Bottle village video

This week our basal reading stories are focused around the theme of recycling.  We read a story about Grandma Prisbry and her bottle village.  This is a video about this true story.


On Friday we will do a fun activity with recycling.  Students are bringing items from around their home that we can recycle into an art project.  Here is the fun creations my class came up with last year.

Penguins

A few weeks ago I won a give away on another teacher's blog; First Grade Blue Skies.  One of the great activities that was included in the pack was this fun art activity for Penguins.  Last week our reading basal was focusing on birds.  As part of this we did a study on Penguins.  I read aloud several non-fiction books about Penguins.  The students wrote their own "report"  about Penguins and mad this cute art with poem from the pack I won.  Thanks again to Jennifer!

If I were a Snowman at Night.

I love reading Snowmen at Christmas and Snowmen at Night to my students each winter.  This year I found this awesome idea shared onThe First Grade Parade I knew this would be such a fun craftivity to add to our usual read aloud.  It was also fun to see what the students came up with as they were writing their own stories.



To go along with our little snowman day I made these "Mixed up Snowman Snacks"  that I found on Gourmet Mom on-the-go.  I forgot to take pictures of them, but this blog shows how to make them.

December reading reward activity

 Students who read and turned in their weekly reading folder or note for the month of December were able to participate in a fun reward activity.  This was the first week of January.  Our class got to go to the gym and play "beach"  volleyball with Mr. Lee.  They had a blast!  Keep up the great work reading @ home.  The reward for reading and turning in weekly folders for January is a snowball fight with Mr. Lee.

Pictures from December

 I have been slow to get these pictures posted but these are from December.  We compared and contrasted Gingerbread stories and filled out this little gingerbread house.  After reading several different gingerbread stories our class wrote our own.  Here are a few samples of their writing.

Before Christmas I also read If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff.  The students in our class each made a page for a class book.  Here are a few samples of the writing for this book.

Penguin Videos

Gingerbread Recipe

Today I brought gingerbread cookies for our class to eat.  The recipe is one we read in The Gingerbread Man retold by Jim Aylesworth.

****Watch out when you open the oven door---gingerbread men have been known to run away!

Sift into a big bowl and mix:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice.

Beat together in another bowl:



• 1 large egg
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cu dark molasses
• 6 Tablespoons softened butter

Add dry ingredients slowly to wet mixture until well blended.

Cover and refridgerate for one hour.  Preheat oven to 350.  Sift flour onto your board and your rolling pin as you work to keep the dough from sticking.  Roll out a portion of dough 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out your gingerbread men with a two inch floured cookie cutter.  Place 1 inch apart on a buttered cookie sheet.  Bake 8 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch.  Cool on wire rack.  This will make about 50 cookies.

Make sure you have a grown-up help you!