Tuesday, December 20, 2016



Dear Parents,
Whew!  These last two days have been crazy for this ol’ teacher!  Ha.Crazy, but FUN! 
Yesterday, for our prayer partner activity, the firsties and their prayer partners exchanged gifts and then they all went on a Candy Cane Hunt!  It was lots of fun and all (I think) of the candy canes have been found!  Each student was allowed to find three but the challenge was that the candy canes had to be found in different rooms.  

Today, when the kiddos walked in, they immediately noticed that I had snuck back into school last night and painted their desks.  It was fun to surprise them and once everyone got to school and was settled, I told them that this was a very special thing that only I could do.  They are NOT allowed to do this….here OR at home ( I try to have your backs, parents!) 


We have been learning about how the prophets foretold that Jesus was going to be born and today we learned that an angel appeared to Mary and told her that she was going to be the mother of Jesus. I think that if I had been her, my reaction would have been…disbelief! That is impossible! Would your reaction have been the same?
We also learned that God sent an angel to Joseph in his dreams, to tell him that he didn’t have to leave Mary and that with God NOTHING is impossible.  How true is that?!? Hard to remember at times, but true nonetheless.  

“Christmas Trees” was the theme of the day…we did different activities that had to do with them.  We came up with a list of adjectives to describe a Christmas tree and the very first word given was, “pokey”.  Love it! 

Then I put them into pairs and gave them a choice of cardboard, gumdrops & toothpicks, or hardware.  The pair needed to figure out how to make a Christmas tree, using the materials that they chose.  The only rule was that their “tree” had to stand up by itself when they were finished.  I have to say that, I was quite impressed with how they worked together and what they came up with.  Below are some of their creations.  They are still up in our classroom if you would like to take a peek!






For our book exchange, everyone sat in a circle with the book that they brought in.  I read the story “The Littlest Tree” and every time I read/said the word “tree” they had to pass the book that was in their hands, to their right.  By the time I finished reading the book, no one had their own book (I made sure of that ahead of time…).  Thank you for sending in such great books and I hope that you are able to enjoy the book with your firstie for a long time.  
We played "Tape the Nose to Rudolph"

Our Rudolph looks like he has the chicken pox!

We also played toss jingle bells into cups

All in all, it was a good day!

Thank you for all of my wonderful gifts!  I love them all and I so appreciate your thoughtfulness!

Have a wonderful break, enjoy your Christmas, and I will see y’all “next year”!

Miss Gallagher
Following the Signs

Wednesday, December 14, 2016



Dear Parents,
Today we had our birthday party for Jesus with our prayer partners!  We all met in the gym where we were split into four different groups.  Each group did a different activity and then we rotated until we were able to go to all of the activities.  Such fun!  Then at lunch, instead of cake for Jesus’ birthday, we had cupcakes that were made by Mr. Klauer and they were yummy! 
We have a math test tomorrow, but based on how they did today on the review, I think that the firsties will do just fine!  Whew! It seems as if some of our strategies that we are learning are starting to click!
We started on a secret project today for you!  I am excited about this and really hope that you like this small gift!  The firsties are enjoying making them. 
Here are some pictures from our field trip yesterday.  The name of the program that we went to was called Homestead Holiday and we learned what it was like to decorate for Christmas in the 1870’s and we also learned what school was like in that time period as well.
The firsties had chores to do...they had to bring the wood in the house for the heat!

Adding spices to make the house smell good (and it really DID by the way...)

Hanging paper garland to decorate the house!

Our guide read us a story and we got to eat a cookie while we listened!

Then we went to the barn and saw the sleigh that would have been used back then.

School is in session!

Thank you to all that were able to drive on our field trip!  The students also received a bookmark to let them know about other acivities that are being offered by the Chippewa Nature Center.  (I actually think we might go back in the spring...) Blessings on your night! -Miss Gallagher


       



























Thursday, December 8, 2016





Dear Parents,
Yesterday began with Chapel and I noticed as we walked in, Pastor Sherry was wearing a very peculiar ensemble.  He was wearing jeans, tennis shoes, his suit coat, and a tie.  For the message he spoke about how yesterday was National Ultimate Mismatch Day (which…I really think that he made up…!).  He spoke about how as we are in the 2nd week of Advent and how we are preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we can reflect on the Christmas account. How, in a way Christmas is a mismatch in of itself.  Our King, came to earth as a baby and was born in a stable with animals.  Jesus was a perfect and sinless man who lived on Earth among sinners.  He died and rose for our sins, though we certainly didn’t deserve it.  I thank God for all of the “mismatchness”.  

Thank you to all that were able to come the Advent service last night.  The firsties (did you notice that even Pastor called them firsties?!?!) and young 5’s class did a great job praising the Lord!  Thank you for going through their speaking parts over and over again….it really DID help.

Yesterday we also tried a “new” strategy of reading out loud, called “buzz reading”.  Buzz reading is when the whole class is reading out loud, and they are reading the same story.  They are reading to themselves and when the whole class does this, it sounds a little like a low buzzing sound.   
Below is just a small sample of their first time at buzz reading.

When your firstie is studying their spelling words, another way to get the spelling of their words in their heads is pretending they are dribbling a basketball.  On each bounce, a letter of the word is said, until the whole word is spelled and then you pretend to shoot the “ball” into the basket.  Though we haven’t used this strategy a lot this year, it still is valid and the kiddos love practicing their words this way! It gets them moving….if you get a chance, give it a try! 

Blessings to you as the weekend is upon us again soon!
Miss Gallagher