We have been working on a Polar Animal unit this past month.  Students have been learning about penguins, polar bears and walruses.  I'll admit it, I'm a Teachers Pay Teachers addict now.  So many cute ideas already prepped!  Our polar bear tree chart comes from an arctic unit by Deanna Jump.  The kids did an amazing job writing nonfiction stories about the animals we were learning about.  We have some great visuals and shared writing for the students to go back and reread in the classroom!

100th Day of School!

Best 100th Day ever!!  Thanks to Deanna Jump from www.mrsjumpsclass.blogspot.com, she posted about dressing up like 100-year-olds on the 100th day of school.   In a rut with our 100-day stuff, I decided to go for something new.  I hate Halloween and dressing up in costumes, but this was so worth it!  The kids were SO cute!  I brought extra dress-up clothes from my own kids' stash at home, so everyone was able to participate if they wanted.  I had morning bus duty on the playground, so I welcomed the students as Mrs. Auby, but got "called away" during their breakfast (thanks to a parent helper and my student teacher for covering the class!) and transformed into Granny Auby.  I read Wilfred Gordon Macdonald Partrige in my "granny voice" and the kids were such incredible listeners...good to see they respect their elders!  Mid-morning I forgot to use my granny voice and one of my kiddos said, "A-ha!  I knew you were really Mrs. Auby just dressed up."  Oh my...that made it worth it!  We made self-portraits of ourselves as 100-year-olds and wrote a "bucket list" of things we want to do before turning 100.  I think we've got a new tradition for the 100th day!

We kept our snack simple...they had to create the number 100 with their string cheese and "flips" before eating.  Toss in a snack-sized 100 Grand Bar and a juice box, and the kids were thrilled with their special snack.