December in a Blog Post

We've finally made it through a good part of the year and into my favorite month, December! December is a magical month in Kindergarten!  It's full of crafts and fun! The good thing is, we get to integrate the crafts into learning about the different countries around the world! I didn't get a lot of pictures of the crafts because it was such a busy time and I was struggling through my last bit of school and had so much on my mind, but I still got tons of pics of everything else!

We started off December with a visit from the North Pole! The students were super excited that our elf came in a freezing package straight from Santa! They named her Twinkles! Twinkles was a great motivator and was always up to something :)

One of the crafts I remembered to capture was the St. Lucia head wreaths and star boy hats! 

Is it just me or do you feel like your always trying to figure out the perfect parent present for Christmas? When I was getting my ornaments out this year, I realized how much I truly enjoy looking at the ones my children have made for me.  Mrs. Bradley saw a pin for a reindeer picture frame, but the frames were really pricey.  We collaborated on what materials to use and I was able to get the foam and ribbon for a very reasonable price at Michaels.  I had our awesome EC teacher tie the ribbons for me because I'm not a very good bow tier!  I hot glued those on and the ribbon on the back.  The kids glued on the eyes and nose with white glue.  They also glued their hand prints on which Mrs. Bradley had previously gotten.  We took their picture next to the tree wrapped up in lights and put it in their frames.  They were too cute!  

Have you read about how I do the 12 days of Christmas? I blogged about it over at The Primary Pack.  This was the day we opened our presents! We sit in a circle and open them...its controlled chaos and oh so much fun!

Mrs. Bradley and I got the students a coloring book and crayons.  I always like to get that for my students because it's something fun they can do over the break too! 

For our party, we made Gingerbread houses!  Thank goodness for wonderful families, they supplied all the materials needed.  We started with ice cream cones and green icing and let them use M&Ms to decorate those and then let them eat those.  This kind of gets them out of the mode of wanting to eat everything...then they can decorate the houses!  We had a great parent volunteer turn out and all of the houses looked amazing!  Such a fun party!

For Christmas Rotations, the students played Bingo, Musical Chairs, made bookmarks, fingerprint snowmen, and reindeer food.  They had a blast as always!

We ended December with the Polar Express! I missed this day due to graduation, but I couldn't miss seeing my sweet Kinders in their jammies, so I popped in to take their picture and see them in their jammies and Mrs. Bradley captured some pictures of them drinking hot chocolate and having popcorn.  I'm sad I missed it, but it looks like they had a blast!

Better late than never, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! I am so thankful to all the wonderful families in my classroom and all of you that take the time to follow my blog!

We had an amazing first half of the year! I can't wait to see what 2015 holds for us!  Thanks for catching up with me!  I promise to post more regularly for the rest of the year! :)

Jolly the Elf Antics

Before Jolly the Elf left us and went back to the North Pole, she was all over the room.  I didn't get to put her down in some of the cutie spaces I saw on Pinterest because I was afraid one of my sweeties would touch her, but we really enjoyed having her in the room this year.  This was my first time with an elf, so next year will be much better! 

Do you have an elf in the classroom? What did your kids like best about your elf?

Christmas in Mexico and on the 3rd Day of Christmas...

Today was all about Christmas in Mexico.  We read The Legend of the Poinsettia and talked about Las Posadas.  One of my favorite art activities for Christmas in Mexico is the poinsettia.  We have a pattern that we trace before hand.  Each child needs 3 red petals and 1 green.

They cut out the petals.

Then we glue them in the middle like this:
 

At the end I add dots of glue and glitter...so pretty!

When we finish, we display them like this:

I think they are so pretty! :) 

What are your elves up to?

This is where Jolly was today:

Today my kids were very talkative and got a awful report in Music, so instead of Jolly they will see this tomorrow:

Hopefully I'll have better things to report tomorrow!

On to the 13 days of Christmas Giveaway.  Today's freebie is brought to you by...

Head over to her blog to check out her freebie, her 12 favorites, and enter her giveaway!

Cute Santa and a Sad Elf!

Happy Saturday Friends! I don't know about you but this month is FLYING by! Christmas is in full swing in room 201 and we are loving all the fun crafts.  One of my absolute favorites is this cute Santa!

I had full intentions of taking pictures of every step of this craft, but I was busy helping my sweet kinders make this cutie and clearly got side tracked.   

