Christmas Charity in the Classroom

The afternoon of our last day before break, my class went on a very special trip.  During the month of December, we collected candy.  Parents jumped at the opportunity to get rid of left over Halloween candy!

 Each student carried a grocery bag full of candy to a local soup kitchen.  We really enjoyed getting out for a walk!  At the soup kitchen, students went on a tour of the building and learned about resources they could take advantage of if they ever need a meal.  Then, we set to work stuffing the candy we had brought into stockings.  The soup kitchen gave these stockings to kids that ate at the soup kitchen on Christmas.

We also brought holiday cards made by our students and a few canned goods.  This was really just the beginning of our relationship with this soup kitchen.  My students were very well behaved.  They stayed on task and respected the men who live and work at the soup kitchen.  As we were leaving, my students asked, "Can we come back and help for Easter?"  I was surprised and impressed!  My students are developing charitable hearts.  They are getting out into their community and helping others.

My class was given this cute stuffed animal cow by the soup kitchen.  We affectionately named him, "Cowy."

Where Have I Been?

I cannot believe it has been almost a full month since my last post!  I'm so sorry!
Those last two weeks before break we're crazy busy!  I fully intended to write as soon as break started, but I received a rather unpleasant gift from my students-the worst cold of my life!  It made for a rather miserable break.  I guess I needed the time to relax and recharge, though.  Anyway, two weeks of break and I'm almost back to 100% health.  We have a professional day Monday and students start back on Tuesday, unless we get a snow day!

It's time to get back into school mode.  Here is a glimpse back to the week before Winter Break:

We went to the zoo two days before break began.  Crazy? Yes, we might have been.  We returned to school with all the students and they had a great time.  It was a successful trip!  Plus, we learned about elephants and rain forest animals!

On the last day of school before Winter Break, a local private high school sent a class of Sophomores to our school to do holiday activities with the kids.  They began the day making these cute paper bag reindeer.  Then, one of the highschoolers dressed as Santa and each student received a wrapped gift.  It was really impressive the thought and care put into the event by the high school students.

While the rest of the school watched movies in the afternoon, my class went on a "secret" mission walking trip.  More on that tomorrow!

I survived...

A field trip the day after Halloween!  Not only did we survive our trip, but we thrived!  The school scheduled our monthly trip to the senior center for the day after Halloween.  All week, I was dreading that day more than Halloween itself.  I knew many kids would stay up late Thursday night and be all sugared up.  Add to that that we hadn't had the best week as it was.  It seems like students are becoming comfortable and starting to test me again.  Exhausted and drained, I was unsure how our trip would go.

The trip went as perfectly as could be expected of young children.  We got onto the bus in a timely manner.  They sang nice and loud the two simple songs we had prepared and then they set to work making leaf hats.  My first and second grade students did a project in which they learned about what their senior partner did in the fall as a child.  It was a great way to bring our study of past and present to life.  Their conclusion was that some of the fall activities of the past, such as carving pumpkins and jumping in the leaves, are timeless activities.  It was a really productive trip!  As soon as we were back on the bus, my class wanted to know if we were going to go to the senior center every Friday.  That, to me, is what marks this as a successful trip.

Have a great weekend!

-Olivia

Community Field Trips

I'm finally feeling caught up.  I'm sure that will change soon.  (It always seems to work that way.)  Part of feeling caught up is the arrival of these new bins and new found organization!  I love the continuity the bins give and that they hide a lot of clutter.  Now that they are all labeled, I am working on teaching my students to keep them organized.

 

 

 

I know I'm behind on blogging.  Last week was a crazy busy week.  We had field trips on Thursday and Friday!  On Thursday we went to an urban farm.  It was fun to go on a walking field trip.  We walked about 13 blocks.  It was a long walk for my Kindergarteners, but it was great practice learning appropriate behaviors out in their community.  As we walked, we searched for letters and numbers.  These basic skills are much more fun to build in the real world.

 

 

One of my students found a dead grasshopper.  We took the grasshopper back to school to study.  A week later, my students are still talking about the grasshopper.  I've had a number of parents enquire, saying that their child said they just had to see what we found at the farm!  Our trip was a huge success!  We learned some academics, but more importantly we learned to take care of one another and respect nature.

 

 

Think that was enough for one week?  Nope!  We took a field trip on Friday too!  We had a great opportunity to meet some senior citizens in our community last Friday.  I was amazed at how my students quickly got to know their senior partner.  Although many of my students were shy at first, by the end of our 45 minute visit they did not want to leave!  The seniors really enjoyed meeting my little ones and encouraging them in their learning.

 

The worst part was the bus ride.  After such a successful walking trip the day before, it was frustrating that my students just would not sit still on the bus.  On the way to the senior center, we tried songs and searching for letters and numbers.  None of that was really successful or engaging for all students.  On the way back, I whipped out some picture books I had brought along.  I had enough for each pair of students to read.  They sat still and read for the whole ride!  As pairs finished reading one book, they swapped books with another pair.  What a great way to get some reading in since we were missing our reading workshop time that day!  Note for future planning: pack a bag of books for every bus trip.

 

I hope you had a great week!

 

-Olivia

Penguins in Guatemala: A Field Trip Adventure

This week we went on our last field trip of the year to the zoo.  The kids love to go to the zoo and it is actually a very clean and safe place to go here in Guatemala.  It's the rainy season here, but fortunately we didn't have even one drop of rain on our field trip.  We took advantage of the good weather and saw all the exhibits!  We saw everything from bears to capybaras to deer. 

The biggest hit was the new aquarium.  It is small, but well kept and new. 

 

 

The newest exhibit at the zoo is the penguins.  We walked all over the zoo looking for the penguins, only to encounter them on our way out of the zoo.  I was impressed with the viewing platforms that allowed for many people to view the exhibit at once.  My students loved getting up close to the glass and watching the penguins swim.  We arrived back at the school tired from all the walking, but we felt accomplished for having seen the penguins!