Did anyone else have a "Wacko Wednesday"? I feel like my feet haven't hit the ground once today. I swear I have been on automatic pilot since around 5ish {A.M.} this morning. I always wonder what it would be like to have one of those get to work at 8:30 kind of jobs. Ha!
We have been working, working, working this week. I always say it is better to keep the crazy little kiddos busy during holiday weeks so they don't have time to drive me crazy! It's a win/win for everybody right? Here are a few activities that have kept our little minds out of trouble! ;)
Since it has been a gingerbread kinda week, we have been reading all of the many versions of the Gingerbread Man.
Our favorite so far....
The Gingerbread Pirate
We LOVE this story! After reading, the students created their very own gingerbread pirates. I gave them a gingerbread pattern and scrap paper and they went to town. I must say, they came up with some pretty darling little pirates. They then wrote similes to describe their sweet new friend!
Look at these little guys! :)
Along with working on similes, we have been graphing up a storm.
How do you eat a gingerbread man? For this grativity, I gave each student a gingerbread man and we all took one bite. Then, we recorded the results together on a tally chart. We have been working on number scales and bar graphs, so after the results were in, we graphed the results. The students decided the number scale {we counted by twos}.
To integrate a little writing in with this activity, the students used sequencing words {first, next, then, finally} to describe the way that they like to eat their gingerbread man. I don't have any pictures for this, but some of these writings were way too funny. This was a perfect topic for a little quick write.
Our next graphing activity was not centered around gingerbread men, but the kids loved it just the same. I used the cutest little website to introduce my crew to those sleigh guiding reindeer {Click on the picture to check it out!} We all voted on our favorite reindeer and recorded our data on a tally chart. After the results were complete, we turned our data into a pictograph. While creating pictographs, we were really zoning in on the key. On our graph 1 reindeer = 2 votes. The students loved cutting the reindeer in half when we had to represent an odd number of votes.
Then, to add a little more crazy into our week, today was holidays around the world. My second grade team all took a custom or tradition from around the world and created a fun little lesson. The kiddos thought they were BIG stuff changing classes like the big kids. It was so much fun and the kids really enjoyed learning about other cultures. In my classroom, we talked about the different holidays known as the festival of lights {Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Las Posadas, Ramadan} After reading a magazine article from our weekly reader, we all created a menorah place mat.
{Idea courtesy of Pinterest...duh! Ha!}
I know that so many of you have asked about the Minute to Win It games that I will be using for our party and I pinky promise to be back tomorrow to share those with you. Tomorrow is Polar Express Day {a.k.a. roll out of bed and stay in my pajamas and go to work day!} This teacher is super duper excited. Probably even more excited than those crazy children of mine! :)
