Christmas Gifts for Your Students

You'll find this post is short and sweet,

an idea or two for a really nice treat.

So grab your pen and some paper too,

to jot down these ideas for a student near to you.

 

 

A pencil for writing all through the year,

a book to bring you Christmas cheer.

A 'no shoes' pass and stickers too,

a candy cane and chocolate will have to do.

Top it off with a Merry sack,

Christmas break is near...no turning back!

 

 

So here's a gift from me to you,

bringing Christmas joy and good times too!

 

Here is a FREE printable of the poem {in the middle of the pictures} that goes along with the gift.

 

Click to download!

A Yummy Week--Teaching with Gingerbread

It's officially THE most wonderful time of the year!

We always kick off December with a little tons of gingerbread fun.

 

Here are a few of the books we read throughout the week.

I use many of these stories to teach or reinforce lessons on comprehension skills such as sequencing, making predictions, retelling, etc.

 

Here are a few of the book responses we use:

 

 

In the past I have created this H-U-G-E gingerbread house. On it we compare 3 of the books we read during the week.  We also create and decorate our own gingy boys and girls and write our own story to go along with them!

 

 

I adore these tasty little cookies SO much that I created a Gingerbread Literacy unit to go along with our fun we have. Included are the responses you saw above and more!

 

 

Beyond reading, we have even more fun with gingerbread!

This fun science experiment from Abby is always a hit.

 

And who couldn't end the week without decorating AND eating some of these delicious gems!

It may just be the hit of the week!

To top of the gingerbread madness, I had my room mom come up and decorate our hallway and my door as a GIANT gingerbread house, complete with our team picture!

HAPPY DECEMBER

It's a Christmas Friday!

The first full week of December has already passed!

Geez that was quick!

Here is what I've been up to at home and in the classroom the past few days.

Check out some shopping, decorating and freebies below.

December 1st came and rightfully so, my parents volunteered to decorate my door!
This is my 3rd year to go with the gingerbread theme.
My room is the dead end of the hall from the front of the school.
What more perfect sight than a gingerbread house!

I love to instill kindness in the hearts of my kiddos, especially this time of year when the crazies seem to come out in us ALL! We use Susan's FREE stocking stuffers each day.
First thing I have them do after they unpack, is pick a new friend to write a nice note to.
They stick it in their stocking and get to read them at our class Christmas party!

You can find her FREEBIE {HERE}.

Today we reviewed how to describe a noun using adjectives.
We used my newest FREEBIE that you can find {HERE}.
They chose a noun and wrote it at the top of their light bulb, their adjective to describe it went in the middle. We hung them up across the room and "lit up our room"!

I came across this shirt when scrolling through IG and knew I HAD to have it, HAD to!
You can celebrate Jesus' birthday too by ordering it {HERE}.

I was just getting into the groove of enjoying the coziness of my festive home when Thanksgiving break ended. The fire, the lights, the spirit.
2 more weeks!

Experiencing Letters to and From Santa

I'm sharing my {hands down} favorite activity we do all.year.long only because it is probably the one thing that brings the kids the most joy during this time of the year. 

Faces...priceless.

Memories...priceless. 

Teacher high...priceless.

Next, have your students compose their letters. This is normally a 2 days process.

Mail off those letters!

Your letter "from Santa" will arrive back.

This is the BEST part of the whole process.

The joy is unimaginable. I wish I could share pictures of their faces and comments from the past.

After they each get their letter, we sit in a circle and if they can read their letter they do, if not I help them out.

You can find my Letters to Santa pack in my TpT store.

It includes 25 editable letters you can personalize to each student. 

The majority of the letters are typed...all you have to do is add each student's name!

Spread the joy and magic of Christmas to your students!

He's Back---Elf Ideas for the Classroom!

Do you have an elf who comes to your classroom?

Of course you do!

Here are some of the antics our mischievous classroom elf was up to last year.

 

 

He decided to get stuck in our "stuck on a word strategies" wall and literally needed help!

 

After spending the day stuck, he was awfully tired and napped all day long.

 

Look who found our Band-aid stash!

 

He loves to read too!

 

Showing his Polar Express enthusiasm! 

 

 

We didn't have any new sight words this week so he decided to make up his own!

 

He must think I have a good class. A compliment goes a long way!

 

Trying to make us laugh at our class picture! What a funny guy.

 

Showing us his love for reading! 

 

A little TP never hurt anyone!

 

His last day message to us...

 

I can't wait for him to make his appearance sometime this week!

Lighting Up for the Holiday Season {a FREE craft}

We are ready to light up the next 3 weeks of fun and learning!

There are so many fun activities planned BUT we still have a LOT of learning to do in first grade.

One of my favorite things to do at home and in my classroom is decorate!

These lights add the perfect touch of "Hello Holiday Season"!

You can call them 'Christmas Lights' or 'Holiday Lights' depending on what your district allows ; )

They will add the perfect touch of holiday cheer to your classroom!

This craft is so versatile and can be made to fit any subject matter.

Here is an example of what I have done with my classes in the past.

Other Examples Include:

singular/plural nouns

noun/adjective to describe

numeral/facts

numeral/expanded form

numeral/draw tens and ones

Stop by my TpT store to grab this craft for FREE or click on the cover photo below!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Turkey Trouble

Turkey Trouble is a favorite in my room each year around Thanksgiving. 

It's funny and clever AND the kids love it!

 I use it to teach problem and solution.

Problem: Turkey is going to be eaten for Thanksgiving by Farmer Jake.

Solution: He dresses up as a pizza delivery "man" to disguise himself.

(This is after trying to disguise himself as many other farm animals, but failing miserably.)

My students complete the reader's response problem/solution page and illustrate each.

We put together the cutest turkey and definitely hang them in the hall proudly!

Here's a close up of the craft:

You can catch this in my TpT store now!