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Showing posts with label reindeer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reindeer. Show all posts

December 17, 2012

Christmas hodge-podge and a FREEBIE!

Christmas, Christmas time is here. Time for joy and time for cheer. (Sung in my best Alvin and the Chipmunk voice...I know you were singing along with me!!).  Last week was our last week for fun Christmas activities. We are off this week for our 2 week Christmas vacation {Praise the Lord}! Here is a look back at all the fun we had!
 
We started off each morning by adding a cotton ball on Santa's beard for our Christmas countdown and writing a note full of Christmas cheer to put in a friend's stocking. This is a great community building activity.

My kids absolutely loved this activity, hands down! The were so excited to write their friends a positive letter of encouragement each day. We took down our stockings and got to read the notes our friends wrote us during out Christmas party.
 
This activity comes from the great Susan Moran over at T.G.I.F.  Her stocking stuffer unit is nothing short of GREAT! Head on over to her blog and check it out!
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One of my favorite Christmas books is Merry Christmas, Splat!
 
 My firsties love all Splat books and this one is just as funny as all the others.  After reading the book, I had my students sequence what happened first, next, then, and last in the story using this present template. I have put this together for you and it is available in my TPT store as a FREEBIE! My gift to you...literally!
 

Later that day, I demonstrated how to wrap a present and had the kiddos write a how-to using step-by-step instructions. This came from Katie King's WONDERFUL Busy Teacher's Best Friend: Christmas Edition.  Definitely worth investing in!
 
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If you missed my post about all my reindeer activities, check it out {here}.  We made a little reindeer/Rudolph art one day this week. A cute and very easy activity to pull off.  Have students cut out 1 rectangle and 2 triangles(no template needed), glue the pieces along with the poem on a piece of construction paper and there you have it folks!
 

That is our Christmas week in a nut shell (apart from our party). It was wild, it was crazy, it was fun and memorable! Hoping yours is nothing short of the same!

Merry Christmas!


 

December 10, 2012

Rudolph with Your Nose SO Bright!

The 'official' Christmas vacation countdown has begun...1 day down and 3.5 more to go.  This is one of the funnest weeks of all 1st grade, yes for me too, but it is also a TRUE test of my patience (I know you all just agreed with me)!  I feel like I'm trying to cram SO much into this week alone!

Today we learned all about Santa's right hand men and women, reindeer! We read about our beloved friend, Olive (he's the other reindeer...HA!).

Cutest. reindeer. book. written.
 
I also found a short movie based on the book on Youtube.  If you click on the picture of the book above, it will take you straight to it!
 
We used my Reindeer Roundup Unit all day today for these fun reindeer games.
 
 
 We dug deep into our imagination and wrote about what we would do if we were one of Santa's reindeer. Here are 2 cute examples:
 



 We brainstormed things Rudolph can do (verb practice) and put Santa's reindeer in ABC order.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We used our reindeer can-have-are chart and transferred the non-fiction information into sentences and a quick craft.
 
Apologies for the sideways nature of it....
 
 
Tomorrow we will be reading Merry Christmas Splat and David's Christmas and doing various Christmas activities. I'll be back to share later this week.
 
Have a Merry week friends : )
 



November 21, 2012

Gingerbread Cookies and Reindeer Games

I know I'm not the only one excited that December is right around the corner. Yes, Thanksgiving is tomorrow and Christmas will be in full swing Friday!! I've been working my tail off on 2 new holiday themed packets. I absolutely LOVE spending a whole week before Christmas break teaching about gingerbread. They are just so cute (and tasty)!  And...how could you not mention Santa's famous reindeer?? If you teach anything about reindeer or gingerbread, these 2 units are for you!
 
First up is the 'Literacy Fun With Gingerbread' packet". With so many different versions of The Gingerbread Man out there, why not take a week to explore the books in depth with these literacy activities that take reading and grammar to a fun, new place! It includes 7 printables that will go along with any gingerbread themed book!


Here's a preview:
It includes the following:
*Sweet Punctuation
*Gingerbread Word Families
*Gum Drop Noun an Verb Sort
*What Will Happen to the Gingerbread Man? (prediction)
*Cookie Contractions
*Gingerbread story comparison
*Story Elements map for any gingerbread story
 
Next up is my 'Reindeer Roundup Literacy Activities' packet. Who doesn't love those furry guys that pull Santa's sleigh? This engaging packet is full of all things reindeer. Each page is a separate printable activity.  It includes 9 reindeer activity printables that go along with any fiction or non-fiction book about reindeer.  There are also a few grammar practice printables as well.
 
Here's a preview:
It includes the following:
*Reindeer can/have/are organizer
*Describe that Reindeer organizer
*Santa's Reindeer ABC Order
*What Can Rudolph Do? (verb practice)
*Writing prompt: If I were a reindeer...
*Writing prompt: My favorite reindeer to pull Santa's sleigh...
*Reindeer Pokey (song and dance)
*Magic Reindeer Food recipe card
 
 
Both unit packets are available in my TPT store.
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Here are 3 things I want to leave you with:
 
1) TPT is having a Cyber Monday and Tuesday sale.  All my products will be 20% off and TPT has a coupon code for an extra 10% off, making everything 28% off! Use this code below for the extra 10% off!
CMT12
 
Visit my TPT store {here}.
 
2) Share my units on your blog and I will give you your choice of either unit for FREE!

3) I am thankful for each and every one of you and I wish you and your family a blessed and very Happy Thanksgiving!!