Hi, Friends! How are ya? It’s a c-c-c-c-cold, rainy day in our neck of the woods, so I THOUGHT I’d sit down to get a jump on planning for the first week back at school. Notice…I said, I THOUGHT……I’ve been staring at a blank screen for over an hour. If I look at it long enough, I’m sure plans will just jump onto the page, right? Mmmmm…wrong, so maybe a little happy flashbacking will get me in the mood to move forward. Wanna join me?
As we moved into the holiday season, all I could think of was having the time to enjoy working with my kiddos in a little more of a relaxed fashion. Music, fun, crafts and lots of memory making. This little project was one of our Thanksgiving favorites…
Anytime a craft is planned, I try to think of what I can do to help my kiddos be successful. In order to get these placemats made, I used a ruler to pre-draw the lines for them to cut through so they’d just have to concentrate on cutting and weaving the mats. Snip, snip, snip…..stop (at the line). Snip, snip, snip…..stop (at the line). Weaving the mats took quite a bit of concentration! The best part of making these mats and memories was having our AP’s come in to make one with us too. At our school, we have 2 and they’re both pretty awesome!
After reading to learn about the very first Thanksgiving, students wrote to share facts…..listened and followed directions to draw Squanto. Didn’t they do a great job?
Just as quickly as Thanksgiving, came….it went. And THEN?! Then, it was time for the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. This year, we spread lots of gingerbread love throughout the entire 3 weeks leading up to the break. These activities were included in my little Gingerbread Literacy packet.
Homophones were a hit! I don’t know what it is about learning about them….my son talked about homophones for years after he completed 1st grade! Long after this lesson was done, my kiddos were still identifying homophones in stories and activities!
Parent gifts left our whole hallway smelling yummy! We used equal parts of cinnamon and apple sauce to create quick, simple dough ornaments for our parents. It was a LOT of fun to watch kiddos create these as a culmination of our gingerbread story week. It didn’t require any big measurements, just two plastic cups filled to the same point….mix, kneed, and cut. That’s it! Oh, and let them dry for a few days…. =)
Love is in the details…..so, we added a little touch of love by sending them home packaged in a bag decorated to look like Rudolph. When we ran out of bags, unexpectedly, we folded a sheet of brown construction paper into a cone, flattened it and stapled it together to package the remaining ornaments….love my creative kiddos! Necessity is the mother of invention, right? =)
Week 2 brought about a little positive behavior incentive…..On Monday of that week, students completed an Elf Application. Our friendly, classroom Elf on the Shelf took them to the North Pole that night. As he returned each day, he posted 3 or 4 of them on our classroom door that Santa had picked to be elves. Students were selected to be an “elf” for the day to spread Christmas cheer by helping in the classroom and delivering Christmas RAKS to friends around our school. They absolutely LOVED it and couldn’t wait to see who would be selected as the Elves of the Day each morning as they entered the classroom. It was a GREAT behavior incentive that helped to control the chaos of those last two weeks!
Gingerbread Day was just too sweet! What’s to say….they had a great time making their houses!
Thanks for taking this quick trip down Memory Lane with me…I think I’m ready to get to planning now. I’ve really enjoyed the break! I wonder what my kiddos are doing?
Interested in seeing more of what we did leading up to the break? How about our elf shenanigans? You can find more fun in pictures on Instagram. While you're there...follow! I share more pictures there that may not always make it onto the blog.
Alright, alright....I'm gone...back to planning {maybe}. =)
Hey y’all! How are ya? Have you started your Christmas shopping yet…..or are you like me and work best at the last minute, ahem, I mean…..under pressure? Have a teacher friend to shop for or searching for a personal pick me up to prep for returning in the new year? I’ve got the PERFECT solution for you! …….a TPT gift certificate!
I’m teaming up with a group of blogging buds to host a giveaway of nothing but $10 TeachersPayTeachers gift certificates! Not only is it the perfect gift, but you’ll have the opportunity to win more than ONE! Each blogger’s giveaway may vary a little, so be sure to read the rules as you hop from blog to blog. The giveaway will run until December 23rd. You can enter using the rafflecopter below.
Let’s stay connected! Join me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for more firstie fun and teaching ideas to come. I’m looking forward to catching up and sharing all that we’ve been up to now that I’ll have some time to relax! If you’ve never used any of my resources, stop by my TPT store to check them out! While you’re there, download a freebie to check out the quality of my work. I enjoy creating rigorous work station activities that are simple enough to be kid-friendly, yet challenging enough to meet the rigor of our required standards.
Be sure to visit the link-up below. Enjoy your holiday break and if someone asks what you’d like for Christmas…..remember to tell them....a TPT gift certificate makes the PERFECT GIFT! Merry Christmas and don’t forget to check your email on Christmas Eve to see if you've won! =)
Hi, Friends! I hope this post finds you snuggling under a warm blanket enjoying some much deserved rest. It’s the morning after Christmas here. Breakfast has been cooked and served. The kids are all busy enjoying their newest gadgets, so I thought I’d sneak in a post before we head out for a little while.
Every year we look forward to the few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Is it just me or have you noticed too how these few days pass by faster then any others of the year?! There’s always tons of cuteness to prep, fun to be had, assessing to be completed, but every year it seems to get tougher and tougher to fit it all in!
