Happy New Year

     Happy New Years Eve!  I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas break.  It has been nice to catch up with family and friends over this holiday season.  I'm ready to get back in a routine though and see my class again.  I sure do miss their energetic faces!

     The week before break the students enjoyed our Christmas activities.  During our party the students decorated Christmas cookies, created an ornament, played candy cane toss, hot cocoa toss and created a Christmas tree with solo cups.  The catch was they couldn't use their fingers, only a rubber band and string!  This was very challenging and forced students to work together as a team.  Also, they enjoyed singing Christmas carols and wearing their pajamas to school.   It was a great way to kick off the holiday season!

     Enjoy your last few days of break and I look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday, January 3rd.  I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing New Years!

Vocabulary Games

     The past couple of weeks we have been playing games with our E.L.A. vocabulary words.  My goal is for the students to be engaged in their learning.  When students are engaged they are more likely to remember the content because it has meaning to them.  With this being said, the past couple of weeks we have introduced new vocabulary games.  Last week we played a game where they have a vocabulary word on their backs and their classmates have to help them figure out their vocabulary word without telling them the word.  This means they have to understand the word in order to describe it properly without saying "the word." Also, it requires the person with the word on their back to have an understanding of the different vocabulary words.
    This week we introduced another vocabulary game where the students have a partner and have to work together to get through all of their vocabulary words.  The partners sit back to back and one person has a vocabulary sheet in front of them.  The partner with the vocabulary sheet in front of them has to describe the word to their partner (without saying the word or parts of the word) and then the partner has to say the vocabulary word they are describing.  The first team to get through all of the words win. 
     We will continue to play these vocabulary games throughout the year.  My hope is by keeping the students engaged they will incorporate these vocabulary words in their daily lives and apply the words while reading and writing😊  .