Happy Holidays from Davin!

Hope you are all having a great week off!  Great job on the gingerbread house, Davin!

Board Game Fun

This is a bowling alley my grandfather made. He used to sell them during World War II in order to make ends meet. The kids had a blast bowling today! They also played with a ton of other games and had a great time building teamwork skills with their friends. Thank you for letting your kids share their games!

Hallie the Elf

Today we had a visit from Mrs. DeAmicis's dog, Hallie. Hallie has been trained as a therapy dog and is a seven year old golden retriever. Mrs. DeAmicis told us all about how to care for Hallie and what kind of training she has gone through. Hallie can do many tricks, and is very sweet! Here is a short video of Hallie dancing!

Winter Solstice Celebration - Measuring Our Shadows!

End of Week Wrap Up

On Friday we will be doing some fun activities. Students are welcome to bring a special snack for themselves, a flashlight, book, stuffed animal, and board game. We will be doing crafts and also having a sing along. I will post some pictures of the day. I'll be bringing in two homemade bowling alleys my grandfather made and used to sell to help make ends meet during World War II. I hope the kids will enjoy them!

Surprise Visit from Serviceman Jordan Paskell

Our class got a surprise visit this morning from Jordan Paskell, who is serving in the U.S. Army and is stationed in Kansas. Jordan is home for the holidays before he ships off to Germany in February. Jordan is one of our two pen pal servicemen who we are writing to this year. Jordan is a former Johnny Appleseed student, and it was wonderful to see him come and visit our class. There were lots of questions about what Jordan does in the army, and the kids were so inspired and impressed with him. We are so lucky to have Jordan serve our country and come back to his
home school to pay us a visit.

Team Thiago and JA Spread Holiday Cheer!

Today students in our class along with Mrs. Weldon's and Mrs. Joslin's classes were treated to an extra gym with Mrs. Bernard for all of their hard work on the UMASS Toy Drive. Our school raised over $1300 to purchase toys for students who have to spend the holidays in the hospital. Thank you for all of your generous donations. The students were so excited to collect the money and work with some buddies and new friends in K2 and 3E! Today Thiagos' mom came in to collect the toys and she took some pictures! A huge thank you goes out to Gabriela and Thiago for spearheading this worthwhile fundraiser again at JA! Here are a few pictures!

REMINDER - WE ARE SHOPPING AT THE HOLIDAY ELF SHOPPE ON MONDAY AT 1:15 PM!

Holiday Toy Drive Campaign Kickoff with our Book Buddies in K2!

On Friday, our class got together with Mrs. Joslyn's students in K2 to read stories and then color posters for the UMASS Pediatrics Holiday Toy Drive. Our students will team up with their K2 buddies next week to collect money from the classrooms throughout the school. Then, Mrs. Weldon's class in 3E will count the money and keep track of the totals. Our goal is to raise $1000 by the end of the week! 

Fun Friday STEM Project - Design and Build Your Own Birdhouse Prototype

HOLIDAY FUNDRAISER FOR U MASS PEDIATRICS HOSPITAL

 OUR SCHOOL IS GEARING UP FOR OUR THIRD ANNUAL HOLIDAY FUNDRAISER! WITH THE HELP OF THIAGO'S FAMILY, THE SCHOOL IS COLLECTING MONEY DONATIONS. PLEASE DONATE ONE DOLLAR OR MORE IF YOU'D LIKE. IF WE RAISE 500 DOLLARS, THE KIDS GET TO WEAR PAJAMAS ON DEC. 21. IF WE RAISE 1,000 DOLLARS, THE TEACHERS GET TO WEAR PAJAMAS ALSO! MONEY WILL START BEING COLLECTED NEXT MONDAY.

School-wide Book Tree Project

This week at school all of the classes participated in a school-wide book tree project. Each class selected a book to read, and then decorated a tree to show the setting, characters, problem, and solution. Our book was The Ninjabread Man by C.J. Leigh. Miss D led a great lesson by reading aloud the story and then helped the students decorate our very own bamboo tree with characters from the book. Here are some pictures!