What you need:

A heart shape - for the face (I use manilla color).

A red triangle - for the hat.

A 6x9 rectangle of white construction paper.

A white mustache shape made of white construction paper.

The first step: Cut out the heart.  Cut strips long ways from the white rectangle.  Glue two of the strips up high.

Then go and fill in the rest of the bottom of the heart with the other strips.  Add the mustache on top of that.  Add the hat. 

Last, wrap each strip around your pencil and it will curl.  Cute, right? :) LOVE! These are going on our bulletin board.

How's elfing going in your classroom?  Wednesday my kids were CRAY CRAY.  Lots and LOTS of talking.  Jolly was super sad by this, so she left them a note on Thursday morning and hung out by the rules so they'd remember to follow them.

I am pleased to say behavior was much better after the note.  Thanks for your magic Jolly.  Also did you notice she had a wardrobe change? Yeah - she's cute like that.  DIVA!! :) 

Do you know about the Facebook Frenzy going on right now?

Check out my freebie! Positional words with Santa and a present - love it! :) 

It's only free through Monday night at 8pm, so grab it while you can! :) 

Big news tomorrow - check back!

Tissue Paper Stockings

 Today we talked about stockings as a tradition.  We talked about all the things you might get in your stocking and things that wouldn't be appropriate for a stocking.  I love a tissue paper craft, so we made tissue paper stockings today.  My amazing assistant traced the stockings on white construction paper so we didn't have to waste copies.  We cut out tissue paper in small pieces and the students got to work!

They added cotton to the top (Hello Dollar Tree Cotton Balls!) and cut them out.

Finished product :)

They are super cute! I love making Christmas crafts!

This is where Jolly hung out today.  The kids were cray cray so I predict she will leave them a note in the morning ;) 

Any great ideas for an elf in the classroom?

Have you heard about the Winter E-Book on TpT? It's full of 50+  freebies!  Swing by TpT and download it and get started grabbing your freebies!

Also! Only 2 days until the Facebook Frenzy! :) More freebies! Who doesn't love a freebie?!  I'm in the Kindergarten Math Group this time! My freebie is spectacular :) I promise!

Elf on the Shelf and a Behavior Incentive!

How exciting! It's December!  This is one of my favorite times of year in Kindergarten because of all the fun activities for Christmas.  We get to learn about Christmas all over the world and every activity and subject can be linked back to Christmas.  Remember the Christmas tree picture I posted the other day? It's just a mildly exciting time of year as well.  So, every now and again we need a little something extra to work for.  Intro my 2 behavior management techniques for December!

We received a special delivery from the North Pole today!  It was ice cold (out of the freezer shhhh!) and the students were beyond excited! Mailing Label can be found here!

What was inside you ask?

Meet Jolly Striped Socks aka Jolly :) 

We rolled dice from Jennifer Drake's elf unit to name our elf!  Note from Santa can be found here.

We got several choices and then we voted.

While we were at lunch, she escaped her box and perched at the top of our Christmas tree.  The kids were beyond excited when we returned!  Jolly and I had a heart to heart today when my friends weren't listening...they straightened right up.  No one wants Jolly to report them to Santa.  I'm loving this diva already!

The next thing we use as a behavior incentive is called the 12 Days of Christmas.  Basically, I send a note home asking parents to send in a class set of presents.  We're talking cheap here...bouncy balls, pencils, candy canes, small books, yo-yo's etc.  The parents send in the items pre-wrapped and we put them under the tree.

Each day we choose a present to work for.  If students keep their clip on green or better, at the end of the day they place a present in their bag.

These bags are from Michael's and they are $6.99 for a baker's dozen. I used a coupon plus they have a teacher discount.  I used scrapbook paper to diecut Christmas trees and added a label with their name at the bottom.  I have done this for 8 years and these bag seem to hold up the best and not tear on the day to take them home.

By the time 12 days is up, we have our party and we sit in a circle and open our presents. This is a great reflection time for students if they are missing a specific present.  Rarely do students miss a present because all it takes is once simple reminder that we are working for something specific. 

Because I love you guys so, I made a little editable pack for you!

Grab the pack and edit the letters and send them on home!  You could adjust this to use this year or save it for next.  Enjoy!

Don't forget, today is the last day of the Cyber Sale on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

You have 5 hours to grab everything at 28% off.  I hope you find something you can use!