Gingerbread Day

The classroom has been abuzz with thoughts and activities to prepare for Christmas and one exciting event was when we went to the Grove Park Inn to look at the gingerbread displays.

The time and talent that goes into these works of art is priceless and the kids had such a great time looking at them.

It's hard to believe this is all made out of gingerbread or other confections.

We were inspired to make our own gingerbread houses after this trip. Here's the process the kids went through to make some really creative gingerbread houses.

We're off to a good start!

Adding a little more...

The final products:

There may or may not have been a large consumption of sugar that day, but we had a great time!

Serbian Dance Performance

We love it when we get visits from people outside our school who can share their talents and experiences with us. We got a chance to enjoy this opportunity when a dance troupe from Serbia came to perform. They were incredibly talented and so much fun to watch. They told stories through their music dance and the kids had a blast watching it. They even took pictures with the kids afterwards and told us a little bit about themselves.

The costumes were colorful and intricate

They did some amazing tricks!

Picture Time!

Even though we couldn't understand their language, we were still able to connect with them through their music and dance.

Pilgrim Day

Hi! It's been another crazy month filled with trips, special events, learning, and fun and we've made it to Christmas break! It's been over a month ago now since we celebrated Pilgrim day before Thanksgiving break. Many of the kids dressed up and we had crafts, activities, and a (somewhat) authentic Thanksgiving meal.

We wove colorful paper placemats:

We made butter in jars; this was everyone's favorite!

Here are the kids exploring some authentic pilgrim games with the direction from a parent helper:

Here we are celebrating a thanksgiving meal:

Some authentic dishes (some went over better than others)

What a great opportunity to look back on what the pilgrims endured to by able to worship God freely and start a new country. It's also the time of year when we think back on what we have to be grateful for. Hopefully we don't reserve these thoughts to a single holiday, but show gratitude to God and others continually.

NC Lighthouses

We've spent a few weeks researching the lighthouses of North Carolina. The kids have worked hard to make and present powerpoint presentations showcasing their research and building models of their lighthouses. They have really gotten involved in the learning process and have seemed to enjoy every minute of it! 

One student wrote: 

Written by :TRON

We are making lighthouses. I am making Cape Hatteras lighthouse. I will make a model of it. It will be made out of old boxes, lights, and other stuff. It will be about 2 feet tall, and about half a foot wide. It will have a white, and black stripe spiral up the side.

They worked hard and had fun, too!

More Happenings...

Here's what another student wrote about the events of the school year so far:

So far in the school year this is what we have done: We had a Fall Festival, Library, Colburn Museum, salt maps, and Cherokee people came. I liked the library the best because I love to read. My second favorite was the salt maps. My hands where sticky and icky. My third favorite is the fall festaval. We painted pumpkins; mine looked like Miny mouse. My friend had an awesome bunny on hers. My other friend put her initials. My books from the library are Dork Diaries and Save Trash. At the Colburn Museum we learned about atoms and all the different kinds of rocks. My favorite rock is a Talc. My favorite thing from the Cherokee is the atlatl. I have had so much fun at school and plenty more to come.

MB

Learning about Electricity and Magnets

Another student wrote this:

THE FIELD TRIP BY *}{{}{}{}}{

When we went on a field trip, I went in a mine. When you activate the TNT it went BOOM! There are diamonds in here.

Our North Carolina Heritage

We've been blessed to have several special guests visit our classroom over the last couple of months. Last month, Mr. Koch and Ms. Baker from the Mountain Heritage Center came to speak to us about the Cherokee Indians. We've been learning about NC history and this gave a great hands on experience. Here's what one of the students wrote about it:

A couple weeks ago the Cherokee people came in. First the told us a myth that the Cherokee believed. Next they showed us pottery that the Cherokee used. After that they gave us pictures of the huts that they lived in. Last they showed us how to use the atlatl. It was awesome!

The Atlatl demonstration

The First Month...

Welcome! We've had a busy start to our schoolyear! I can't believe it's already the beginning of October. Here are a few messages from the students and some pictures of what we've been up to...

by  B. Jaz HI!! my name is B and I am in Miss Hockenberry's class. Lots of things happen in our class!

We learned about the human body

My school is very cool. There are many new kids. I’m not new, I was here last year.This year I’m in third grade.My teacher is Mrs.Hockenberry, she is a great teacher. She teaches us a lot of things. Right now were learning about apostrophes. Our specials are art,music, P.E and recess. My favorite is art and music.I love my school. - MG

Here's our library

We've been learning about bird's eye view and mapping and we got to stand on chairs to draw a map of the classroom. Here's what we saw!

Thanks for visiting! Come back and see what we've been learning!

Welcome to our classroom!