Valentines Day Mailbox Family Project

A letter was sent home this afternoon regarding the exchange of Valentines in the classroom to celebrate Valentine's Day.  I struggle from year to year deciding how children will recieve their valentines and how they will be transported home again.  I have toyed around with making paper mailboxes, which just didn't hold up.  I've also entertained the idea of using gift bags, but those too tear/break. 

I thought back to how I exchanged valentines when I was in elementary school, and remembered making a mailbox using a box from home.  This could be something as simple as covering any box you may have lying around (shoe box, cereal box, tissue box, etc), and decorating it in any way you would like.  The only requirement was that your name was prominantly displayed on the Valentine's Day mailbox so everyone else could easily pop their Valentine into your mailbox without confusing it with another classmate. 

I have been saving a couple boxes here at school, but don't have near enough for everyone.  Please let me know if you need a box, and maybe we'll have some families that have extras and would be willing to share, if needed.  I want this to be a project everyone can get involved in, and I am happy to help in anyway I can. 

I invite students to involve their families in this project as they create a Valentine's Day mailbox that reflects their personality.  I have done a little bit of research through google and found quite a few ideas I'd like to share with you.  Please don't think that you must to something elaborate, because you don't.  I just want students to create something they are proud of to simply contain and transport their Valentines from school.  (Wrapping/tissue paper and stickers look great too!)

     

  

  

Groundhog Day Prediction Survey

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day! We read a story about Punxsutawney Phil, and learned he has predicted weather since 1887. A groundhog burrows and hibernates all winter long. On February 2, Phil emerged from his borrow to predict the weather. We learned that if the groundhog sees his shadow he forecasts 6 more weeks of winter. However, if Phil does not see his shadow he forecasts spring.

Student asked their classmates to make predictions about whether or not they thought Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow. We collected data and graphed our results. We have also learned how to make an equation that represents our data.

Our class' predictions are overwhelmingly in favor of spring as opposed to 6 more weeks of winter. We'll just have to wait and see what Punxsutawney Phil forecasts tomorrow.

We'll reevaluate our predictions on Monday after we learn Phil's predictions for our upcoming weather.

Do you think Phil will see his shadow tomorrow?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We have been busy elves. We made a class goal to be proactive all day long so we can make ornaments for our tree at the end of the day.

We have been enjoying our glittered pine cones, and today we began making toboggans.

 

We had to follow careful instructions to ensure we ended with a toboggan ornament. We carefully tied yarn around recycled paper towel rolls and knotted them just so.