Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

It has been a rainy break, but I hope you all have enjoyed some much needed family time. This is a great time to reconnect with loved ones, friends and to make memories. Personally, I am trying to soak it all in and enjoy every minute I can with my family. My oldest son is now 15 years old and it seems like just yesterday I was bringing him home in his car seat from the hospital.
Life seems to move at warp speed nowadays and that really bothers me. I want time to stand still and allow me to enjoy my kids more, but I know that is impossible to do. Technology is a great way to capture these memories, but technology can also stop us from making memories. What? Yes, it does stop us from making memories. How? For starters go out in public and see how many people have their phone either stuck to their ear or stuck right in front of their face. Do we really need to be checking Facebook every 5 minutes to see what are so called friends are doing. Come on people there is no possible way to have hundreds and thousands of friends on Facebook. Do we really care about getting updates from celebrities that would probably not give us the time of day if we were to meet them? I know that I have found myself looking at my phone way too much and looking at people and things that have no impact on my life.
Here is what I propose for all of us to do with the time we have remaining with this break. First, how about we get some cards or board games out and play with the family. Second, let's get some books out and read to our children. Third, why don't we just have conversations with our kids and see what is going on in their lives. Fourth, are we too old to get on the floor and play with our kids? I don't think so. Grab some dolls and action figures and create some conversations with them. Fifth, the power of cardboard can do wonders. Yes, I did say cardboard. If your child didn't get that one gift that they really wanted, how about you all try to create it with cardboard. I helped my youngest son make a Hex-bug set using only cardboard, tape and scissors. We had just as much fun making it as we did when we played with it.
What do all of these things have in common? The answer is that these things allow you to have meaningful conversations with your kids.
Enjoy the rest of your break and make some memories.

Holiday Math

Here are some math problems to keep your children sharp and their brain working over the break

1.  Bobby received 4 cars for Christmas. Sue received 3 cars for Christmas.
                How many cars did they receive together?
                How many more cars did Bobby get than Sue?
                How many more cars would Bobby need to get to have 10 cars?
                How many more cars would Sue need to get to have 10 cars?


2.  Draw a square, circle, triangle and rectangle on a piece of paper. Now cut those shapes out and glue them on another piece of paper. Take the paper with the shapes glued on and now make a winter scene with it.

3.  Kentucky scored 75 points while Louisville scored 73 points.
               What was the combined total of points scored?
                How many more points would Kentucky have needed to reach 100 points?
                How many more points would Louisville have need to score to reach 90 points?
              

4.  Santa delivered 6 presents to the house on the corner. He delivered 3 times as many presents to the house next door.
                 How many presents did he deliver to the house next door?
                 What is the total number of presents delivered to both houses?
5.  Keaton is 5 years old. His sister is 3 times older than him. His mom his 3 times older than his sister.
                   How old is his sister?
                   How old is his mom?
                   What is the combined age of all three people.
6. Santa owns several barns that are full of reindeer.
                    He has 7 barns that have 8 reindeer in each barn. What is the total number of reindeer living in those barns?
                    Santa also needs to build some special barns for some new reindeer that are just learning to fly. He needs to build 3 barns on the north-side of the property, 6 barns on the south-side, 2 barns each for the west and east-sides. How many barns does he need to build?
                    He also has to build some super posh barns for his more celebrated reindeer. Each barn needs to have 6 hot tubs for the reindeer. If Santa bought 48 hot tubs how many barns does he need to build?
 7.  Reindeer food comes in 9 pound bags. Each day the reindeer eat 72 pounds of food.
                     How many bags of reindeer food will he need to buy for one day?
                     How many bags will he need to buy for one week?
                     How many for one month?
                     How many for 12 months?

A Third Grade Christmas

Ms. Coomes directed the play that you are about to watch. Her kids did an excellent job performing this play considering how many adults were in the room watching them. Send them some nice words about their performance.

Math, Writing and Cookies

Ms. Manqueros students made cookies with Play Dough. They measured ingredients for gingerbread Play Dough. They had been writing about how to make a gingerbread man for their writing portfolio piece. They finished their published piece and then went to work on making their gingerbread men and women.

Even the Small Pay it Forward

Here is what Ms. Manqueros sent in and it just shows how caring our little Bulldogs are:

Nolan said he had ketchup in his bag but it isn't in there anymore. Larenzen handed him his packet and said, "Here you can have mine."

