Zippy's Last Week and Our Last Week

This week we were very busy! Zippy finished out his week, we did some winter activities, made our pine cone ornaments and did some work on our bakery treats and display stands.

Zippy the Elf
Zippy the elf finished out his week in some different places...

On Monday Zippy was reading a book.

 But later we looked up and... He had fallen asleep?!

 On Tuesday Zippy rode his sled in and got snowflakes all over our floor!
                         

 On Wednesday Zippy used our beads from the math area to make a candy cane to hang on our tree.

On Thursday Zippy made a LEGO seat for him and a house for Pig.

He even left a note for one of our sick friends who had been out all week.

Later that day he left us a message as he flew out that he would see us next year.

He also left us cookies and hot cocoa... Yum!

Making Pinecone Ornaments
Every since I bought my house a few years ago (I have a pine tree in my yard) we have been making pinecone ornaments with the students that we then put a ribbon on and they take home as a gift for their parents. It's so easy... But messy! White paint and glitter is all you need... Have the students paint the pinecone and then roll it in glitter. Once it's dry then we hot glue a ribbon on the top.

Bakery Display
We had been working like crazy to make sure we finished our center rotations before break. Success! I was able to meet with each group to make the clay model of the treat they signed up to make. I will post more about this when I post about our bakery investigation... But here are some photos of the kids molding the clay. When we get back from break they will paint their models and we will label and display them. The students also used some old wire spools to paint stands for the treats to go on when we display them.

It was a busy week! I hope everyone enjoys their break! See you in January.

Zipping Through to Holiday Break

This week we did some winter activities and of course we couldn't wait to see what Zippy did this week!

Zippy the Elf
Zippy was quite entertaining this week. Since Zippy came last week the students have been documenting his daily position and we have been making a timeline in the hallway.

Check out where Zippy was at this week!

 On Monday he was sitting on the tree branch over blue table.

 On Tuesday he was riding Pig and then later he had captured a box of treats with his lasso!

 On Wednesday he was practicing his counting with Pig and Rudy.

 On Thursday he had found the red paint and got his handprints all over the room!

On Friday he was all about the "peace promise". He had a sign that said " peace baby" and brought treats for peaceful friends.

We can't wait to see what Zippy does on the last week before the holidays!

Bakery Investigation Treat Models
We started our centers for our bakery investigation a week ago. I will post more about the baking investigation soon, however I wanted to post some pictures of the students making their treat models with air dry clay. Each group signed up to be on a team and I have been working with them to create their models. When we get back from break we will paint them and display them.

Making Snowmen
Today we read the story Snowballs by Lois Ehlert. It's a great book that shows snowmen created with natural materials. The kids loved it! After we read they had to make their own snowman or woman. They used white and construction paper but had to do all the cutting and designing. The only requirement was 3 snowballs. They did great!

Next week will be a week of learning and holiday fun!

Zippy the Elf

Our elf on the shelf arrived this week. He came on Monday. I was out sick so I missed all the fun but Ms. West read the book and the students chose a name for him.  They decided to name him Zippy. Everyday Zippy comes to our classroom to visit and check on the students' behavior. He is full of magic and can zip around really fast! We can't touch him or he will lose all his magic. Each night he goes back to the North Pole to report to Santa. He has been in some very sneaky places this week...

He was hanging from our lanterns with binoculars!

He was on top of our tree dressed as an angel!

He was in our tissue box resting with a teddy bear!

We got an extra surprise today because it was National Cookie Day. While the students were at specials Zippy passed out alphabet cookies and sprinkled some magic on them. Yum!

We can't wait to see what Zippy will do next week!