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 2nd

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

       

We had the BEST day EVER on Thursday!  Dr. Jean was in town doing a conference, and stopped by our school to do a concert for our children.   We all sing her songs all the time- and to have her in REAL, LIVE person was just amazing.  I know it's something the children (teachers) will remember forever. She is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. the way she captivates the children.  They were so star-struck.  I always am, too.   

Guess what song this is?!  

Here is a site our Literacy Coordinator shared with us. It's called BookBuilder Online, by Pioneer Valley Books.  It's awesome!  You can print  FREE personalized books for your students.  They have different leveled books and different topics. Here are a few to show you:

I printed out Christmas books for each of my kids.  I did it when they were in computer lab- and it took maybe 10 minutes to make and print books for each of my students.  (The color printer is right in the computer lab, so it was just perfect timing for me!)  Then, I just cut them in half and stapled them- so fast and easy!  Here are some pages of one I did for my kids to show you:

This is a post I wrote and just updated with LOTS of Christmas light freebies from TpT.   I just love Christmas lights! 

This is always one of my FAVORITE activities to do with my kids-

I used this fabulous Christmas Lights Pattern by Meredith Fitzhenry that she shared at her TPT store.  Thank you, Meredith!

I enlarged it 200 times and printed it on 11x17 paper.

I wrote secret sight words on each paper with a white crayon.  There are some on the paper above and you didn't even know it!   I made each paper different, and the children could watercolor however they wanted.  They loved this!  I got lots of "I love you's!" after this activity, so I knew it was a winner.  My kids love any kind of secret messages. Who doesn't?!

After the children discovered their secret words and read them to me, they wrote them on their paper.

I also enlarged Meredith's paper not quite so big and made some number papers for my little ones who still need some number recognition practice.

We followed this activity up by closing the shades and reading this sweet book that lights up.



I wanted to share  my Holiday Homework with you.   I love sending home some fun, simple family activities for the children (nothing too time-consuming) this time of year.  I used to make Christmas Countdown Chains for each child, and have an activity for them to complete on each link.  Then, I would send a bag with all of the "extras" needed to complete the tasks.  For example, on the night the chain said to "Drink your cocoa while you draw a picture to show how you like to stay warm in the winter. Write a sentence to go with your picture,"  I would put a cocoa packet in the bag.  This is what I sent home when I had the children eat a special meal on their Christmas plate and then write and label the meal they ate on the paper.

Everything was just something little, like a special holiday paper plate, a holiday pencil, a highlighter, special worksheets...   The Dollar Store is the place to go for the extra goodies!

  

I decided to change it up a little and make this Holiday Homework packet with activities in it.  I cut the activities apart, so I only send home one at a time.  I send about two or three a week. I attach the extra item with it, if it needs one. I tape the candy cane onto the paper for the first activity, etc.    I have found that more of the activities get done when they go home one at a time rather than when they were given all at once on the chain. (Even thought the chain idea was fun, too!)

I actually also think the children and the families appreciate everything more, too.

Here are some  pictures of the pages and the different activities:

 

 

I write a note to parents explaining that these are just for fun activities that don't need to be returned to school, butI wanted to think of something fun to put on the children's papers if they brought back something completed, so  I taped  a Starburst on these cut-out stars to put on the papers.  Sometimes I tape a silly band onto their paper.  I like to put on a little something special, because I appreciate the extra help at home!  Plus... it's that time of year for something special!

Finally- here's a quick little thing I have my kids do when they come in each morning before morning work.  I write a few sight words on a piece of chart paper, and they trace each one with a marker so we make class rainbow words.  I watch each child write because it's a good opportunity for a quick assessment, too, to see who is forming those letters correctly!  This day we were working on "m" words.   You could do this anytime- before lining up, for early finishers, after snack...  

Have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!