Five for Friday December 9

Five for Friday is taking a break this week, but I wrote my five anyway!

       

We had a Teddy Bear Tt Party Day this week.  We're almost done with our letters.  I work on all the letters all the time (like we all do) but then focus on two a week to reinforce letter ID, sound, and correct formation.  So- we were on letter Tt and we needed a Tt Party!

The children had so much fun.  I never want to get so busy with curriculums and programs that I can't have these fun days.  These are the days the kids will remember. 

We did lots of math with our bears! The children sorted them by color and size. They also came up with other ways to sort-  some with clothes on, some holding something, black noses and brown noses...  We had fun.

Then, they had to line up their bears from biggest to smallest- without making a sound!  OOOH that was hard!  

During math centers, we added and subtracted with teddy grahams.  



We used paper bowls for bear caves for our subtraction. (I just cut out an "entrance to the cave."  The children had 5 teddy grahams.  I would put all five in the cave.  Then, I would take some out and they had to tell me how many more were in the cave.  They  thought they were magic.  I told them math is even BETTER than magic!

Here's a picture with teddy bear counters.  I worked with a couple of my children during free choice time to review using counters.

Reading was oh-so-much better with bears!

The children wrote  about their bears.  They each wrote 3 details about their bear- usually his/her name, whether it was big or small,  and what they liked to do with their bear. Then they drew a picture of their bear.  I told them to pretend it was a photograph so it looked JUST like their real bear.  They had fun.

I had some bear paperdolls for the children to cut out and play with at free choice if they wanted. 

We had flavored iced tea to drink, Teddy Grahams, and fruit snacks for our party. So simple but special.  I used very special napkins because it was a "fancy party."  You could also serve Swedish fish, berries, and honey, because bears love that, too!

We fit in all three Bear Hunt songs by the end of the day.  

I hope they made some happy memories.

What do you do when you get a new pillow and it's got too much stuffing in it?  Take a bunch of it out, sew the pillow back up, and use the stuffing for Santa beards!  And snow for upcoming projects...  

I posted some of my favorite candy cane ideas at PreK and K Sharing this week!

And...

There is a link to a little recording sheet if you want your students to write the sight words, too. 

This time of year, there are some books that we all  probably use for some holiday character education lessons.

Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer is a good lesson about being yourself and how your differences make you special. You are made exactly the way you are supposed to be to do wonderful things.

Last year, I posted LOTS and LOTS of reindeer freebies and fun if you want to check those out! I updated the links to be sure they still work and are free. 

The Grinch is all about learning to be kind, be kind, be kind.  It makes you feel better inside!

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree has always been one of my favorite stories to share with my class. 

It's great for so many things. The children love to retell it and remember each character who was able to have a new Christmas tree. It's also good for teaching that you don't have to be BIG to make a big difference in the world!  I LOVE this poster from Peppermint Plum.

Miss DeCarbo shared a sweet bulletin board idea and freebie at her TPT store to encourage Christmas Kindness that would go really well with Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree.  I love activities that encourage children to see and appreciate the good in others.

We lost power last week in the middle of the night. It was supposed to come back on at 7:30 AM, but didn't get fixed until after 9AM.  Meanwhile, I got dressed and put on my make up with a flashlight.  So pretty... as you can imagine.  And I just quickly "fixed" my hair from the day before.  

The whole time I was struggling with everything in the dark, not used to it- trying the light switch, forgetting every time that it wouldn't work,  I kept thinking of verses about God being our Light and how we need to focus on Him.  I love analogies, and knew this was meant for me.  If I keep God as my focus and look to Him, my Light, every single thing I need to do during the day goes so much better and so much more smoothly.   When I try to make my way alone, I struggle in the dark with things that could be so much easier if the Light were turned on.  Oh how I appreciated that light after trying to do everything in the dark.  I also noticed how much I take the Light for granted and need to remember to be thankful for it all the time.

1 John 1:5

Have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Five for Friday December 4th

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday. Thank you for hosting, Kacey! 

