Monday, November 29, 2021

Jingles adventures 2021

 Every day or two...I will share Jingles latest adventure  :)


November 29th...Genesis 1:26-31...creation of the world...here is our Jingles update





Day 4...December 1

Jingles took a pretty hard fall on Tuesday...so here is our solution 

note might need revised  ;)

Bowl with cotton balls and ice packs...plus an apple  ;)

Today is Noah and the elf is building a boat puzzle!

Today the Jesse tree depicts a tent...so Jingles built a blanket fort!




blanket fort/tent

they are hiding underneath  ;)

Today did not have a great connection...so they are just hanging around ;)


Sunday's December 5 was a ladder for the Jesse Tree...so out came this doll ladder.  No elf picture on it...




Monday December 6th is St. Nicholas Day...so they are looking at the shoe treasures fondly!





Yesterday was Moses and a basket...so Jingles hung out in our onion/catch all bin in our kitchen.


Wednesday December 8th brings the 10 Commandments...now 11 ;)



Then we have Ruth gleaning wheat...so into the flour bucket for Jingles 


My husband created an awesome skiing accident yesterday morning  ;)


Jesse tree ornaments 

I need to catch up Jingles adventures!


This was to go with David battling Goliath
...his marshmallow ammunition was eaten and the battle scene attacked  ;)


The image was a dove...so we had all of them flying.

I missed the Tupperware boat this week.  Cadia declared that I was crazy for creating this scene...not the elf!

Today starts O Antiphons which was totally new to me.  Think of the song...O Come O Come Emmanuel.

So this was fun...minus 11 PM drop of the cheerio box while the believing 8th grader was still partial awake from a nap!



Well not every day is epic in the life of the elf...here are a few more snippets and updated pictures.




Here is our updated Jesse Tree from Holy Heroes.
O Antiphons...it should make an O

Jesse Tree as on 12/21

Breakfast time...green pancakes for green day at school!



Saturday, November 27, 2021

Jesse Tree, advent, holiday traditions.

 I am sitting here on a gorgeous snowy morning.  Thanksgiving has waned and Christmas season is approaching. 

This blog post is more a personal post not a STEAM related post...religion is discussed...proceed with this in mind.  

My family has an "elf" named Jingles.  He is just a stuffed animal elf with a jingle bell in him.  YES a jingling bell that rattles quite loudly at 2 AM!  He has developed some friends over the years...like Merry Mint Pup and another little doll.  Each year he has a theme for his adventures...Games Reindeer Play and Making Magical Memories were the past two years.

This year's theme  is JOY - Jesus first - Others second - You last!

I hope to find some ALMOND JOY bars or JOY eggs later today as part of the introduction.

What are some of our plans or added adventures?

Well - we are doing a few family activities - like a color-able advent wreath.  This is from @Catholic Icing.  It was a dollar to download - but looks awesome and love helping out a fellow blogger!
Here is link to her printable - Advent printable link


Second, we are trying a Jesse Tree.  The challenge with this is that it changes year to year.  I printed several versions and tried to figure out which one our church was using...but decided on Holy Heros for three reasons...
1) it has a colorable option
2)It has the related reading on the ornament - no double printing or organizing at 2 AM
3)It starts on Day 2 which is a non school day and a quiet home day.  

Holy Hero Jesse Tree

Basically, you add one ornament each day with a symbol related to a bible story in preparation of Christmas.

So my husband is printing some items off and finding Jingles.  I have a "Jesse Tree" ready to hang tonight (I will be re-posting after adding pictures later tonight!)






Not sure what other fun Jingles will embark on but he is on Jesse Tree duty every night...

I hope to read the book that we got from Sunday School as well!  


Our goal is slow down and enjoy our time with our family. 

Hang on tight - 16 school days!!!

Saturday, November 20, 2021

November 2021

 I feel like I am taking my reader/blog followers on an emotional roller coaster.  But that is just what this year has been.

The second week of November was a SUPER successful book fair.  It exceeded normal sales by almost $2000.  No extra zeros!  This means almost $4000 in new books and STEAM materials from Scholastic.
The students worked on watching a few shows on PBS learning media.  K - 2 watched Hero Elementary.  3rd and 4th watched Compact Science on chicken wings/buffalo wings and sponge candies as well as working on the traveling mural!!

This is so close to done, but a few sections were left for absent students or just not completed during STEAM/library time.

Unfortunately, this project was put to a STOP by virtual learning.  YES...we had to transition to remote learning for the past week and the week before Thanksgiving.  

I am doing a new K - 2 lesson based on Peter Reynolds book called "Our Table".  


3rd and 4th grade are continuing with EduTyping and Kodables.  It seems to be a challenge for the students to find and watch my introduction video then complete two 10 minute activities.  However, I could not really continue simple machines or electricity virtually.

Mrs. Fonzo and I are finally discarding ALL of the books from Seneca High School library as we help it undergo a MAJOR transformation.  
Here is short LOOM video of this progress...Loom - Seneca Library

I am super excited for DE"STEM"BER again.  K is going to be making a tree craft, 1st is going to be making an upcycled tree, 2nd grade are making paper bag gingerbread houses and corner book marks, 3rd grade are going to make marble runs out of upcycled materials, and finally 4th are making light up cards with paper circuits if I can get the materials in from Amazon in time.

