We have had a lot of fun studying the Winter Olympics.  Each child picked a country to track their medals.  We graphed the medals, read the data, and solved mathematical story problems using the information.  We discovered that the Olympic flag symbolizes the five major land areas of the world, and the connected circles symbolize unity and friendship.  We are designing a classroom flag which will symbolize who we are as individuals, and represent our class as a whole.  Each day we work and play together, and always strive to do our best, just like Olympians.  Just before winter break we had a medals ceremony.  The children thought of specials awards for each other.  Some of the awards were ' great friend, great at drawing, great at math, helpful friend, great listener, and amazingly nice.  The children awarded the medals, and they were proud of themselves, and each other as we cheered for each medal winner.