"May the Fourth" be with you!

      Ok, I'm not really some huge Star Wars fan, but I couldn't help myself!  I think it is hilarious that there is now a special day to celebrate Star Wars! Apparently it has been around now for a few years, but I think this will be the first year that I will try to incorporate some sort of Star Wars-themed activity into our reading/writing/math centers... I know some of my Firsties will be excited about that! And, I'm guessing some of our parents will like that, too!  


    Now that the website is allowing me to upload photos, we have quite a bit of catching up to do!  Let's begin with International Day, then we'll head back in time from there...

Here is our lovely Chinese table spread courtesy of Mrs. Rodarte and her wonderful helpers!  Of course, the Firsties needed a panda to represent us!  They just love their pandas!    
     

     
Next we have a photo of the Firsties all decked out in their fabulous Chinese attire for their performance... gotta love their silly poses!

 

To get to know the Chinese culture a little better, I introduced them to the ancient Chinese game of Tangrams.  Tangrams is a great game that can enhance a child's ability to grasp spatial reasoning, while encouraging them to use their imagination!  Here is a link to a great kid friendly game using Tangrams online.  And here are some photos of the Tangrams the kids have made in class!

 

We definitely have some creative kiddos in our class!

 

Now we'll move on to a photo of an activity we did on World Penguin Day!  Yes, apparently there is really a World Penguin Day (at least according to Hallmark's website, where there is practically a "special day" for every day of the year, although I could not find any "Happy World Penguin Day"cards to pass out...)  We started out by watching a live webcam of some penguins at an exhibit in one of the Sea Worlds.  Here is a link so your Firsty can watch the penguins at the San Diego Sea World right from their home! LIVE PENGUINS

 

Then, we watched an informative video about Emperor Penguins, and we were all very impressed with what the father penguins have to go through to keep their one penguin egg safe!  Afterwards, we learned some very "cool" penguin facts, and we practiced some printing at the same time.  Science and printing wrapped up into one fun activity!  Here is a photo of that worksheet:

 

The kids also learned to draw some pretty adorable penguins... but of course I forgot to take photos of that, so you'll just have to wait until those worksheets make it home!  They were too cute!

 

Now we'll move onto Earth Day!  We learned a lot about trash vs recycling, and we all agreed that we don't want to live near a "trash mountain" (i.e. landfill), so we are all going to do our best to recycle, reuse, and conserve!  Here is their cute art/writing activity from that special day.

 

 

 

The kids did an amazing job drawing their own versions of continents onto their paper Earths, and then they came up with their own promises that showed how they will care for the Earth.  I was really excited with how well these projects turned out!  Way to go, Firsties!

 

Now, I'm going to throw in a few random photos from various activities that took place during centers... during centers, we are always reading, writing, working on math, and using hands-on manipulatives to get our minds thinking!  We are also definitely out of our desks and found all around the room.  Sometimes, we are at centers that don't allow us to sit! (Ask your Firsty about Write-the-Room)

 

 

And, as usual, we are always working on Religious projects to display up around the room!  Here is a photo of the latest and greatest... These little guys are hanging out in our room to remind us of a very important message...

 

Finally, I'm going to end this post with a few photos of our Boggle game!  What's Boggle?  Take a look and find out!

Here is the Boggle Board in the back of the room

Here is the worksheet the kids have in their desk folders

And voila! You have yourself some fun brainwork! 

Well, that's all for me for this post, everyone!  I would like to ask all of you to keep the Second Graders in your prayers this weekend as they receive the blessed sacrament of First Holy Communion! 

Take care, and enjoy the weekend!

~Ms. Hudson