There is so much fun to come...I hope to finish the mural, continue to document the changes in Pumpkin Jack, and get ready for 3 fun weeks of DE"STEM"BER.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Plus today - I realize that we are half way through the Bible in a Year...okay Bella and I are way behind but forward is a direction.  I talk about this podcast in this blog post last December.  New Year New Start

Here is a link to the podcast...https://bibleinayear.fireside.fm/day-183

I am also making progress on St. Faustina's diary - I am around day 165!  Again - slow and steady :)


Saturday, November 6, 2021

Fall fun

 I have not updated everything in a month on here!  Fall is full of fun at home and school.  

Pumpkin farms, Halloween, Fire Safety...and more...

It was a crazy month in our house...I find that it is nice to sit down and reflect on my lessons, record the ideas in one place, and show off the amazing things going on in education even in the middle of an on-going pandemic.  

September was set to survival...October was a slow return to normal...November is book fair and traveling mural fun :)

I am secretly really looking forward to DE"STEM"BER 2021!  Bigger and better than before...paper circuit ornament, gingerbread design challenge, marble run design challenge, santa sleigh designs, santa tracker, and so much more!  

But let me go backwards to October.  

LEAVES...PUMPKIN JACK...CORN MOSAICS.  PLUS MORE FARM TO TABLE FUN!

I am working on progressive lessons...one grade building on the previous year.   

For example, K and 1 both read Leaf Man together.  I chose to have a read aloud on the screen to make it bigger for everyone.  


Grade K - did a leaf tracer then decorated their leaf man.  This was used to teach the students how to use a tracer and follow directions.    Mrs. Long shared adorable googly eyes for this fun project.













Grade 1 - used leaves, glue, and googly eyes to create a leaf creation...it could be a person, an animal, or more.  Then we practiced taking photos in Seesaw.  





This one is a T REX!!!



Grade 2 made 3 dimensional leaves.  I talked about it last year as well.  3D leaf post

Grade 3 has been working on learning about simple machines.  We are slowing it down...we have done 4 out of 6.  The students are watching a video, discussing a real life example, then writing down a definition and examples in our simple machine packet.  In November, we will finish the last two (wedge and screw).  In DeSTEMber, we will make a marble run using 1 or more simple machine in the design!  We also might do BINARY holiday ornaments.  I found a packet years ago online and just keep using it.

Grade 4 did a fun farm to table unit on PIZZA and HERBS.  Students got to explore our outdoor classroom and pizza garden.  They got to taste, feel, draw, and experience herbs.  The students in most classes would taste DILL WEED and say that it tasted like pickles and then we would talk about how this is how dill pickles are flavored.  
In the meantime, a basic cauliflower crust pizza was cooking.  Then we went back to STEAM to taste it!  YUM.  









MORE COOL PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES!!


TRAVELING MURAL

I joined a group of 9 other librarians and STEAM teachers across the country to work on a TRAVELING MURAL PROJECT.  Grade 3 and 4 are working on the final design next week.  It was launched by another blogger...The Library Voice  

Here is her post launching the Traveling Mural project...Traveling Mural

First students created listened to the "Hey, Wall" 


Then we talked about possible topics and I created a WORDLE of all of our topics.  Here is what was decided.  



Then we made individual samples/ideas for the mural.  These were displayed in the hallway.  Then the art teacher worked on taking a few of the best ideas into 1 final mural...TO BE CONTINUED!!





What other schools are we working with?  


So we are going to make a 10 foot by 3 foot mural.  Then cutting it into 10 pieces.  Our school keeps one section...the other 9 will be shipped to California, Texas, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware, New York, and Connecticut.  and we should get 9 pieces back.  

Then we will make a mishmash TRAVELING MURAL and learn about other school and places in our project through out December!

I am curious to connect with my college roommate since she lives in the same small NY town as where one of our pieces of mural is going!  How cool is that?  I might actually know one of the artists hundreds of miles away in NY!!!

Look for more pictures and updates soon!

CORN MOSAIC

Okay so reluctantly, I took my children to the Erie Children's Museum since we bought a membership during a deal in August!  This inspired a fun Halloween activity for 4 out of 5 days.  The students LOVED it!!!  I would premake larger batch of corn or politely request parent support next time.  

I colored 15 lbs of corn in 4 days.  The process is similar to Easter Eggs and is not a last minute option.  

I used this blog as my initial recipe.  I used a lot less of the food coloring as we went along. 

The blue was one of my fav colors - the red was super awesome too!

trays of corn drying

Corn sitting in food coloring, vinegar and water - OVER NIGHT





tree, pumpkin, fall scene

tree and sky

Indian corn made with corn

leaf and tree

picture frame

game controller 

butterfly 

pumpkin


I almost forgot about Pumpkin Jack.

We are going to watch a pumpkin rot all year long then come full circle to a plant then back to a pumpkin!



Here is a post on the process - Pumpkin Jack blog post

Here is a video link for Pumpkin Jack.  Pumpkin Jack book

This is just a few highlights of October.

Enjoy!