Sunday, March 28, 2010

The Ice Cream Stores Are Open!

Most of the ice cream stores in Austria close for the winter, so when they re-open, it's a sure sign that spring is here. There's an ice-cream store near school that gives away free ice cream cones (two scoops!) on the day it opens, so our whole class took an impromptu field-trip to get ice cream on that day. What fun! It also happened to be the day that my niece Anna was born. What a great way to celebrate!


March = Book Month!

March is Book Month at VCS! Our fabulous librarian, Barbara, organizes a whole slew of fun activities for the students throughtout the month including reading competitions, book charades, and a book character costume party, which is always a highlight. This year, Barbara and the elementary teachers created a theme cake for the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. The kids showed their costumes up in the AP Room and then came down to the cafeteria to end the celebration with this special cake.
I actually missed this year's costume party because I was in the Austrian visa office picking up my new residency card. But my students put their costumes on to show me when I got back. We had two Darth Vaders, Mrs. Wilberton, a bee, a butterfly, Lego Man, Julie of Julie and the Wolves, and a bookmark. I dressed up as Annie Sullivan because we just finished reading her biography during our daily read aloud time.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Ear Muffs

The weather has turned drastically colder again this week, but the fifth graders are reluctant to put hats and gloves on again now that we've had a few warmer days. This student came in from recess with red, numb ears and asked if I could make her some ear muffs to warm them up. Whipping out Kleenex and a roll of masking tape, I fashioned this set for her while the rest of the class looked on and giggled. Emily was so pleased with her ear muffs that she wore them the rest of the afternoon, even after her ears warmed up! Oh, we do have fun in 5th grade!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Elementary Spiritual Emphasis Week 2010

Jerry Jacoby was back for Elementary SEW last week. He brought his wife Michaella, some new songs, and lots of laughs. He also told some very important stories about life and faith in God. He involved the teachers in helping hold signs or lead motions for different songs, which is why I'm standing next to him with my arms in the air in this photo.


One day Jerry told the Bible story of the shepherd who searched for his lost sheep. This was a really moving story about how God searches for those He calls His own and doesn't give up searching until they are safely home with Him.

You can see the delight on this student's face as she laughs at one of Jerry's jokes or silly songs.

All the kids got involved in the fun!
Elmer, the chicken on the right, is Jerry and Michaella's adopted chicken. He tells jokes and does crazy things that illustrate Jerry's lessons for the audience. This year the Jacobys adopted Elmer's sister as well (Elmer's mom has about 1,218 kids, Jerry said...she is a chicken afterall) and she is named Popcorn. The kids had so much fun "meeting" her and watching the two of them do the chicken dance together!