Santa Letters

In the spirit of giving and thinking of others, the students wrote letters to Santa asking him to bring something for someone else.  They wrote about pets, friends, and family.  These sweet letters capture the innocence and kind hearts of these kids!  They were supposed to be read at our Authors' Celebration. Since this event was canceled, I am posting them below so families can still enjoy them!

Dear Santa,
My cat Grettle would like some clothes.  I like to dress her up.  And I bet she would like Christmas clothes!  We like to match each other.
Sincerely,
Lynsey

Dear Santa,
Please bring Mom a doll.  She loves dolls.  She likes dolls.  She reads books to dolls.
Love,
Abby

Dear Santa,
Please bring Cooper a bone!  He loves them!  Cooper loves Santa!  And he needs a squeaky toy!
From.
Kaden

Dear Santa,
Please bring my brothers Skylanders Swap Force.  They really like Skylanders.  Please! Please!
Sincerely,
Rowan

Dear Santa,
Please bring my cat Seven and my kitty Maizy some treats.  My cats like them.  I love my cats.  What do you want for Christmas?
From,
Audrey

Dear Santa,
Please bring Michael a farm set.  Please bring Michael a combine.  Please bring Michael a bale mover.
From,
RJ

Dear Santa,
Please bring my dog some dog treats.  He loves them.  He needs them because when we throw a stick he gets some treats.  We have some, but not enough.
From,
Isaac

Dear Santa,
Please bring BooBoo a leash so I can walk him in the snow.  Please bring it!  He would like it.
Love,
Ashlynn

Dear Santa,
Please bring RJ a new toy car.  I hope you like the snow.  Do you have your Christmas tree up?
Love,
Jackson

Dear Santa,
Please bring my grandma a picture.  She loves pictures.  She has a lot of pictures.
Love,
Ava R.

Dear Santa,
Please bring Ava R. a daisy kitty!  Because she loves massages!  And she likes cats!  She is really nice!
Love,
Izzy

Dear Santa,
Please bring my cousin Leyton a mini-me that looks like me, and make sure it has strings for it to pull. Also make sure he can tackle it and make it bounce back up.  I think he will like it because a couple of years ago he kept pulling my hair, and at Ellie's birthday party he kept fighting me.
From,
Mason

Dear Santa,
Will you please get my dad a firetruck because he works at the fire department?  I want you to give him a special one because he is special.
Love,
Ava V.

Dear Santa,
Please bring my dad new gloves.  He needs them to carry wood.  They will keep his hands warm.  You are nice.
Sincerely,
Dustin

Dear Santa,
Please bring Luke a new football.  I know Luke loves football. And I love playing with him.  And he is a good football player.
From,
Michael

Dear Santa,
Please bring my puppy a new sweater.  It is too cold outside for her.
Love,
Ellie

Dear Santa,
Please bring my dog a bone.  She can catch it in her mouth.  When I throw it she brings it back to me.
From,
Luke

Sending Out Holiday Greetings!

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is one of my favorite times for our Writing Workshop!  The students learn about the parts of a letter, and we begin writing letters and sending them out in our mailbox.  Their letters must include the date, a greeting, sentences in the body with correct punctation, a closing, and their signature.  This is such a fun way for students to communicate with friends and teachers throughout the school and work on their writing at the same time.  Once they have written their letters, they use the correct address from our "school" address list, add a "stamp," and pop it into our mailbox.  Each day the mail is sorted according to classroom.  At writing time 2 students go around and deliver the mail throughout the school.  Other students and staff can write back to us and put their mail in our mailbox.  The students are so excited to get mail each day and write a response back!  The holiday music playing in the background makes it all the more festive!

Writing Workshop

Time is already flying by in our first and second grade classroom!  The students are doing an awesome job settling into our daily schedule and routines.  The day passes so quickly, I hardly remember to stop and get some pictures of all of our hard working kids!

Writing Workshop is one of our favorite times of the day!  Each day after lunch and recess we gather on the rug to discuss what good writers do.  So far we have learned that good writers pick topics they are experts in... themselves!  I encourage the kids to pick out topics that they have experienced in their lives as we begin our writing journey.  (Later in the year we dive into letter writing, fiction writing, poetry, and research projects.)  We have a whole list of ideas that the kids have brainstormed... friends, family, school, summer memories, play dates, vacations, and even small moments in our everyday lives make great stories!

The last few weeks we have focused on adding details to our writing once we have our topic in place.  Details make a story so interesting and help our reader really understand what happened.  We practice asking each other questions to help us as writers realize what we may have missed.

Our workshop begins with a mini-lesson where I teach the students about an aspect of writing... picking a topic, adding details, stretching out our words as we spell, and much more!  The students then find a spot to work independently on their stories.  During this time the students are working on their words, their illustrations, or thinking.  The third part of our workshop is buddy conferences.  During this time the students have the option to find a friend and share their writing.  The last thing we do is invite one author to come to the front to share his or her writing with the whole class.  The class asks questions and gives comments to this author.  I will use this time to reinforce the skill taught during the mini-lesson.