Snow has returned! The flakes that fell were quickly collected and turned into soup, magic dust, piles, and all sorts of other imaginative things. Snowplows came out to clear “roads” all around the yard. Angels flapped their wings to leave angel prints. Artists created art with sticks and wrote words in the snow.

Monday students read about ice and snow and did some ice and snow art. First they colored then folded large sheets of easel paper and cut them into giant snowflakes. Cutting through all the layers was a bit more challenging than anticipated, so some students drew the lines, and Lyn cut where the lines were drawn. Outside they collected various nature items to create icy sun catchers. They each filled an aluminum pie plate with apples, leaves, maple seeds, sticks, etc., then added water and a string for hanging. Unfortunately, they were covered by snow, then plowed over, then covered by snow again! We may try again after break.

Art activities continued through the week. The children created Christmas trees with Tammy and Susan, carefully tracing and cutting out trees, then punching out colorful circles and adding them as ornaments. We set out glitter pens, pastels, and black paper to create winter night time scenes. The glitter pens were quite exciting.

We finally took to the stage to rehearse our performance, which the children have been working so hard to master. There was a lot of moving around, lots of lines and lyrics to remember, and adjusting to the new environment in front of rows of seats where the audience would sit. It has been a fairly entertaining experience for all!

During sign language Rose said the sign, and we signed it, so our knowledge was really tested! She then taught us how to sign the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5. They were all the way we typically show them except for 3, which is made by holding up the thumb and first two fingers, because 6 is signed by putting the thumb and pinky together and holding up the three middle fingers.

Student photographers were recruited to photograph students at work. It was more exciting to just take pictures of friends. Here are some samples of the work they produced.

The night of the performance finally arrived with much excitement. The children were anxious to sing and recite poetry for their families then have a party with their friends and families all together. All their hard work produced
a stellar performance!

Pajama Day is one of the most anticipated days of the year. Comfy PJs made for a cozy day while enjoying hot chocolate, popcorn, extra snacks from the night before, pop beads, art activities, playing the glockenspiel, tumbling and running on the mats, and songs and stories under the fort.

Friday students enjoyed their final day before break with lots of tumbling, games, musical instruments, and setting up block spy cameras after finishing up science and snack. For science we read “How Long is a Stick?” then did some length comparisons of our own. First the children lined themselves up from shortest to tallest. We took a picture so they could study it and decide whether anyone needed to change places, but they were spot on! We then did some hide and seek. The red rods were hidden all around the classroom and the children searched them out. When all 10 were found, they ordered them from longest to shortest. The blue cylinders were then hidden in the classroom, and the children used their sharp eyes to search them out. They then took turns placing the cylinders where they would go in the line by height.