"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "means a little bit more."

Our Grinch Party!

We wore green.
We watched THE GRINCH.
We decorated Christmas trees (upside down ice cream cones...thank-you pinterest.)
Had a gift exchange.
And ate Grinch poop, (cakepops), and drank Who-ville (green) milk.



Are you GREEEEEN with envy?! These little people sure know how to party:)

Paisley 'decorating' her Christmas tree!

Alivia

Danica's fancy shoes!

Camren's styling hair-do

So excited to open presents!

Grinch poop

The Littlest Angel(s)...

Our classroom is full of little angels. The spirit of giving is so contagious. In November, when we were discussing the importance of helping one another when we can, the children amazed me with the endless flow of canned food they brought in to help the needy in our small town. One of the students said, "Now they won't be hungry at Thanksgiving, but what about Christmas?"

And so, we adopted a family in our area for the holidays. The students did a fundraiser and brought in enough money to sponsor a family with three children. How wonderful to watch their faces and see those huge smiles as they saw the gifts their kindness purchased for children who otherwise would have gone without. I am so proud of my class....and so blessed to be their teacher.

The Little Red Hen

This year for the letter "H" I really wanted to incorporate the story of the Little Red Hen, and the importance of HELPING others.

We read the story and then the boys and girls helped me bake some bread...and then they helped me eat it. And, guess what?! When I asked them WHO would help me add the flour, stir the ingredients and knead the dough, not one of them said, "Not me!" :)

Here they are... helpful as can be:

*We also made some 'helping hands' with specific ways we can help others written on them. Some of the responses I got just melted my heart! "I help daddy work." and "I help mommy bake cookies." My favorite was, "I help grandma in the garden." What a classroom full of wonderful little helpers I have!!

Grandparents Celebration!

Grandparents play such an important role in helping our kiddos blossom and grow! So, I really look forward to our Grandparent's Day Celebration, and meeting the students' Grandparents!  This year the children sang for their grandparents, crafted with them, (Christmas coasters...messy but fun), and shared some toasty  hot cocoa and marshmallows with them!



"Grandparents do for little children what no one else can...they sort of, sprinkle fairy dust on their lives." -Alex Haley

(Of course my camera was acting up and I got ZERO pictures of this super fun day...if any of you happened to capture the moment...feel free to share!!)

Cans, cans and MORE cans!

As a class, we collected over 60 items for the local canned food drive!! I am so proud of my students and their big hearts! Here they are counting some of their cans:

It's Punkin' Time!

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch with some of my FAVORITE pumpkins!!

THE HAUNTING HOUR:
Spoooky treats, apple bobbing, pin-the-spider-on-the-web, and pumpkin bowling...what says Halloween Party better than that?! Well, maybe the little monsters that made it all so fun!:)

"F" is for...

FISH! But, not just ANY fish...RaInBoW FisH!!
We read all about the importance of friends and sharing in The Rainbow Fish by: Marcus Pfister
We made our own fish, and finished off the week with Rainbow Fish Cupcakes and this little poem to remind us what we learned:



We are all special and unique!
Be kind when you speak...
Just like the rainbow fish,
The most important wish-
It's true in the end,
We all just need a friend!

"D" is for...

DOG! We had a surprise visit from Alivia&Elizabeth's dad and their new puppy! Cute as can be...and perfect timing!