Sweet Kid and Sweet Tooth-Pay it Forward

Ms. Jennie wanted to share this Pay it Forward with the Bulldog community:

Alex Garcia was in the office buying a World Finest candy bar. I heard Miss Misty say it was a new box and had dark chocolate in that box (not seeing with my awesome wall that I have now) I said oh I have to have one. Alex bought me one and brought it to my desk and said Ms. Jennie this is for you. Sweetest thing EVER!!!!
He is an awesome kid. I see him at the park all the time he always talks to me. Just a nice family.
Just had to share! Made my day!!!!

1st Grade Paid it Forward

1st grade students visited a local nursing home to visit the elderly and bring Christmas cheer. While the students were there they also sang Christmas carols to the residents.

Mrs. McCarty's Pay it Forward

Every student in Mrs. McCarty's class got to pick out two things that they wanted to give to someone that they love. 50 items were donated by Mrs. McCarty, her friends and family. A lot of students wanted the items themselves, but were even more excited that they got to give them to someone they care about. Everything was gift wrapped and personally decorated by each student.  They wanted to practice the joy of giving!

Eating Trees?

Ms. Manqueros students were hard at work at decorating a delicious Christmas Tree. Yes, I did say a delicious Christmas Tree. Take a look for yourself.

Mrs. Harralson's Blog Post

As 2016 approaches us, I reflect back over 2015 - my first year of teaching.  I'm having a blast, learning new things and getting to know your child.  I've made some mistakes along the way but there is always a teachable moment in a mistake.  I'm so excited for our third quarter together.  I can't wait to set new goals for myself and for the students in my class for 2016!  I hope you have had a great Christmas!  I've been enjoying some R & R with my family that I only get to see three times a year. 

I have uploaded new photos to the photo gallery under "Christmas Fun". 

If your child is bored, remember we have our websites for them to play on over the break:  Dreambox, Headsprout, and Footsteps to Brilliance.  I also wanted to share a new website with you called "Turtle Diary".

Happy New Year!
Mrs. Faith Harralson
Estes Elementary, Kindergarten Teacher

http://faithharralson.wix.com/estes

Pay it Forward #1

This morning Leticia brought in mechanical pencils to give to each of her classmates. She had been letting kids borrow her pencils when they wanted to use one but today she brought everyone one! So kind of her!

Pay it Forward #2

Mrs. Harralson would like to thank Ms. Oldham's 2nd grade class for coming to work with her Kindergarten class and helping them make ornaments.  The kids had a ball!

Pay it Forward #3

Davic helped the ELA teachers clean up breakfast.

Kindergarten Readers

Ms. Ellis' class has been working hard to learn sight words to do well on their DRA test. Kayleigh made it all the way to level 12! Way to show GRIT!!!

6 students have learned 50 sight words and have earned a happy meal. Kayleigh Mayes, Eddie Perez, Skylar TarBush, Fatima Landero Luna, Jacob Pierce and Praise Sehkar! Way to go! Keep up the hard work!!!

Drawing Santa

Ms. Manqueros' class loves Santa so much that they decided to draw him!

Pay It Forward Week

This week at Estes we want to show how much love and care we have for each other. Why? Why Not!
As many of you know the community responded to Mr. Griffin's article about our students needing books in a big way. The community gave Estes $8,000 to spend on books for our students, so now it is our turn to do something nice for EVERYONE in our community. We would like to think we do this all the time, but this week will be designated as PAY IT FORWARD WEEK at Estes. This idea came from one of our fine cafeteria workers, Mona. So parents, students and staff members we encourage you to do as many nice things as you can for each other this week. I will be posting these kind things to the blog throughout the week.

Tis the Season for Math Reasoning

Mrs. Jewell's fourth graders are partaking in a friendly mathematical competition this week---Christmas style! The boys and girls are facing off on their multiplication skills. Not only are they using their math skills, they are also working together to explain their thinking, reason with one another and determine the correct responses!

A Singing We Will GO!

Nine Estes fourth graders had the opportunity to sing with the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra for their Holiday Pops concert this past weekend. They did a great job representing Estes!! Students that participated were: Cadence Coombs, Nicole Yutterman, Kierra Arbuckle Johnson, Arthur Zapata, Kaydence Terry, Kayla Hernandez Nava, Ethan Howard, Kaylie McCarty, and Gavin Herrmann.

