The Christmas Party Was Fabulous!!

We had a fabulous party today in our class.  It was great to have so many parents come and join us.  The activities were fun and everyone had such a great time!!!

We had stories, crafts, games, and food.  But most of all we had FUN!!!!

Happy Holidays  Everyone!!!!!

Pajamas and the Polar Express

Today everyone wore their pajamas to school so they could "take a ride" on THE POLAR EXPRESS!!  This morning after doing a little work, we moved all the furniture in our classroom.  With the furniture moved, we had space to get the rest mats, grab a spot on the floor, and watch the movie!!  Dr. Cooper, our assistant principal came by our classroom and served hot chocolate and cookies to the children.  And it just so happened that she came while the children in the movie were being served hot chocolate.

Here we are all settled in watching the movie and enjoying our treats.

Candy House!!!!

Today we made some great memories for the children and I hope some parents.  We made candy houses.  We made the house out of 2 half gallon milk cartons that were taped together and hot glued to  a Styrofoam base.
The houses were covered with white frosting.  Watching the children spread the frosting on the cartons was a hoot!!  They used Popsicle sticks to spread the frosting, so needless to say, it took a while.  And then all the fun began.  We had all kinds of wonderful candy for the decorations on the houses.  It is so interesting to watch children create and decorate.  Some really have a sense of style.  Take a look at these wonderful creations!

Thank you oh so much for helping us make these masterpieces.  I never could have done it without all of your great help!!  I appreciate all the supplies you sent in to make the houses.  And I especially appreciate the time you spent with us in our classroom today.  

A MEMORY WELL MADE!!!

Tis the Season

We have been working on so many things to decorate our classroom and the hall.  I just wanted to share a few with you.

These are our Christmas lanterns.  They are so pretty hanging out in the hall.  

These beautiful trees adorn one of our hall bulletin boards.  They are so pretty with all the glittered decorations on them.  

These Christmas trees were colored with markers and Construction Paper Crayons and then given a wash of green.

We will have more fun things to share with you tomorrow, so please come back.

Be Kind and Show Respect to All Living Things

It is so important to teach young children to be kind and respectful of all living things.  The past several years my kindergarten class has collected items for the local animal shelter.  This year we collected towels, blankets, bleach, laundry detergent, dish detergent and treats for the Jackson County SPCA.  This is a small shelter in North Alabama.

And you ask why this shelter?  This is where I found my sweet Ruby on the Internet last spring.  This is what she looked like.  She had been shaven except for her face.  She had heart worms, hook worms, ear infections in both ears and a respiratory infection.  She had been turned in to the shelter as a stray.  No wonder she looked terrified in the photo.

While I was waiting for her to go through the treatment so I could adopt her, the tornadoes blew through Alabama.  There was an EF5 that went through the area where she was.  So I drove up to see if the shelter was still there and to check on her.  All was well and two weeks later, I brought her home.  Needless to say I spent most of my summer at the vet with her.  But now I can say she is in excellent health and as happy and secure as can be.  

And now she looks like this.  

Because of the excellent care she got from Laurie Shaw, the shelter's owner, I wanted this year to take what we collected to her.  So I drove with a carload of items to the shelter and surprised Laurie.  She was so excited to get all the great supplies from the children.  And she could not believe how much better Ruby looks.  

Laurie sent all of  the children activity books called Pets Are Family Too.  This is a great activity book that teaches respect of all living things.  Ir was a resource for the children to take home.  

Dr. Richardson sent information about our project to the Birmingham News.  There was an article about the project in the Wednesday, November 23,2011 edition along with a photo of Ruby and Laurie Shaw.  

To all who contributed, thanks for all you help!!

Fire Safety

This fall the Vestavia Hills Fire Department came to our school and brought their big truck and the Smoke House.  We learned so many things about fire safety.  The most important thing we learned is to always have a meeting place outside our home or school if there is ever a fire emergency.

The Pumpkin Time of Year.

I love when we have the opportunity to do a special project in class.  Back in October we made these cute little pumpkins out of a roll of toilet tissue and fabric.  Aren't they just adorable.  It is times like this that create memories.

We had a wonderful Halloween party.  The games were so much fun!!

We made a great spider web with a ball of yarn.

We had a fun relay race.

And we had some fun snacks to eat.  It was a great party.