Christmas

What an exciting month it's been! I always love this time of year, and this year we've done some especially exciting and interesting things. We started by making cards to bring to residents in a local nursing home. We also practiced songs to sing for them while we were there. This group of kids is so creative and theatrical and we had as much fun practicing as we did singing at the nursing home. 

 The performance included red-painted noses for Rudolph, bells for Jingle Bells, and cute hats for the 12 Days of  Christmas. 

We got to sing to a few more residents as we passed out cards in the rooms. 

We pray we could be a blessing to some who may not have a lot of joy this Christmas season. 

Shortly before break, we had pajama day and decorated cookies. It was a sugar-filled day full of fun!

We also made ornaments by dripping painting into clear plastic bulbs and swirling it around.  

The finished products were so pretty!

The last big day before Christmas was Narnia Day. The kids entered the wardrobe and were transported into "Narnia".

The room was transformed to look like the winter wonderland of Narnia, complete with a lamppost. 

All lit up!

We had a scavenger hunt when the kids followed poetic clues to look for the special snack: Turkish delight! 

Still looking...

Found it! (it doesn't look as appetizing as it was)

We had a little archery practice with toy bows and arrows.

We did some Narnia-themed crafts: bead necklaces and crowns.

After lunch we watched The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

We were so busy that we didn't get a chance to take a group shot of all the great costumes, but I managed to get a picture of what I wore.

I love days like this! Just some of the things that make teaching an adventure!

Peru

We had another guest come in and talk about Peru where she grew up. We learned so much from her powerpoint and it tied into what we were learning about landforms and earth changes. 

Sampling Inca Cola; it tasted and smelled like bubble gum and cotton candy. 

So much good information!

Thanks to my wonderful parents who came in to share about our wonderful world!

Wales

We had another parent come in and share about her home country of Wales. She showed us an interesting powerpoint presentation. 

 These are some of the artifacts that came from Wales. 

 We got to pull apart "crackers" to get little prizes.

 We got to sample a Dandelion and Burdock drink: delicious!

 These cookies taste better than their name suggests. 

 a cracker

It's so interesting to hear about some of the cultural elements of other countries. 

South Africa

I love to have guests come and speak to the kids, and we had one of our own parents come in to share about South Africa where she grew up. 

We got to sample milk tart, a South African dessert.

The flag!

Some beaded animals that are popular in South Africa. 

What a special treat!

Give Thanks!

We're already into the Christmas Season and I haven't even posted about all the exciting things we did for Thanksgiving. We started with a STEM challenge to build a Mayflower that could hold the most capacity. 

The students tested their designs and then made changes as necessary to make the best boat possible. 

Then we researched the possible routes to Plimoth Plantation to prepare for a virtual field trip to visit the pilgrims.  

We summed it all up with our Thanksgiving Day celebration. The kids came dressed as pilgrims or indians. The room was decorated to look like Plimoth Plantation and we got to experience a little bit of what it might be like to live in a time in history that is so important to our nation.

 We watched some videos from Plimoth Plantation.

We sampled some authentic food that might have been served at the first Thanksgiving (minus the marshmallows (-:).

We made Thankfulness turkeys.

And the best part: making butter in jars!

We tried out some pilgrim games.

What an exciting way to remember this event in our history.