Is it a Liquid or a Solid?

Second grade students have been getting down and dirty with science!  They have learned about the qualities of solids, liquids and gasses.  They have learned about absorbency and how to determine things that are the most and least absorbent.  And, they changed liquids to solids, by making ice cream in their classroom (and then they got to eat it!). They also learned how to classify and sort items based on characteristics (size, weight, color, texture, and specific characteristics).  Science is fun and they have had a great time with it!

A Message from Santa

Click on the link below to hear a message from Santa.
A Message from Santa

Christmas Programs

Last Thursday night we held our Third Grade and ELA music programs and I have to say that the programs were amazing. A big thank you to Mrs. Etienne for her putting together this wonderful night. We hope everyone enjoyed the music and the refreshments.

Harrallson's Kids

Teamwork makes the dream work!  We made homemade gingerbread play-dough and each student got their own ball of dough.  I was so proud when I turned around to see this picture!  This group of students put all their play-dough together to make a long, slithery snake!
Here is the recipe if you would like to make more at home:
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of salt
1/2 Tbsp. ground ginger
1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup of water
We used uni-fix cubes to write our first and last name this week.  We counted to see how many cubes it took to write our entire name.  Then, the students compared with a partner to see how many more or less they had in comparison to their partner. 
SAVE THE DATE:  On January 5, 2015, at 5:30pm in the PRC, your child's artwork and writing will be on display for you to view.  Our Parent Council meeting will also take place and refreshments and drinks will be provided.  I hope you can come out to see your child's artwork and writing on display! 
Finally, make sure to check your child's folder Monday night.  I have sent home a new set of sight words that your child is working on.  Please practice these every night for 5-10 minutes.

Dear Santa

I have a fun and engaging writing activity for your children to do before Christmas break. Instead of your children telling or asking you for presents, I want them to write you a letter explaining why they deserve what they want.
First, your child will need to write the greeting of the letter.
**Dear Santa, or Dear Mr. Claus, etc...
Second your child will need to work on the body of the letter. It is always nice to start by asking the person you are writing a question or something complimenting them. You then want to tell the person who you are writing to why you are writing to them.
Here are some examples:
**Santa, how are you feeling this year? Santa, what is happening at the North Pole. Santa, I want to say thank you for all my gifts that you gave me last year.
**I am writing to you to tell you what I want for Christmas this year and why I deserve to get this gifts.
Next, you can have your child write down his list and then tell why he wants each item on the list. If it is 4 items, he or she should have 4 sentences telling why he or she wants these gifts.
After this is completed you need to move into persuading Santa on why you deserve these gifts. I would say that your child should have at least 2 good reasons on why they should get what is on their list. Ex- Santa, I should get what is on my list because I have been good.***** Do not accept this reason because it is generic. Your child needs to explain exactly what they have done to be good.
Next, you need to put a spin on this letter and have your child give a reason to Santa on why he or she thinks that Santa will not be able to get his or her gifts. Ex- Santa, you probably won't be able to get me what is on my list because it will cost you a lot of money, but remember you have all those elves to make the gifts that are on my list.
You then want your child to close the letter.
Love,
Name.
If your child doesn't want to make this letter I would tell them that they probably don't want what is on their list anyway. Work Hard for What You Want!

Elf Sighting

If you came to school today and were on time you got the chance to see the Estes Elf. The Estes Elf will be at school every morning until 8:05. Please make sure not to touch the elf because he will lose his magic. He has strict instructions from Santa that at 8:05 he has to report back to the North Pole. Make sure you come to school every day for your chance to find the Estes Elf.

Moon Over Estes

Mrs. Millay's students loved learning about the phases of the moon with this Oreo activity.

And This One Belongs to Estes

Estes won the Hot Chocolate Challenge again this year. Last year the Estes team won the best marketing campaign and this year our Estes teams won by totaling the most money collected. Congratulations to Mr. Sorce and his third and fourth grade teams. They would like to thank everyone that came out and supported them.

The Estes Hot Chocolate Team was invited to the Chamber of Commerce to talk about the Hot Chocolate Challenge.