1AH

For the next few weeks we are studying the wonderful books of Marc Brown!

He writes and illustrates the fabulous Arthur books.

In the first Arthur Book, Arthur’s Nose, Arthur looks a lot like an aardvark.

For later books, Marc Brown changed his nose to make Arthur look more lovable like this:

During literacy centers this week we will be reading, writing and drawing about Arthur.  We will also be looking at Arthur’s website http://pbskids.org/arthur/index.html

Yesterday, we watched a video about Marc Brown and we learned some very interesting things.  Marc has three children, Tolan, Tucker and Eliza and he hides their names in his illustrations.  If your child brings home an Arthur book in the next few weeks - see if you can find them together.

Welcome back after and long and wonderful holiday break. I hope you had a restful and fun holiday wherever you were in this world.

My family and I stayed in China and visited Sanya on Hainan Island for some sunshine and warmth.  We were warm, but we didn’t see much sunshine.

Each week in 1AH we check the blog to see what has been posted by me and to read any comments that visitors have left.  We would love to hear from you -  please tell us about your holiday travels or adventures.

Not sure how to leave a comment?

In the light blue bar under the title of each article it will say posted by ahossack, the date and then no comment or 3 comments.  Click on the word comment.  This will allow you to read any comments that have been left and to leave your own at the bottom.

Thanks very much & Happy New Year!

I told our class that I would take their photo for the first blog post of the new year and Cam said, “You should take it when we are standing so everyone can see how much we grew!”  So here we are, standing!

From 1AH

First grade parents organized a winter holiday party for us and it was fantastic!!!  We made jingle bell necklaces, listened to a snowman story, wore Rudolph noses, filled stockings with M&Ms AND decorated Christmas cookies.  Have a look…

The holiday season is here and excitement is in the air.  Christmas is my favorite holiday because I love the decorations, music, and good times.

I remember two of my family’s traditions very clearly.  Every year on Christmas Eve, my sister and I were allowed to open one present from under the tree and every single year it was new pajamas!! So every Christmas morning my family woke up in new Christmas jammies.

Christmas day we opened lots of presents and there was always one game that the whole family could play like Monopoly or Scrabble.  I remember the year Trivial Pursuit came into our home!  Each Christmas night we would sit around the table with our bellies full of Christmas dinner and play our new game and drink hot chocolate.

This is the first Christmas we will be spending with our son, Blake, and we are excited even if he is a bit too young to know what is going on.  It’s exciting to think about the years to come when we will continue those family traditions and probably invent some new ones.

What is your favorite holiday?  Why?  What are some of your favorite family traditions?

Whether you are staying in Shanghai or heading abroad, I’d like to wish everyone a safe, happy and restful holiday.  Enjoy your break and enjoy your wonderful children.  They are all treasures!

It was cold and frosty when we arrived at school on Monday morning.

We were bundled up in our coats, hats and mittens ready for our trip to Li Min School.

Last week we had prepared for this day by making more than 100 gift bags to give to the first grade students down the road.

We boarded the buses and headed down the lane.  Ms Biss, Mr Wood, Mrs Tucker and Mrs Boyer came too!!!

When we arrived at Li Min School the first graders came out of their classrooms and assembled in strait lines and we sang them our Christmas songs from the Holiday Concert.   Next the Li Min students sang back to us.

At the end of our time at the school we visited with the children in their classrooms and gave them our presents.

It was a cold and frosty morning, but the sights of the children ripping into their bags and the joyous sound of the students celebrating as they saw what was inside warmed everyone’s hearts.

Every Friday all the grade one students from 1AH and 1EV spend 15 - 30 minutes with our fifth grade buddies from Mr Hossack’s class.  Sometimes our buddies read to us.  Sometimes we read to them.  Sometimes we make crafts with the fifth graders.

Last Friday we made Rudolphs with the big kids.

It was super messy and it was super fun!

Here are some photos from that day….

Anna

Our Tower

Me and Eve used four cups just for making the tower.

On the very bottom we put a cloth to wipe your feet when it’s raining.  It always falls because it doesn’t balance that well.

The two popsicle sticks are not the door.

We put a fan on our tower to blow away the smoke.

Luke

My Tower

The wooden block is a chimney.  The popsicle stick is a floor and the cardboard is a foundation.

The foil is a wall.  Red triangle is a door.

The cups are the rooms.

On Monday we are going to Li Min School to visit the first graders there.

There are two first grade classes at Li Min School with 50 students each!

Last week during our literacy centers, each SAS first grader decorated 2 or 3 paper bags with a lovely holiday picture  and some warm winter greetings.

Today they filled these bags with some things the Li Min students might want and need this winter.

Some of the items in the bags were: juice, snacks, tooth brush & paste, and school supplies, such as pencils, glue, sharpeners, notebooks.

We made an assembly line to fill the bags!

On Monday we will take them down the road to our neighbors.

Parents are invited to join us on Monday morning at 8 to travel to Li Min School.  Hope to see you there!

Today is the Winter Concert!  Our students have been preparing for this day for weeks in music and art class.  They have learned songs and dances and everyone has had a turn playing the different musical instruments involved.  They even created wonderful art to decorate the auditorium.

We are learning about the properties of solids in our science unit called Solids and Liquids.

We learned that some scientists are engineers and engineers use what they know about the properties of solids, liquids and gases to build useful things.

Today we were engineers!

We built towers using: 2 craft sticks, 1 red plastic triangle, 1 sheet of tinfoil, 2 cups, 1 wire, 1 screw, 2 pieces of cardboard, a length of transparent tubing, a blue piece of cloth, wooden cylinder, an elastic band, and a straw.

Check out the wonderful towers we made!