Let the winter break begin.......but first, here is a synopsis of our amazing final week at Presteign.
Dear Parents/Guardians,
What a great week we had. From the concert, assembly, winter class party, Polar Express day, a day of decorating cookies and crafts, and how could we forget our Elf Patrick Tobi and his wild tricks, this week was beyond fun.
Winter Concert:
The concert was so well executed and organized - I was blown away. I was also blown away with how well our class performed. The boys and girls did a fantastic job. A week later and I think we're all still doing the Hip Hop Reindeer actions. A big thank you to Ms. Preketes for assisting all the classes and helping to organize the concert.
Also, a very big thank you to Mrs. Borovilos for sending me the concert pictures below:
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| Waiting to go on Stage |
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| Ready to go break a leg |
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| Still waiting to show off our moves |
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| Concert ready! |
The Polar Express:
On Monday we read the Polar Express and on Tuesday we teamed up with Ms, Ritsakis' class and watched the movie. We set up our classroom like a train, wore our pajamas, made invitations, created Polar Express tickets, had hot chocolate and popcorn, and gave each student a "believe" bell as they boarded the train. The kids had a blast!!!
After reading the book and watching the movie, we completed a Venn Diagram to compare the similarities and differences from the book and movie. Below are some pictures:
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| Look how cute they are - holding their tickets and bells |
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| Mmmmm.....hot chocolate! |
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| All aboard!!! |
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| Shared writing to complete our Venn Diagram |
In Language we did some sustained Independent writing. This form of creative writing has children build stamina by writing continuously for a certain amount of time. The emphasis is simply on getting their thoughts onto paper. There is no focus on spelling, grammar or punctuation, but rather on putting their thoughts down. They had a couple of prompts or key words to write about: winter, holiday break, Santa, snow, Elf. The results were great - the students were focused and excited about writing.
Another great task that we did was write letters to Santa Claus. We went over the parts of a friendly letter, discussed P.S and what it meant. Afterwards we co-constructed the Success Criteria and then the students went off to independently write their letters to Santa. The letters were so cute.
We 'mailed' out the letters to Santa and he 'responded' back.
I gave each student an envelope with a photocopy of their letters to Santa, as well as Santa's response back. Perhaps they can assist you with your child's wishes.
What I was most impressed with was their wish list. Following the Polar Express, we had a discussion around gifts. We talked about children around the world that are less fortunate, we discussed the food drive and the toy donations, and we also brought up the most important 'gifts' in life. Students came up with a great list including health, happiness, hugs, kisses, family, a roof, and food as the most important gifts. As a result, many of them wished for one thing from Santa. I was really impressed with their letters. Their writing has really come a long way since the beginning of the school year.
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| Sustained Independent Writing |
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| Creative writing |
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| Dear Santa..... |
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| Writing to Santa |
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| Some words to help us with our letters |
Character Traits Assembly:
Congratulations to Filia and Helena for receiving the character traits certificates for Kindness and Caring this month. Once again, the class voted on these two girls who set a great example of what kindness and caring should look like. The whole class could have received these certificates, but we only had two, so congratulations to them both.
Elf on the Shelf:
It has been such a blast having Patrick Tobi in our classroom this passed month. He's brought so much amusement, curiosity and excitement to our class. This week he posted selfies of himself throughout the classroom, and even shocked us by showing up with a treat for our Winter Party. On Thursday afternoon we found him bearing cupcakes for the class with a signed letter. We were so grateful and excited for his sweet gesture. It will be sad to see Patrick Tobi go. Until next year buddy!
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| Aweee thanks Patrick, you`re so sweet |
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| Patrick`s treats to us |
Winter Party:
Thank you to all the parents for once again bringing in treats for the class. Our party was a huge success thanks to you.
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| Wow, what a party!!! |
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| Enjoying the movie |
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| Treats and a movie (Ice Age) |
Decorating Gingerbread cookies and making Snowflake crafts:
On Friday we spent part of our morning decorating gingerbread cookies with icing and sprinkles. In the afternoon we exchanged cards and made snowflakes. The snowflakes came out beautiful. I was hoping to be able to decorate them with glitter and paint, but we ran out of time.
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| All done |
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| The finished products |
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| Completed Gingerbread cookies |
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| Making snowflakes |
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| They are too sweet!!! |
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| Can they be any cuter? |
This sums up the main events from our week. I hope that you enjoyed the pictures and that you all enjoy your winter break.
I would like to express my gratitude to all the parents that sent in gifts. I wholeheartedly thank you all and truly appreciate your generosity - it was not necessary at all.
I truly love what I do - there is no other job in the world that can give someone as many laughs and smiles as I get each day.
Thank you for your support. I wish you a healthy, safe and happy winter break. May everyone have a Happy New Year, and we`ll see you all in 2015.
Love,
Ms. Nikoletopoulos
