Five for Friday December 16

Kacey is taking a well-deserved break from Five for Friday, but I have 5 simple things from my week to share- so here I go!

       

Our class Christmas tree...  The kids could write the sight words on their Christmas tree paper or ornament paper. Then, after we did this, they've just been playing with the blocks.  It's amazing the sentences and words I hear as they play.  Note to self:  Put sight words on EVERYTHING. 

 

Since the children are getting so good at writing their names, and since they write names on every paper all day, I have the kids do different, quick things in the morning when they arrive to "sign in." One of the things we do is Rainbow Class Sight Words.  I watch as each child writes each word with a marker to be sure everyone forms the letters correctly and can read the word to me.  It takes no time at all, and is a great quick assessment.  In the new year, the children will begin writing their first and last name as they "sign in" each day. They love that, too.  We do all different things.  Some days, I'll write a "5" on top of the paper when they sign in, and they have to write an addition fact for five.  Arrival time is a great time for quick review - that really doesn't take any time from your day!

 

My friend Amy got each of us on our grade level this fabulous gift.  I don't know how much she paid for them, but they are worth a million dollars. Thank you, Amy!  <3   Our lines are straight as an arrow and quiet. (Well- as straight and quiet as they can be in the middle of December when everyone is full of EXCITEMENT...)  I hold it as I walk around and watch them work sometimes.  They love it!  During free choice, I "scanned" in pictures of all the great things the kids built so I could send the pictures to Santa.  

 

I wrote about my Holiday Homework HERE (it's free) and send one idea home for fun each night in December.

Some children bring papers back, so I wanted to have a special something for them. I use double sided tape to stick a Starburst to a cut out star, and then onto their paper. They love it.  Sometimes I'll tape a pack of Smarties to the paper. It's just fun.

 

These!  I actually made these for my family Christmas party for little place cards.  They're not done, but I wanted to show you in case you wanted to use them for your home or students.  I still need to add some little scarves to the penguin and pompoms to the elf and Santa hats, I think- but I loved them.  Here is a link to the print outs.  They are FREE from Fe Fi Fo Fama!  Just click and save the image at her post and print as a full size picture.  Then cut and wrap around a full size candy bar.  Again, I used double sided tape to adhere them in back.

And finally, I loved this idea shared by The Bubbly Blonde Teacher.  We have deliveries all day, several times a day thanks to Amazon Prime.  And boy do we appreciate our delivery drivers! My lettering isn't as fancy as hers, but idea is all hers!

I hope you had a wonderful week!  Thank you for stopping by!