Bring on the snow!

(Oops--sorry for the delayed post on this one!)

This morning was our first delayed opening of the year...we got a nice little frozen mix on Sunday night that coated the roads in the county juuust enough for a 2-hour delay.  The nice part was that the county made the call for the delay right before I went to bed, so I got to sleep in a little bit instead of finding out in the morning!  Some highlights of the day:

Math Organization
I always think it is so neat the way kids' minds work.  Today, we continued studying collecting data and showing representations of it, and we surveyed our class for everyone's ages.  (Ms. W did not participate in this survey!)  I knew that the kiddos were going to be stacking cubes together to show their age with the height of a "tower" as we call them, but the only instruction I gave was to "put your tower on the ledge by the board when you're done making it."  After giving that direction, I immediately thought that I needed to be more specific, but decided to let it play out.  Sure enough, just "putting your tower on the ledge" was enough, because this is how my class decided to organize their towers--neat, huh?

We went back as a class and added the labels and numbers afterwards.  Just wanted to share some fun we're having in math!

(Also, at the beginning of our unit on data collection and representation, we read these two books.  They were about sorting and classifying--the 3 Little Firefighters was targeted for a younger audience, with easier patterns and attributes, and Dave's Down-to-Earth Rock Shop was a crowd favorite.  The rocks that were talked about in the book were real, and the class was so interested in them!)

Winter books
Books, books, and more books!  With the "changing" of the seasons (Mother Nature really needs to get a grip on things--there was a wintery mix this weekend, but last weekend it was in the 60s!), here are some treats that my class enjoyed :)  Some great winter reads...

Surprises
What makes for a great surprise?  New furniture!  Now I just need to figure out where to put these new additions :)

The chair is oh-my-heavens comfortable, so that will obviously be going right behind my desk.  And the filing cabinets are on wheels...genius!  I'll keep you posted on their new homes!


Speaking of additions...
We've got a new student in Room 106--I can't believe I haven't mentioned this before!  I will admit that I was nervous to be getting a new addition to our class because we've been the same 22--21 students and me--since September, but everyone (including the teacher :) ) has made a great adjustment.  When I found out that we'd be growing by one, I was nervous about what it would do to the vibe of our class, but a friend reminded me that it wasn't just my class and myself that were going through this change, it was our new student, too--it was just the reminder I needed to make the transition easier!  We're now one big(ger) happy family!  (If only the teacher can keep remembering to make one extra copy!)


Teeny Tidy is back!
Our Desk Fairy visited again this morning, but this time, instead of leaving the class a treat, she left individual treats for students who had clean cubbies.  Her note:

Dear __________,

Thanks for picking up your things,

It means so much to me!

It shows me you are working hard,

To keep your classroom clean.

Since it seems that you have taken the time,

To make sure your belongings are neat.

I thought it would only be the right thing to do,

To leave you some sort of treat.

So, since you left for the weekend

With all off your things put away,

You may move your color to blue,

At the start of this school day.

Keep up the great work all day long,

And maybe I'll be back to visit soon.

Until then, keep working hard--and help your classmates, too!--

To make such a clean classroom!

Happy cleaning!

Love,

Teeny Tidy

Another Tomie de Paola post...
Okay, y'all, I'm giving you a warning here...I'm about to go on another one of my Tomie dePaola kicks.  Not like it's never happened on the blog before, but I thought I'd start with a heads up before someone starts reading and thinks to themselves, "gosh, does this Ms. W ever stop talking about this author?!?"


Sure enough, our curriculum has an author study of Tomie de Paola :)  My class has already heard a number of books by this favorite of mine, so for our author study we did more of a character study in Room 106 and read all of de Paola's Strega Nona books.  After about a week and a half, we read our last Strega book today, so I thought I'd show the final list of what we read.  I'm sad that the series has come to an end, but excited that my class has embraced Strega Nona like I have and have enjoyed some fabulous literature.

Of course we started off with this one--and I am lucky enough to have received a signed copy from a friend for the holidays!  Very exciting for my kiddos to see an autographed book :)

Who could forget Strega Nona's faithful helper, Big Anthony?  Our school library just got a copy of this one, and I swear it is permanently on loan to my class--one student checks it out, and as soon as they check it back in, another student checks it out again!

Perhaps the coolest thing to me, though, was talking to a student's mother at parent/teacher conferences and finding out that this student only asked for one thing for her birthday last week: a Strega Nona book.  I left school after that meeting with such a full heart to think that reading inspires more reading; as someone who grew up as a bookworm--and still is one today!--it is touching to see that love getting spread around a little bit more!

Hope y'all enjoyed these updates...no more ice on the roads, so off to bed this teacher goes!

Love from Room 106,
Allie