Soooo, this year my crew and I focused a little less on the “stuff” of Christmas and more on the spirit of kindness. We decided to focus on performing RAKs (random acts of kindness) throughout the last week of school leading up to Christmas. I thought it might be a hard concept for them to grasp, but NOPE! They loved being little elves and getting a turn to spread some Christmas cheer.
It was nothing fancy. We made a simple card for each person the kid’s wanted to surprise and two elves that modeled wise choices got to go make the delivery. They also delivered a little bag of hugs and kisses with each card. Everyone needs a hug or kiss, don’t they? I wish you could’ve seen the smiles on their faces as they returned to the classroom! They were so excited about making others smile and worked really hard to be chosen as an elf!
Along with the random acts of kindness, each day of our week leading up to Christmas had a different theme. Monday was Gingerbread Day!
We read different versions of the Gingerbread Man story and compared and contrasted them. We couldn’t read about those feisty little characters without doing a little faux baking! We connected to the story by creating cinnamon dough ornaments for our families. The recipe only requires equal parts of two ingredients…..applesauce and cinnamon. I’m a pretty `ish kinda person, so we measured by filling two identical cups to the same point to make sure we had equal amounts, poured them into a bowl, and mixed it until dough formed. I spared you that picture, because…..well, the dough looks a little like a big bowl of p**p! Ha!
It smelled heavenly though! Everyone that came into our classroom throughout the week, left with a big of whiff of Christmas up their nose!
Our ornaments took the entire week to dry out, so next year, I’ll have to remember to make them just a little thinner. We also sprinkled them with a little glitter while they were still moist to add a little touch of cutesy. Glitter makes everything better right?
That afternoon, we had some sweet mamas stop by to help us create our gingerbread houses. What were plain old milk cartons days before became festive treats by the day’s end. We used icing as glue to attach the graham crackers to the milk cartons, so they would be edible, if desired. Each student had a house that started out as just blank graham crackers and icing. They were given a popsicle stick and a selection of candies to decorate their houses however they liked. I’m sure a candy or two got nibbled in the process, but it was ok. It was Christmas and they had a ball! We also prepared these as a gift, so when they were all done….they got wrapped in decorative cellophane and topped off with a bow and gift tag.
We left them at school for a couple of days to make sure they were good and dry too before sending them home. Lined atop our lockers, they made for pretty hallway decor too! Sweet, sweet, sweet….fun, fun, fun!
We began the week in a very sweet way, but the Grinch showed up the very next day! And do you know that mean old Grinch, kidnapped our cute little elf on the shelf!?!! The horror! The agony! And, oh my…did he ever leave us a big surprise!
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen a little of our adventures with Lloyd {our elf}. Well, my kids were in utter shock to see him taped to the easel by that naughty Grinch and kept a close eye on him all day to make sure he was ok….{and didn’t fall off}! We also committed extra random acts of kindness to make sure his meanness didn’t spread…
We got the idea for these little guys from Cara Caroll at The First Grade Parade. I love the wonkiness of kid’s work! They listened and followed directions to cut out each of the pieces. After the craft was completed, they responded to the prompt…What would YOU do to make the Grinch grin? We also had tons of candy left over from the gingerbread houses so I promised each student that I’d leave a chocolate hug or kiss on their desk if they used their neatest, best handwriting. Let me tell, you….they made every pencil stroke with the precision of a typed font! I’ve never seen such neatly written work! Lol! Is that the secret? Promise them goodies?
After watching the original version of this fun Christmas story, we also viewed one of the clips that explained how animators create their characters. I *L*O*V*E* to doodle and draw, so we used this as a springboard to complete a little drawing and writing during writer’s workshop later that afternoon. Each student completed the same drawing…that all came out differently and added details to recall the story. Writer’s workshop quickly turned into animation station and the kids began adding details to their little creations! =P
On Wednesday, we traveled around the world to learn how different winter holiday customs are celebrated. We did it round robin style…by having the kids complete a rotation through each of our six classrooms. I’m not sure I want to relive that day. Round robins are a little beyond even my scope of wonkiness…….
Thursday was all about the big man….S-A-N-T-A and his little helpers. The kid’s favorite project of the day was creating Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I always keep a little scrapbook paper on hand, so our Rudolph’s nose had a little chevron flair. Ha! We also used a resource we’d never tried before. I had heard about it from a coworker, but hadn’t signed up for it yet.
Have you used www.wegivebooks.org? It’s a great website that features books for you to project and read aloud. If you don’t have a huge supply of big books {like me}, it’s perfect for shared reading opportunities! Signing up to use it, will take you all of 60 seconds! You have to try it!
By Friday, our ornaments had finally dried and were ready for curling ribbon and wrapping. We prepped them throughout the day, as time allowed, because Friday was a busy day! We have an annual campus sing-along that is simply UH-mazing!!!!
ANNNNNd of course, we enjoyed it and The Polar Express in our PJs. Our party was on Thursday, so ending the week with the campus event and movie were absolutely perfect!
…..and that’s a wrap, Jack! From my A+ Firsties to you and yours, we wish you a very happy holiday season!
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