The Elf on the Shelf has arrived!

This week we finished up our tree unit by focusing on how trees change throughout the year.  We also had a big surprise on Monday when our Elf on the Shelf was delivered from the North Pole!  A package arrived for us from the North Pole and it was still very cold!  Inside was our very own Elf on the Shelf and a book about the elf.  

They loved passing the book around and feeling how cold it was!

Then we read the story and named our elf.  We voted and both classes settled on Bob the elf.  

We finished the day watching the Elf on the Shelf movie.  The kids love it and I love that it's only 25 minutes long, so we can watch it during recess time!

Look where Bob was on Tuesday!  He was hanging from the ceiling in the back of the classroom.  

During group time this week we made evergreen trees out of different shapes and put them in size order.  I found the idea at Little Family Fun.

 We also added snow and glitter!

We also talked about how deciduous trees change throughout the year.  We looked at pictures of the trees in each season and discussed the changes.

During center time the cuties have loved wearing elf/Santa hats, reindeer antlers, and the other fun headbands! 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Beth

What Food Comes From Trees and Thanksgiving Fun

Over the last few weeks we've been finishing up our study on who lives in trees, discussed what food comes from trees, and then transitioned into Thanksgiving fun.  

We recently started doing groups with Ms. Suzanne's class for 30 minutes a day.  The kids stay at each station for 10 minutes.  One rotation is curriculum/theme, the second is art, and the third is concepts (shapes, colors, counting, etc.).  Our sweeties are LOVING group time!  During group time, we read The Grouchy Ladybug and then made ladybugs.  

We added them to our bulletin board!

Our cuties practiced matching and labeling shapes.

We used Unifix cubes to practice color matching and one-to-one correspondence.  Then, they connected the cubes to make a bar graph of the colors they had.

We also used the Unifix cubes to measure turkeys.

Last Monday it was really windy and when we looked outside we found this nest on the ground.  It was so much fun looking at it and talking about how the bird made it!

The weather's been pretty cold here, so we haven't been able to go outside for recess for a few weeks.  We've played with play-dough a few times and my little sweeties really enjoy it!

Last Thursday we made applesauce! 

On Tuesday we had a Thanksgiving feast with Suzanne's class. 

We also counted feathers for the turkey and figured out which turkey had more feathers.

We did the Turkey Trot.

And, of course we had to make turkey hats!

I haven't mentioned it on the blog, but Ms. Mary is no longer a para in our classroom.  She needed more flexibility, so she's subbing now.  We miss her, but are thankful that we get to see her occasionally!  Our new para is Ms. Lynn and she's pretty great!  Here's a picture of her with our afternoon class.

I am so thankful for the adorable kids in my class, their amazing families, and the fantastic people that I work with!  I am very blessed!  I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Beth

Who Lives in Trees?

Last week we continued our unit on trees by discussing the similarities and differences of deciduous and evergreen trees and who lives in trees.  

We started the week by making a chart with the characteristics of deciduous and evergreen trees.  Then we discussed how deciduous trees look in each season.  

Later in the week we made a list of the animals and bugs that live in trees.  Of course, one of the first things that came to mind was birds, so we made birds in a nest for our art project.  The afternoon class cut strips of tan paper to glue on the nest.

Then each cutie painted a half of a paper plate brown.

After they painted, they each cut out three U-shapes for the birds.  They did a great job cutting and didn't need much help!

On Thursday we put it all together! 

I love how they turned out!  Everyone who walked by while we were putting them up commented on how cute they are!  I found the idea at Chalk Talk.  

 Wednesday was picture day and we were discussing what would happen when it was our turn for pictures.  We practiced smiling and I explained that they would have to look at the camera when they smiled.  This cutie announced that this was how he was going to pose for his picture.  :)  

During play time on Thursday I looked over to this scene in the house area.  Immediately songs from Bye, Bye Birdie popped into my head.  

Thanks for stopping by!

~Beth