Yikes! 100 Days of School Already?

Yikes! It's the 100^th day of school? Time flies when you are having fun, and yes we are having FUN! Each day working with young children brings at least one moment of joy to our lives and we are already at 100 days of those moments and memories. J But how do you help young children understand the concept of 100? I am sure most of us have had our age guessed as 100 years old at one time or another (not quite there yet!) and children know 100 is a lot. So here are some fun activities we did to celebrate 100 days of school that helped children begin to appreciate how much 100 is.

A group photo to add to their portfolios:

 

       Preparing a "100" snack!    

 

 How many rolls does it take to get to 100?

 

100 Item Share: 

 

 Aging Booth fun!

 

100 Days t-shirts!

 

100 Day Self-portraits.  

 

100 day counting crowns! 

 

 

Kindness Counts!

What a powerful message for young children to learn! This week our Pre-K class found out about a young boy who is very sick and may need a heart transplant. Although the children didn’t get the full gist of his illness, they wanted to make him feel better, so they made him a book of happy thoughts.

 

  Kindness book of the week: The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Although this book is above a kindergartener’s ability level – I highly recommend it as a chapter read aloud book that can be simplified as the teacher reads to the class! . It is the story of a poor girl's way of coping with her poverty and the constant teasing she gets from other girls at her school. The other girls are very materialistic and judge others by their clothing. One of the girls feels pretty bad about the teasing and harassing of the little girl, but she doesn't come forward because she doesn't want to lose her own social standing in the group. What I love about this book the most is that it is an excellent opportunity for adults to talk with children about the damage caused by teasing and singling others out.

100 Day Freebie:

My 100 day product:

 

Check out my Pinterest Boards for 100 day ideas and Olympic ideas.

 

 

And one more smilebox of art work! Who doesn't appreciate work created by children! 

Customize a photo slideshow

My new iPad app: atypo picture It allows you to make your photos look like art. 

 

I’m off to the beauty salon! Have a wonderful week! 

Carnevale di Venezia and Amore'

Helau!
This is a greeting expressed to parade participants, onlookers and celebrators during Fasching or Karneval. What is Fasching? Fasching, Karneval, Carnival or Carnevale is a celebration held during the pre-Lenten season beginning in January (in some areas beginning in November) with a mock government where a prince and princes are elected to “rule” and plan the Fasching events.

The main Fasching events are held the week before Ash Wednesday with LOTS of community events, parties and parades. Simple, fun and extravagant costumes and masks are worn during this time.

The Thursday before Ash Wednesday is Damen Fasching (also known as Weiberfastnacht) where women symbolically storm and take over city hall.  Throughout the day women will cut off men’s ties and kiss males who are lucky (or unfortunate) enough to pass by.

The culminating event is the parade held the Sunday or Monday before Ash Wednesday when Fasching parades are held from the small villages to the large cities. Monday or Rosenmontag is the day when the biggest and most popular parades are held. And speaking from experience, a good time is held by all! 

Even American teachers joined in the fun!

And to follow Ms. Beezy’s lead, we’re giving away not one mask but two so that one or two of you will be ready for Marti Gras, Carnival, whatever the case may be.  All you have to do is leave a comment/email that you follow us on bloglovin' and if you’re really feeling ambitious and want to win two then also let us know you follow us over at TpT as well! (Your name will be entered twice) We’ll announce winners in two weeks so please include your mailing address when you email me so we’ll be able to send you these masks that come from Italy! To wet your appetite check out the masks on the sidebar slidagram to get your juices going!  Also enjoy the slideshow below of pictures taken by our talented art teacher during her Carnevale visits to Venice!

Slideshow design created with Smilebox

Kindness book of the week: Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli

 

 

When a valentine package is delivered to his house with the message "somebody loves you" things begin to change for Mr. Hatch.  He begins to look at everyone differently. He becomes a loving and helpful friend to many, and he is loved in return. He then finds out that the valentine package was delivered to him by mistake and returns to his old ways assuming that nobody loves him. But by this time he has made many new friends who care very much and inspire him with the message that somebody does love him after all!  Excellent book! See our pics below!

 

 

Follow us on bloglovin' if you'd like the Mr. Hatch freebie and send us an email!

 

Other pictures of this week’s activities:

 

 

 

 

Have a great week and enjoy the last two weeks of a fun month!

 

Presidents' Day

Hello friends! I hope you all have been having a nice week and are staying warm and safe.  This week we will touch upon the meaning of our upcoming holiday next Monday.  We’ll discuss past and present presidents and learn what qualities they had that earned them the title of President! We started learning a little about Presidents this week. Here are a few things to share:

Books:

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire by Diane deGroat

“When Gilbert the opossum takes on the part of George Washington in a play about the cherry tree, he is determined to do a good job. "I cannot tell a lie," he practices continuously, but his mother explains, "Sometimes it's better to say nothing than to hurt people's feelings." And when he borrows the hat from his costume to practice at home and forgets to bring it back, he is quick to blurt out, "I didn't take it!" only to be caught in a lie.”

Presidents’ Day by Anne Rockwell
 

“Today at school we celebrated Presidents' Day by putting on a play. Mrs. Madoff said I could be George Washington because his birthday is the same as mine. Charlie was Abraham Lincoln because he's the tallest kid in our class. Everyone else had very important parts to play, too. At the end of the day we voted for class president, and you'll never guess who won!”

Videos: (I tried to embed a few videos that are not available to us here in Germany but I use VPN to view them so I’m providing a link.)

Duck for President

Grace for President (more appropriate for upper elementary)

 

Dress up time!

 

 

 

Word Splash:

  

Art Activities:

 

Kindness Book of the Week:  Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson 

One child has the power to change the world for the better through a simple act of kindness. The story describes the happiness and good deeds that spread across the planet in a chain reaction of goodwill.

I’ve ordered the book but it’s not here but no worries – here’s the video!

Freebie (click on freebie) time and new product:

 

  

My favorite iPad App:  Arasma 

 

How do you celebrate Presidents' Day?

Share with us! Have a short and sweet week!