It's the Most Wonderful (and Excitable) Time of the Year!

Happy Saturday everyone!  What busy plans does your family have this weekend?  I'm just taking a wild, crazy guess that you are all busy... I know I am!  This time of year can definitely wear us all out, and I definitely noticed some wear and tear on our Firsties this week!  Periods of excitedness were immediately followed by periods of tiredness, and then sometimes even irritability!  But that was just the teachers!  = ) The Firsties were about the same, too... we are definitely noticing a few more tiffs between friends, a few more children feeling extra sensitive over small things, and a few more heads on the desks.  I know I have been trying to go to bed a little earlier, and that's not easy with all of these holiday parties on my calendar and holiday treats on my kitchen counter!  But let's all try to help each other out and remember how precious a little TLC can be this time of year... thank you!  And now I will step off of my Christmas soap box to talk about the many going's-on in our festive room...= ) 
(And again, I hope you all know me well enough by now to get my sense of humor in that last paragraph!) 

First of all, take a look at some of the decorations your fabulous kiddos put up around the room:

Glittery Christmas Light Bulbs

The stockings were decorated and hung by the "chimney" with care...

 The kids have been working on their fine motor skills with plenty of coloring and cutting... lots and lots of cutting!  Here are some students cutting out their reindeer.  They had to follow specific directions in order to color them, then, after cutting them out, they needed to use their knowledge of positional words to glue the legs on them correctly.  They even got to name their own reindeer... we just finished hanging them up in the room, so we'll be sure to post that picture soon! 

We even had some wrapped presents in our room, adding to the Christmas festiveness!  Thank you to everyone who was able to sign up and help out our Adopt-a-Family.  Your generosity exudes the Christmas Spirit! 

I'm not sure many of you know this, but every Monday during the Season of Advent, our whole school gathers outside of the First Grade classroom to say a special Advent prayer.  The Advent wreath hangs right outside our room (how lucky are we?!?!) and Sister Shawn leads us in prayer.  Please feel free to join us each Monday!  Here is a photo of the school gathered together last Monday:

Our Firsties are working diligently on their Advent Program songs.  We really have our Jingle Bells (the Frank Sinatra version) down!  Next up, we need to practice our Drummer Boy song... Speaking of which, I am on the lookout for some props and costumes for that song... Does anyone out there have something that might look like a Mary, Joseph, and (get ready for this) ox and lamb costume for a First Grader? If someone can donate these costumes (they will be returned to you), we were going to see which students would want to dress up as these people/animals for the song.  To be fair, I would need to pull names out of a hat of those interested in the part, but if any one is willing to donate the costumes, we would greatly appreciate it!  Obviously Mary and Joseph are fairly simple, but that ox and lamb... Please let me know as soon as possible via email if you can help out with this! Thank you!  

I am also looking for some crafty parents to help out with decorating some paper drums... hoping to make them look very "snazzy!" (read snazzy as glittery/decorative!) If you are available to help out with this, please let me know!

Finally, a quick academic update! Your Firsties will have a cumulative Sight Word test on Monday the 17th.  Remember to review those sight words a few more times before then! 

The Firsties have just completed their first big subtraction unit, and we will now go on to counting with money.  This is a great unit, especially because parents can easily reinforce this lesson at home.  I hope there is still some change left in your house to help them with their homework- I know some of these Firsties cleaned out their piggy banks to donate money to the poor!  Speaking of which, this amazingly generous group of children have donated well over...$200! Can you believe that?!?!?! I believe that is a record for any First Grade class that I've taught!  Unbelievable!  I definitely put popcorn in our popcorn jar when Mrs. Coulter announced our total.  I am so proud of these kiddos- way to go First Grade! 

Speaking of generous, thank you for another amazing bake sale!  We raised over $200 as well with this sale!  Our Christian Service project is good to go! Thank you to everyone who helped out, and a big thank you to Mrs. Vona and Mrs. Schultz for heading this project! 

One final note- this week we will begin collecting the shoe boxes for our Nativity Scenes- here is an example of a shoe box that is too skinny:

And here is an example of a shoe box that is just right:

Hope that helps! We'd like all boxes in by Wednesday for size approval, then we will return them to you to decorate the outside only at home over the weekend.  On Monday the 17th, we'd like them returned to school for the kids to work their magic on the interior of the boxes.  They really do turn out so beautifully, and we appreciate all of your help! Thank you! 

Have a wonderful weekend filled with family and friends! I'm off to bake some cookies, clean the house, rake the leaves, shop for presents, attend holiday parties, find a Christmas tree at the tree farm, etc, etc, etc... = )  I really do love this time of year!

Take care! 
 ~Ms. Hudson