Ask Me About Friday, December 21, 2018

Well, what I heard was it was the best day ever in their entire life, but I find that hard to believe!  Nevertheless, our Snowflake Day was a success.  We started our day watching the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies from the Nutcracker.  I could not convince them that I was one of the dancers, which was disappointing but understandable.  We also listened to a story about Snowflake Bentley and looked at some of his photographs of snowflakes from so long ago.  We were inspired by his curiosity and by his persistence in finding a way to photograph the snowflakes.  
We needed persistence today!  We did a lot of folding, cutting, painting and designing.  It's really important that the children have lots of opportunities to try on their own before jumping in and drawing, folding, or doing a task for them.  We practiced cutting with some intricate turns.  I reminded the students to be sure to turn the paper instead of their hands as they made turns and sharp angles.  Encouraging them to show their best try sometimes takes a little longer, but it builds persistence and acceptance that not everything is going to turn out the way you planned the first time you try.  The best part of my day was listening in on them encouraging each other and noticing what others were doing.  They reminded each other that mistakes are allowed in our classroom, and reminded those who were wanting help to give it their best try.  Your children are bringing home some of the snowflakes we made today, but I will tell you are room is covered with snowflakes that are drying.  This group doesn't really buy into "less is more" and I'm glad they don't because that would give them a big misconception that might mess up their performance on our math tests!
They LOVED wearing pajamas today, and their stuffed animals and babies were very well behaved.  I hope you enjoy the photos I took today so you can get a peek into what our day was like!
Have a wonderful, safe and fun winter break.  I can't wait to hear all about it when we are back in 2019!
​Miss Wolfe