Wild

We spent part of the morning making a Santa picture from construction paper. I showed them an example and they had to cut and tear paper to make a Santa head. Well of course my class is not one to waste paper and if you add that to their wonderful personalities you get this.......
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Millitary Action

First, let us not acknowledge that I have not blogged in FOREVER!!!!  The most important thing here is that I am blogging now! With that being said, I have many many things to blog about.  But, I am taking things one at a time. 

 

Recently, Mrs. Littlejohn asked if my class could write her cousins (SPL Cardwell..Grant and SPC Townsend…Timothy) who have been deployed to Afghanistan.  Being a teacher who loves a good writing opportunity, we decided to first write Grant and his unit.  This was back before Thanksgiving and we made his unit a Fall “hand” wreath!  We discussed adjectives and ways to describe the Marines.  Some popular adjectives were: brave, fast, strong, smart, and kind.  We used those adjectives on the hand wreath.  I was told the Marines loved it!  The kiddos wrote them some wonderful letters. 

The other first grade teachers and I decided not to stop there.  With the help of MANY wonderful donations and assistance from students and parents of OC Elementary we were able to collect items for a care package for BOTH units!  I was so excited.  The items filled the back of Mrs. Littlejohn’s SUV!  Mrs. Littlejohn also arranged for the packages to be boxed and mailed.

A few days ago, Mrs. Littlejohn let me know that both Grant and Timothy received the packages.  They were a HUGE hit! We were surprised and excited when Timothy asked if he could Skype with the first grade and thank them!  What an amazing experience that was.  We all were super excited.  I didn’t get pictures, but we Skyped with him yesterday morning.  They are about 9 hours difference in time, so it was night time in Afghanistan.  SPC Townsend, who is a medic in the Army, told the children about his job there and his family.  He has three children, one being 6 like most of the kids!  They loved learning about him and talking to him.   They all later agreed that he was the most AWESOME!! 

Below is a picture of his Squad the “Eagle Squad”.  SPC Townsend it on the back row all the way to the right!!

 

 

We will continue to write these fine young men and women.  We are hoping to be able to collect more items for a care package in the spring!