The Tw-elf Days of Christmas - Days 10-12

Here's the last three days....

Day Ten: Gingy Boys and Girls

We bought mini gingerbread men from the store and "decorated" them with icing, m&ms, jimmies, and sprinkles.  I gave each student a dab of icing and a toothpick to decorate their cookies.

Day Eleven:  Reindeer Food

Pinterest strikes again.... I found the recipe and idea on Pinterest. We told the kids that  I received a box from the North Pole that had the magic sprinkles that we would add to our reindeer food.  Santa sent the box to make sure that the reindeer could take a rest stop at our homes.

Day Twelve: The Polar Express/Farewell

Last year my school went ALL out and had a whole section of the building transformed in to a train complete with a conductor and waitresses that served hot cocoa.

The Tw"elf" Days of Christmas - Days 7 - 9

So maybe I didn't post all 12 days during the Thanksgiving Break but here is the next installment of days 7-9.  

Day Seven: Grumpy Grinch Alert

We read the Night before Christmas and had Grinch pills at the end of the day

Day Eight: The Perfect Gift

Another Pinterest find on BusyLittleBugs.  We read Olive the Other Reindeer and
they received Ziploc bags with whoppers and a cherry sour.

Day Nine: Snow Bear Poop

We made Santa Claus graham crackers from a recipe that Chalk Talk posted from Pinterest.

She's ALIVE!!!!! with an Inference Freebie

Okay, I really have no good excuse for not posting....just life.  Being a single mother of a teenage daughter is exhausting (not to mention the 44 little ones I teach). I must say it has its own rewards.  One of my former students thanked me for making learning "magical" for his sister.  Wow, he nearly brought me to tears!

I wanted to post about the best of 2012 but I haven't had time to collect the pics and etc.  But since I've been gone so long I decided to gift you with a freebie!  Okay, let's get real.  Not that many people follow my blog -so I'm truly grateful for those of you that do.  And if you're just stoppin' by, feel free to follow my blog and my TPT store---shameless plea----.  There's lots of good stuff (and of course freebies) I have planned for this year!

I love teaching inference... kids say the cutest things when they infer.  I like to do an inference gallery to get their brains to warm up to the idea.

Students do a gallery walk and make inferences about each masterpiece.  They leave a sticky note on their favorite artwork.  I print the sticky notes on my printer and keep them on laminated paper until the kids are ready to make their inferences.  I've seen several Pinterest posts on how to use your printer to print on postit notes.  I 've been doing this for years and now 3M has even create sheets that go into your printer.  I wouldn't recommend using a copier though.

Here's a post about how to print on post-its.  The Inference Gallery Freebie has the template to print the sticky notes in English and Spanish. You can also just print them on paper and tape them to the wall.


 Click the pic below to get the freebie.

12 Days of Christmas with Elf on the Shelf (Day1)

Man, I'm dizzy with all the "stuff" going on in my life.  I had my formal observation,  robotics competition, teenage daughter with a shoe fetish, new rug = rearrange room, Pinterest addiction, Christmas shopping, holiday decorating, and the 12 Days of Christmas - just to name a few.  Needless to say, I haven't been able to blog as much as I would like.

I guess I'm the last person on Earth to hear about the Elf on the Shelf.  The book and elf are the cutest thing.  I wish I had known about it when my kids were smaller.  In case you're in the same boat, let me explain. A Christmas elf reports to Santa who is naughty or nice.  The elf pops up in unexpected places each day and leaves a message and/or treat.  When Santa arrives on Christmas Eve, the elf leaves with him.

I decided to do 12 days of Christmas with a classroom elf for my class.  We're studying poetry and fiction stories so I can tie the elf into my lessons.  He leaves clues each day for the "nice" students up until Christmas Break.  Each of the 12 days we have a poem clue and a surprise.  I'm plan to post the 12 days as we do them for the next two weeks.

Day 1 - Meet the Elf
On day one we meet the elf, read the book and give him a name.  I also read the first clue and the kiddos try to guess the treat. At the end of the day, I share the naughty and nice list and give each child a treat (lollipops).

Does anyone have any Elf on the Shelf ideas?

Classroom Reveal Photos - Finally!

Well, tonight was our Back to School Extravaganza.  My kiddos showed up in full force.  I love what I do!  I finally took pictures of my classroom after the umpteenth time rearranging my room.  I can never say I'm ever done - since I have a pinterest addiction - but I am please with the current state of things.  Looks like a giant room, huh.  I actually have a very small room with a wall of mirrors.

I have six table groups by color.  Since I team teach, I can't really label anything with student names so my chair pockets are numbered 1-4 to make for easy grouping. 

In the back of the room I have my small group area and my Writing resources for the Daily 5.  I also have a few pinterest inspired projects - rainbow drawers and teacher toolboxes. In the front of the room I have my class library, whole group area and word wall.

As you enter the room, we have our social contract, rules, procedures and brownie points.

On the otherside of the student mailboxes, We post our student of the week, bucketfillers  and birthdays.

 

And to complete the 360 tour, there's the CRAFT Board, book boxes, clock and computers.

That's all folks... Sorry for the picture overload :0)