The Tw-elf Days of Christmas Revisited

I have so fallen off the earth with my blog.  I have been struggling with being the "new" teacher at a new grade level, new school and new district....not to mention a tough group of kiddos.  I've been trying so hard to learn the new curriculum, teach a rough group and learn the dos and don'ts.   I'm EXHAUSTED. I love doing cute projects with the kids but I have so little time to incorporate anything additional to our curriculum. This is the first time in 8 years that I have not done anything for Thanksgiving.  Where's the fun in that?

Since I have a few minutes over Thanksgiving break to breathe, I'm finishing my post about the Tw-elf days of  Christmas.  I want the kids to enjoy school and learning, so I'm going to make sure we enjoy the days before Christmas Break. One of my favorite activities is Elf on the Shelf.  So here's 12 days of elfish fun:

Day One: Meet the Elf

Day Two: Twiz the Season

Day Three: Little Tree, Little Tree

The Elf left a clue for day three but not before "decorating" our Christmas Tree. We read the poem "Little Tree" by EE Cummings, used context clues to figure out words like spangles and we also made inferences about the figurative language in the poem . Students then made Christmas ornaments to hang on our little tree at the end of the day. Finally, the kids enjoyed cookies and milk because Santa had so many left over from all the boys and girls who left Santa treats by their Christmas trees. 

Enjoy your break!