 

 

This week we started noticing that Bossy R in many of the words we're reading!  These are the anchor charts I leave up to help remind the children about words with r controlled vowels.  The kids use these all the time!



These are some of our favorite videos to help remind us of  Bossy R!

          

          

                      

                      

I added all of these videos to my Letters and Sounds Prezi!



I found some fun counters and playing cards at the Dollar Tree. I got the little tin to store the counters in.  We use playing cards a lot for Hi/Low games to compare numbers on the cards.  I also got some to use as gifts, because we play Bingo for our Holiday Party, and each child can choose a million dollar dollar store gift as a prize.  (They just SEEM like a million dollars.  That's another reason I love this age!)



I posted LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of reindeer ideas at my blog this week.  Then some more! It's fun to fit in some reindeer activities throughout December. Have fun looking!

I just love the book Cookies: Bite Size Life Lessons, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. 

It is a wonderful Character Education book, because it explains different character traits with very kid-friendly vocabulary.  Here are some examples:



"Cooperate means, 'How about you add the chips while I stir?'
 "Trustworthy means, If you ask me to hold your cookie until you come back, when you come back, I will still be holding your cookie."
"Fair means, you get a bite, I get a bite."
"Regret means, I really wish I didn't eat so many cookies."
"Content means sitting on the steps just you, me, and a couple of cookies."

The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and sweet. 

And of course cookies always brings this favorite to mind...

Each year, my sister's family makes these GORGEOUS decorated cookies- 

  They also make these little marzipan treasures!

I am neither patient nor clever with baking.  In my head, I have good ideas, but they come out as perfect Pinterest fails.  But here are two of my favorite recipes, that are never fail!

Melting Moments



This is my aunt's recipe. I love to make them a Christmas, but they are also so sweet for Valentine's Day, Easter- let's face it- any time.  They are a bit time consuming because you have to roll all the little balls, then put them together. BUT they are worth every minute. They make great gifts, too, because they look so pretty in a jar or holiday container. 

Cookie

350 Degrees- 12 minutes

1 C Butter

2 C Flour

1/3 C 10X sugar

Cream butter with 10X sugar until fluffy. 

Blend in flour gradually. 

Beat at medium speed for 5 minutes or knead. 

Chill several hours or overnight. 

Roll rounded 1/2 tsp. size balls like marbles. 

Place 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. (I use parchment paper.)  

Cool on wire rack.

Almond Butter Cream Filling

1 1/2 C 10X sugar

3 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. cream

1/4 tsp. almond extract

Beat until smooth.

Tint any color you would like with food coloring.

Put frosting between two flat sides of cookies.

Easy Cranberry Pecan Cookies

My daughter tried this recipe last year and we loved it. It is sort of a Sandra Lee Semi Homemade idea- and I sort of love that. You know how sometimes you need a quick but really good cookie that doesn't seem quick?  Here you go!

1 tube (16 1/2 oz) refrigerated sugar cookie dough, softened

1 C chopped pecans

2/3 C white chocolate chips

2/3 C dried cranberries

1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the cookie dough, pecans, chips, cranberries, and vanilla. 

Drop by tablespoon 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans. 

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.

Finally, I finished my Winter Fun Prezi and want to share it with you!

I put together my favorite videos and links to activities that I like to use during the winter months. The sections I have included on the Prezi are: videos for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa; 

snowmen videos, a wonderful unit on Snowflakes with activities and videos,

 and four different fireplaces that you can project in your classroom, on the Smartboard or big TV.

I found "burning fireplaces" on Youtube and inserted the video into a cozy fireplace, so it looks like you have a cozy fire in your classroom as the students work! Two of the fireplaces are crackling fires and the other two have Christmas carols playing as the fire burns.

As I find more videos and activities that I use in winter, I will continue to add to this Prezi- for example Groundhog Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I hope you enjoy this Prezi! I'd love your happy feedback at TPT if you enjoy it. 

Thank you so much for stopping by!